Considering Culturally Responsive Teaching in a New Brunswick
Physical Education Context

Josiah Marr

Department of Education, University of New Brunswick

July 15, 2015

PART I 

Welcome

My name is Josiah Marr. I am a Bachelor of Education student from the University of New Brunswick. This is a study of culturally relevant pedagogy also known as culturally responsive teaching or culturally relevant teaching. For the purpose of this paper, I will refer to it as culturally responsive teaching (CRT). I have found the abbreviation to also be connected to Critical Race Theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). The purpose of the study is to be used as a resource to Physical Education (PE) teachers in New Brunswick (NB) Canada. The process will be carried out starting with some provincial demographic background, followed by a literature review, finalized by suggestions for PE teachers. 

This project that I have undertaken is extremely significant. NB’s youth population (0-19 years old) is steadily declining “…and there is nothing in our forecasts that suggest the youth population will rebuild itself naturally” (NB population Growth Strategy, 2013, p. 2). With the families of youth leaving the province for economic prosperity found in other parts of the country, NB is in jeopardy of slowly disintegrating. The provincial leaders have realized this is an issue and have begun a strategic plan that involves recruiting new immigrants to NB. Action #12 in the New Brunswick Population Growth Strategy 2014-2017 states, “PETL [Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labor] will promote the importance of multiculturalism and diversity through generating awareness of the benefits of immigration to New Brunswick” (Province of New Brunswick, 2014, p. 15). If the NB government succeeds in keeping the province afloat with a growing immigrant population, the demographics in classrooms of the near future will continue to culturally, linguistically, and religiously diversify. With increasing diversity in student populations, teachers need to be aware that simply teaching the curriculum, as they have become comfortable performing, to a class of students from around the world may become increasingly ineffective for all stakeholders in this process. 

What is Culturally Responsive Teaching?

Culturally responsive teaching is more than “…simply having an attitude of acceptance of cultural diversity. A culturally responsive teacher acts on knowledge about cultural differences, and implements, as habit, pedagogical skills that foster a meaningful and relevant education for all of her/his learners” (Young & Sternod, 2011, p. 2). Culp and Chepyator-Thomson (2011) say, “Culturally responsible pedagogy involves providing the best possible education for children that preserves their own cultural heritage, prepares them for meaningful relationships with other people, and for living productive lives in the present society without sacrificing their own cultural perspective” (p. 83). This is difficult for students in New Brunswick, where diversity is found, but in small sample sizes. 

Many teachers think that truly incorporating a students’ culture into the classroom simply means eating some food and learning a few words in his/her native tongue. As Roman (2010, as cited in Nieto, 2010) mentions in The Light in Their Eyes “To have knowledge of another culture does not mean to be able to repeat one or two words in a student’s language, nor is it to celebrate an activity or sing a song related to their culture.” (p. 167). In fact Roman (2010) says it is much deeper than that, “In order for a teacher to promote excellence in education, there has to be a real and honest connection between the needs and cultural values of teachers and students. This is culturally responsive education” (p. 168). “This begins a process for dialogical communication that allows for the sharing of worldviews” (L. Hamm, personal communication, July 9, 2015).

My Experience in New Brunswick

During the first two practicum blocks of my Education degree at UNB I was placed at Peter Dalbright High School in a large New Brunswick urban centre (this is a pseudonym). The reason I decided to research culturally responsive teaching is because of three international students in my PE class at the school. All three students were from the continent of Asia and had just recently become students at Dalbright. Because of high language barriers, these three students were not learning as much as the rest of my class. The school did not have enough support in place to help these students succeed in a new learning environment. The English content alone was not able to meet the needs of the new English learners. The students’ marks suffered as a result of the language barrier, and there was no attempt to support them. This caused in me what John Dewey would call an “indeterminate situation” of pedagogy (Biesta & Burbules (2003) as cited in Hamm, 2009, p. 80).

