Author(s): Coffey, Heather, Abiola Farinde-Wu
Published: November 2016 in Teaching and Teacher Education
URL to article
Research Focus Area: Asset-based best practices for serving Black and Latinx teens
Abstract:
This exploratory case study examines the experiences of one first-year, Black female English language arts teacher and her Advanced Placement Language and Composition students. Through an exploration of her relationship with her Black students, the data reveal how she faced challenges when finding balance in her classroom management style, encountered cultural dissonance, developed teacher-student relationships, and struggled with how White, middle-class values may have shaped her classroom interactions with her students. The results of this study inform the field of teacher education and have potential implications for pre-service and inservice teachers worldwide working with students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds.
Research Question(s):
How does one Black female teacher navigate the development of culturally responsive teaching practices in her first year of teaching? How might membership in a racial and ethnic group influence the ways in which a teacher interacts with and develops culturally responsive expectations for students? In what ways might novice teachers receive better support in their first years of teaching while implementing researched best practices for teaching?
Methods:
Interview, classroom observation
Setting:
was conducted at a Title I high school over the course of one academic year from September 2007 to June 2008
Key Findings:
- Tracie created a colorful, student-centered learning environment in her first classroom by posting student-made posters and writing samples on the walls beside collages of prominent figures from the Harlem Renaissance and poetry written by Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, and Tupac Shakur.
- Tracie arranged seats in a “U” formation, where all students could see one another and easily move into collaborative groups.
- Tracie’s classroom developed as a space where students were encouraged to share and discuss their thoughts and feelings about personal and academic experiences.
- Tracie’s teaching philosophy focused on developing a strong classroom community, a major component of culturally responsive teaching.
- In a personal conversation with the first author in late September, Tracie said, “If students did not feel comfortable in my class, then they may not take academic risks or discuss controversial topics.”
- As the school year progressed, Tracie fostered trust with her students by sharing her own high school and college experiences.
- When Tracie acknowledged that her students needed much more writing instruction, and her lessons became much more teacher-centered. She replaced the daily “Good News” sessions with grammar mini-lessons four days per week.
- Tracie hypothesized that in order to fulfill an “administrative quota for the inclusion of minority students in AP courses, this group of students was placed in this course. These students were set up to fail. They are not prepared to take this course.” Tracie protested, “I did not receive proper training, administrative support, or curriculum materials to enable me or my students to be successful in achieving the goals of this course.”
- Although she shared the same racial and ethnic identification as a majority of her students, the lack of congruence between Tracie’s own educational experiences and those of her students emerged. Tracie struggled with the realization that her students may not have the same attitude toward schooling and education as herself.
- Tracie initially expected to connect with her students from the beginning because they were members of the same racial and ethnic group. Ultimately, this was not the case.
- During the course of the school year, Tracie acknowledged the cultural incongruence, rural versus urban, that existed between she and her students, and she was able to act.
Implications:
- Novice teachers must negotiate their own identity, students’ sociocultural backgrounds, and curriculum in their search for culturally responsive teaching practice.
- Programs should challenge teacher candidates to develop self-awareness and explore biases through extensive prerequisite courses and clinical experiences in culturally, linguistically, economically, and ethnically diverse school settings prior to teaching.
- The authors recommend novice teachers be placed with strong mentors who are competent with culturally responsive teaching.
Limitations:
- This paper describes a case study of only a single teacher, so one must be careful about applying it to generalizations about culturally responsive teaching.