A positive Classroom Environment

1. What would you identify as an important outcome of building relationships with
   your students while focusing on a culturally inviting environment that is physically
   safe, while also providing an engaging and positive learning experience?
   Building a strong and healthy relationship with students requires conscious and deliberate
   action. Positive learning environments that are culturally inviting, engaging, and safe do not just
   happen; they are built. In my view, the important outcome of building relationships is having
   students develop intrinsic motivation. Having students feel good about themselves and believe in
   their potential and abilities is an intrinsic motivator to them. This is specifically the case when
   dealing with young students at the elementary level. By engaging in positive actions, learners
   feel good about themselves. The feelings that children develop towards themselves are largely
   dependent on the actions that they engage in. Thus, by helping students understand that changing
   negative thoughts into positive ones can help them engage in positive actions is possible through
   building a good rapport with them. In the Video, JCPSEmployee (2012), the speaker states that
   building a relationship with students sends a message to them that the teacher understands and
   likes them. Thus, the teacher is personally inviting and is able to build strong, healthy
   relationships where students feel affirmed in their cultural connections.
2. Considering your personal experience as a student, any professional experiences,
   and your current and past higher-education based learning, are the Seven
   Principles of Culturally Responsive Teaching theory realistic or idealistic? Be sure

to support your opinion with scholarly citations in APA format both in the body of
your post and at its conclusion.
The seven principles of Culturally Responsive Teaching are realistic. Culture is a core
element in the learning process. It shapes the thinking processes of students and plays a role in
how they receive information and communicate with their pers. Teachers must, therefore, use
strategies that are responsive to the culture of the learners for instruction to be effective. In my
professional experience as a basketball coach, I deal with students who are culturally diverse. I
encourage the use of different scenarios that are reflected in each of these different cultures.
Also, I understand that a player’s response to a problem or situation may be influenced by their
culture. Therefore, during our interaction, I keep an open mind and value the input of each of
them because I work towards creating a culturally inviting environment during training and even
matches. According to Ladson-Billings, when a teacher applies teaching techniques that are
culturally responsive, he or she recognizes the importance of inclusion in a classroom and the
role of cultural inferences in various aspects of teaching and learning (Ladson-Billings, 2009).
Further, culturally responsive teaching is realistic as it enables teachers to instruct and lead in a
way that students, despite their differences, achieve at a level that is higher and connects and
engage with each other at a deeper level. Besides, such a way of teaching ensures that students
go through the learning process successfully, without giving up on who they really are.
Education should not assimilate students into different cultures other than their own. It should
deal with each student individually, and they are assured that teachers understand them and can
connect with their culture. Such teaching affirms students that they are appreciated in school, and
diversity is embraced.

References

JCPSEmployee. (2012, September 13). Seven Principles for Culturally Responsive Teaching and
Learning  (Links to an external site.)[Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IptefRjN4DY
Ladson-Billings, G. (2009). The dreamkeepers. San Francisco.