Tapping the `Genius of Latino Children

Presented by Javier San Román, Pre-K through 12 Specialist

Educación

Why do you work at things that you are never going to see completed? Better to work in the fields, which will give you a crop in months, and not in the planting of trees that will be large when you have already died." "You are a fool or crazy, because you work for nothing.”

The crazy man defended himself and said: "Yes, it is true, I am not going to see these trees full grown, full of branches, leaves and birds, nor will my eyes see children playing under their shade. But, if all of us work just for the present and for just the following day: who will plant the trees that our descendents are going to need, in order to have shelter, comfort, and joy?"

Source: Mayan oral tradition

Do you sometime have days when everything flows with you and you just can't seem to say or do anything wrong? This was the power of my two grandmothers, Doña Guadalupe and Doña Margarita. This is also what my dad began teaching me on the night he passed over to the spirit world. No matter what catastrophe came his way, his life always seemed blessed and full of magic.

-VictorVillaseñor, acclaimed Mexican

American author

Tools of Genius

California Population,1990-2050

57 5654 53 51.5

47

39

2926

2326 27 28 29 30

33

39

4750

54

7 7 7 7 7 6

11 12 13 13 13 12

1.9 2 2 2 2 2

34

43

7 7 7 7 7

111110109

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050

Per

cent

of

Tot

al P

opul

atio

n

White

Latino

Af Am

Asian

Multirace

Source: Population Projections, Department of Finance, State of California, 2004

Public Education and the Latino Experience

The Fight Against Segregation in the 30’s, 40’s, & 50’s -ACCESS

Struggle for Justice and Fairness in Education

in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 00’s, and 10’s -EQUITY

School Funding & Race To The Top in the 10’s- ADEQUACY

Subtractive Schooling

DeVillar (1994) argues that U.S.-born, Latino “minority” youth are seen by schools and society as lacking the linguistic, cultural, moral, and intellectual traits the assimilationist curriculum demands. These students are perceived as requiring ever more cultural assimilation and resocialization--as if the potency of the initial treatments somehow systematically fades.

Access, Equity, and Adequacy in Gifted Education

Statistics show that African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are underrepresented by some 50 to 70% (Elementary and Secondary Schools Civil Rights Survey, 2002; U.S. Department of Education, 1993).

According to the Office for Civil Rights, a discrepancy of 20% or more is unacceptable and may indicate biases in instruments, policies, procedures, and practices (Ford & Frazier Trotman, 2001)

[No culture or group has a monopoly on giftedness. Disparities undermine the validity of giftedness and throw into doubt whether we are talking about privilege or ability.]

Source: Elementary and Secondary Schools Civil Rights Survey, 2002

Think-Pair-Share

Why do these disparities exist in the identification of Latino students?

What are some ways that we can or are rectifying this situation?

Pillars of CRRE for Mexican American/Latino Students

Culturally Relevant and Responsive Education for Mexican American/Latino Students

Educación Flor y Canto

Educación

Although educación has implications for pedagogy, it is first a foundational cultural construct that provides instructions on how one should live in the world. With its emphasis on respect, responsibility, and sociality, it provides a benchmark against which all humans are to be judged, formally educated or not.

Dr. Angela Valenzuela-Subtractive Schooling: US Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring

In Xochitl In Cuicatl (Flor y Canto)

Culture and Cognition

Schools of Thought

Linguistic relativity-early 20th century (Sapir Wharf Hypothesis)

Universalism-mid-20th century Piaget & Vygotsky

Cognitive/Learning Styles-70’s-90’s (field dependent vs field sensitive/dependent

Repertoires of Practice-Gutierrez & Rogoff (present)

Seminal Work on Culture to Cognition

(Ramirez & Castañeda, 1974)

Validation and NegationField Independent Style-Is validated by

traditional public education

Perceive Sequentially

Experience information in a segmented fashion

Impose structure or restrictions on information

Learn social material only as an intentional task

Develop interest in concepts for their own sake

Provide for self-structure

Ignore or pay little attention to criticism

Field Sensitive/Dependent-is typically negated by traditional public education

Perceive globally

Experience information holistically

Make broad general distinctions between concepts

See relationships

Learn material best with social content

Attend best to material relevant to their own experience

Require an organizational framework

Internalize criticism(Dembo, 1988)

Looking at Cultural Factors as Repertoires of Practice

We must move beyond the assumption that cultural communities are static and that general traits of individuals are attributable categorically to ethnic-group membership (Gutierrez & Rogoff, 2003).

