Caring for Students
Zaretta Hammond, a professional development specialist, said that “the foundation of culturally responsive instruction is not technical, but relational. It’s about authentic caring .” (Hammond, 2013). Truly, culturally responsive teaching will never exist without its most important element which is “caring”. One can never talk of being a culturally responsive teaching in an all technical way. Because the concept of culturally responsive teaching requires understanding the culture of their students to be used in the classrooms, it follows that the teacher must be interested to understand the circumstances of his students. In doing so, the “care factor” must exist.
Even if a teacher is fully equipped with trainings on culturally responsive teaching but doesn’t have concern to the welfare of its students or cannot connect to its students then those trainings are nothing compared to a responsive. A student needs to feel the sense of belongingness to be motivated. The simple act of digging the background of particular students for example and talking to the parents of students as a way of gaining information about the student for the teacher to understand his behavior and looking for a teaching style that suits the student will show that the teacher cares and is doing an extra mile to reach out to the student which is exactly what culturally responsive teaching is (Alliance.brown.edu). If students feel compassion, or if they feel that someone comprehends them and is concern about what they do, their outlook could change.
In the world of a student with special needs, sometimes they hate to see someone who pities them. However, if they feel that they are cared for and feel that they are important people who can do something; they will be able to be motivated and would be more productive. Their learning environment would be more healthy and interactive because they would feel that they belong. As Hammond (2013) puts it, “Becoming culturally responsive starts with showing genuine caring that recognizes the unique gifts and talents of every child, particularly when that child doesn’t look like you.”
References:
Intime.uni.edu (2013). Culturally Responsive Caring . Retrieved from http://www.intime.uni.edu/multiculture/curriculum/culture/caring.htm
Alliance.brown.edu (2013). Principles for Culturally Responsive Teaching . Retrieved from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crt-principles.shtml
Hammond, Zarreta (2013). Culturally Responsive Teaching Starts with Real Caring. Retrieved from http://www.tolerance.org/blog/cultural-responsiveness-starts-real-caring
