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Catherine Carney's ESOL Class, Dedham High School, Dedham, MA
Dedham, MA
School Type:
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School Setting: Suburban
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Level: High
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School Design:
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Content Presented By:
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Summary
The practice: Reshaping the Curriculum - A reshaped curriculum is culturally responsive to the background of students.
- Suburban district
- Students' interest in each others' backgrounds helps to direct course of curriculum
- Native English speakers try their hands at alphabets and symbols from other cultures
- Rapidly changing student demographics
- Demographics of school staff unchanged
- Program recently created for English language learners
The feature story for this example of best practice in action is an essay by a high school teacher in Dedham, Massachusetts. In it, the author explains how at first she becomes uncomfortable when her students--an ethnically mixed group--begin to openly acknowledge their differences in a classroom discussion. However, once the teens express their genuine interest in one another and share their true, often painful experiences with trying to fit in, the teacher's perspective shifts. She begins to wonder whether the "celebrate diversity" conversations that she and fellow white teachers have are ultimately superficial. The feature story presents an important question: What does it mean to have an authentic conversation about diversity?
This site also exemplifies the following practice(s):
- Cultural Sensitivity - To maximize learning opportunities, teachers gain knowledge of the cultures represented in their classrooms and translate this knowledge into instructional practice.
- Student-Controlled Classroom Discourse - Students are given the opportunity to control some portion of the lesson, providing teachers with insight into the ways that speech and negotiation are used in the home and community.
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