What Life as a Military Brat Taught Me About Cultural Competence and Empathy in the Classroom
What Life as a Military Brat Taught Me About Cultural Competence and Empathy in the Classroom When Challenging the Status Quo Almost Got Me Kicked Off a Mission Trip Why does cultural competence matter for educators? Cultural competence matters because it helps you understand those you’re working with and teaching. It also provides you with a framework that helps you counter the things you don’t know—because there are always going to be things you don’t know that you don’t know. Being culturally competent means you’re creating space for that. You’re creating a framework in which you can get to know each person as a person and build relationships that foster a sense of community and belonging. Learn about how other teachers are building a sense of belonging in the classroom with this read from Edutopia. How do a student’s past experiences affect the way they show up in a new classroom or educational environment? Past experiences affect the way that anyone shows up in any new environment. It’s not surprising then that this is also the case with students entering new educational environments. Part of a student’s challenge with this entrance is that there are certain expectations in a new environment that the student might not be aware of. Each classroom culture is going to be different depending on who is leading that culture, the others inhabiting that culture, and the feedback loops that are in place. A student is at a disadvantage if they haven’t experienced how the instructor fosters the culture desired for the classroom. If a student has experienced environments where bullying happens and the teacher doesn’t do anything—or where the teacher is the bully—that promotes fear of retribution, fear of what could happen. This fear negatively affects the learning environment. What does empathy look like for an educator working with students from different backgrounds? When you share a background with someone (whether demographic, psychographic, or socioeconomic), it’s easier to see where they’re coming from because you have a greater degree of similarity that you can draw from. If you’re working with someone from a different perspective, culture, or otherwise a different set of life experiences, you’re not necessarily going to have those similarities in landmarks to refer to. Part of how you can practice empathy is getting to know the person—during educational instruction, projects, and through the feedback loops you create. You want students to understand that what they say matters and that their feedback won’t be disregarded. When your strategy isn’t just lecture-focused but also leans into questions and provides opportunities for students to share how their experience intersects with the material, it provides an opportunity to understand student perspectives and how they’re processing information. As you get that understanding, you’re able to foster greater achievement of educational outcomes and, in some cases, students’ ability to exceed them. Cultural competence matters because it helps you understand those you’re working with and teaching. It also provides you with a framework that helps you counter the things you don’t know—because there are always going to be things you don’t know that you don’t know. Being culturally competent means you’re creating space for that. You’re creating a framework in which you can get to know each person as a person and build relationships that foster a sense of community and belonging. Learn about how other teachers are building a sense of belonging in the classroom with this read from Edutopia. Past experiences affect the way that anyone shows up in any new environment. It’s not surprising then that this is also the case with students entering new educational environments. Part of a student’s challenge with this entrance is that there are certain expectations in a new environment that the student might not be aware of. Each classroom culture is going to be different depending on who is leading that culture, the others inhabiting that culture, and the feedback loops that are in place. A student is at a disadvantage if they haven’t experienced how the instructor fosters the culture desired for the classroom. If a student has experienced environments where bullying happens and the teacher doesn’t do anything—or where the teacher is the bully—that promotes fear of retribution, fear of what could happen. This fear negatively affects the learning environment. When you share a background with someone (whether demographic, psychographic, or socioeconomic), it’s easier to see where they’re coming from because you have a greater degree of similarity that you can draw from. If you’re working with someone from a different perspective, culture, or otherwise a different set of life experiences, you’re not necessarily going to have those similarities in landmarks to refer to. Part of how you can practice empathy is getting to know the person—during educational instruction, projects, and through the feedback loops you create. You want students to understand that what they say matters and that their feedback won’t be disregarded. When your strategy isn’t just lecture-focused but also leans into questions and provides opportunities for students to share how their experience intersects with the material, it provides an opportunity to understand student perspectives and how they’re processing information. As you get that understanding, you’re able to foster greater achievement of educational outcomes and, in some cases, students’ ability to exceed them. The mission center was one of those places that seemed like a blend between older architecture and internal design that was a bit more modern, but fit the space. In the entrance area, larger booths lined either side with a front desk where one could go to get more information. A session had just ended, and students met in different areas across the center. At one of the booths, a group of college students sat talking about classroom management. They were enrolled in the education department at the university and were listening to another student who was working at a school with younger students while she was attending classes. The conversation had gotten so loud that, from the next room, I heard