Individuals’ and groups’ experience in activities not their traits-become the focus of a cultural analysis.

These socially and culturally organized proclivities are referred to as Repertoires of Practice (ROP’s).

Identifying ROP’s

As teachers we must focus our analyses on what takes hold as youth move within and across tasks, contexts, and spatial, linguistic, and sociocultural borders.

This allows us to attend to successful pathways and contextual supports that promote youth’s literacy and learning.

Observed regularities in students’ practices could then be attributed to their history of participation in familiar cultural activities (repertoires of practice).

California Department of Education PD & Curriculum Support Division

Core Components-RtI

A Cohesive RtI process integrates resources from general education, categorical programs and special education into a comprehensive system of core instruction and interventions to benefit every student. The following core components are critical to the full implementation

1. High-quality classroom instruction. Students receive high-quality culturally relevant, standards-based instruction in their classroom setting by highly qualified teachers.

2. Research-based instruction. The instruction that is provided within the classroom is culturally responsive and has been demonstrated to be effective through scientific research.

Source: PD & Curriculum Support Division, CDE: 916-323-6440

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction is an instructional concept that maximizes learning for ALL students—regardless of skill level or background

Differentiation modifies: content, process, and product

When a teacher differentiates instruction, he or she uses the best teaching practices and strategies to create different pathways that respond to the needs of diverse learners.

Tomlinson, 2003

Learning Cycle in and Decision Factors in Differentiated Instruction

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Culturally Relevant and Responsive Education (CRRE) is defined as adjusting how we teach to the needs and experiences of students by using their cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles to make learning encounters more relevant and effective for them. The research [continuously] affirms that culture, teaching, and learning are interconnected and that school achievement increases to the extent that teaching employs the cultural referents of the students to whom it is directed (Gay, 2000).

Geneva Gay

Learning Cycle in and Decision Factors in Differentiated Instruction

Culturally Relevant & Responsive Education

Curriculum: Reshaping the curriculum to make it relevant

Student:Repertoires of Practice & Funds of Knowledge (Difference not Deficit!)

Content: Planning considers students’ funds of knowledge for relevancy

Process:-Plans for ROPs -Culturally Responsive

Assessment of Content: Provides for a variety of ways to demonstrate mastery

SummativeEvaluation: Is now equitable

Cultural Giftedness

Cultural Giftedness-being exceptional in cultural arts, music, historic ,cultural knowledge/ traditions, storytelling, genealogy, and language. Includes ability in culturally valued qualities: bravery, hospitality, spirituality, industriousness, familism, etc…

If cultural expertise is not treated equitably, what message does this give students from these cultures?

Think of gifted learners from ethnic groups that you work with. Do they have culturally valued qualities that are important components of their concept of giftedness?

Bevan-Brown, 2005

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Does what traditional instructional ideologies and actions do for middle-class European Americans. That is, it filters curriculum content and teaching strategies through their cultural frames of reference to make the content more personally meaningful and easier to master.

Geneva Gay

References

Banks & Banks (2010). Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. New Jersey: Wiley & Sons. Bevan-Brown (2005). Providing a Culturally Responsive Environment for Gifted Maori Learners. International Education

Journal, 2005 6(2) 150-155. Fraga, R. (2008) Latinos and Education in the 21st Century: Accepting the Responsibilities of Leadership. Presentation at

CA Latino School Boards Association, October 10, 2008. Gay, G.(2000). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory Research And Practice. New York: Teachers College Press. Hollie, S. (2012). Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning: Classroom Practices for Student

Success. CA : Shell Education Ramírez & Castañeda (1974). Cultural Democracy, Bicognitive Development, and Education. San Diego: Academic

Press. Santamaria, L. (2009). Culturally Responsive Differentiated Instruction: Narrowing Gaps between Best Pedagogical

Practices Benefiting All Learners. Retrieved from Teachers College Record, v111 n1 p214-247. Tomlinson, L. (1999). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. Virginia:ASCD.