Conclusions

Fortunately, my journey has afforded me an opportunity to connect my new found cultural knowledge to several readings and discussions within our classroom and coursework. As Dorothy Strickland was so quick to point out in her article //Principles of Instruction,// “Today’s classrooms reflect the linguistic and ethnic diversity of a nation in which social and cultural boundaries are changing rapidly.” I could not agree with this statement more. After speaking to this family it became evident how much they represented our ever changing society in America. Not only did they speak of themselves during the interview, but often times they mentioned similar struggles other family members and friends have experienced as immigrants. As a future educator I found this experience very eye-opening and began to consider how a classroom just five years from now may look like and how I would address these all the students and their various cultural backgrounds.

I also felt this experience helped me connect more with an article we read in week #7 that was written by Geneva Gay titled, //Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching//. In her article, she stated “We can’t teach what we don’t know.” I found this statement not only to be true, but that I had not realized how much I needed to learn in order to prepare myself for culturally responsive teaching until I visited this wonderful Cuban-American family. While living in a little culturally naïve bubble, I had not begun to realize what opportunities for cultural awareness I might be missing out on until I completed this project. In fact, even after reading the article back in week #7 of this course, I entertained the fact I understood most of what I needed to know and did not feel the urge to begin a cultural learning quest. That is until the opportunity for one presented itself through this project.

As a result of this project, I can honestly say that I still have a lot to learn about many different cultures. As an educator in today’s society, I cannot imagine anyone ever assuming they have completed their cultural education journey because it manages to change ever so slightly with each passing day. As I found within the process of my project, even this family’s culture changed after coming to America. The longer they stayed here, the more blended their culture had become to that of a traditional American. Having said that, how is a traditional American even defined anymore? Have we ourselves not become so blended and intertwined with all the other cultures in America that we no longer possess all of our original cultural values? Case in point, within my own family we enjoy eating Mexican, Chinese and Italian cuisine. We have used chopsticks for “fun”, believed in fortune cookies (although invented in the U.S.) and have purchased several piñatas for our children’s parties. Is this considered traditional American culture? I’m not sure. After completing this project I have only come to one conclusion. I believe everyone has their own culture and that it is unique and ever changing. I believe it is based on your history, your family and friends, your age, your location and your environment. With that said all of these factors can rapidly change within the course of a year, a week, and even a day.

The only constant thing in our lives is change and that is something I plan to do regarding cultural awareness. As a future educator, I want to follow the advice of author Francesina R. Jackson in the article “S//even Strategies to Support a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy// “ and become culturally literate. Just as she cited the work of Delpit (1988) who “recommends that teachers use ethnographic procedures to learn about their culturally diverse students”, I plan to take every opportunity afforded to me to learn about various cultures in this way. I hope to be able to learn about these cultures by visiting and speaking with people in person and finding the information on my own verses attending workshops as many of the authors in our coursework have warned against. I do not want to assume how people live and what they believe, I would like to find out from them personally. I do not want to have a classroom based on bias nor do I want to teach my students to be bias. My goal as a classroom teacher is to create a welcoming environment for everyone students and adults alike that promotes acceptance of everyone despite their culture or beliefs. 