Reflective Writing Foregrounds Teacher Identity and Cultural Relevance

• In Event: Teacher Preparedness for Diverse Learners

Abstract

Sixteen students in a course focused on Issues in Language Education wrote about their own culture and traditions through dialogic poetry (Gay, 2018) and then shared these with a significant other whose task was to add their comments and voice to the original poem. To tap into teacher identity, students also completed a Race, Culture, and Ethnicity in Our Lives project where they completed reflective writings concerning their culture and answered questions to reveal their cultural identity, awareness of diversity, and barriers they may have faced. Due to the lessons learned from this practitioner inquiry, I argue that learning about our teacher identity is the first step in becoming a culturally relevant teacher.

Author

• Erin McNeill, Central Indiana Education Service Center
  Presenting Author