Bernice Garcia

Reflective Rationale #1 for Standard #2

Philosophy
Standard 2. Culture as it affects Student Learning. Candidates
know, understand, and use the major theories and research related to
the nature and role of culture in their instruction. Because of the way
cultural identity influences self-esteem, candidates understand how
cultural groups and individual cultural identities affect language
learning and school achievement. They use a range of resources to
discover more about their students backgrounds. Candidates know
that students learn more readily when cultural factors are recognized,
respected, and accommodated, and they demonstrate this knowledge
in their curriculum planning, material selection, and teaching. They
involve students families and community members in students
learning.
My first artifact for Standard 2: Cultural as it affects Students
Learning has been selected from class ESC 769 Latinos in US Schools.
In this assignment I have demonstrated my understanding in the study
of cultural and its affects on students learning by reading the articles A
Guide to Culture in the Classroom, Saville-Troike (1979) and
Performance assessments for English language learners, Abedi, & Linquanti (2012) and
Alternative assessment of language and literacy in culturally and linguistically diverse
populations, Laing, S. P., & Kamhi, A. (2003).

Together with these articles and my philosophy statement, I was able to reflect on
how I am evolving as a language teacher. I understand the importance of promoting
culture diversity in the classroom and providing differentiation for all student needs. I am
also aware of the bias in assessments that are offer to these groups of students and the
unfairness they are put through. This has helped me to look for further resources to
implement inside my classroom to provide all the necessary tools I need as an educator to
provide for all students. This assignment also reminded me of the importance of
including family inside the learning experience. This does not only help the students but
also family members become members of the classroom community.