Culturally Proficient Education: An Asset-Based Response to Conditions of Poverty Keith Myatt & Cynthia Jew

10:00 – 11:30

Culturally Proficient Education • Keith Myatt, Ed.D.

California State University,

Dominguez Hills

kmyatt@csudh.edu

• Cynthia L. Jew, Ph.D.

California Lutheran

University

cjew@callutheran.edu

Poverty Facts- p. 13 • More than one in five children in the United

States (15.75 million) lived in poverty in 2010.

• More than 1.1 million children were added to the

poverty population between the 2009 ACS and

the 2010 ACS.

• The 2010 ACS child poverty rate (21.6 percent) is

the highest since the survey began in 2001.

• Children from all race groups were added to the

poverty population since the 2009 ACS, including

children reported as White (507,000), Black

(259,000), Some Other Race (99,000), and

children of Two or More Races (160,000).

• In the 2010 ACS, White and Asian children had

poverty rates below the U.S. average. Other race

groups had higher rates, including Black children

(38.2 percent) and children identified with Two or

More Races (22.7 percent). Poverty for Hispanic

children was 32.3 percent.

• The number and percentage of children in poverty

increased in 27 states from the 2009 ACS to the

2010 ACS. In no state did the number or percent of

children in poverty decrease.

• Ten states had child poverty rates estimated at 25.0

percent or higher while only New Hampshire had a

child poverty rate of 10.0 percent or lower.3

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2001−2010 American Community Surveys.

Dilt’s Nested Levels- p. 7

Source: Garmston and Wellman, 1999

Assets Based Approach- p. 23 Destructiveness, Incapacity, Blindness

• Other directedness

• Blame and shame

• Broken, needs fixing

• Culture is incomplete

• “windows”

• Compliance

• Isolation

• “I taught them…”

Pre-competence, Competence, Proficiency

• Personal focus

• Will and skill

• Build on what is known

• Culture is an asset

• “mirrors”

• Advocacy

• Inclusion

• “What do they know?”

Who Are You • Ray Terrell’s Story

• With 2 others share you own racial history.

• What assets did your family and culture provide you that have helped you be successful?

• How do you identify the assets in others?

What Do You Hear?- p. 72 • In what ways do you hear students of poverty described?

• How are their parents referred too?

• How are their neighborhoods characterized?

• What efforts are made to communicate in their home languages?

• How do you see yourself in relation to the communities you serve?

• How does the community view the schools place in the community?

Continuum

TEACHING & LEARNING

Schools as Middle Class Entities, p. 46 • Saving the poor – reflect our institutional barriers to

effectiveness in serving low-income communities

• In Loco Parentis – parents are of limited ability or help.

• Teaching Middle Class Behaviors – manners, language, attitudes.

• Extolling the Value of a College Degree – “The club”

• “Othering” the Poor – “Thingification” using language and labels

to maintain dominance.

Types of Teaching- p. 86 • Technical Teaching – Culturally PreCompetent

• Relies on cognitive approaches only

• Focuses on academic outcomes exclusively

• Functions well with students who are motivated

• Provides observable structure

• Knows traditions, artifact, and ritual of the dominant culture

• begins to meet the needs of multiple types of learners

• Begins to differentiate and accommodate for culture, experience and learning styles

Types of Teaching- p. 86 • Relational Teaching – Culturally Competent

• Adds to technical teaching methodologies

• Cultural norms, beliefs, mores, customs and habits are integral to the planning of lessons and evaluations

• Includes a world view (world languages not foreign)

• Sees relationship building as essential to learning

• Views the teacher as director and co-learner of content

• Builds rapport

• Strong advocacy for all students learning

Tenets for Asset-Based Learning • Accept and respect

difference

• Acknowledge choices in life

• Stop distractions

• Teach and use personal reflection

• Care and invest in others

• Act responsibly, consider

others

• Humans are self-righting

• Identify non-negotiables

• Collaborate, be responsive

• Commit to what is right

Curriculum & Instruction Rubric- p. 80 • Review the rubric

• Determine where a school you’re familiar with is on each of the elements

• How might this be helpful in your work?

LEADERSHIP

Gorski-p. 102 • Educate ourselves about poverty

• Reject the deficit models

• Be inclusive deliberately

• Respond to negativity

• Inquire about access

• Review materials for proficiency

• Monitor equity

• Teach proficiency

Questions, pp. 101-104 &107-110 • What does advocacy for students and families from low-income and impoverished

communities look like?

• In what ways do you examine your assumptions about people from low-income and

impoverished communities?

• How are assumptions embedded in policies and practices?

• How well do your staff members know the community that they serve?

• How do we become familiar?

• How do you bring community resources to bear in educating all children?

• How does your school hold teaching and learning as a central focus?

• How do you focus your learning objectives?

Policy – Essential Elements, pp. 123-125 • Assess Cultural Knowledge

• What assets does your staff bring to knowing your community well? • What values are being challenged in this effort?

• Value Diversity • How are current policies and practices being expanded to serve all parts of the

community? • How are our school community and the student’s community similar, different,

complementary? • Institutionalize Cultural Knowledge

• How are we passing on what we know about our journey? • Assess Cultural Knowledge

• Where has our school culture created barriers for our community and students? • Manage the Dynamics of Difference

• What mechanisms and practices restore balance during conflicts?

My Next Steps • Dilt’s model assists us to see that our identity as teachers and

community members can make big changes

• Take an inventory of what you’ve learned, or affirmed, about your personal, and your institutions, response to members of communities in poverty.

• Examine your “middle-classness” or your academic privilege.

• “There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about”

- M. Wheatley.

Thank you for your willingness to share and

grow with us today

kmyatt@csudh.edu

cjew@calutheran.edu