Understanding Culture to Help
Foster a Culturally Proficient
Workforce
Activator
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Stand up if….
Check-In
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Sign-In
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Reflection Packet with Articles
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Vocabulary
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Partners
The Data
78 students dropped out of Sun Prairie
Schools over the last 3 years.
49 – 63% were boys
43 – 56% were African-American
In the 2010-2011 school year, there were
306 disciplinary incidents that resulted in
out-of-school suspensions. 114 or 37% of
those students were Black.
Last year 218 students in grades 9-12
took at least one Technical Education
Course.
8 or 3% were English Language Learners
12 or 9% were girls
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A Black student in Sun Prairie is 5 times
more likely than a White student to be
referred for Special Education evaluation
by Sun Prairie staff members.
A Black male student is 11 times more
likely than a White male student to end up
labeled Emotionally/Behaviorally Disabled.
Last year a total of 260 Advanced
Placement (AP) exams were taken by Sun
Prairie Students. Only 19 or 7% of those
AP exams were taken by students of
color.
Having a disability is the greatest barrier to
participation in 'performance music' when
students enroll for 6th grade. Greater than
language, race, or poverty.
For Sun Prairie students, race is a greater
factor over poverty in reading and math
achievement.
The Vision
All students, families, school employees,
and community members unified by
mutual respect and the shared purpose
of seeking successful learning for every
student.
The Priority Goal
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District Goal #4
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Develop a highly qualified, diverse, and
culturally proficient district workforce
Action plan 4c
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Ensure that every employee receives
training in skills of cultural proficiency
Agenda
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Reflection on Culture
Privilege and Racism
Culturally Responsive Practices
Workshop Goals
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To develop an understanding of my
own culture and how it impacts my
beliefs, values, and actions
Workshop Goals
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To understand how institutional racism
marginalizes groups of people
Workshop Goals
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To develop an awareness of white
privilege and its influence on my belief,
values, and actions
Ground Rules
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Everyone has a right to express his/her
point of view.
Listen respectively to others without
judging.
Share “air time” with others.
Limit sidebar conversations.
What is culture?
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“What is culture?”
Culture
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Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs,
values, customs, behaviors and artifacts
that are shared by racial, ethnic,
religious, or social groups of people.
Why do I need to understand my
culture?
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Culture shapes the way we see the world,
ourselves, and others.
It is the predominant force in shaping
behaviors, values, and institutions.
The more we understand ourselves, the
better able we are to understand others.
Factors that Influence Culture
Race
Religion
Personality
Traits
Me
Gender
Ability
Economic
Class
Dimensions of Culture
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Language
Space/proximity
Attitude towards
time
Gender roles
Family roles
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Grooming and
presence
Life cycles
Status of age
Education
Exploring the Features of Culture
Reflection Activity #2
Review/Read the following documents:
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Identity Quilt
Features of Culture
Complete the Features of Culture Survey.
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Reflection Packet
Partner Share
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Share the completed survey with your 12 o’clock
partner.
Culture is Like an Iceberg
Iceberg Activity
Reflection Activity #3
Using the features of culture list within Activity #2 in
your Reflection Packet, place the number of features
that you believe are observable above the surface of the
water and the number of the features that are not
directly observable below the surface of the iceberg.
Cultural Features Below the
Surface
#3, #4, #6, #8, #9, #10, #16, #17, #18,
#22, #23, #24
Table Discussions
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On chart paper at your table, list specific
examples of how features below the
surface influence your behavior.
What is my cultural identity?
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Reflection Activity #4
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How did my cultural identity develop?
Who are the people who have been influential in
shaping my beliefs, values, and actions?
What experiences within my family, school,
church, and community shaped me?
How did the media influence my thinking?
How has my cultural identity changed over time?
Diverse Views
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Reflection Activity #5
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Based upon your cultural biography, write down a belief or
value that you hold.
Next, write down another view of that value/belief.
Where may this differing viewpoint have originated?
What could be an advantage to having a differing viewpoint?
Appreciate Diverse Views
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Resist the urge to make a judgment
about people or behaviors, instead
make a conscious effort to understand
their cultural perspective.
