Learning About Your Students Strategies & Resources Reference

Teaching to who students are requires a recognition of their realities. To be in touch with the community, one has to enter into the physical places where students live, and work to be invited into the emotion-laden spaces the youth inhabit. (Emdin, 2016)

Here are a few strategies for learning about students outside of the classroom:

• Talking with -- and listening to -- students lunch & recess
• Attending community events
• Attending extracurricular activities that students are involved with 
• Visiting local institutions (places of worship, cultural institutions) 

When you send a letter home to families, send along a survey to collect:

• Contact preferences (e.g., names, numbers, methods, times) 
• Preferred means of getting involved in the classroom
• Children's strengths and areas for growth
• Ways they feel prepared to support their children's academics at home

This further establishes two-way communication and sets you up to tailor instruction and communication to meet students' and families' needs and preferences. Here are a few examples:

• Example 1
• Example 2
• Parent’s Hope and Dreams Survey

Relay GSE Designers. (2015). New York: Relay GSE.

https://flamboyanfoundation.org/resource/beginning-of-the-year-toolkit/

In her book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain Zaretta Hammond names three levels of culture: surface, shallow, and deep. (You can read more about each level on pages 22-24)

Teachers may consider using back-to-school night, parent teacher conferences, or home visits as an opportunity to learn more about elements of a student’s culture. Talking with families can yield a more nuanced understanding of their culture and values than what can be gathered through a survey. 

Refer to pages 30-31 in the article, "Toward a Conception of Culturally Responsive Classroom Management" for suggestions on potential questions that can help you learn about students beyond the surface aspects of their culture. 

Hammond, Z., & Jackson, Y. (2015;2014;). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. 

Weinstein, C. S., Tomlinson-Clarke, S., & Curran, M. (2004). Toward a conception of culturally responsive classroom management. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(1), 25-38.