Learning Partner Web Conference

In discussion with my learning partner, Kimberly, I learned how recognizing and  adapting to the cultural needs, backgrounds and resources brought to the class by each of our students, can help us to provide diverse instruction. The inclusion of cultural differences and approaches is vital to our success as instructors.

These cultural differences don't need to be derived from the participants being from different countries. The use of online tools and resources such as Skype and Facebook have required both of us to leap forward and do things in a new and totally different way than what we are accustomed to. In the development of our own course materials we realize that we must be aware that the instructions as well as the tools, must be familiar to our students or we need to structure our lessons to include the basics of how to use the new tools and resources in a way that ensures the likelihood of the students succeeding. The environments of our personal trade backgrounds are such that there is always room to include input from our students in our learning plans and teaching methods. Whether it be the inclusion of a new spice in a recipe for food cooked in Kimberly's class, or the apprentices learning a different way of laying out the wiring in a building in my classes, there is always a need for cultural awareness in the learning styles and needs of our students.

Trends in Multicultural Learning Settings
 
 In the same way that Canada is experiencing an influx of immigrant workers coming to fill the void created by the increasing numbers of resident trades workers retiring, so too will our classes fill with those same new workers advancing their educations.  These new students will be encouraged to enroll in online learning, usually due to the same scheduling restrictions experienced by those presently involved in these online programs.

It will be up to the instructors of these programs to adapt to the diversity of students' levels of understanding when they are composing their curriculum and rubrics. This article explains one area of concern and offers suggestions as to how confusion of the students may be reduced by using a more culturally sensitive approach to communicating instructions. While the main focus of the article is in addressing the language of the course rubric, the same principles apply with the course instructional materials as well. Where students from some cultures and learning backgrounds will have a clear vision of the intent of the instructor's directions, others may struggle with those same instructions unless some form of translation or interpretive explanation is given.

This trend toward fulfilling the requirements of the culturally diverse classroom will be an ongoing one that is fed not only by the needs of new students but also by the need to keep up with the technology of the day by the instructor. This will hopefully help reduce the culture-based communication gap between instructors and their students.

Cultural Sensitivity Needed In Online Discussion Rubric Language

Roles of the Adult Educator
 
In regard to the Roles of the Adult Educator I found that this article shed some light on the true diversity of the students. We as educators must adapt not only our instructional methods and material but also modify our personal perceptions and prejudices. The points made regarding these perceptions and prejudices help us to conform to the needs of our multicultural classrooms, regardless of the culture, race or environmental situation.

Irish and Scrubb (2012) state that "A critical analysis of one's own cultural assumptions is foundational to culturally-responsive teaching and learning." Without analyzing through reflection, educators leave themselves open to shortcomings in instruction resulting from their own misconceptions or stereotypes that they direct toward their students. A simplified example of this is how many people, when trying to communicate with someone whose native language is different from their own, have a tendency to raise their voices. In cultures where raising your voice is only done in instances where the speaker is either angry or demeaning, this tendency of speaking louder can be misinterpreted easily for being rude or angry toward the student. This ultimately results in a loss of respect for the instructor by the student or worse, the student perceiving that the instructor doesn't respect them. In construction trades training it is easy to assume that basic construction skills are universal. This is not the case when the student has already begun learning in another country where resources, methods and environments are different from what we have here in Canada. If a worker who has come from Hawaii were to be instructed prepare a wood-framed wall for installation of drywall, he would likely leave out the steps of adding insulation or vapour barrier sheeting, since insulating a structure is not required on Hawaii. Being aware of such differences in the background of our students, is just one portion of the role we play as instructor in our diverse classrooms.


Five Competencies for Culturally Competent Teaching and Learning