Power and Privilege: The
Invisible Feature of Culture
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Whenever one group of people
accumulates more power than another
group, the more powerful group creates
an environment that places its members
at the cultural center and the other
groups at the margins.
Race
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Political concept
Arbitrary division of humans according
to physical traits and characteristics
Connecting Power and
Privilege
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People in the more powerful group are
accepted as the norm, so if you are in that
group it can be very hard for you to see the
benefits you receive.
This accounts for the reason that whites have
difficulty recognizing their privileges in
society.
What is white privilege?
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advantages that whites as a group hold
in society.
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“White privilege is like an invisible
weightless knapsack of special
provisions, maps, passports, codebooks,
visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.”
Peggy McIntosh
“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”
by Peggy McIntosh
I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the
company of people of my race most of
the time.
I can turn on the television or open
to the front page of the paper and
see people of my race widely
represented.
When I am told about our national
heritage or about “civilization,” I am
shown that people of my color made
it what it is.
I can be sure that my children will
be given curricular materials that
testify to the existence of their
race.
I can go into a music shop and count
on finding the music of my race
represented, into a supermarket and
find the staple foods which fit with my
cultural traditions, into a
hairdresser’s shop and find someone who
can cut my hair.
Whether I use checks, credit cards
or cash, I can count on my skin
color not to work against the
appearance of financial reliability.
I can arrange to protect my children
most of the time from people who
might not like them.
I do not have to educate my children
to be aware of systemic racism for
their own daily physical protection.
I can swear, or dress in second hand
clothes, or not answer letters, without
having people attribute these choices to
the bad morals, the poverty, or the
illiteracy of my race.
I can do well in a challenging
situation without being called a
credit to my race.
I am never asked to speak for all the
people of my racial group.
I can be pretty sure that if I ask to
talk to the “person in charge”, I
will be facing a person of my race.
If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the
IRS audits my tax return, I can be
sure I haven’t been singled out
because of my race.
I can easily buy posters, post-cards,
picture books, greeting cards, dolls,
toys and children’s magazines
featuring people of my race.
I can go home from most meetings
of organizations I belong to feeling
somewhat tied in, rather than
isolated, out-of-place,
outnumbered, unheard, held at a
distance or feared.
My culture gives me little fear about
ignoring the perspectives and
powers of people of other races.
I am not made acutely aware that
my shape, bearing, or body odor
will betaken as a reflection on my
race.
I can worry about racism without
being seen as self-interested or
self-seeking.
I can take a job with an affirmative
action employer without having my
co-worker on the job suspect that I
got it because of my race.
If my day, week, or year is going
badly, I need not ask of each
negative episode or situation
whether it had racial overtones.
I can be late to a meeting without
having the lateness reflect on my
race.
I can be sure that if I need legal or
medical help, my race will not work
against me.
I have no difficulty finding
neighborhoods where people
approve of our household.
I can arrange my activities so that I
will never have to experience
feelings of rejection owing to my
race.
White Privilege
Partner Share
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Find your 9 o’clock partner and respond
to the following questions:
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How did you feel as you read the slides?
Of which aspects of white privilege were
you aware? Which were surprising to you?
Power and Privilege Lead to
Institutional Racism
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Institutional racism or systemic racism
describes forms of racism which are
structured into political and social
institutions.
Institutional Racism
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Institutional racism is the most difficult
to recognize and counter, because it
reflects the assumptions of the
dominant group and is viewed as the
norm.
The Meritocracy Myth
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The myth that everyone in the United
States has an equal opportunity to
achieve success.
Institutional Racism in Schools
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Power and privilege disparities within
schools create inequitable educational
opportunities and outcomes for
students of color.
What does institutional racism
look like in schools?
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More likely to be in segregated urban, high poverty school
settings
Pull out and low track programs
Over representation in remedial and Special Education programs
Under representation in gifted and advanced level courses
Less likely to be taught by qualified teachers
Higher drop out rates than white peers
Lower achievement than white peers
National Statistics on U.S.
Schools (2005)
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47% of black students, 51% or
Hispanics, and 5% of white students
attend high poverty schools.
National Statistics on U.S.
