Teacher Study Group Can Change School Culture

Teaching is a tough profession. We know it. It comes with a lot of responsibilities and challenges. Nevertheless, teaching is a very rewarding life path. Perhaps equally as tough is teaching teachers to be culturally competent. For the last six months, I’ve led a book study at my school on Gary Howard’s We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know, which looks at cultural competency programs.

As part of my school’s cultural competency committee, I attended a workshop led by Howard. There was so much information that one of my administrators suggested I facilitate a staff book study on Howard’s work.

Teaching cultural competency can be a challenge. While most teachers have the children’s best interests at heart, we all need to be aware of and reminded about the importance of affirming our students’ differences. Administrative priorities, school culture, time issues and limited resources can be obstacles to developing cultural competence. At my school, however, the idea of a book study was embraced. We had monthly discussions, assigned readings and homework assignments.

Facilitating this type of discussion with faculty also requires understanding your audience. I found there were four types of teachers in my group, each requiring a different way to engage them in the process.

1) There’s your enthusiastic but overwhelmed first-year teacher. Many may have had diversity training in their teacher preparation programs and find the information redundant. Consider involving them by allowing them to share what they’ve learned in recent courses or field experiences.

2) Veteran teachers may also feel a sense of repetitiveness. Some may have taken a workshop on cultural diversity. Using veteran teachers’ expertise and varied classroom experiences can add to the discussions. These teachers can also be a resource, supporting new teachers and sharing how they’ve used culturally competent teaching to differentiate instruction and get students engaged.

3) Some teachers may have “checked out.” It is important to show this teacher how affirming students’ differences can address their specific situation. Perhaps they are having difficulty managing the classroom or engaging students.

4) Finally, there are the “choir” teachers. These teachers are advocates for promoting diversity. They understand the need and urgency of culturally responsive teaching. These teachers can support other teachers who may not be as connected to the work.

Cultural competency is a group effort and the entire school needs to be a part of the process no matter their enthusiasm level. Teaching Tolerance also offers a three-part professional development presentation on Assessing Culture [2]. The second part of the series addresses cultural competence [3].

I took on the task of promoting cultural competency without even considering my audience. I wish I had. I will definitely do it next school year. There are other challenges, but it will be difficult to address them if you are not in tune with your audience.

In his work, Gary Howard describes different phases of teaching cultural competency. The first phase is establishing tone and trust among your colleagues. I believe that understanding the various types of teachers you may encounter is the first step in establishing that tone and trust in your school. I’m also certain that having this continual, sometimes uncomfortable, conversation is vital to improving a school’s learning environment.

For any educator considering a discussion group, remember to acknowledge that we all have something to bring to the table. That is at the core of cultural competency—valuing and affirming differences. Even if an educator is burned out, other teachers can still learn from them. Cultural competency must be a collaborative and joint effort. Otherwise it cannot thrive.

English is a language arts teacher in Kentucky.