I promote multiculturalism and creative thought in the classroom. As an empathetic, culturally and socially aware person, I understand that all children are different and must be represented to be successful learners. 

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I use culturally competent practice in the classroom by implementing a student-centered curriculum and classroom design. I promote student belonging through socio-emotional learning, representation in the curriculum, and acceptance and celebration of all walks of life.

 

My teaching philosophy includes:

• Teaching is a political act

• Student-Centered Instruction/classroom at the forefront of my practice

• Cultural Competence and Multicultural Education

• Project-Based Learning

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Teaching is a Political Act

I hold the belief that teachers should advocate for their students in and outside the classroom by understanding students’ social/cultural experiences, representing students’ backgrounds, dismantling cultural assumptions, and promoting agency in the classroom. 

 

English learning students are not exempt from the social/political climate of the world. They, like all people, are affected by laws, social movements, and history. In my personal educational experience in America, my teachers did not do the additional work to decolonize instruction. In my current teaching position as a teaching assistant, I am surprised to see the teachers I work with fall into the same cycle of whitewashed history. For teachers to encourage learning and maintain student agency in the classroom, teachers themselves must be agents of change and critical thinkers. To do this, educators must go beyond the classroom to educate themselves about the world around them, their students’ culture, and the cultural climate they live in. 

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Student-Centered Instruction/Classroom 

Agency is a core tenet in my philosophy. Agency in the classroom is the student’s ability to take charge of their learning. In an agency-centered classroom, students are given a voice and choice in their education. I am inspired by Polina Vinogradova and Joan Kang Skin’s (2020) work, as it provides a student-centered pedagogical approach to instruction. With students at the center, the instructor’s role is to support and guide. From this framework, students practice agency and are more personally connected and engaged in the lesson. 

 

Maintaining a student-centered classroom is the key to student success. Rather than the teacher claiming the role of an all-knowing being, they should facilitate learning and guide students through lessons and activities. One way to promote a student-centered classroom is to make instruction meaningful and authentic. Children are concerned with how language can be used and are less engaged in activities that do not involve a reward (Brown & Lee, p.113). According to Brown and Lee (2015), “language needs to be firmly context embedded” and relies on “real-life conversations (and) meaningful purposes in language.” For example, students can perform a grocery shopping activity while learning food vocabulary to make meaning in language learning. Many children grocery shop with their parents and can use this vocabulary when they go shopping again.

 

Creating a student-centered classroom can also be done by paying attention to what students need. Children are “focused on the immediate here and now”; therefore, activities need to be concise and capture their attention (Brown & Lee, .p 110). Incorporating songs, games, physical activity, and hands-on activities can capture students’ attention while also encouraging language learning. 

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Project-Based Learning

I encourage collaborative learning and group discussion and provide choices for my students. These changes have made a significant difference in my students’ attitudes toward learning. I can attest that maintaining a student-centered, agency-driven classroom is beneficial for the success of students. 

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Cultural Competence and Multicultural Education

To teach language as an additional language, educators must take the time to know their students. By implementing get-to-know-you activities and conducting research on their student’s culture, educators can better serve their students. Because teaching is a political act, educators must also be aware of the social/political climate that affects their students. That way, educators can properly instruct students and teach critical thinking to learn to advocate for themselves and practice agency in and outside the classroom. 

 

Implementing languaculture in the curriculum and the classroom environment promotes student success.

Languaculture acknowledges the interconnection between language, culture, and identity and how all of these factors affect communication (Wright, 2015). Teachers should work to understand children’s diverse cultural backgrounds. Attitudes, values, norms, and beliefs must be considered while teaching. 

 

Languagculture can be implemented by practicing translanguaging. Translanguaging “views boundaries of language as more fluid and sees relations as dynamic” (Vinogradova and Skin, p. 122). It is using one’s entire linguistic repertoire rather than separating language and disallowing them to interconnect. Educators can implement languaculture in the classroom by allowing students to have discussions in their L1 and complete a correlated assignment in the L2 they are learning. Another example is for educators to bring their student’s experience into the classroom. Students can be assigned a life story assignment that allows them to share information about their life experiences and culture. Individualism and community are necessary for children to develop and apply to learning to be independent and conscious thinkers.

 

A common concern for language learners is acceptance into the culture of the language they are learning. Encouraging students to embrace their merging of cultures can help them feel more adapted, prepared, and accepted into the culture. One method of doing this is dismantling the native speaker myth and cultural assumptions in the classroom (Vinogradova and Skin, 2020). English language learners may feel uncomfortable with how they pronounce words or misspeak when learning the language. It is integral to student success for teachers to explain that even those who speak English as a first language all have different dialects and ways of communicating. Dismantling cultural beliefs that “native” English speakers speak perfect English is not the case. Instead, all language speakers, fluent or not, make mistakes.

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Conclusion

Advocacy in the classroom is taking students’ beliefs, experiences, feelings, and culture into account in every interaction, activity, and instructional lesson. Encouraging agency in the classroom involves bringing students’ experiences and culture into the class. Additionally, listening to what your students need and incorporating this into instruction will ensure student success. These practices in the classroom will help students succeed and practice agency in their language learning.