Schools (2005)
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Students in high poverty schools were
more than twice as likely to be taught
by an out-of-field teachers than low
poverty schools
National Statistics on U.S.
Schools (2005)
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Black students account for 17% of the
public school population, but are
disproportionately represented in
Special Education, accounting for 33%
of students classified as CD, 27% EBD,
and 18% SLD.
National Statistics on U.S.
Schools (2005)
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White students with disabilities were more
likely than students of any other
race/ethnicity to spend 80% or more of their
day in a regular classroom.
Black students with disabilities were more
likely than students of any other
race/ethnicity to spend less than 40% of their
day in a regular classroom, resulting in
inconsistent, fragmented instruction.
National Statistics on U.S.
Schools (2005)
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Proficient or Advanced on 4th Grade
Reading Achievement
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18%
42%
13%
16%
41%
American Indian
Asian
Black
Hispanic
White
National Statistics on U.S.
Schools (2005)
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Proficient or Advanced on 4th Grade
Math Achievement
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17%
40%
13%
19%
47%
American Indian
Asian
Black
Hispanic
White
National Statistics on High School
Graduation Rates(2008)
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64%
91%
62%
64%
81%
American Indian
Asian
Black
Hispanic
White
Students of color
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Called on less frequently
Praised less often and reprimanded more often
Punished more severely
Given answers more frequently by teachers
Not encouraged to develop higher order thinking
Not encouraged to elaborate on statements
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Rewarded for following rules and being “nice”
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Gay(2000)
The Hidden Curriculum
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“…..schools teach more than the knowledge and content that is
explicitly stated in the formal curriculum scope and sequence. In
fact, children are always learning in school, but may be learning
more about their “place” in society, the expectations (often low)
that others hold of them, the value, or lack of value, attributed
by society to their particular cultural group, gender, or
community that they learn about the core content.”
Michael Haralambos
Racism
Video clip: A Gardener’s Tale
Table Discussion
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How did you feelings change throughout the
video clip?
What are the stereotypes that institutional
racism reinforce about the character and
abilities of people of color?
Using the gardener’s tale allegory, how are
the levels of racism (institutional,
interpersonal, and intra personal) exhibited in
schools?
Why does culture matter?
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Often misunderstandings about the role
of culture in behavior, communication,
and learning lead to assumptions about
the abilities of children to be successful
in school.
Why does culture matter?
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An awareness and understanding of the
different values and behaviors that
accompany culture can remove
unintentional barriers to a child’s
success.
How do we remove barriers for
students?
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By implementing culturally responsive
practices and becoming a culturally
responsive workforce.
Culturally Responsive Practices
Aware
A Culturally Responsive Sun Prairie Employee
is constantly aware that one’s cultural
identity impacts behavior. He/she
understands that there are specific,
sometimes differing beliefs, past
experiences, values, and feelings that
contribute to the way the he/she and others
act.
Appreciative
A Culturally Responsive Sun Prairie Employee
recognizes similarities and differences between
his/her own cultural identity and that of others.
He/she accepts and associates freely with
individuals of differing beliefs, appearances,
and/or lifestyles, even while maintaining his/her
own cultural identity.
Sensitive
A Culturally Responsive Sun Prairie Employee
Understands the dangers of stereotyping and
other biases; he/she is aware of and sensitive to
issues of sexism, racism, and other prejudice.
He/she is able to recognize biased messages
about persons of differing cultural identities, and
works to eliminate or discredit their impact
whenever possible.
Knowledgeable
A Culturally Responsive Sun Prairie Employee
has ever increasing knowledge of differing cultural
identities and groups in the school, the
community, the United States and other countries
in the world. He/she is able to take on and/or
consider perspectives of non-majority groups at
times.
Interactive
A Culturally Responsive Sun Prairie Employee
works positively with individuals who have other
cultural identities and actively seeks out
individuals and/or resources and perspectives.
Table Discussions
Sounds Like
Looks Like
Feels Like
Reflection on Today’s Workshop
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Reflection Activity : Goal Setting
What one characteristic of the
culturally responsive practices will you
focus on to implement in your work
space over the next 3 months?