Multicultural analysis of practicum site

Option B: Multicultural analysis of practicum site
You are to critically assess the pedagogic practices at your practicum school from the perspective of culturally relevant pedagogy/multicultural education. You can

focus on either one particular teacher who agrees to be studied, or yourself, or the school as a whole.
Guiding questions for your study
• How does your study participant address the issues of culture, ‘race’, identity and difference in her/his teaching strategies, curricular content and

interactions with parents and community?
•   How does s/he address issues of racism and other forms of discrimination in the classroom?
•   How does his/her approach compare to the recommendations of the authors we have read in the unit?
•   How does the study participant deal with issues of language (either bilingual students or non-standard dialects), and how does the teacher/school’s approach

compare with how some of the authors we’ve read in the unit approach this issue?
•   What policies does the school implement to address the issues of cultural, ‘racial’, and linguistic diversities in school?
•   What effects does the inclusion/non-inclusion of culturally relevant pedagogy in the study site seem to have on students’ learning experiences?
•   What recommendation would you give to the teacher or the school to make her/his practice or the school more culturally inclusive?
Data collection during practicum
This assignment should not interfere with your practicum teaching. All I expect of you is to keep this assignment in the back of your mind as you carry on with your

daily teaching work. Document what you informally observe or hear while teaching so that later you can use the information for this assignment. I suggest you prepare a

small notebook for this assignment wherein you can jot down anything that you hear and observe which you find interesting in light of the ideas and concepts introduced

by the lectures and readings.
Here are potential data sources that you might want to consider for your study:
•   ‘Chatting’ (informal interview) with teachers and administrators;
•   ‘Chatting’ (informal interview) with students;
•   ‘Chatting’ (informal interview) with parents;
•   School policy documents;
•   Newsletters, textbooks, and other curricular materials;
•   Participant observation (you observe as you carry out your teaching duty!).
Here is a suggested essay outline (which you may or may not want to follow):
•   Brief description of classroom/school context;
•   Brief discussion of data collection strategies (Discuss how you collected the data);
•   Discussion of multicultural education/culturally relevant pedagogy (Discuss the kind of lens through which you analyze the data);
•   Data analysis;
•   Recommendations.
The first two should be really brief (I mean it!). Only provide contextual information about the teacher, students, school, and community that are relevant to your

discussion. Do not include any information that may allow readers to identify the research participants and the school.
I have included in the Topic 5 reading list Grant & Sleeter (2003) ‘Action research activity 5.2: Classroom and school assessment.’ This reading should be useful when

you consider the kind of things that you should be paying attention to during the practicum.
You must explicitly cite/refer to a minimum of 10 unit readings (both required and suggested) drawn mostly from Topics 5 to 10.

Option B: Multicultural analysis of practicum site
• School Context – one of the largest primary schools in the Port Macquarie District. This school has a population of over 710 students. Students come from a

wide variety of settings such as town, outlying farming areas and small rural acreages. Despite the schools size, the needs of the individual student are not

forgotten. The school has a diverse group of students with a large cohort undertaking special programs to cater for the individual. The main focus of this school is

catering for the 100 Aboriginal students which is the main significant multicultural group within the school. This particular school is a proud member and driving

force behind the Bago Community of Schools which have three main targets;
1) Mathematics with extensive work being undertaken in teacher training and development using the Taking Off With Numeracy program which fosters explicit teaching of

numeracy skills;
2) Consolidating student welfare practices within the school. This is the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) initiative. This is a whole school Student Welfare

Program. This involves the establishment of specific positive behaviours and consistency throughout the school;
3) Catering for and developing Aboriginal Community Engagement. The school committee co-ordinated the Bago Community of Schools Staff Development Day. Personalised

Learning Plans have been developed for all Aboriginal Students, setting individual targets for them.

• Data collection strategies – data was collected from a variety of sources to critically assess the pedagogic practices of the school from the perspective of

culturally relevant pedagogy/multicultural education. The approaches I undertook, gave me an insight at two different levels – from the micro level of the classroom

context to the macro level of the whole school approach.
My data collection approaches included:
1) My study participant – The Teacher – here I gained insight through the lens of the classroom teacher, and her teaching strategies. Even though I was not on

my practicum, I was lucky enough to gain time with this teacher.
2) Discussions with School Administration, Assistant School Principal and Learning Support Team. E.g. school policy documents, newsletters, discussions with

the Learning Support Team.
3) The My School Website: http://www.myschool.edu.au/SchoolProfile and the NSW Education and Communities linked website for the particular school being

analysed (within this paper) http://www.wauchope-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/. Statistical data was gained (see table below ‘Students 2013’) to show the student population

break down within the school context.
• Data Analysis – Discussion of data (through the lens of multicultural education/culturally relevant pedagogy within the school context)

a) How does the teacher address the issues of culture, ‘race’, identity and difference in her teaching strategies, curricular content and interactions with parents and

the community?
Culture, races and identity are addressed through content that is taught. This is achieved by allowing students to have the opportunities to learn about other cultures

and appreciate different viewpoints from other nationalities. While learning about these differences it is important for students to learn to respect other cultures

and where possible have authentic learning experiences such as celebrating ‘Harmony Day’ or celebrating ‘The Chinese New Year’. It is vital that Aboriginality is

celebrated and aspects of this culture are addressed in all Key Learning areas – A great example of this is NAIDOC Week. It is a time to enhance the learning of

Aboriginal culture and allows the Aboriginal community to have input into our schools and teach traditional dances, share stories, play games and have traditional

demonstrations such as building a ‘Gunja hut’ with students to show traditional shelters.

b) How does the teacher address issues of racism and other forms of discrimination in the classroom?
Issues of racism and discrimination are addressed through building social skills that show appropriate behaviour and specific expectations that run throughout the

school community. Children are taught to acknowledge differences and appreciate others for their uniqueness.

c) How does the teacher deal with issues of language (either bilingual students or non-standard dialects) and how does Mrs Rock/the schools approach compare with how

some of the authors we’ve read in the unit approach this issue?
Bilingual students or non-standard dialects – students will need an ILP (Independent Learning Program) as this will cater for their specific language needs. Immersion

on language and support charts provided within the classroom. Outside help maybe needed for extra support by the School Councillor, Speech Therapist, Reading Recovery,

and Teacher’s Aide for additional classroom support

d) What policies does the school implement to address the issues of cultural, ‘racial’, and linguistic diversities in school?
School Policies:- Learning Support Team that assesses students specific needs and co-ordinates with teacher any additional support for the student in terms of outside

classroom help (Speech Therapist), teachers aid, bi-lingual support teacher.

e) What effects does the inclusion/non-inclusion of culturally relevant pedagogy in the study site seem to have on students learning experiences?
Inclusion of culturally relevant pedagogy: – The implementation and integration of diverse cultural experiences allows students to have a richer, balanced learning

experience that encourages big idea thinking a more empathetic approach to others.

Recommendations
How does the teachers approach compare to the recommendations of the authors we have read in this unit?

What recommendations would you give your teacher or the school to make the teachers practice or the school more culturally inclusive?

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