Assignment task: "Students become disruptive in cooperative groups."
1. What cultural explanations there might be?
2. What key components would you include to make your classroom a "Third Space?
I am sending an example of how this work is supposed to be. Do not copy, but have an idea.
"As educators, we know intuitively that every behavior has an underlying cause. With any child, irrespective of race, culture or background there can be a myriad of reasons for them to act out in front a group of their peers. With respect to behaviors that stem from cultural barriers, it is the teacher's job to be inherently familiar with the individual challenges that the student may have. A child's brain is attuned to any stimuli that could potentially incur humiliation, and like a guard dog, will employ the fight or flight response in order to deflect attention away from his or her weaknesses. Within my classroom, I would have a well-established set of expectations where fairness, equity, respect, inclusion and understanding were the primary guidelines agreed upon by all. This, I feel would set the tone for any interactive group activity or discussion. Another thing I might consider is the way in which I grouped the students. I would make a conscious effort to create groups that would enhance effective communication and be welcoming of each individual's input. In the case of a linguistic barrier which is the most common one for an ENL teacher, I would try to facilitate a third space where differing linguistic abilities would be encouraged, welcomed and affirmed. This would enhance the feeling of connection within the group by neutralizing judgmental attitudes and replacing them with an open and warm reception from their peers. By removing these threat activators in a preemptive way, what we are doing is building rapport within the group which is the precursor to positive engagement. There could be a valuable use of scaffolding in approaching a situation such as this. An example of how I might strategically put supports in place within a group setting like this might be to incorporate pictures along with words into the assignment in a way which does not highlight the child that may rely on the visual more. For example, if you were having a discussion on characterization in a poem, you could use universally recognizable emojis to pinpoint various human emotions and expressions. From here, you could scaffold out some kind of deeper understanding of what the poet was trying to convey. My vision of the ideal third space would be one where students of all abilities, linguistic or otherwise know that their contributions in whatever format they may take will be valued, appreciated and nurtured. In order for this to succeed, as a teacher, effective planning must take place with an innate awareness and knowledge for the needs of each student."