The resources below address the following question:
What are culture-based differences in thinking and learning and what are the implications for instructional practice?
The resources and comments on information presented in the resources are intended to affect thinking and practice. These resources are from the public domain.
The resources and reflections on this page will be updated periodically. Please visit us again!
Resource: Think Creative? Think People, and Culture…
Reflection: This blog is a good reminder that there are culture-based differences in thinking and learning. Research on cultural variation, such as that presented in the blog, informs how we think about and address diversity, and it has implications for how we consider and leverage what our students may bring to the learning situation, how we structure learning activities, and the validity of our understanding of learning outcomes.
https://blogs.ubc.ca/psychology/2015/07/03/think-creative-think-people-and-culture/
Resource: You Might Be Undermining Your Diversity Efforts Without Even Knowing It
Reflection: When we address “diversity,” we must also think about “inclusion” and “equity.” This article focuses on business practices, but the points made are relevant to teacher and administrator professional development, and school and classroom structures and practices.
https://www.fastcompany.com/3063184/6-ways-you-could-be-undermining-your-diversity-efforts-without-even-knowing-it
Resource: How Teachers Can See Students’ Identities as Learning Strengths
Reflection: Valuing and leveraging strengths associated with identity, as reflective of a student’s ethnic or racial background, is important and a good start to engaging students in learning. However, identity, as reflective of “culture” in a broad sense, to include for example, socio-economic status, gender, and first language, is essential in promoting agency and other critical factors that facilitate student learning and achievement.
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/45524/how-teachers-can-see-students-identities-as-learning-strengths
Resource: When Kids Have Structure for Thinking, Better Learning Emerges
Reflection: We have tens of thousands of thoughts each day, and research supports metacognition—thinking about, monitoring, and directing thinking—in facilitating learning. Providing structure and strategies that nurture meta-strategic thinkers and promote a culture of thinking can contribute to the development of learner agency and identity. This also is an opportunity to consider our diverse learners’ culture-based orientations and learning styles to more personalize and engage our learners in active and productive learning.
Resource: A Strength-Based Approach to Teaching ESL
Reflection: A good addition to conversations about strength-based instruction, addressing diversity, and promoting inclusion. This piece also presents principles that are relevant to and have implications for facilitating development of student identity, voice, and agency, which can support student ownership of learning. It’s worth underscoring that recognizing and leveraging knowledge and skills students bring to the learning situation enables educators to purposefully build on such strengths and effectively address gaps–this is consistent with good instructional practice.
Resource: 3 Ways to Encourage Ownership of Learning
Reflection: Choice, voice, and leadership are important in facilitating ownership of learning. Consider also: choices are relevant and purposeful, and guidance is provided to help students discern among choices; opportunities are leveraged regularly to develop student voice, for example, through engagement in evaluation and feedback; and students setting and being responsible for achieving goals (e.g., in a project-based learning activity) to help develop leadership. Doing so in a way that is sensitive to our students’ diverse backgrounds and learning styles also is critical.
Resource: What Do We Really Mean When We Say ‘Personalized Learning’?
Reflection: “Personalization” and “personalized learning”–we need to have a clearer understanding of what these terms mean and what they “look like” in practice. Providing choice is important, but what are the *meaningful options* from which students should be able to choose? And, how can we effectively guide choices (e.g., identifying risk, weighing pros/cons or trade-offs, purposefulness)?
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/39142/what-do-we-really-mean-when-we-say-personalized-learning