My Limitations

During my time at Dalbright High, I truly felt I was not equipped to help these three students. I was aware of the issues at hand, but I was unresponsive and therefore ineffective in helping the students succeed beyond providing extra time on assignments and providing extra help for tests.  The reasons why I felt ineffective in helping the students had to do with two factors: First, I was limited in my 8 weeks total at the school where I only taught the three international students for one class each day. Second, I was not prepared at that point in my B.Ed. program for the situation at hand. Reflecting on this past shortcoming combined with a desire to learn how to effectively teach students of any background, and the wish to help other teachers in NB grow in this area, I decided to research culturally responsive teaching with a New Brunswick context. 

Research Question

The key research question that Dr. Lyle Hamm and I developed is: What does it mean to be a culturally responsive educator in a diverse physical education class in New Brunswick? I have formulated a response to this question using the themes discovered in a literature review of culturally responsive teaching. 

PART II

Literature Review

The majority of the literature I found related to culturally responsive physical education was from the USA, although there were a few Canadian articles. The American content focused on inner city African-American student education, while the Canadian content referred to teaching First Nations students specifically. The literature was organized in the standard format, defining the topic, highlighting previous research, then suggestions for future research. The literature seemed to be concerned with the message that CRT is essential for today’s teacher, but did not provide much as to how to apply the idea of CRT in the classroom. The fact that the articles seemed primarily concerned with summarizing previous research became disheartening, because I set out on this path in order to find applications for the issues at hand. It is unsettling that all of these scholars have thrown around terms, redefined models and lists, but have not given tangible take-aways to the readers. It is not very useful to read an article about CRT, become inspired by the seeming necessity of applying the concept, then find out that there are no suggestions for how to get started in making CRT happen in your classroom. How can we grow new teachers into culturally responsive ones if there is no help from those who have invested so much time in the research? As a young teacher I’m committed to developing my own strategies by drawing from theories in the research and eventually building my own theories of CRT.

Themes

There are three overarching themes that stood out in the literature: 1) Incorporating families through active engagement, 2) Curriculum can be a problem, and 3) Teachers are underprepared to teach in culturally responsive ways. 

1) Incorporate and engage families: Robinson et al. (2013) suggest, “employing culturally responsive pedagogy may be a daunting task for some. It requires teachers to develop a detailed knowledge about specific cultural groups” (p. 527). In order to develop knowledge about the cultural group that students come from teachers need to take time to do research. But in order to get a true grasp on who each student is teachers must realize that scholastic experiences, just like life are all about relationships. A teacher that practices CRT establishes a link with the families of the students.  Brown-Jeffy & Cooper (2011) see it this way, “…culturally relevant pedagogy is a way for schools to acknowledge the home-community culture of the students, and through sensitivity to cultural nuances integrate these cultural experiences, values, and understandings into the teaching and learning environment” (p. 67). This process is does not happen after one meeting with a student’s family, but with effort and understanding from both parties, a relationship can be made. Specifically in the context of physical education, it should be noted that “Understanding students’ backgrounds can help teachers individualize instruction to allow students to participate in ways that are acceptable within their cultures, and still provide opportunities to meet the overall goals and objectives of the physical education teacher’s program…” (Young & Sternod  2011, p. 5). PE teachers need to realize that different cultures go about physical activity in different ways, involving different types of dress and norms. Young & Sternod (2011) continue to say, “Physical education provides unique opportunities for parents and family members to share their wealth of knowledge, which in turn can increase the meaningfulness and relevancy of the PE experience for all. Culturally-based games, dances, and other physical activities, can be presented by family members…” (p. 4). This quote is the key to this theme. It is the suggestion given for how to include families into PE. This doesn’t mean that a parent or relative must be present in each PE class. However it is important to create opportunities to include family as a resource to teach about cultural backgrounds. 

