All students have life experiences that can be
connected to school learning. Unfortunately, sometimes teachers view families
with limited economic resources as also being poor in terms of the quality of
experiences they provide for their child. That is only true if we are blind to
the connections between the curriculum and students’ personal experiences.
In the lounge and the PLC room, poverty
surfaces as an explanation for low student achievement. Deficit views of children creep in. Students’
out-of-school experiences sometimes become excuses for underachievement rather
than resources for learning. When I hear
this kind of language creep in, I squirm and wonder when to say something and
what to say. We don’t want this kind of
talk to continue. It erodes teachers’ efficacy and trickles down to students.
I’ve decided that this kind of talking and
thinking can’t go unaddressed. Teachers have to be able to recognize and face their
own paradigms before they can change them. When I face this issue head on, I often start
with a read aloud (yes, teachers like read-alouds, too!) of a book like Fly Away Home, by Eve Bunting or Those Shoes, by Maribeth Boelts. Then we
make lists of the knowledge that the main characters in these books
possess. From there, it’s easy to talk
about the funds of knowledge our own students bring to school.
Children learn collaboration through
working and playing together. They learn creativity by finding a new use for
old objects. They learn the value of things by working or waiting for them.
Maybe knowing how to read the bus schedule will help them with those elapsed
time problems in math class. Maybe their
experiences at the laundromat taught them how many quarters make $2.00. We
don’t wish poverty on anyone, but we can see all students’ experiences as additive,
not subtractive. We can help teachers
build on the experiences that students bring to classrooms, seeing the
interconnectedness of the multiple sites of learning that children navigate.
Compassion shouldn’t become pious pity that minimizes what children have to
offer.
What gems from students’ background
knowledge can you connect to the curriculum?
Students will see the richness of their own experiences as teachers draw
upon them as classroom resources. Helping teachers mine these resources
supports instruction that is rich and meaningful.
This week, you might want to take a look at:
Here are links for Fly Away
Home and Those
Shoes, mentioned above.
Personal storytelling to launch a
narrative unit:
Coaching outstanding teachers:
How to coach a cranky teacher:
Six strategies for teaching math
throughout the day in early-childhood classrooms:
That’s
it for this week. Happy Coaching!
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