Culturally responsive classroom management: awareness into action

Theory Into Practice, Autumn, 2003 by Carol Weinstein, Mary Curran, Saundra Tomlinson-Clarke

Communicating with students in culturally consistent ways

Culturally responsive managers recognize that differences in discourse style can have a direct effect on students' behavior. Delpit (1995), for example, points out that Black children and children from working-class families are more accustomed to straightforward directives from authority figures ("Sit down and get to work.") than to the "politeness formulas" (Manke, 1997) and indirect discourse strategies (e.g., "Sally, would you like to sit down?") typically used by middle-class White teachers. If teachers choose to use these indirect discourse strategies, they need to provide students with explicit lessons on how nondirective verbal interventions are actually "code" for direct commands.

Sometimes, teachers may decide to modify discourse styles so that their communications are consistent with students' cultural backgrounds. Cindy Ballenger (1999), for example, was an experienced preschool teacher who expected to have little difficulty with her class of 4-year-old Haitian children. To her surprise, however, her usual repertoire of management strategies failed to create a respectful, orderly environment. Since her colleagues--all Haitian--were experiencing no difficulty with classroom management, Ballenger had to conclude that the problem "did not reside in the children" (p. 32). She began to explore her own beliefs and practices with respect to children's behavior and to visit other teachers' classrooms to examine their "control statements." Eventually, Ballenger was able to identify several key differences between her own style of discourse and that of her Haitian colleagues. While the Haitian teachers stressed the fact that they cared for the children and had their best interests at heart (e.g., "The adults here like you, they want you to be good children."), Ballenger frequently referred to children's internal states (e.g., "You must be angry."). Moreover, she tended to stress the logical consequences of children's behavior (e.g., "If you don't listen, you won't know what to do."), while the Haitian teachers articulated the values and responsibilities of group membership and stressed less immediate consequences, such as bringing shame to one's family. Once Ballenger had identified these differences in control statements, she made a deliberate effort to adopt some of the Haitian discourse style. Order in her classroom improved significantly.

Creating caring, inclusive classrooms

When teachers and students come from different cultural backgrounds, planned efforts to cross social borders and develop caring, respectful relationships are essential. From the very first day of school, teachers can set the tone by greeting students at the door with a smile and a warm, welcoming comment. Greeting second language learners with a phrase in their native language can be especially affirming. Teachers can also forge positive relationships with students by sharing stories about their lives outside of school, learning about students' interests and activities, inviting them to make choices and decisions about class activities, and listening to their concerns and opinions. It is critical that teachers deliberately model respect for diversity--by expressing admiration for a student's bilingual ability, by commenting enthusiastically about the number of different languages that are represented in class, and by including examples and content from a variety of cultures in their teaching. Finally, it is important to remember that caring also involves communicating high expectations and holding students accountable for high-quality academic work. Consider what Vinh, an 18-year-old Vietnamese student, has to say about teachers who praised his limited English: