Be Culturally Relevant and Be Better

What stuck out to me the most from Winn and Johnson was when they discussed adding hip hop to the lessons. Winn and Johnson discuss how Ernest Morrell connects classic poems to modern hip hop that his students would already be familiar with. I was already thinking about novels and poetry by people of color but this opens up the possibilities even more. Students love music and involving their music genres in the classroom is a great way to not only get them involved in the lessons but to help them with their connections to the classics.

Jesse Hagopian reminds us how seriously our students take current events in his article “Student Athletes Kneel to Level the Playing Field.” We need to involve current events and controversial topics in our classroom, as well.  Connecting our lessons to what the students experience outside of the classroom keeps them involved inside the classroom. It will also help them develop into conscientious adults.

So, what do we do if connecting our lessons to pop culture texts and current events isn’t enough to keep their attention? To get them interested or involved? What if the student is still being disruptive?

Firstly I think we have to consider this: is this student actually being more disruptive than the other students? Or are we just noticing it more from them because they're a student of color? While I doubt that this is something done on purpose, that does not mean it isn't happening. We have to constantly be evaluating our own thoughts and observations to make sure we are being the best we can be and not letting a bias, even if it is subconscious, hurt our students.

Secondly, we certainly don’t send the students away to teachers of their same ethnic group when they are misbehaving. We can’t keep excusing our behavior as white teachers by stating that we just want these kids to have a positive mentor. Chrysanthious Lathan discusses how this is a bad move in her article “Dear White Teachers,” and I could not agree more. As discussed, that gives us less control over our classroom and shows our students that we don’t care enough to correct the behavior ourselves. We need to be able to communicate to the student and their parent or guardian what is going on in the classroom. If we feel like we don’t know how to address the situation with the parent or guardian, Lathan gives us a set of guidelines to follow:

1. Address them as Mr., Ms. or Mrs., followed by their name on record. No assumptions. If needed, I ask how to say their name properly—and remember it. 

2. Refer to their child by their given name. 

3. Talk to the parents. Highlight the positive, academically and socially. 

4. When explaining the issue to parents, have concrete evidence without interpretation, and give the parent a chance to respond. For example, “Today when James was with another student, he pulled her chair out, and the student fell,” instead of “James hurt another student at his table and caused disruption to my lesson.” 

5. Ask for the parent’s help. The student is their child forever, I am their teacher for one year. Look to the parent as an expert. 

6. Make a deal among parent, student, and yourself as to how all three will help the child be successful in the area of concern. 

7. Call back in two weeks to update and thank the parent.

It is our responsibility as teachers to make sure that we are giving our students the opportunity to learn and prosper. We need to do this by connecting the curriculum to pop culture that the students would be familiar with and by connecting the curriculum to current events that the students find important. If our students still are not getting involved and making efforts in the class, then it is also our responsibility to talk to the students ourselves and discuss the classroom behavior with their parents.