The Learning Classroom: Theory Into Practice, Essay Example

I believe that culture and learning are inseparable.  As much as it is impossible for me to leave my own culture and understanding of the world at home when I enter the classroom, so too is it true for my students.  Their home culture shapes their perspective on life, politics, religion, relationships–the list is endless.  I see my role as an educator as one in which I provide an environment that is conducive to culturally-inclusive learning.  I don’t want to engage in cultural tourism by providing only a superficial nod to my students’ unique cultural experiences.  That would be a form of pandering, and would do us all a disservice.  Rather, I hope to encourage learning experiences in which my students are empowered to open my eyes to their specific understanding of culture.

I was quite inspired by high school creative writing teacher Pete Shaheen’s approach to bringing culture into the classroom.  He used his students’ writing projects as a way to start a dialogue about culture that wasn’t intrusive or superficial.  Instead, students were in charge of leading their own mini-lectures, an experience which allowed them to bring their own culture into the classroom while also providing their peers (and Shaheen himself) with a wide range of cultural knowledge that reflected the diverse backgrounds of all of his students (Annenberg Foundation, 2012).  I am going to try something similar in my own English Literature classes, as I believe that my students would benefit from being given the freedom to create curriculum as well as learning from the curriculum I’ve created.  The challenge with my students is to introduce discussions about culture at a school where there is not a lot of diversity.  I have to be careful not to make the few students I have who come from other countries or are non-white feel as if they must be the spokespeople for their race and instead create a classroom environment which is open to discussions about culture/class/race/etc. from all students, regardless of their backgrounds.

References

Annenberg Foundation. (2012). The five senses. The Learning Classroom: Theory into Practice. Retrieved from http://www.learner.org/courses/learningclassroom/interactive_challenges/sc2_senses_ses6.html