Saline Holds Culturally Responsive Instruction Information Series

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Saline is formalizing how to utilize the long-standing practice of using culturally responsive instruction in its curriculum. To explain what culturally responsive instruction is, why it is important and how it will be utilized, SAS’s consultant for culturally responsive instruction Channon Washington is holding its parent information series to walk parents through the concept.

The gist of this approach to instruction is that everybody has a different experience in life and that in order to best teach a student, it behooves the school district to listen to what their experiences are and modify the curriculum to reflect that, in order to help the student, understand what is being taught. This has been done widely in SAS for years, but now the district is trying to formalize it.

Channon Washington.

It is also intended to be equitable and inclusive; setting up students to be able to navigate a diverse world in a sensitive and constructive way from grade school on up through their lives. Last year’s census
found that the United States is more diverse than ever and is projected to only get more so.

“Our kids are going to live in the most diverse United States of America in the history of the United States of America. Public educators have an obligation to prepare kids for the world that they are going to live in, not the one where their grandparents lived in,” Washington said.

Parents met in the Liberty School for one of two in person sessions with Washington, Wednesday evening. There will be another meeting held over Zoom, Thursday, at 6:00 p.m.

Washington said that there are eight different “characteristics” that guide culturally responsive instruction. When properly done, Washington said that the curriculum should be validating; meaning that it “legitimizes ethnic identities” and “connects school to home experiences and students’ cultural realities;” multidimensional in curriculum; comprehensive and inclusive. Washington also said that the curriculum should be empowering, normative, ethical, comprehensive and inclusive.

“I appreciate that the Saline Area Schools is doing their very best to be more culturally responsive in their curriculum. It sounds like they are very much focusing on developing their staff to understand and do whatever is important for curriculum. I found the parent information series today to be enlightening and informative. Hopefully it’s helpful,” attendee Jean Swicher said.

Parents weren’t able to receive answers to questions immediately. Washington says that rather than answering them off the cuff, she wants to collect questions from parents and find answers for them backed up by academic research. Parents will be able to get more information with a Q & A session at an undetermined date in January.

“This is not what I expected. I expected to learn more about what is actually happening in the classrooms,” Rebecca Godek. “I’m not for or against it. I’m here because I have a Korean adopted daughter. I feel that we’re almost becoming a little more racist, I feel, with my daughter; in terms of looking around a classroom and seeing how people are different. She was adopted and taken away from her heritage. It is not something that she is comfortable speaking about. So I am here to see how they handle situations like that.”

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