Culturally sensitive teaching: Exploring the developmental process.

摘要

One of the biggest challenges facing teachers is the education of students who are not proficient in the language of the schools they attend. The knowledge and skills teachers need to bridge the linguistic and cultural differences are seldom included in initial teacher preparation programs. This leaves in-service professional development to introduce and facilitate changes in practice that may lead to more effective instruction across language and culture differences.; This is a mixed methods, 3 year study designed to explore the development of cultural sensitivity by K--12 teachers, participating in professional development on English language learners. This study identifies how teachers define cultural sensitivity and describe the influence of culture on their teaching. It also explores the process of changing practices and beliefs (Fullan, 2001) as teachers reflect on their work with students learning English and content skills simultaneously. Methods include open-ended questionnaires, focus group and individual interviews, and the Intercultural Development Inventory (Bennett & Hammer, 2002).; Results from this study show professional development experiences are enhanced through cohorts of learners, especially school-based cohorts with administrative support. Teachers identify the SIOP Model (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2004) as influential in changing their teaching, particularly the writing of language and content objectives and incorporating visuals to support content concepts. Teachers spoke of increasing their cultural awareness and empathy for students learning English which led to significant changes in how teachers defined their jobs, interacted with students, and assumed responsibility for scaffolding instruction.; Self-awareness was identified as an essential component for culturally sensitive teaching. Teachers also recognized teaching in a culturally sensitive manner requires greater knowledge about students---culture and background, as well as language and academic skills. The ability to provide explicit examples of instructional adjustments for cultural and linguistic differences appears to correspond with a teacher's intercultural development score.