Victoria Bielomaz

9/19/15
What is Culture?
The Interview
When conducting the student interview with Maria I chose my questions developed by
Cris Unger at John Hopkins University. The questions revolve around our class, my teaching,
our school, and the purpose of school.
When asked about our class, Maria explains that she is learning about writing, reading,
math, and science (M. Perez, personal communication, September 18, 2015). She especially likes
writing and science (M. Perez, personal communication, September 18, 2015). She knows she is
learning because [her] teacher is showing [her] and other kids are helping [her] to learn and
everybody works together, (M. Perez, personal communication, September 18, 2015). She
explains that she can talk to her classmates and partner tent to share answers; this is in
reference to the Kagan strategies that I incorporate thought the day (M. Perez, personal
communication, September 18, 2015). She knows that I know when she is learning because I
look at her papers and let her know when she is correct (M. Perez, personal communication,
September 18, 2015). She is engaged in the lesson and she shows this by raising her hand to tell
what she knows (M. Perez, personal communication, September 18, 2015). She feels that it is
important to know what she is learning because when you grow bigger and they ask you things,
[when you get a job or something] you already had to learn that, if you dont, then your life will
be strange, (M. Perez, personal communication, September 18, 2015).
When Maria was asked about our school, she said it was sweet and cool, because there
are good kids (M. Perez, personal communication, September 18, 2015). She likes that

everybody always works together and nobody gives up, (M. Perez, personal communication,
September 18, 2015). She doesnt think anything should change about the school (M. Perez,
personal communication, September 18, 2015).
Maria also knows the purpose of school. She says it is to learn and if you dont know
anything they can send you to school and you will know things and you get new friends (M.
Perez, personal communication, September 18, 2015). She compares this to when she was little
and didnt know many things, (M. Perez, personal communication, September 18, 2015).
School, she says, can help you to never give up and meet new people, (M. Perez, personal
communication, September 18, 2015). School is important to her (M. Perez, personal
communication, September 18, 2015). She says when she is older she wants to go to college and
learn to be a doctor, an engineer, or a scientist (M. Perez, personal communication, September
18, 2015).
Classroom Observations
In class Maria is very engaged. She follows directions, participates regularly, and works
well with her peers. She gets along with others and she is very respectful to me (her teacher).
Although I do not know everything about her sociocultural background, it is known that
immigrant children have considerably higher rates of poverty than native children (Tienda &
Haskins, 2011). She also faces many of the challenges that immigrant children face. With this
being so, I have researched supports for Maria and her family. I have also decided what I can so
as a teacher to support Maria (and the other ESL students in my classroom).
Possible Supports for Maria
Open Door Policy

In the article ESL Classroom and Cultural Sensitivity it explains, ESL student[s] may be
less willing to approach a teacher for extra help or tutoring, (ESL Classroom and Cultural
Sensitivity, 2015). Due to this idea, I have been vocal about the idea that all students can come to
me for anything they need, this includes help with learning, getting food and clothes, or to just
talk if something is bothering my students. I hold a very open door policy; this is true for Maria
as well.
Communication at Home
Something I can do to aid Maria is getting in contact with her parents. According to the
article Crossing Cultures, Scholars in the field of home-school relations stress the importance of
home-school communication for promoting academic success, (Eberly, Joshi, Konzal, Galen,
2010, p. 25). If teachers are in contact with the students family, they can gain knowledge of the
students culture, and having some knowledge of how cultures vary from each other can at least
give teachers a starting point in knowing how to approach a student or class, (Case, 2008, p.1).
The idea is that if the teachers can work with the parents, it enables the parents to support their
students learning (Davis & Yang, 2006). Another contribution of getting parent input and
opening lines of communication is the idea that once this happens I can get a better
understanding of the funds of knowledge that Maria can contribute (Gonzalez, Moll, FloydTenery, Rivera, Rendon, Gonzales, & Amanti, 1994). Once a teacher understand the funds of
knowledge, they come to view their students as competent participants, (Gonzalez et al.,
1994). At this point, I already know that Maria has much to offer the classroom; I acknowledge
that she is competent, and I set high expectations for her. Yet, I believe that by communicating
more with her parents I will reaffirm these beliefs.
Promote Diversity in the Classroom

