To establish a new framework, we need to
begin with a frank acknowledgement of the
basic humanness and Americaness of each of
us.
-Cornel West
What’s Culture Have to Do With It?
The Importance of Understanding Diverse Populations
Equity & Diversity
Awareness Quiz
(stats taken from various sources)
According to the National Center for Education
Statistics, what is the percentage of U.S. schools with
no teachers of color on staff?
a. 0%
b. 20%
c. 40%
d. 60%
According to the National Center for Education
Statistics, what is the percentage of U.S. schools with
no teachers of color on staff?
a. 0%
b. 20%
c. 40%
d. 60%
How many Americans between the ages of 16 and 24
are high school dropouts?
a. 1 in 30
b. 1 in 20
c. 1 in 10
d. 1 in 25
How many Americans between the ages of 16 and 24
are high school dropouts?
a. 1 in 30
b. 1 in 20
c. 1 in 10
d. 1 in 25
What is the largest minority group in America?
a. African Americans
b. People with Disabilities
c. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender community
What is the largest minority group in America?
a. African Americans
b. People with Disabilities
c. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender community
If you could shrink the world’s population from 6 billion
to 100 people, how many would be Asian?
a. 57
b. 8
c. 23
If you could shrink the world’s population from 6 billion
to 100 people, how many would be Asian?
a. 57
b. 8
c. 23
What percentage of African American children live in
poverty in comparison to 9% of White children?
a. 20%
b. 57%
c. 14%
d. 37%
What percentage of African American children live in
poverty in comparison to 9% of White children?
a. 20%
b. 57%
c. 14%
d. 37%
Four Agreements of
Courageous Conversation
 Stay Engaged
 Speak Your Truth
 Experience Discomfort
 Expect and accept non-closure
Glenn E. Singleton & Curtis Linton (Corwin Press, 2006)
Stay Engaged
Engaging the Process
To do so takes a very special kind of listening, listening that
requires not only open eyes and ears, but open hearts and
minds. We do not really see through our eyes or hear through
our ears, but through our beliefs….It is not easy, but it is the only
way to learn what it might feel like to be someone else and the
only way to start the dialogue.
-Lisa Delpit, p. 139
Experience dIsCoMfOrT
Expect and Accept Non-Closure
TRAC & TRACE
Lovelace, 2011
 A conceptual framework that operationalizes the
definition of culturally responsive practice. TRAC is the
individual-based component that examines the
attitudes and beliefs that educators have and how
they incorporate them into their practice. TRACE is
the group-based component that gives educators a
framework to ensure that their decisions are culturally
responsive.
 TRAC is made up of four components:




Transformative Thinking
Reflective Practice
Authentic Approach
Continuous Engagement
 The TRAC components have been developed from a
review of literature, a nationwide survey of educators
and a critique from the top researchers from the
disciplines of special education, school/clinical
psychology, general education and cross-cultural
counseling.
Transformative
Thinking
Role of Culture in Education
Q5
Q4
Q3
Transformative
Q2
Thinking
Q1
0%
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree
20%
Q1
69.4
27.8
2.8
0
40%
Q2
68.1
26.4
2.8
2.8
60%
Q3
59.7
29.2
6.9
4.2
80%
Q4
70.8
23.6
2.8
2.8
100%
Q5
98.6
1.4
0
0
Q1 -Culture refers to such dimensions as age, gender, race, ethnicity, income status, religion, and sexuality.
Q2- Cultures vary in the way in which they value education.
Q3- The cultural differences that exist between a student and teacher are important.
Q4 - Culture should be considered when making educational decisions.
Q5 - It is important to be an advocate for all students.
What Is The State Of
Education Today?
Diversity Trends – Pennsylvania
32nd out of 51 States for Racial/Ethnic Diversity
Diversity Trends – Allegheny
8th out of 67 counties for Racial/Ethnic Diversity
Diversity Trends – Philadelphia
3rd out of 67 counties for Racial/Ethnic Diversity
Diversity Indices for PA
Philadelphia Co.
53
Allegheny Co.
34
Pennsylvania
40
29
41
United States
52
0
1987
2006
53
United States
52
61
20
61
40
Pennsylvania
29
41
60
80
100
120
Allegheny Co. Philadelphia Co.
