Cultural Responsive Teaching: Recognizing Your Culture

For many years in high school and college I remember learning about cultural differences. Because I am white, I often assumed that I didn't really have a culture because I was in the majority. Since beginning work, I have learned what it means to have a culture and how my culture impacts my students.

What are some aspects of culture that make a difference in our interactions with other people?

Belief System
Cultural belief systems are more than a religion. A belief system involves a conviction of truths usually passed down through generations. Many beliefs are so ingrained within us that we are not even aware of their existence. What we believe will impact how we interpret reality as we experience it and plan for the future. Some common examples of belief systems are one's views on religion, politics, and ideas about human behavior. Belief systems also involve views on social roles and responsibilities, attitudes towards other cultures, traditions, and expectations for behavior.

When I examine my own culture, I see that my belief system involves having faith in Christ Jesus as my savior and having moderate-conservative political views. I also value education and a hard work ethic.

Working within the public schools has taught me many new belief systems. It has not been without challenges. An area of growth for myself has been to adjust my teaching based on what I discover about my students' system of beliefs.

Family Dynamics
Although this seems as a more obvious aspect of culture, the nuances of family dynamics across cultures is not always so obvious. Difference in family dynamics may include gender roles within family, discipline practices, parenting style, forms of showing affection, and many more.

Upon analysis of my own family dynamics, I can see an even balance of power between male and female member. I also notice that my family feels free to show affection both through touch and words. Discipline practices and parenting styles that I grew up with varied from that of my friends. The environment was a little more strict than some of my classmates and more lax than others I knew.

By understanding my own experiences with family dynamics, I can start to explore how other people's families differ. Knowing how my students' families interact definitely changes the way that I approach IEP meetings. When meeting with families, try to observe how the parents show affection, discipline, and treat people of different genders. You may notice that some families honor their elders or that the father speaks and the mother stays quiet. This is key information for you to use with your student. Use it to adjust your practice so that it is meaningful and relatable to your student.


Concept of Time
This cultural difference seems to be one of the more well known. In America, many believe that time equals money. Our time is very precious and I know that I have heard comedians and radio commenters discuss how people they know from other countries who visit America comment on how much we rush around. Other cultures may have more of a cyclical view of time. For me, a meeting at 2:30 means we start at 2:30, but for others, they may show up at 2:35 or even 2:45. I think linearly when it comes to time. I must complete A, B, and C by this date.

Some cultures are generally more cyclical than others. You might have some families that are always late for IEP meetings or conferences. When working with families, I try to remind myself that their culture may be different from mine and that as long as we still manage to meet for the IEP, we are a-ok (even if it gives me a little anxiety).

Communication Norms
Finally! Of course we SLPs are experts in communication, or are we? I know quite a bit about communicating in North America in English, but other areas and languages are not my forte. What are some communication norms for the United States? We use eye contact. When meeting people, we may shake hands or use a salutation. It is ok for children to speak to their elders. You should smile when you talk to people. Tone of voice can change the meaning of what is said. When addressing people, you may use their first name or call them Mr. or Mrs. From my experience it was ok to beckon for students to come toward you.

These norms are not true for all cultures. Some Asian cultures view eye contact as a form of disrespect. So the next time, you are evaluating a child for Autism, make sure to note if their family makes eye contact. If they are taught implicitly to avoid eye contact, it may not be Autism.

In the Karen culture, people do not beckon to each other by curling their index finger back and forth. This is considered rude. When picking up a student from a classroom, think about how you get their attention. How will they understand the gesture you use?

Have you ever had a student call you "teacher?" They may have forgotten your name, but they may also be showing respect. In certain cultures, it is disrespectful to call a teacher by their name. Rather, they call the you "teacher" because it shows they are respecting what you are doing and placing themselves in the position of a learner.

What are some cultural differences you have noticed in the families with whom you work?

Cuturally Responsive Teaching: The Basics

Over the past several years, schools have been completing training around culturally responsive teaching. But what does culturally responsive teaching entail? Over the next several weeks, I will be posting a blog series focused on how general and special education teachers as well as speech language pathologists and all school staff can improve their cultural responsiveness within the classroom. Let's start with some basics.

According to Merriam Webster, culture is knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes, hierarchies, religion, perspective of time, roles, and concepts acquired by a group of people. These concepts are often formed over the course of multiple generations in a group or individual efforts and experiences. Children often emulate the culture of their family.

America has always been called "the great melting pot" because of the diversity of races, ethnicities, and cultures of the people. Granted, America's history has not always been kind to diversity. This history carries a weight into the present and future. News reports frequently point to continued prejudice. As professionals in the school system, we have a unique opportunity to make a difference for our students by being culturally responsive.

We know how diverse our schools, cities, and country are, but what does it mean to be a culturally responsive teacher?

According to the National Education Association, cultural competence is the ability to successfully communicate and empathize with people from diverse cultures and incomes. We need these skills to help our students learn as much as they can each year. What are some steps to building a culturally responsive classroom?

1. Recognize your own cultural norms and bias.
2. Grow your cultural diversity knowledge base.
3. Create an environment for students to engage in cultural conversations.
4. Provide culturally responsive learning opportunities.

Over the next 4 weeks, I will be exploring my own learning of cultural competency and sharing ways to improve all teaching in the area of cultural responsiveness.

