Week 27 Reflection

Week 27 Reflection: Examine how indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness are informing the way you are taking action

As a languages teacher the topic of cultural responsiveness is close to the heart. Our subject area is all about embracing different cultures and values and teaching others to be open towards new ideas and ways of thinking. Much importance is placed on intercultural competence, the ability to develop targeted knowledge, skills and attitudes that lead to visible behaviour and communication that are both effective and appropriate in intercultural interactions. (Deardorff, 2006). This is the idea that we must never impose our own cultural values on someone but seek to take steps towards the other culture, to embrace it and to foster a relationship that does not place presupposed values on another. Milne (2017) reflects this when saying that culturally sustaining practice has to take into account how to prepare students to be global citizens. In order to be able to make these steps towards other cultures and values we first must focus on relationships and this is where whakawhanaungatanga has a prominent role.  Effective communication has its foundation in the strength of a relationship.

One of the issues with intercultural competence and the notion of cultural intelligence is that it suggests an endpoint, a stage where competency is achieved. Foronda (2016) discusses the notion of cultural humility, which suggests a lifelong learning process. Cultural humility’s key attributes are openness, self awareness, egoless, supportive interactions and, self-reflection and critique. The proposed models of cultural responsiveness, whilst totally valid, do however seem to propose finite targets or measures. Being culturally humble suggests a never-ending journey.

Using Rolfe’s model I will look at how my inquiry has been informed by indigenous knowledge and culturally responsive pedagogy with regards to human resources. I will use Asil’s Culturally Repsonsive practice for Māori and will focus on whanaungatanga.

• What: Human resources, which I would define as my colleagues in the languages department and my students, are at the heart of my inquiry. Whanaungatanga, the fostering of relationships and the way I value student contributions and those of my colleagues is essential. (see Appendix 1)

• So what: The successful outcome of my inquiry will be to have measured in some way the level of engagement that students have with gamified digital tools. In order to measure this I have to develop a relationship with my students so that they feel that they can speak openly about what we are doing. This is meeting W4 & W5, students need to know that they feel valued and that they have a voice that will be heard. The data that they will be giving me through surveys and focus groups will be used to enhance the collective learning experience. I value the voice of my maori and pasifika students and will actively seek to include this. My relationships with my colleagues are also vital as, if I am going to bring about any change across the department, then I need to ensure that these are both supportive and trusting.

• What next: The next step for me will be to look at how I can involve the wider community in my inquiry. I will need to share my findings so that others can understand what it is that I am trying to do and why I am doing it. This will be not only for colleagues but for whānau. This will also tie into one of the focuses of our kahui ako.

Appendix 1: Taken from Asil (2017) – A school based measure of culturally responsive practices)

Whanaungatanga – (Building relationships)
W1	Teachers get to know all students and learn about their family context
W2	Staff successfully build strong relationships with Māori students and their whānau, having implemented ideas from the school’s whānau group
W3	Tuakana/teina relationships are in place throughout the school
W4	Māori students know their teachers care about them and have high expectations for them, and teachers communicate this to them
W5	Staff provide opportunities in class for students to use their prior knowledge and experiences and to share their worldviews and knowledge in ways that enhance learning

References:

Asil, M. (2017). A School-Based Measure of Culturally Responsive Practices. Frontiers in Education 2(17), 1-7. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2017.00017

Deardorff, D. K. (2006) , The Identification and Assessment of Intercultural Competence as a Student Outcome of Internationalization at Institutions of Higher Education in the United States, Journal of Studies in International Education 10:241-266

Foronda, C., Baptise, D., Reinholdt, M., Ousman, K. (2016),  Cultural Humility: a concept analysis, Journal of Transcultural Nursing 2016, Vol. 27(3) 210–217

Milne, A.(2017), Coloring in the white spaces: reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.