34
53
40
53
MULTICULTURAL
What’s in My Backpack?
Definitions of Culture
http://varenne.tc.columbia.edu/hv/clt/and/culture_def.html
 Original
 Edward Tylor (1871)
 Culture…is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired
by man as a member of society (p. 1).
 Diverse Theoretical Foundations
 Margaret Mead (1937)
 Culture means the whole complex of traditional behavior which has
been developed by the human race and is successively learned by
each generation. A culture is less precise. It can mean the forms of
traditional behavior which are characteristics of a given society, or a
group of societies, or of a certain race, or of a certain area, or of a
certain period of time (p. 17).
 James Baldwin (1955)
 Culture was not a community basket weaving project, nor yet an act
of God; being nothing more or less than the recorded and visible
effects on a body of people of the vicissitudes which they had been
forced to deal (p. 140).
 David Schneider (1968)
 …a cultural system; that is, a system of symbols (p. 1).
Hidalgo’s Levels of Culture
 Concrete
 Behavioral
 Symbolic
 Concrete culture– aspects of culture that are
tangible and visible, such as clothing, music and
food
 Behavioral culture – how we define and organize
society, such as social roles, family structure,
language and approach to non-verbal
communication
 Symbolic culture – abstract view of ourselves,
including values and beliefs and customs
Reflective
Practice
Becoming a Culturally
Responsive Practitioner
Q4
Q3
Reflective
Practice
Q2
Q1
0%
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
10%
Q1
86.1
20%
30%
40%
Q2
88.9
50%
60%
Q3
86.1
70%
80%
90%
Q4
61.1
13.9
11.1
12.5
30.6
Somewhat Disagree
0
0
1.4
4.2
Strongly Disagree
0
0
0
4.2
100%
Q1 -Culture is an important factor to consider in home-school relationships.
Q2- It is important to create an environment that embraces cultural difference.
Q3- Understanding cultural diversity is a central component to effectively practice one’s profession.
Q4 - The cultural differences that exist between my students/clients and me are important when
making educational decisions.
The Need for and Nature of
Story
(Geneva Gay; 2010)
 Dyson & Genishi (1994) state:
 “we all have a basic need for story.”
 They define story as a process of “organizing our experiences
into tales of important happenings” and they are “lenses
thorugh which we view and review all of human experience.”
 “They have the power to reach deep inside us and command
our ardent attention.”
 Bruner (1996) adds that story is the means through which
people make sense of their encounters, their experiences,
their human affairs.” (Gay, p. 2)
 Gay (2010) postulates that stories are powerful means for
people to establish bridges across other factors that
separate them, penetrate barriers, and create feelings of
kindridness.
The Need for and Nature of
Story
1. a time you have experienced prejudice or
discrimination;
2. a time you have discriminated against
somebody else;
3. a time you have witnessed discrimination and
did nothing about it;
4. a time you have witnessed discrimination and
did something about it
How Does it Fit Together?
What We Are
Cultural
Proficiency
Cultural
Responsiveness
What We Do
What is cultural proficiency?
 A way of being that enables both individuals and
organizations to respond effectively to people who differ
from them.
 Cultural proficiency allows for one to have the requisite
tools and help for an increasingly diverse world with an
increasing number of well-intentioned and fearful people.
 These tools effectively aid in describing, responding to, and
planning for issues that emerge in diverse environments.
 Policies and practices at the organizational level and
values, beliefs and behaviors at the individual level that
enables effective cross cultural interactions among
employees, clients, and community.
 Alternate Term: Cultural Humility
Randall B. Lindsey, Kikanza Nuri Robins, and Raymond D. Terrell (Corwin Press, 1999, 2003)
Have you ever?
Place a check mark to a statement that you have
thought or stated before in relationship to the
educational environment
Statements Adapted from Cecil County Public Schools presentation in December 2006.
The Continuum
Cultural Destructiveness
“See the difference; stomp it out.”
Using one’s power to eliminate the culture of another.
Examples
 Genocide or Ethnocide
 Exclusion Laws
 Shun/Avoid certain curriculum topics
“When we redistrict we can get rid of THAT neighborhood!”
