Abstract

This workshop is designed for practitioners to reflect about their cultural perspectives and discover their beliefs about teaching and working in diverse environments. The purpose of this workshop is to have practitioners explore their own cultural identity so they can identify how they use their culture and identity in their workplace or classrooms. They will identify their cultural identity and perspectives, name ways that they use their cultural identity with their students or colleagues, and discover culturally responsive teaching strategies that they can use in their classrooms or workplace. In an invitational learning environment, the practitioners will participate in activities that intentionally develop trust and respect for each other. They will write their own cultural identity by using the components of family background, ethnicity, religion, and socioeconomic factors (Cummins 1996) and shared social markers of identity, including language, faith, and heritage (Nieto 2010). They also will explore worldviews and cultural perspectives. The participants will conclude the workshop by identifying culturally responsive teaching strategies that they can use in their diverse work environments (Gay 2010; Ladson-Billings 2014).