culturally relevant inspiration w brogan
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A Culturally Relevant InspirationTRANSCRIPT
CULTURALLY RELEVANT
INSPIRATION By: Windescence A. Brogan
A CLOSER LOOK AT THREE DIFFERENT CULTURALLY
RELEVANT SCHOOLS
1. Toledo School for the Arts
grades 6th-12th
http://www.ts4arts.org/
2. Sudbury Valley School
grades K-12th
http://sudval.org/
3. Brooklyn Free School
grades K-12th
http://www.brooklynfreeschool.org/
1. TOLEDO SCHOOL OF THE ARTS • Located in Toledo, Ohio
• Urban setting, located in a downtown converted warehouse
• School population consists of about 65% Caucasian, 20% African American, 5% Hispanic, and 10% other.
• 35% of the student body are eligible for a free or reduced lunch
SUMMARY OF TOLEDO SCHOOL OF THE ARTS AND WHY IT IS UNIQUE…
Toledo School of the Arts is a public charter school that offers students an opportunity to study core academic subjects while intergrading the arts into every subject. Classes in music, dance, theatre, and
visual arts are offered along with core academic subjects.
www.facebook.com/ts4arts
YOU TUBE VIDEO
Toledo School of the Arts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIhw0KZ10GQ
(Double click the picture above to start the attached video)
21ST CENTURY SKILLS SUPPORTED AT TOLEDO SCHOOL OF THE ARTS…..• Hands on activates involving the learning into the arts.
• Students encouraged to act out history with skits allowing for creativity in the way subjects are taught and gaining a deeper understanding.
• Collaborations with local artist who support the school and encourage involvement within the student body.
• Students are encouraged to critically think how to act out or express learning through the arts.
• Communication between students is encouraged.
• Students showcase, sell their art, and preform every month on the first Friday reaching out to the community and involving the community.
Students built these penguin puppets and performed on opening weekend of the new penguin exhibit at the Toledo Zoo. www.facebook.com/ts4arts
How the learning experiences reflect culturally relevant pedagogy…..
Learning experiences expose the arts that are culturally relevant to the students who attend.
How the school and promotes creativity in the classroom…..
Students are encouraged to intergrade the arts into core academic subjects allowing for creativity and deeper understandings of subjects.
How the school encourages teachers to be more creative in their approach to teaching…..
Teachers encourage the students by intergrading the arts into the lessons. Students who attend this school have a desire for the arts and have cultural relevance to the arts.
Toledo School of the Arts…..
www.facebook.com/ts4arts
2. SUDBURY VALLEY SCHOOL
• Located in Framingham, Massachusetts
• Suburban setting, located on 10 beautiful acres
• Private school with a $8200 a year tuition fee
• Unable to find school demographic information due to being a private school, they do not have to report like public schools are required to do.
SUMMARY OF SUDBURY VALLEY SCHOOL AND WHY IT IS UNIQUE…
This school is very unique and offers students the freedom to explore the school how they want. They hold no traditional
classes and students explore things that they find interesting throughout the day including video games, knitting, cooking,
playing, and just exploring. Students can attend as they want and they have no set hours, although they are open 8:30-5:30 daily and students must attend at minimum of five hours daily
within these hours.
www.facebook.com/SudburyValleySchool
YOU TUBE VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awOAmTaZ4XI
Sudbury Valley School
(Double click the picture above to start the attached video)
21ST CENTURY SKILLS SUPPORTED AT SUDBURY VALLEY SCHOOL…..• Students are encouraged to create and spend their day
doing whatever they want to do and learn.
• Collaborations between students happen as they explore the grounds of the school, learning, making mistakes and learning from their mistakes.
• Critical thinking happens when the students in this school research and complete lessons of their choice.
• Communication is happening in this school as students communicate with each other as they explore.
• Problem solving is encouraged and students discipline each other when the need arises, taking votes and deciding best way to address concerns.
Students working together to complete a project. www.facebook.com/SudburyValleySchool
How the learning experiences reflect culturally relevant pedagogy…..
The learning experiences at this school are culturally relevant since each student decides when and what they wish to learn.
How the school and promotes creativity in the classroom…..
The creativity happens in this school as each child explores and decides how to spend their day. Students create the education they want individually with no instruction form teachers.
How the school encourages teachers to be more creative in their approach to teaching…..
This school does not carry the traditional ways of thinking and learning instead each student decides what they want to do in the learning process. Teachers are there merrily to supervise and watch as students explore.
Sudbury Valley School…..
www.facebook.com/SudburyValleySchool
3. BROOKLYN FREE SCHOOL • Located in Brooklyn, New York
• Located in an urban setting
• School enrollment averages 30- 55 students a school year with a 1:12 student teacher student ratio, this is a private non-profit school with a $9500 a school year tuition fee.
• School population 46.6% Caucasian, 36.2% African American, 10.3% Hispanic, and 6.9% other.
SUMMARY OF BROOKLYN FREE SCHOOL AND WHY IT IS UNIQUE…
Teachers at this school follow the interests of each student and instruction is often given through play. Students have an equal part in the choices made throughout the day and they help decide what they are going to learn and when in the day
they are going to do it.
www.facebook.com/brooklynfreeschool
YOU TUBE VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igobUY5yG9I
Brooklyn Free School
(Double click the picture above to start the attached video)
21ST CENTURY SKILLS SUPPORTED AT BROOKLYN FREE SCHOOL…..• Collaborations between students are encouraged and older
students often are working with the younger ones building collaborations as they explore and learn.
• Creativity is encouraged and students are engaged in the learning.
• The students have daily meetings using critical thinking skills to decide and problem solve options throughout the day they will plan.
• Students communicate their interests to the other students and teachers to collaborate plans for leaning.
www.facebook.com/brooklynfreeschool
How the learning experiences reflect culturally relevant pedagogy…..
Because each students interest is followed and taken into consideration when planning this school intergrades what is culturally relevant to each student.
How the school and promotes creativity in the classroom…..
Creativity is promoted when each student has the ability to create a plan on what he or she wants to study or learn. Students create games to learn things like numbers and intergrade play to learn.
How the school encourages teachers to be more creative in their approach to teaching…..
This school encourages the teachers to think of the students as equal parts in the learning process. Students are encouraged to make choices in what they learn and what interests them. Teachers incorporate and follow the students interest.
Brooklyn Free School…..
www.facebook.com/brooklynfreeschool
CONCLUSION…..
Teachers who understand their student’s cultural relevance to the lessons have a greater chance of giving successful lessons. When teachers
connect the culture of the students to the lessons, then connections between home and school happen, giving that student a stronger
understanding of the lesson and making it relevant. All educators should understand that by integrating the student’s cultural background into the education, the demands of curricular lessons can still happen. Students’ successes depend on how the instruction is given, and by using relevant,
creative, and knowledge understandings, higher success can and will happen in the classroom. All three of the schools investigated have their
own individual and unique way of intergrading the students cultural relevance into the lessons taught or learned, but have one common theme,
cultural relevant inspiration to the student.
REFERENCES…..Retrieved November 2, 2014, from https://www.facebook.com/SudburyValleySchool
Retrieved November 2, 2014, from https://www.facebook.com/brooklynfreeschool
Retrieved November 1, 2014, from https://www.facebook.com/ts4arts
The Brooklyn Free School on BCAT News [Video file]. (2007, June 11). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igobUY5yG9I
Brooklyn Free School | where children are free to be themselves. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.brooklynfreeschool.org/
Framework for 21st century learning. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework
Sudbury Valley School • The View from inside. (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2014, from http://sudval.org/
Sudbury Valley School [Video file]. (2009, April 2). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awOAmTaZ4XI
Toledo School of the Arts. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.ts4arts.org/
Toledo Schools for the Arts: What Makes It Special? [Video file]. (2013, May 13). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIhw0KZ10GQ