Respect

CREDE standard 3 really boils down to respect, which is Dr. Garcia’s first R of his 5 Rs and T of Culturally Responsive Teaching. Standard 3 regards contextualization, or “connecting school to students’ lives.” This involves beginning activities and lessons with what the students already know and making the activities relevant and meaningful within the context of the students’ lives. It also involves making connections between home and school and increasing parental involvement.

Dr. Garcia said that “The best way to learn about our students’ lives is to listen.” When teachers take the time to examine who their students really are and use their findings to better reach their students, isn’t this showing them respect? By considering and responding to their cultures, experiences, and other differences and similarities, I believe we show them that we value these characteristics that make them unique. In other words, we respect them.

I am afraid that many teachers choose to ignore the differences and just teach all of their students the same for the sake of “fairness”, but this doesn’t make sense to me. If children are not the same, then they require differentiation. This applies to all students and not just ELLs. It seems that best practices for ELLs are really best practices for all learners. We must tailor our instruction to meet the individual needs of the learners we serve. And once again, by doing this, we demonstrate respect.