The culturally competent teacher involves and works with families...

The culturally competent teacher involves and works with families and community resources, understanding the differences in families, the important influence of family participation in students' learning, and the benefit of collaborating with the wider school community.


A girl in the class I am helping in is named Katrina. Katrina used to be a very good student, did all her homework, paid attention in class, and did well on tests. Katrina had a baby, came back, and is a completely different person, as well as student. She does nothing now. She recieved a 0 on her last test because she put her name on it, and handed it it. Did not even attempt to try and problems. I understand that having a baby affects your life majorly because now you have another life to take care of. But if I were in her position, I would want to try my hardest to do it all, so I could graduate, and make a better life for my child than what I have settled for.

Mr. S. had gotten in touch with her parents to see what was going on because he was worried, and they informed him that she suffered from postpartum depression. This is when a woman has moderate or severe depression after giving birth. If the teacher had never called to speak to her mother, he would have never known. Things like this happen all the time, and if it goes unspoken, then the child ends up suffering in the long run. This is because the teacher will end up punishing the student for bad behavior, when really they are just dealing with stuff at home and need support. I think that teachers talking to parents about problems would help the teachers learn about what goes on in their life outside of school. This could help the teachers have a better understanding of the students. This is like what Brown said in her article with the Mansfield girls. These girls felt like their teachers didnt understand where they were coming from because they just made assumptions and had an idea in their head of how girls should behave. If only the teacher listened to them more, or got in touch with those girls parents, then maybe, just maybe, the teacher would feel better about the girls and vice versa.