Policy Memo
To: Texas Educators, Parents, and Policymakers
From: Latino Education Policy in Texas
Date: April, 2003
Re: Culturally Relevant Curriculum and Textbooks in Texas Education
Problem Statement
The State of Texas adopted curriculum and textbooks in math and language arts may not achieve adequate levels of cultural and socio-economic sensitivity, which could create an impersonal classroom environment in which certain children cannot relate to their own experiences and feel excluded from the learning process. Statutory guidelines in the Texas Education Code do not include cultural awareness issues as part of the key criteria for adoption of curriculum and textbooks.
Background
The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) and Commissioner of Education are mandated by the State Legislature to review and adopt curriculum and textbooks pursuant to the Texas Education Code,Chapter 28 and Chapter 31 The textbooks and curriculum rules set by the SBOE and Commissioner are published in the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 66 (textbooks)
and Chapter 110 (Curriculum Language Arts) and Chapter 111 (Curriculum Math).
Analysis
The Texas Education Code provisions for textbook and curriculum and the rules adopted by the SBOE and Commissioner of Education does not contain explicit language regarding cultural sensitivity or require multicultural criteria.
The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for English Language Arts and Reading for grades 3, 7, and 10 contains language that suggests sensitivity to diverse languages and cultures. However, the TEKS does not elaborate beyond a very general reference to culture as a relevant factor. The TEKS identifies culture as a separate entity, added as a sub-skill to the general subject matter. The curriculum thus fails to acknowledge culture as an ever-present piece of the student's life and its importance to the child's development and learning.
The TEKS for Mathematics for grades 3, 7, and 10 does not contain any explicit language relating to culture. The section does mention the importance of describing lessons in terms of their applicability to the student's everyday experiences in and outside of school. However, this does not necessarily include the cultural influences that the student will bring into the classroom. Although mathematics may be considered to require only analytical and scientific thought processes, the culture of the student still influences the acquisition of knowledge and should be emphasized in the curriculum.
Conclusions
Several learning theories in the education field, for example social constructivism, Reggio Emilia, Project Approach, and Bank Street, base part of their philosophy on the importance of bringing the learner's culture, socio-economic background, and experiences into the classroom and using these as a major part of the curriculum. The State of Texas should incorporate these findings into the adoption standards for curriculum and textbooks.
- Complaints have increased regarding the lack of inclusiveness of Texas adopted textbooks towards minority students, particularly Hispanics.
- Textbooks often portray stereotypes that might send exclusionary messages to certain schoolchildren.
- Curriculum often do not allow educators to use natural setting techniques, but rather lead educators to have to teach in abstract methods that do not harmonize with children's diverse backgrounds.
- Curriculum may contribute to the impersonal environments of many school classrooms, surroundings not conducive to learning for all students of diverse backgrounds.
- Students from minority or diverse backgrounds could feel isolated by curriculum and textbooks that do not highlight or include unique cultural aspects they can relate with.
- Inclusive curriculum and textbooks creates a comfortable and trusting learning environment.
Recommendations
Based upon the above analysis and conclusions, the following recommendations are proposed:
- The Texas Legislature should amend the Texas Education Code to include guidelines in the curriculum and textbook review and adoption process that are sensitive to different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
- The Governor of the State of Texas should convene a Curriculum and Textbook Equity Task Force to examine the degree to which state adopted curriculum and textbooks are reaching out to the very diverse socio-cultural Texas student body.
- The SBOE should evaluate its textbook review and adoption policies and procedures to ensure that adequate and representative socio-cultural criteria are utilized.
- The SBOE should amend the Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 66.63 and 66.66, to include an additional requirement of cultural inclusion to the guidelines for submitting, reviewing and adopting textbooks.
- The State Board of Education should inform textbook manufactures of the new guideline and that cultural inclusion will be a strong factor when choosing textbooks for adoption.
- The SBOE should amend the Texas Administrative Code, Chapters 110 and 111, to include an additional requirement of cultural inclusion to the guidelines for reviewing and adopting curriculum.
We endorse
the following strategies as a guideline for implementation of
culturally sensitive curriculum and textbooks:
STRATEGIES
FOR WORKING WITH CULTURALLY AND ETHNICALLY DIVERSE STUDENTS ( As
proposed by the Prince William County Public Schools, Virginia)
- Maintain high
standards and expectations
- Teachers maintain high standards
and demonstrate high achievement expectations for all ethnically,
culturally, and linguistically diverse students; this includes
offering challenging and advanced course work.
- Encourage active
participation of parents or guardians
- Teachers inform parents
of the importance of talking with their children, taking the time
to teach them (in their own home language ), sharing oral histories
and traditional folk tales, and labeling objects and events around
the home.
- Incorporate the home culture
- Teachers learn about
their students' home-community culture in order to better comprehend
students' behavior in and out of school.
- Capitalize on students'
backgrounds
- Teachers recognize that learning is strongly influenced
by students' cultural backgrounds. Although students differ in
their knowledge of oral and written language, research demonstrates
that all children come to school with a background of experience
that teachers can capitalize on during the learning process.
-
Use culturally relevant curriculum materials
- Teachers use relevant
curriculum and instructional materials that recognize, incorporate,
and accurately reflect students' racial heritage and the contributions
of various ethnic groups.
- Identify and dispel stereotypes
-
Teachers use language and instructional resources that are nonsexist,
non racist, and non ethnocentric; if stereotypes are present in
lectures or texts, teachers point them out to students.
- Create
culturally compatible learning environments
- Teachers recognize
the influence of students learning styles, culture, and native
language on the ways in which they learn and use language.
- Use
cooperative learning structures
- Teachers use cooperative learning
approaches that increase the likelihood of interethnic friendships
and improved attitudes and behaviors toward classmates of different
backgrounds. Methods that include group goals and individual accountability
are the most effective.
- Capitalize on students' culture, language,
and experiences
- Teachers construct lessons in ways consistent
with students' home-community culture and language to take advantage
of students' cognitive experiences and to allow students opportunities
to engage in behaviors conducive to achievement
Questions? Julien Ross julienross@yahoo.com, Alexia Palacios alexiap@mail.utexas.edu
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