Our group discussed standard B: A culturally responsive curriculum recognizes cultural knowledge as part of a living and constantly adapting system that is grounded in the past but continues to grow through the present and into the future.
Our poster incorporated the progression of education by depicting representations of a Tlingit longhouse, a boarding school, and a classroom today. We illustrated the resiliency of the culture by drawing a raven on each roof of the buildings and one flying over all of them looking over the past and present and flying into the future.
Incorporating this lesson into the classroom could involve bringing elders in to share their life lessons. Also after thinking about this standard, it reminds me of time when the Inupiaq teacher took her classes to the senior center. On the way back, the class walked by one of the students’ homes. The student suggested to the teacher that they get one of the geese that their family had gotten. The students brought the goose into the home economics room, plucked it, prepared the meat, and made a stew. There was seriously a plucking frenzy 🙂 Being grounded in the past, the student learned to hunt successfully with his family, an Inupiaq cultural value. Moving into the present, he shared his catch with his fellow classmates–sharing is another Inupiaq value.
Yes, that’s one of the keys to cultural sensitivity: recognizing that culture is constantly, constantly shifting and changing. Cultures naturally add and discard elements without anyone forcing them to. (But of course “force” can have dramatic impacts on culture as well.)
I liked how mentioned the combination between the different values and making them into one. Cultures naturally change and this just happens over time. I am glad to see this being recognized.