Reflection: Preparing Teachers Who Can Teach Everyone's Children

           This article discussed specific characteristics that describe effective teachers who can teach students from all backgrounds. It was interesting to read the article written from the perspective of higher education programs and their role to teach teacher candidates. While reading, a few key points stuck out to me: culturally responsive teaching, using self-knowledge to change, communication and collaboration skills, and management skills.

            Culturally responsive teaching believes that all students can learn. I really appreciated how the article defined culturally responsive teaching. The author said that teachers must hold high expectations for all students and believe that they can all learn; teachers must also be able to connect to the families and build a community of learners in the classroom; teachers must continually be learning and change their approaches to instruction in order to meet all the needs in the classroom; teachers must know students’ skills and use them in teaching; and finally teachers must be, “introspective about themselves,” and monitor their beliefs and actions in the classroom. I want to be culturally responsive and make sure that I am always evaluating myself and making sure that I not only believe but also take action on what makes a teacher culturally responsive.

            A teacher also needs to be able to understand how their knowledge and beliefs impact their teaching. I need to know how my ethnicity, language, and culture influence how I teach and are able to relate to my students. I need to make sure that I can still communicate and reach students despite differences. The article says that this can be done by making sure that teachers are open-minded about their mistakes and are willing to learn from them to become more effective, and that teachers need to be responsible in holding themselves accountable for their teaching.

            Communication and collaboration skills are key to build trust and commitment despite ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, or language differences. I naturally was able to easily collaborate with my colleagues but it was much harder to communicate and collaborate with parents and guardians. In the future I want to be able to build a close partnership with families so that we both may have the students achievement as a goal.

            Management skills are key to have a successful learning environment. The article states that management skills are developed during field experiences. During my student teaching I learned many management skills but this is an area that I hope to improve in. The article says that teachers with good management skills have the students involved in learning and in the decision making process; the students ideas are used in order to create a democratic classroom.