Students and teachers come to school with pre-existing cultural understandings that reflect their varied experiences with regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, neighborhood, family, and learning. Additionally, there are “cultures” within the school itself regarding behavioral expectations, role identity, educational expectations, and socialization. Looking through a cultural lens is changing the way we think about culture to consider it as a foundation for interaction rather than an add-on activity.
This involves engaging in conscious discussion of the rights and responsibilities of all of the participants, developing teacher-student shared understandings of tasks and activities, exploring appropriate ways of participation for the students in a particular class, utilizing the knowledge that students bring to school, and being transparent about the hidden curriculum (i.e., rules for interaction, assumptions about learning and knowledge).
By addressing these facets of the individual cultures of students and teachers, cultural mismatches are addressed directly and shared understandings can be formed. When this happens, all students are invited to participate fully in learning activities:
“The engagement of students in learning activities results from a connection between social participation structure (form) and academic curriculum (content). If the social participation structure is familiar to students, then performing with new academic content is less alienating. On the other hand, if the academic content is familiar or engaging, then students may be willing to try out new ways of interacting and using language.” (Mehan et al., 1995, p. 132)
This increased student engagement leads to improved performance and decreased behavioral issues, because students become full partners in the learning process rather than passive consumers of one-dimensional curriculum.
Mehan, H., Okamoto, D., Lintz, A., & Wills, J. S. (1995). Ethnographic studies of multicultural education in classrooms and schools. In J. Banks & C. M. Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (1st ed.) (pp. 129-144). New York: MacMillan.