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
Tools of Genius
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
California Population,1990-2050
60
Percent of Total Population
57
56
54
53
50
54
51.5
50
47
40
47
39
43
White
34
33
30
26
27
28
29
Latino
30
29
26
Af Am
23
20
10
0
Asian
9
10
10
11
11
7
7
7
7
7
11
7
12
13
13
13
12
7
7
7
7
1.9
2
2
2
2
6
2
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Source: Population Projections, Department of Finance, State of California, 2004
Multirace
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 Negation
Field Independent Style-Is validated by
traditional public education
Field Sensitive/Dependent-is typically negated
by traditional public education

Perceive Sequentially

Perceive globally

Experience information in a
segmented fashion

Experience information holistically

Make broad general distinctions between
concepts

See relationships

Learn material best with social content


Impose structure or restrictions on
information
Learn social material only as an
intentional task

Develop interest in concepts for their
own sake

Attend best to material relevant to their
own experience

Provide for self-structure

Require an organizational framework

Ignore or pay little attention to
criticism

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 ethnicgroup 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
Culturally Relevant
&
Responsive
Education
Instruction
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
Summative
Evaluation: 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.