2020 News Stories
Education expert Gloria Ladson-Billings explores teaching 21st century learners in Diversity Committee presentation
With more than 50 years of teaching experience under her belt, educational expert Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings gave a talk at the 91社区 in a presentation titled, "You're Teaching, but are They Learning?"
by Jessenia Rivera
In an event hosted by the USF College of Education鈥檚 Diversity Committee, Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and president of the National Academy of Education, led an engaging workshop that centered on the theme, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e Teaching but are They Learning?鈥
With more than 50 years of teaching experience under her belt, Dr. Ladson-Billings was able to share key tools and strategies educators need to be effective teachers in today鈥檚 educational environment.
Understanding what students鈥 value and who they are was a matter that was heavily discussed throughout Dr. Ladson-Billings鈥檚 workshop. In one demonstration, audience members were able to see why this is necessary.
After instructing everyone in the room to stand up, Dr. Ladson-Billings told individuals that if they weren鈥檛 on the social media platform shown on the screen they had to sit down.
When logos for the popular platforms Facebook and Twitter appeared, about half of the attendees in the room were still on their feet. Yet, when Instagram and Snapchat鈥攖wo channels that have risen in popularity in the recent decade鈥攚ere shown, only a couple of individuals in the audience were left standing.
This outcome led Dr. Ladson-Billings to explain how the communication channels today鈥檚 youth are using are different from educators, and that understanding this trend may help educators better understand their students.
鈥淲e are essentially living in two different worlds,鈥 Dr. Ladson-Billings said. 鈥淭he only reason why I鈥檓 on all of these platforms is because of students. It鈥檚 my way to see what they鈥檙e talking about (and) what matters to them.鈥
As Dr. Ladson-Billings explored the idea of teachers understanding who their students are, she described several factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, disabilities and economic needs that shouldn鈥檛 be overlooked. In one example, Dr. Billings explained that most schools tend to undervalue the skills second language learners bring to the classroom.
鈥淭his is the only society I know where knowing more is treated like knowing less,鈥 Dr. Ladson-Billings said. 鈥淚f your school offers Spanish as a world language course and you have Spanish speakers, why wouldn鈥檛 you tap them to help students learning the language pronounce things correctly?鈥
When addressing the challenges that students who are economically disadvantaged face in today鈥檚 schools, Dr. Ladson-Billings shared a story about one teacher who tasked their students with making a toothpick bridge. The students were sent home with 100 toothpicks and were told they had to make the bridge sturdy enough to carry their own textbook.
Though this homework assignment served to introduce students to the topics being reviewed in class, Dr. Ladson-Billings pointed out that the students had to gather their own materials, and the students who couldn鈥檛 afford more expensive items such as hot glue guns did not perform as well on the assignment.
鈥淪ome kids that were given a 鈥0鈥 may actually know how to do (the assignment) but they didn鈥檛 have the resources,鈥 Dr. Ladson-Billings said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to see classrooms where kids are being rewarded for what they have versus for what they know.鈥
Dr. Ladson-Billings鈥檚 presentation provided attendees with many tips for how they can implement effective teaching practices in their classrooms, and she encouraged educators in the audience to step out of the traditional model of lecture-based teaching.
She explained that incorporating other teaching methods, such as a Socratic dialogue, a discussion, a demonstration or a student-led session can do much more for a classroom, primarily because the students may be more motivated to show up and participate.
鈥淥ne student told me: 鈥榃hy do I even have to go if the only thing he鈥檚 going to do is present the PowerPoint slides that come with the textbook?鈥欌 Dr. Ladson-Billings reflected. 鈥淚n other words, what the student is telling me is: 鈥業鈥檓 not being taught.鈥欌
At another point in the workshop, Dr. Ladson-Billings had individuals examine their own teaching styles in order to determine the three categories they fall under鈥攖eachers who 鈥渃hoose not to teach,鈥 teachers who 鈥渢each at鈥 and teachers who 鈥渢each and learn with.鈥
While demonstrating what it looks like to be an instructor who 鈥渃hooses not to teach,鈥 Dr. Ladson-Billings presented a movie clip of a teacher who is praised for having an orderly classroom even though he sits back and merely hands out worksheets for his students to complete.
鈥淗e鈥檚 not being rewarded for teaching, but just for keeping the kids under control,鈥 Dr. Ladson-Billings said. 鈥淪ome of you may work in buildings where that鈥檚 the reward.鈥
Another video, shown as an example of a teacher who 鈥渢eaches at,鈥 depicted an instructor who sped through his lectures and asked questions he would answer himself, rather than allowing his students to answer. While a good amount of the material appeared to have been covered through this approach, Dr. Ladson-Billings regarded this teaching style as ineffective because there was no engagement with students whatsoever.
The last video examples gave audience members two prime examples of the kind of teaching she believes all educators should strive towards. In one clip, an elementary teacher sang along with her students to an upbeat song she created to teach the metric system. In another clip, a high school teacher had her whole class work together to construct their own class constitution. The activity allowed the teacher to introduce the topic of the Civil War in a memorable way for her students.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e here today, it鈥檚 because you want to be a better teacher,鈥 Dr. Ladson-Billings said to the crowd. 鈥淭here are teachers who teach and learn with, and that鈥檚 what I think should be your goal.鈥
After speaking on varying teaching strategies, Dr. Ladson-Billings introduced audience members to the concept of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, a form of teaching practice she coined that is designed to empower students intellectually, socially, emotionally and politically through the use of 鈥渃ultural referents鈥 that drive them towards success.
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Dr. Ladson-Billings said, consists of three equal components鈥攕tudent learning, cultural competence and socio-political consciousness. Contrary to focusing on the results of test scores, the student learning component involves teachers who explain what achievement means in their classrooms and provides various avenues for students of all backgrounds to reach it.
Cultural competence, a term that Dr. Ladson-Billings said is often misused, refers to one鈥檚 ability to be firmly grounded in the culture of their origin and fluent in at least one other culture. Dr. Ladson-Billings explained that it鈥檚 important for students to have this skill because it鈥檚 unlikely that they鈥檒l stay in one community for the rest of their lives. However, she addressed why this is often not achieved.
鈥淗ow are we going to have culturally competent students when we don鈥檛 have culturally competent teachers?鈥 Dr. Ladson-Billings said. 鈥淭his is our struggle.鈥
When discussing socio-political consciousness, Dr. Ladson-Billings said this component is one that develops when teachers encourage their students to solve the problems that are relevant to them.
鈥淚鈥檓 not talking about teachers coming up with problems they want kids to solve,鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 talking about kids saying, 鈥楬ey teacher, this is a problem,鈥 and then you saying, 鈥榃ell, what are you going to do about it?鈥欌
As Dr. Ladson-Billings ended her presentation, she was approached by various individuals who had much to say about the information she presented.
Heather Hanks, an assistant principal at Plant City High School, said the workshop drove her to reflect on the student experiences at her school.
鈥淏ased on what I heard today, I鈥檝e been thinking about how we work with our students and the interactions from day-to-day,鈥 Hanks said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really excited to bring back these ideas to my teachers.鈥
Ora Tanner, a doctoral student in the Curriculum and Instruction program at the College of Education, said the workshop allowed her to think more critically鈥攏ot just about the e-learning games she creates, but about the kind of individuals needed in education.
鈥淔rom one angle, I was thinking that we needed more diverse people in student curriculum,鈥 Tanner said. 鈥淏ut, it鈥檚 not just that, we need diverse people with a pedagogical understanding of culture to ensure success.鈥
Watch the full presentation below: