Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching for Adults

with Low Literacy

COABE ConferenceApril 21-24, 2015 Denver, Colorado

Nan Frydland Neighbors Link, Mt. Kisco, NY nanfrydland@gmail.com *MALP® used with permission.

Agenda

Culturally Responsive Teaching background

Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm®(MALP ®)

Action research project implementation

Implications and applications for multiple settings

Layers of the Instructional Context

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Societal FactorsBedrock

Underlying Cultural Differences

1. Ways of Communicating:written word vs. oral

transmission2. Ways of Learning:formal vs. informal

3. Ways of Being:individualism vs. collectivism

• Personal efforts praised, rewarded

• Personal interests and desires are primary

• Personal responsibility

• “Self-actualization”

Individualism

(Hofstede, 2001; Maslow, 1999)

• “We” rather than “I”

• People see themselves as part of an interconnected whole

• “Web” of relationships

• Group is more important than any single individual

Collectivism

(Triandis, 1995; Hofstede, 2001)

I never care about reading until I come here In my country nothing to read but here, everywhere print, words and signs and books and you have to read.

Surviving in a Print-Based Culture

Wheat People v. Rice People

Which one of these is not like the others?

Academic Task

Cultural Dissonance

1. Ways of Communicating:written word vs. oral

transmission2. Ways of Learning:formal vs. informal

3. Ways of Being:individualism vs. collectivism

Paradigm of U.S.Education

Create independent learners; reward competition

Educate for the future, for careers and earnings

Individuals are accountable for independent learning

Literacy is the means of education Learners are expected to engage in

academic tasks

(Adapted from DeCapua & Marshall, 2011; Marshall & DeCapua, 2013)

Paradigm of Collectivist Education

Immediate relevance Informal education by peers,

relatives, community members Shared responsibility Oral transmission of knowledge Pragmatic tasks

(Adapted from DeCapua & Marshall, 2011; Marshall & DeCapua, 2013)

CONDITIONS

PROCESSES

ACTIVITIES

Aspects of Learning

Shared Responsibility

IndividualAccountability

Pragmatic Tasks

Decontextualized

Tasks

Interconnectedness

Oral Transmission

Independence

Written Word

Future Relevance

Immediate Relevance

(DeCapua & Marshall, 2009, 2011; Marshall, 1994; Marshall & DeCapua, 2013)

Struggling Learners

U.S. Formal Education

Two Learning Paradigms

AcceptCONDITIONS

CombinePROCESSESFocus onscaffoldedACTIVITIES

Aspects of Learning

Shared Responsibility

Individual Accountability

Pragmatic Tasks

Decontextualized

Tasks

Interconnectedness

Oral Transmission

Independence

Written Word

Future Relevance

Immediate Relevance

(DeCapua & Marshall, 2009, 2011; Marshall, 1994; Marshall & DeCapua, 2013)

Struggling Learners

U.S. Formal Education

Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm® – MALP®

Culturally Responsive Teaching Model

+

Literacy-based MALP® Implementation

Community-based organization

Urban/suburban city Day laborer job site

Volunteer staff Open entry/open exit

Action Research Project Instructional Model: MALP®

Content-based, workplace-oriented

Classes: 12 sessions, 2 hours per week

(Moll, 2005; Freire, 1970; Smith, 1998)

Learners

Background: 80% male Latino day laborers

Age: 17-70 years U.S. residency: 1-

16 years ESL Level:

beginner-intermediate

Class size: 4-10

Classroom

Scroll-based Curriculum MaterialsButcher paper rollsPainter’s tapeMarkersProcessRaw data from studentsCreation of tables and charts

Reading and analyzing information

(Freire, 1970; Auerbach, 1992; Dewey, 1938)

Workers Scroll

AcceptCONDITIONS

CombinePROCESSESFocus onscaffoldedACTIVITIES

Aspects of Learning

Shared Responsibility

Individual Accountability

Pragmatic Tasks

Decontextualized

Tasks

Interconnectedness

Oral Transmission

Independence

Written Word

Future Relevance

Immediate Relevance

(DeCapua & Marshall, 2009, 2011; Marshall, 1994; Marshall & DeCapua, 2013)

Struggling Learners

U.S. Formal Education

Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm® – MALP®

Culturally Responsive Teaching Model

+

Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm® –Teacher Planning Checklist®

A. Accept Conditions for Learning

A1. I am making this lesson/project immediately relevant to

students.

