How does my Culture Affect my Teaching

HOW DOES MY OWN CULTURE AFFECT MY TEACHING
TERM 1 2017

Homework:  Create a stone for the paepae of our Stratford Teachers paper Marae.
What will this look like? How can I show it - pictures - words - numbers

Community - Waitara - income - low, 5 kids, only girl. Solo mum on DPB. Coming into teaching later on 2000-2003 Massey Uni extramural.
What did my parents instill in me. values beliefs morals.



My stone represents my family. The dark blue koru are my dad and my brothers. The light blue koru are my mum and myself. The koru that represents me has a mirror, as I am a reflective teaching practitioner.. The word "Beliefs" situated between my Mum and Dad means that they have passed on their beliefs to me and I have made them my own. The Mountain is important to me. It signifies my home area. I need to be close to the sea, whether this has a bearing on my star sign of Pisces I am not sure. There is a crown which is made from English china because of my connection to Cornwall through my dad. It is a crown because we can trace our heritage to King Henry and 8th through marriage.

MY STONE

Through undertaking this personal experience and creating this stone I have been able to see where my own cultural background differs from everyone else including my students in my class, parents and whanau. We each bring our own unique culture into the community and school setting.

This links to PTC  3 as I have formed a greater understanding of the cultural diversity within the stratford community and my classroom. We all come from different backgrounds and therefore bring different experiences and taonga to the classroom. My Maori students have their own cultural background steeped in history with the Treaty of Waitangi an important part of this. I have looked at my own beliefs and can see how my culture can impact on the learners in my class. (PTC 12). I was able to use my creativity to respond to a Professional Learning and Development exercise. I was able to produce a bit of artwork(using mosaic tiles, glass hearts, mirror, beads and thread) that clearly outlines the brief.  I was able to share this with my colleagues and my students. I believe the staff  and my students now has a better understanding of where I come from.(PTC 4 & 5) This artwork that I created was a hands on activity which was a fun way to learn.  Making learning fun and hands on is a great way for ALL students to learn in an inclusive classroom.(PTC 9)

ProfessionalReading:
Cultural Identity and Teaching
http://www.niusileadscape.org/docs/FINAL_PRODUCTS/NIUSI/toolkit_cd/4%20%20Implementing%20Change/OnPoints/OP_cultural_identity.pdf.
In Brief:
 An inclusive culture is not just about sharing cultural experiences, but about using the diverse backgrounds, values, and experiences that individual students and teachers bring to the classroom to expand our understanding of how our world works. Understanding our own and others’ culture is about creating spaces to not only recognize and value diverse culture, but to support the inclusion of new values and beliefs into our everyday lives and activities.