If a teacher promotes cultural diversity in the classroom, they are enriching the students
in that they are providing them with new learning experiences (Borkar, 2010). These new
learning experiences opens the minds of students, and teaches them to appreciate other
cultures, making them open to diversity (Borkar, 2010, p.1). According to Borkar (2010), ways
to promote cultural diversity in the classroom include: having students share their culture (i.e.
surveys, speaking to their classmates about their culture, and sharing music and other art forms),
changing student seats around (so they can talk to new people), decorating the class with cultural
artifacts, taking field trips to experience new cultures, and organizing fairs (these fairs would
promote art, music, film, books, etc.). In my classroom I have had students introduce and share
their culture (this was during the first weeks of school), I have has the students change seats a
few times so they would be able to interact with new people, and I have incorporated some
decoration incorporating the Spanish language. My classroom motto is Yes you can! S se
puede! I have this predominantly displayed in my room and refer to it when I see students
exhibiting a defeatist, I-cant-do-this mindset.
Refer to Community Resources
Davis and Yang (2006) listed resources for learning about different cultures, and these
resources can also help the family with other needs. These resources included colleagues, the
school, community organizations, and the Internet (Davis & Yang, 2006). From this, ideas about
resources to help with Marias needs came to mind. Some resources that I reference to aid Maria
are: the school counselor (provides meals for the weekend, School Bell clothes, and other
sources), parents partnership at the school (provides English classes for the parents and
opportunity to come into the classroom and observe), the public library (free books, free

workshops, free family nights), and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (student teachers do
one-on-one literacy tutoring).
I think it is important to get my student in contact with these sources because immigrant
children have considerably higher rates of poverty than native children (Tienda & Haskins,
2011). One great aspect of the resources I have compiled is that they do not require much in the
way of paperwork from the parents. For the free weekend meals and School Bell services,
parents fill out only very basic information. For example, to get the free clothes from School
Bell, the parents only have to write down their childs sizing information. According to the
school counselor at my school, many parents will not fill out paper work that requires social
security numbers or what they consider official government documents (S. Ramierez, personal
communication, September 18, 2015).
Beware of Bias in Curriculum
Another important job teachers have is to be aware of the curriculum and materials they
are teaching and using. Many of the materials are biased as they stereotype, omit pertinent
information, and avoid topics of discrimination and prejudice (Ndura, 2010). With this being so,
it is my job to be aware of these biases and examine the materials I am using in my classroom.
Every book shared with children brings a perspective and each perspective contains a bias,
(Zeece, 1997). So, since materials are biased, these biases need to be addressed. Biases can be
addressed by incorporating additional materials in the lesson, which can show other perspectives,
or directly address the biases (Ndura, 2010). Also, by doing this, teachers enable critical
discussion in the classroom (Ndura, 2010).

References
Borkar, R. (2010). Cultural diversity in the classroom. FLtastic blog. Retrieved from
http://edition.tefl.net/articles/home-abroad/cultural-differences/
Case, A. (2008). Important cultural differences in the Classroom. TEFLtastic blog. Retrieved
from http://edition.tefl.net/articles/home-abroad/cultural-differences/
Davis, C., Yang, A. (2006). Welcoming families of different cultures. Responsive Classroom
Newsletter. Retrieved from http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/welcomingfamilies-different-cultures
Eberly, J.L., Joshi, A., Konzal, J., & Galen, H. (2010). Crossing cultures: Considering
ethnotheory in teacher thinking and practices. Multicultural Education, 25-29.
ESL Classroom and Cultural Sensitivity. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12th, 2015, from
http://esl.yourdictionary.com/lesson-plans/esl_classroom-and-cultural_sensitivity.html
Gonzlez, N., Moll, L. C., Floyd-Tenery, M., Rivera, A., Rendn, P., Gonzales, R., & Amanti, C.
(1994). Funds of knowledge: Learning from language minority households. Washington,
DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. Retrieved on September, 15, 2015.
Ndura, E. (2004): ESL and Cultural Bias: An Analysis of Elementary Through High School
Textbooks in the Western United States of America, Language, Culture and Curriculum,
17:2, 143-153
Tienda, M., & Haskins, R. (2011). Immigrant children: Introducing the issue. The Future of
Children, 21(1), 3-18.
Zeece, P. D. (1997). Books, bias, and best practice. Early Childhood Education Journal, 24(3),
173-177.