A2. I am helping students develop and maintain

interconnectedness.

B. Combine Processes for Learning

B1. I am incorporating shared responsibility and individual

accountability.

B2. I am scaffolding the written word through oral

interaction.

 

C. Focus on New Activities for Learning

C1. I am focusing on tasks requiring academic ways of thinking.

C2. I am making these tasks accessible with familiar language

and content.

© DeCapua, A. & Marshall, H.W. (2011). Breaking new ground: Teaching students with limited or interrupted formal education in U.S. secondary schools. p. 68. For terms and conditions of use, contact: information@malpeducation.com

A. Conditions for Learning

A1. Immediate relevance learners use material from their lives to create their own curriculum

A2. Interconnectednesslearners share personal information and form a web of social relationships

B. Processes for Learning

B1. Shared responsibility with individual accountability

learners create scrolls by collaborating and contributing individually

B2. Oral transmission scaffolds the written word

learners dictate to teacher then read aloud

C. Activities for LearningC1. Focus on decontextualized taskscompiling data in chart formmatching jobs and materials

C2. Tasks made accessible using familiar language and content

work-related English and subject matter used daily

MALP® Pocket Guide for Work

Making a Difference: Results of MALP® Implementation

1. Participation: Learner engagement in classes

2. Language Skills: Meaningful contexts for literacy

3. New Ways of Thinking: Facility with decontextualized tasks

4. Practical Application: Artifacts for real-life use

A MALP® ExerciseWorking with a partner, read the following and see if you can imagine how each of the six elements of the MALP® Checklist can be applied to the project.

Adult students in one class want to get drivers’ licenses. The teacher suggests they produce a booklet of instructions. She provides sentence frames such as “The first thing to do is….” A few students dictate their experiences getting driver’s licenses, another student brings information from the DMV. The students dictate to the teacher and as she writes on the board they copy the sentences and then read them aloud. She helps them sequence the instructions and weed out sentences that aren’t appropriate. Some students draw pictures for the booklet and another takes a photo for the cover. Time is set aside in class for learners to work together. The teacher types up the finished booklet, and students copy and staple the final product. They keep copies in the classroom for new students .

What about your classroom? Scrolls with meaningful language can

replace or supplement textbooks Projects, such as theme-based booklets,

can help learners share responsibility, reduce affective filter

Scaffolding helps learners transition from oral transmission to written word

Being interconnected to learners builds relationship to learners’ benefit

More about MALP®?

Books: (University of Michigan Press)Making the transition to classroom success: Culturally responsive

teaching for struggling language learners (2013)Breaking new ground: Teaching students with limited or interrupted

formal education in U. S. secondary schools (2011)Websites:

http://malpeducation.com http://malp.pbworks.com

Email:helaine.marshall@liu.edu drandreadecapua@gmail.com

ReferencesAmanti, C., Gonzalez, N., and Moll, L., eds. (2005). Funds of Knowledge: theorizing

practices in households, communities, and classrooms. New York: Routledge. Auerbach, E. (1992). Making Meaning, Making Change: Participatory curriculum development for adult

ESL literacy. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. DeCapua, A., & Marshall, H.W. (2011). Breaking new ground: Teaching students with or

interrupted formal education. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Dewey, J. (1938). Democracy and Education. New York: Simon and Brown. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum. Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.) New York:

Teachers College Press.Hofstede, G. (2001). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.Lurhmann, T.M. (2014, 12). Wheat People vs. Rice People: Why are some cultures

more individualistic than others? The New York Times, p. 31.Marshall, H. W. (1994). Hmong/English bilingual adult literacy project. Final report of

research conducted under the National Institute for Literacy (2013).Marshall, H. W. & DeCapua, A. (2013). Making the transition: culturally responsive teaching for

struggling language learners. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Triandis, H. (1995). Individualism & collectivism. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.