Moving toward a Culturally Competent Model of Education: Preliminary Results of a Study of Culturally Responsive Teaching in an American Indian Community

IntroductionIt was around Thanksgiving and it was story time. After reading a book the librarian followed up by saying, Did you know that the Pilgrims would have starved to death if the Native Americans hadn't brought them food and taught them how to plant and grow crops? The children shook their heads back and forth that they didn't know this. About that time, one little Native American boy jumped up and said, the heroes! We're the heroes!Every child needs to know that his or her personal culture is valued. A critical element of education is Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) that is grounded in the principle that culture influences the way students learn. This pedagogy acknowledges and affirms students' cultures as assets in curriculum development and classroom instruction (Gay, 2010; Hollins, 2011; Nieto, 2010). CRT takes the perceived stigma of shame away from culturally diverse students, and teaches them to be proud of their ethnic identities and backgrounds (Gay, 2010). CRT results in academic achievement because teaching content is given relevance through cultural context (Gollnick & Chin, 2013).CRT distinguishes between curriculum 'infusion' and curriculum 'transformation'. Curriculum infusion occurs when an isolated lesson or unit of study is added to the curriculum. For instance a single lesson about female explorers added to social studies curriculum. The single lesson is viewed as a token response, or after-thought (Morey & Kitano, 1997). Transformation, on the other hand, weaves culture throughout the curriculum, making the content culturally meaningful at all levels. When teachers transform, curriculum and instruction paradigm shifts occur and the students view course content from a variety of different perspectives (Banks, 2014).In this early case study, The Purnell Model for Cultural Competence (Purnell, 2002) was chosen as the basis for transforming library media curriculum into a CRT curriculum and pedagogy. Results shared in this study are preliminary and based on an ongoing research study. The Purnell Model began as an assessment tool for preservice nurses and has since transformed into a model meant to help health care professionals consciously adapt their practices in a culturally consistent manner, assuring better care for their patients. The Purnell Model follows nineteen major assumptions regarding important concepts of cultural awareness, including: One culture is not better than another culture; they are just different (Purnell, 2002 pg. 193). Each assumption is broad in perspective, promoting awareness of the broad picture of cultural awareness.Not only is cultural awareness vital in health care professions, but it is also just as critical in educational professions. According to the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics, enrollment of white students in preschool to grade 12 decreased from 28.7 million to 25.6 million from 2001- 2011. Hispanic enrolment increased from 17 to 24 percent of the total public school population, and Asian/Pacific Islander showed a 1 percent increase (Kena et al., 2014). As the cultural landscape of American classrooms change, educators have a responsibility to meet the needs of all students by embracing culturally competent teaching models.Cultural Competence Project: American Indian FocusSince teacher librarians serve at the core of the school curriculum, one way to create culturally competent educators is to educate teacher librarians to address diversity differently. Professionally-trained teacher librarians act not only as facilitators in developing student literacy skills, but also serve as embedded instructional leaders for the training and support of other educators (Lance, 2001). When they possess the knowledge necessary to effectively address diversity needs through curricular transformation (i.e., developing curriculum through the lens of culture, not simply content) teacher librarians can serve as a catalyst for change throughout the system. …

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