Length of Presentation
50 minutes
Start Date
15-10-2021 1:00 PM
End Date
15-10-2021 1:50 PM
Document Type
Presentation
Abstract
In December of 2020, The Illinois State Board of Education approved the Culturally Responsive Teaching Standards to promote a more sensitive approach to matters of race, gender, and sexual orientation in the school curriculum. This presentation will highlight the key components of the newly adopted standards and prepare future educators to teach in classrooms with diverse populations. Participants will understand cultural and community diversity, systems of oppression, examine their own belief systems, and learn how to incorporate students’ experiences, cultures, and community resources into their instruction.
Description
This session will introduce participants to Illinois’ new Culturally Responsive Teaching Standards. The presenters will begin by sharing how these standards came into effect, the goals, and timeline for implementation. Based on our poll of the attendees, we will adjust depending on the professional responsibilities of whoever is present, but in general, we will share (a) the standard, (b) how this standard is applicable to teacher education, and (c) what enacting this standard might look like in classrooms. For example, one of the standards relates to teachers’ self-awareness in relation to cultural responsiveness. We will begin this portion with a description of what deficit vs. asset-based mindsets look like and share how teacher education can explore the ideas of bias, societal systems of oppression, and cultural perspectives in their classroom. Another standard involves curricular materials, and this standard will be developed by showing attendees what resources are available to teachers and teacher educators, including articles, lesson plans, and children’s books.
In between each standard, we will post discussion questions for the participants to explore their belief systems and then share with the group. These discussion questions include, but are not limited to, “How can we learn from and about students?” “In what ways can students demonstrate success in classrooms?” The goal of the presentation is to raise participants’ awareness to become a more “culturally competent'' educator. The presenters will provide curricular materials and discuss how students can become co-creators of classroom content.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Included in
Elementary Education and Teaching Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, Secondary Education and Teaching Commons
Culturally Responsive Teaching
In December of 2020, The Illinois State Board of Education approved the Culturally Responsive Teaching Standards to promote a more sensitive approach to matters of race, gender, and sexual orientation in the school curriculum. This presentation will highlight the key components of the newly adopted standards and prepare future educators to teach in classrooms with diverse populations. Participants will understand cultural and community diversity, systems of oppression, examine their own belief systems, and learn how to incorporate students’ experiences, cultures, and community resources into their instruction.
Speaker Information
Amy Davis is an assistant professor at Eastern Illinois University in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Foundations. Her specialty is elementary literacy and English as a second language. Before finishing her Ph.D. at Kansas State University in 2018, Dr. Davis spent nine years as both a classroom and English as a second language teacher and two years as an ESL Learning Coach for Wichita’s USD 259. During her time at KSU, she worked with English teachers from Mexico, Ecuador, and Saudi Arabia. Dr. Davis is fascinated by children’s acquisition of a second language and their transition from listening and speaking to reading and writing. Her research includes the use of student-generated artifacts to develop and promote expressive language and reading/listening comprehension.
Alexis Jones is an assistant professor at Eastern Illinois University in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Foundations. Her specialty is teacher education, and her research interests include the interactional nature of teaching, teacher emotions, and teachers’ moral decision-making. Before finishing her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Jones was a grant coordinator for Urbana School District. She planned and implemented a wide variety of teacher workshops on such topics as American history, hands-on mathematics teaching, differentiated instruction, and gifted education.