The following activity is excerpted from Part II: Culture (p. 61) of The Diversity Kit: An Introductory Resource for Social Change in Education. This publication is available for download at http://www.lab.brown.edu/tdl/diversitykit.shtml.

 

ACTIVITY: Building on Family Strengths
When teachers understand students' backgrounds and cultures, they are best able to connect academic content to students' real-life experiences.

Read the following vignette about bringing schools and communities together and answer the questions that follow:

It's a misty, cold morning in South Bernstone, a small coal-mining and farming community in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and a group of fourth graders is sitting cross-legged, engrossed in the "lecture" being given by Mr. McCormick, a local farmer and a student's parent. Mr. McCormick is simply describing the process of fertilizing, weeding, and harvesting the field of pumpkins. He calls on children in turn who are interested in why bugs do not eat up all the pumpkins and how much money he will make when he brings the pumpkins to market.

This is the class' third visit to the farm -- they witnessed some of the seeding and came back to see the new plants sprouting their first fruits. As with their previous visits, the students will go back to school and write essays in small groups in science class. This time, however, they will also get to bring pumpkins back, some of which will be cooked in the school kitchen (adapted from Shields, 1995).

• Discuss the pedagogical techniques illustrated in the story.
• How would you plan a lesson around such an activity?
• In what ways do you draw upon parents' knowledge and experiences in students' learning activities?

Reference:
Shields, P.M. (1995). Bringing schools and communities together in preparation for the 21st Century. In B. Rutherford (Ed.), Creating family/school partnerships (pp. 191-207). Columbus, OH: National Middle School Association.