2) Curriculum can be a problem: Culture often alienates new immigrant students from North American curriculum. Gay (2000) said it plainly, “Culturally responsive education recognizes, respects, and uses students’ identities and backgrounds as meaningful sources for creating optimal learning environments” (p. 3). However the literature suggests the opposite is taking place. Curriculum found in North America is predominantly Eurocentric. In Canada “federal government policies impose provincially mandated curriculum designed from a Eurocentric base” (Robinson, et al. 2012, p. 527). According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary the term ‘eurocentric’ means “centered on Europe or the Europeans; especially: reflecting a tendency to interpret the world in terms of European or Anglo-American values and experiences (online source).” If our curriculum has been established on Eurocentric bases, then it does not lend itself to teaching students from around the world well. For example, some students like groups while others do not; similarly some students will volunteer for tasks while others wait to be chosen. These examples are often the result of the cultural norms associated with the schooling immigrant students have previously received. 

The traditional curriculum loses its effectiveness when students in the class have not grown up with the same schooling experiences as those who constructed the curriculum or the teachers who are delivering it. The reality is that “…most students who are not White rarely see themselves or their experiences reflected in the curriculum, while those students who are White and who fit the dominant culture of the classroom see themselves reflected in the school curriculum” (Parhar & Sensoy, 2011, p. 190). The dominant culture can often over power new immigrant students who are not used to the system they find themselves in. As Young and Sternod (2011) mention “…with many different views about the human body and health and wellness, it is important for instructors to be aware of the cultural diversity among those students in our classes, and to make the physical education experience meaningful and relevant to all” (p. 3). It is essential that PE teachers plan and infuse the curriculum to/ for students in the class. Not the other way around. Further, the culturally responsive teacher “…asserts the value of focusing classroom curricula and practice upon students’ cultural frames of reference. It is a pedagogy that recognizes students’ differences, validates students’ cultures, and asserts that upon cultural congruence of classroom practices, students will discover increasing success in school” (Parhar & Sensoy, 2011, p. 192). The key to remember concerning the curricular issue is that CRT uses student’s differences as a lens for which to project learning for all to see. 

3) Teachers are underprepared to teach in culturally responsive ways: The literature mentioned time and time again that teachers are not prepared to meet the challenges of effectively teaching multicultural classes. Recommendations such as this have been made, “…PETE [physical education teacher education] programs should use existing or develop courses whereby teacher candidates gain greater sensitivity towards cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity, which has become commonplace in our schools” (Burden et al. 2013. p. 181). Unfortunately, new teachers feel that they are not prepared with the skills and strategies to help a multicultural class flourish. This disparity between preparation and reality “…calls on teacher educators to consider how well pre-service teachers are prepared to recognize and respond to the structural aspects of schooling that impact their activities in a single classroom…” (Parhar & Sensoy p. 215). The structural aspects referred to by Parhar and Sensoy are found in most everything teachers do in the classroom. From the way the class runs, the context of the activities, the layout of the classroom, to the amount of support given by the teacher. 

Changes in Teacher Education and Preparation

It is clear based on the literature that changes need to occur in teacher education programs. Effort needs to be made to highlight the reality of having students from different cultures in any given classroom. It is important to note who the literature puts the onus on, “Such a happening does not just naturally occur. It requires that pre-service and in-service physical education teachers be educated about culturally responsive physical education, which quite clearly requires teacher educators to be similarly educated” (Robinson et al. p. 539). Countries, Provinces, and Districts all need to buy into CRT in order for it to be a reality in every classroom. 

PART III

Discussion

The themes from the literature are transferable to PE classrooms in New Brunswick. The beautiful thing about the topic of growing diversity in NB is it has never before been viewed through the lens of CRT. In the next section, I would like to make some recommendations based on the themes that emerged in this small study. 

A quick note before getting started, I understand that every single student and classroom is unique. CRT “…is not about unilateral practice such as, “teach students from group X like this.” Rather… that if schools and teaching change to reflect and draw upon students’ identities, their cultural backgrounds and heritages, student achievement will improve.” (Parhar & Sensoy p. 192). That is why it is difficult to predict what strategies will work in a specific classroom. The most important piece of advice found in the literature about how to become a culturally responsive teacher is to try. Effort is the key. A teacher should not allow students to sit outside the regular dominant culture box in their school and be left to their own devices. Lending a caring hand can start to make all the difference. Culturally relevant teachers aren’t just born, they are made; they develop their unique skills sets, through effort. What does effort in CRT look like? Diving into the issue headfirst is a good way to start. Teachers should reflect on current assumptions and practice, begin the process of meeting with students and their families, followed by putting theory into practice, and then allowing time for self-reflection. 

As for the province of New Brunswick, if change is to happen to provide valuable education to every student in the school system, then it must come from the top. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development needs to take demographic change and increasing diversity in NB schools seriously. Our school system is faced with a challenge to ensure that “pedagogically sound and effective” (L. Hamm, personal communication, July 9, 2015) supports are put in place for new immigrant students and that teachers are provided and encouraged to attend appropriate professional development sessions to help them navigate this new reality. All teachers in Atlantic Canada, both young and old need to be equipped with skills and knowledge related to CRT. This can only be done by putting policy in place through working with experts in CRT to construct documents to be used as a resource for equipping teachers to be culturally responsive. Following work with experts in the field, time must be taken through professional development and resources at district offices to equip teachers with awareness that will help them practice being more culturally responsive. 

How About New Brunswick?

So, what does it mean to be a culturally responsive educator in a diverse physical education class in New Brunswick? Filling this role means four things. First, get to know the students in your class. Even if you teach every student in the school, putting effort into doing your homework about your new immigrant students’ home countries will be helpful. Then, conference with students and parents with the goal of beginning to understand their culture. 

Second, clear communication of expectations needs to be made to immigrant students, “Holding all students to performance standards to earn grades in physical education conveys a message that physical education is important…” (Young & Sternod, 2011, p. 5). Performance standards will not be able to be met without “…clear verbal explanations and instructions, well-executed visual demonstrations, plenty of opportunities to practice skills, and opportunities to put their skills to test in situations that allow for authentic assessment, such as game play.” (Young & Sternod, 2011, p. 5). These skills are transferable from an EAL (English as an Additional Language) context. Like in EAL, PE teachers who practice CRT need to scaffold, model & use visual aids for students. A great EAL resource that has transferable content is: 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners by Herrell & Jordan (2012). 

Third, asking for help is crucial for PE teachers who require support. Having allies that can provide support to help become a more culturally responsive teacher is essential. Often times it seems that supports are lacking in schools (although EAL horizons have become brighter in the larger high schools in NB recently). People from the community and support workers such as translators and multicultural associations are key to providing immigrant students the best education possible. Brown-Jeffy & Cooper (2011) note “…CRP [culturally responsive pedagogy] teachers accept that the community is a vital partner in students’ learning” (p. 78). 

Finally, once you have a grasp of the cultural backgrounds represented in your class, you must include elements from the cultures into your curriculum. This can be done by allowing for choice in activities, having boys and girls separated for some activities, letting students lead portions of the class, especially through games, dances, and sports from their cultures. Culp & Chepyator-Thomson (2011) wisely note, “…sport is one of the most easily recognizable characteristic of a groups culture” (p. 250). Simply playing a game will not be enough. Every student must understand what the game is and where it comes from, to better include the culture into the curriculum. This was something that I put into practice during my final eight-week practicum at the Canadian International School of Beijing in Beijing, China. I created a unit called “Games Around the World”. The unit consists of games and sports from different countries around the world. I selected the games based on the fact that most of the students in my classes had not played them before. The final assessment of the unit is where specific CRT comes into play. Students are tasked with selecting a favorite game from their culture to teach to the class. This unit is one that can be used by any PE teacher in the province. A warning, the inclusion of cultural games should not be the only culturally responsive teaching that takes place in the PE classroom. However it is an awesome place to start. Once you have set a base with the games from the unit you (the teacher) and your class can continue to learn about each other through physical activity. 

Conclusion

So what? What does all this matter? CRT matters in New Brunswick because of the growing need for teachers to teach students from diverse backgrounds in their classrooms effectively. Teachers in New Brunswick must realize that teaching is an ever-evolving art form. Teachers are learners too. As Shor & Freire (1987) illustrated, “The students are not a flotilla of boats trying to reach the teacher who is finished and waiting on the shore. The teacher is also one of the boats” (p. 50). The teacher must continue to teach as well as be taught in order to be a true agent of CRT. This requires goals and active participation in learning. “Together, students and teachers need to build classroom community, making it a safe place in which to nurture everyone’s cultural identity.” (Brown-Jeffy & Cooper, 2011, p. 78). This is as true in PE as any other classroom. CRT is a process, a labor of love if you will, that can make an impact in the life of every student.

Recommendations for the Future

In the future I would like to pursue a Master’s degree in Culturally Responsive Pedagogies. After all this work, I feel like I have only taken a chip off the top of the iceberg that is CRT. I want to take more time to further my understanding of how to effectively practice CRT related to physical education and ultimately support the education for teachers about it. Future research about teachers in NB, their perceptions and uses for culturally relevant teaching will be valuable. Combined with examples and stories from teachers who have experience implementing CRT. Further research in this province will be preventative of further shortfalls, in order to teach every student effectively. 

Special Thanks To: 

Dr. Lynn Randall, Physical Education, University of New Brunswick. 

Dr. Lyle Hamm, Education Administration and Leadership, University of New Brunswick. 

References

Biesta, G. J., & Burbules, N. C. (2003). Pragmatism and educational research. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Brown-Jeffy, S., & Cooper, J. E. (2011). Toward a Conceptual Framework of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: An Overview of the Conceptual and Theoretical Literature. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38(1), 65-84. 

Burden, J. J., Columna, L., Hodge, S. R., & Mansilla, P. V. (2013). Ethnolinguistically Relevant Pedagogy: Empowering English Language Learners in Physical Education. Quest, 65(2), 169-185. 

Culp, B., & Chepyator-Thomson, J. R. (2011). Examining the Culturally Responsive Practices of Urban Primary Physical Educators. Physical Educator, 68(4), 234-253. 

Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2001). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York: New York University Press.

Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Halas, J., McCrae, H., & Carpenter, A. (2013). The quality and cultural relevance of physical education for Aboriginal youth: Challenges and opportunities. In J. Forsythe & A. R. Giles (Eds.), Aboriginal peoples and sport in Canada: Historical foundations and contemporary issues (pp. 182-205). Vancouver, Canada: UBC Press. 

Herrell, A., & Jordan, M. (2012). 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners. Martinez, A., (Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. 

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.) Eurocentric. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved July 4, 2015, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eurocentric

Parhar, N., & Sensoy, O. (2011). Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Redux: Canadian Teachers’ Conceptions of Their Work and Its Challenges. Canadian Journal Of Education, 34(2), 189-218. 

Province of New Brunswick. (2013). Population Growth Strategy 2013-2018 (Discussion Paper) (ISBN 978-1-4605-0230-3). New Brunswick

Province of New Brunswick. (2014). New Brunswick Population Growth Strategy 2014-2017 (ISBN 9874). New Brunswick. 

Robinson, D. B., Borden, L. L., & Robinson, I. M. (2012). Charting a Course for Culturally Responsive Physical Education. Alberta Journal Of Educational Research, 58(4), 526-546. 

Roman, L. (2010). Cultural knowledge and culturally responsive pedagogy. In S. Nieto (Ed.), The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities. (pp. 167-169). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. 

Shor, I., & Freire, P. (1987). A pedagogy for liberation: Dialogues on transforming education. New York: Bergin & Garvey. Young, S., & Sternod, B. M. (2011) Practicing Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Physical Education. Online Submission, EBSCOhost.