“Why are those kids speaking Chinese at lunch?”
“There are so many problems coming from Lakeside.”
“If we could get rid of the special needs students, our scores
would improve.”
Cultural Incapacity
“See the difference; make it wrong.”
Behaving in ways that disempower another’s culture.
Examples
 Disproportionate allocation of resources to certain groups
 Lowered expectations
 Expecting “others” to change: My way or the highway.
“Another generation to never leave the trailer park.”
“His mom admitted she was in special education when she went to school, so
we can’t expect him to do well“
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Cultural Blindness
“See the difference; act like you don’t.”
Acting as if cultural differences do not matter or as if there are
not differences among/between cultures.
Examples
 Discomfort in noting difference
 Beliefs/actions that assume world is fair and achievement is based on merit
“Our school does not need to focus on multicultural education- we have no
diversity.“
“Everyone learns the same.”
“Just don’t recognize their religion. We don’t want to offend.”
“I’m not prejudiced. I don’t see color in my students.”
Cultural Pre-Competence
“See the difference; respond to it inappropriately.”
Recognizing the limitations of one’s skills or an organization's
practices when interacting with other cultural groups.
Examples
 Delegate diversity work to others, to a committee
 Quick fix, packaged short-term programs
 Unclear rules, expectations for all diversity programs for staff
“Diversity is covered through our Language Arts curriculum.”
“Let’s do a couple of cultural trainings this month. I’ll see if Ziva can do
them.”
“I’ll do my best to make the Special Education student feel part of the Honors
course.“
“Make sure you do an activity for Black History month.”
Cultural Competence
“See the difference; understand the difference that
difference makes.”
Interacting with others using the five essential elements of
cultural proficiency as the standard for behavior and practice.
Examples
 Advocacy
 On-going education of self and others
 Support, modeling, and risk-taking behaviors
“You are you. I am me. But together, we are we.”
“I think it is interesting to look at another’s perspective through another lens.”
“Our school-wide behavior system isn’t working, I’m not seeing the change
with Khaled, Bryand and Crystal. Let’s see what changes we can make to
make it more accessible for them.
Cultural Proficiency
“See the difference; respond positively.
Engage and adapt.”
Esteem culture; knowing how to learn about organizational
culture; interacting effectively in a variety of cultural groups.
Examples
 Interdependence
 Personal change and transformation
 Alliance for groups other than one’s own
 Differentiate to the needs of all learners.
“My students aren’t doing well in reading. I need to start integrating more
non- fiction.”
“With the addition of Arman, our classroom experience has become richer. The
other students are learning from him also.
“Thank you for calling the parents and explaining in Spanish about our field trip.”
Authentic
Approach
Using Culture to Make
Educational Decisions
Q5
Q4
Authentic
Approach
Q3
Q2
Q1
0%
Strongly Agree
10%
Q1
38.4
Somewhat Agree
52.1
56.2
48.6
52.1
38.4
8.2
12.3
23.6
23.3
11
1.4
0
0
0
1.4
Always
Frequently
Somewhat Disagree
Sometimes
Strongly Disagree
Never
20%
30%
Q2
31.5
40%
50%
Q3
27.8
60%
70%
Q4
24.7
80%
90%
Q5
49.3
Q1- I use a holistic approach to practice.
Q2- I avoid imposing values that may conflict with culturally and linguistically diverse populations.
Q3 - I implement strategies that maximize the benefits of the cultural backgrounds of my students.
Q4 - I consider a student’s culture before making educational decisions.
Q5 - I build partnerships across home, community, and school experiences.
100%
5 things exercise
On a piece of paper, please record…
1.
The person you spent the most time with in the past two weeks
2.
A service that you paid for
3.
Your preferred method/type of communication
4.
The most personal, private thing you did in the past two weeks
5.
The activity that was the most fun/relaxing in the past two weeks
6.
Your favorite belonging (material)
Membership v Participation
 Define: membership; participation
 As we look at our cultural selves, how is it that we
get to choose our participation in some instances
and our membership in other instances?
The First Taste
 In looking at our main characters in the short story, in what ways
did they have membership (e.g., pre-determination) into who
they were? What were the examples of participation (e.g.
choice)
Adapted from disability spread
Person
Person
Person
Spread
Label
Label
Label
Lamar has a
behavior disorder
We always start with looking at a “label,” but
don’t realize how it begins to define a
person…and not always in a beneficial way.
Lamar has a
behavior disorder
That kid is bad
Lamar has a
behavior disorder
You can tell he
didn’t take his
meds today
That kid is bad
Lamar has a
behavior disorder
You know he’s
a foster kid
That kid is bad
You can tell he
didn’t take his
meds today
Lamar has a
behavior disorder
You know he’s
a foster kid
That kid is bad
You can tell he
didn’t take his
meds today
You know how
those kids are
Lamar has a
behavior disorder
You know he’s
a foster kid
That kid is bad
You can tell he
didn’t take his
meds today
You know how
those kids are
No potential…not trainable…not worth it…
Circles of my Multicultural Self
 Think about a story about a time you were especially proud to identify
with one of the descriptors you used in your backpack.
 Think about a time it was especially painful to be identified with one of
your identifiers or descriptors.
 Think of a stereotype associated with one of the groups with which you
identify that is not consistent with who you are. Fill in the following
sentence on your backpack:
 I am (a/an) _____________________ ,but I am NOT (a/an) ______________.
Cultural Responsiveness is:
Validating
Comprehensive
Multidimensional
Empowering
Transformative
Emancipatory
Gay (2000;2010)
Validating
 Acknowledges the legitimacy of the cultural
heritages of different ethnic groups.
 Bridges of meaningfulness are built between
home and school.
 A wide variety of instructional/intervention
strategies are connected to different learning
styles.
Comprehensive
 The whole child is the focus of teaching
(culturally mediated cognition, culturally
appropriate social situations for learning,
culturally valued knowledge)
 Students sense “belonging,” and students are
part of a more collective effort designed to
encourage academic and cultural excellence
 A community of learning is evident
Multidimensional
 There is not an only way – but correct ways of
achieving excellence.
Culture – refers to aspects of a social environment that
are used to communicate values such as what is
considered good and desirable, right and wrong, normal,
different, appropriate, or attractive.
Vs.
Cultural Imperialism – involves the universalization of a
dominant group’s experience and culture, and its
establishment as the norm. To experience cultural
imperialism means to experience how the dominant
meanings of a society render the particular perspective of
one’s own group invisible while at the same time they
stereotype one’s group and mark it as the “other.”
Empowering
 Enables students to be better human beings and
more successful learners. Students believe that
they can succeed in learning/behavioral tasks
and have the motivation to persevere.
Transformative
 Does not incorporate traditional educational
practices with respect to students of color,
BUT
 Respects the cultures and experiences of various
groups and then uses these as resources for
teaching and learning.
Emancipatory
 Authentic knowledge about different ethnic
groups is accessible to students. Connection
among all is key vs. Connection to a greater
something.
 Students are liberated and are able to connect
around individual, local, national, ethnic, global
and human identities and the knowledge that
comes from that connection is something that is
continuously shared and renewed.
Continuous
Engagement
Being an Agent of Change
Q4
Q3
Continuous
EngagementQ2
Q1
0%
Strongly Agree
Always
Frequently
Somewhat
Disagree
Sometimes
Strongly
Disagree
Never
Somewhat Agree
10%
Q1
40.5
20%
30%
40%
Q2
33.8
50%
60%
Q3
31.5
70%
80%
90%
Q4
79.7
45.9
55.4
47.9
18.9
13.5
10.8
19.2
1.4
0
0
1.4
0
Q1 - I advocate for culturally responsive practice in my work with others.
Q2 - I seek information that will assist me in responding effectively to the needs of
culturally and linguistically diverse children.
Q3 - I seek partnerships with other stakeholders in order to support the needs of
culturally and linguistically diverse children.
Q4 - I advocate for the fair and equitable treatment of students.
100%
The Culture of the Kitchen
My Cultural
Responsiveness
Pledge
If you make an
observation…you have an
obligation -M K Asante
Temple S. Lovelace, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Duquesne University
lovelacet@duq.edu