Confessions of a Clinical Fellow Supervisor

Just a few years ago, I began my job as a speech language pathologist in a public school. I was excited and full of energy, but let's be honest, I was also terrified! Even though I travelled between schools, I had the blessing of having another SLP at each site. One was close to my age, and the other was a seasoned SLP with a wealth of knowledge. My supervisor was the latter and I am so grateful to her for all she did. She gave me ideas, encouraged me, gave feedback, and even comforted me when I cried due to being overwhelmed.

Only 3 years later, I find myself supervising my first clinical fellow (CF). These are my confessions:

I was a little scared.
Mostly I was afraid that I wouldn't be a good supervisor, but I was also afraid that my CF would need a lot of coaching. I can say with confidence that my CF is amazing! Throughout the year, she has taught me just as much (if not more) than I have taught her.

It takes time.
Being a mentor does take time out of my day. We share an office 2.5 days a week and I definitely get less done on those days. Does that mean I'm not productive? Not at all! During those times, we have great discussions about therapy, education, and our lives. Many SLPs are the only one in the building or even the district. I am blessed to have someone to help me tone down my crazy ideas or those fiery emails I want to send.

You know more than you think.
One of the scariest parts during my CF year was learning all of the district policies, due process procedures, who to contact, and general ins an outs. In your first year at a school you learn how to conduct evals, host IEP meetings, and yes, run the copy machine. When I found out I would be working with a CF, I thought that there was no way I'd be able to help her learn all the procedures she would need to know. To my surprise I have been able to answer almost all her questions. If I can't answer them, I look it up or simply say "I don't know" and try to find the person who does know. I think sometimes it's hard to admit we don't know everything, but honestly, there's SO MUCH for us to know. I have grown in my ability to problem solve and find answers that I don't already know.

I wouldn't trade the experience.
Have I been the perfect CF supervisor? Certainly not. Have I learned? Yes. I have also had the opportunity to see my CF grow and flourish throughout the year. As the year has progressed, I've seen her confidence grow along with her skills.

My experience has been phenomenal. I know not all CF experiences are like mine. My take away from this year has been that even though I am still new, still learning, and still growing, I have new knowledge and confidence.

Have you ever supervised a CF before? What was your experience like?

App Review: The Basic Concepts Skills Screener

Smarty Ears has many apps for speech and language therapy. This year, I was assessing a student for basic concepts, but I didn't have access to the BOEHM and I wanted more information than I got from the CELF. I searched the app store and found Smarty Ears' Basic Concepts Skills Screener.
*Disclaimer: I was not provided this app, but Smarty Ears has provided a free copy of the app for a giveaway. The views expressed are solely my own*

The Basic Concepts Skill Screener, BCSS for short, has 2 options for screening. There is a quick screener with 30 items and a full screener with 79 items. The BCSS measures comparative, quantitative, spatial, and temporal concepts.


During the screening, students are shown 4 similar pictures and a sentence written below is read aloud. The student touches the picture and then selects "next" to move to the next screen. If a student presses "next" before selecting an answer, an error message appears. This feature is very helpful for my students who are impulsive.

Other features include a notes tab for clinician use and the ability to change the selected item before moving to the next item if a mistake was made. If you can't finish the screening in one sitting, you have the option to save the test and continue later.


Finally, my favorite part of this app is the report it generates. The report includes lists of correct and incorrect concepts. The concepts are further broken down by type. Tables report the percentage of items for each concept type, as well as whether the skill has been achieved, is emerging, or not achieved. At the end of the report, there is a color coded visual for each concept type and age of acquisition. The best part about the report is that you can send it via email to a colleague or even yourself.

Overall, I really liked this app. I use it primarily with my younger students (ages 3-8), however, it can be used for older students to measure progress or current knowledge of basic concepts.

What I liked:

• The app is intuitive and easy to use.
• It is useful to assess pre and post interventions, to determine if further assessment is necessary, or to support standardized testing measures.
• The generated report is detailed and clear.
• The pictures are simple, clear, and colorful.
• Students hear a "ding" and see a swirl when they select an item, regardless if it is correct or incorrect.
• In the corner, there is a counter that tells you how many items have been completed

What I would change:

• There isn't currently a way to have the iPad repeat an item. If a student needs a repetition of the direction, you have to read it to them.
• Nothing else really. There are only 2 languages available at this time (English and Portuguese) so if you want to screen in other languages, it is not included in this app.

Basic Concepts Skills Screener is available on the app store for $29.99. If you are looking for an app to help you measure basic concepts for students on your caseload, check it out. There are tutorials and videos on the Smarty Ears website as well.

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to spend a few minutes on my blog. If you're anything like me, you have a long day of work and then go home, maybe work out, make dinner for your family, do some more work, do house work, and go to bed. Wake up and repeat.

Dear reader, you are amazing. Whether you are an SLP, teacher, stay-at-home-parent, CEO, or just an amazing person you make a difference.

I want to tell you a secret. Sometimes, I'm afraid to write a blog post. I look around the internet and see so many blogs out there about speech therapy and wonder if my posts are just disappearing into the cloud. So, why do I keep writing?

1. I love to write. I always dreamed of being a novelist, but that is highly unlikely. I don't have enough discipline. I also really enjoy writing poetry.

2. You inspire me. Yes, you. I want to solve problems. I want to inspire and be inspired by others.

3. I want to share my journey. Being human is not always easy. Sometimes it's tempting to compare myself to others, and many times I do. Being honest with you and myself about this crazy journey called life is freeing. Sometimes I share the high points and sometimes I share the low points. My goal is to share this journey in its truth and reveal what's behind the curtain of the internet - a person.

That is why I keep writing. My hope is that you can relate to one or many of my posts. Keep growing, keep reading, keep inspiring.

Love,