- Year 2023
- NSF Noyce Award # 1852690
- First Name Kermin
- Last Name Martinez-Hernandez
- Institution St. John Fisher University
- Role/Position PI
- Workshop Category Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends
- Workshop Disciplines Audience Chemistry, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physics
- Target Audience Co-PIs, Noyce Master Teachers, Noyce Teaching Fellows, Other Faculty/Staff, Project PIs, Undergraduate and/or Graduate Noyce Scholars
- Topics Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
- Session Length 45 minutes minutes
- Additional Presenter(s)
Kelsey Sainsbury, kls06605@sjfc.edu; Makenna King, mlk06831@sjfc.edu; Lauren DeMichele, ld06194@sjfc.edu
Goals
Participants in this session will: (a) learn about the implementation of Professional Development training that addresses Diversity and Cultural Awareness Mentoring with a cohort of Noyce Scholars at St. John Fisher University; (b) be exposed to the activities used including case studies, culture box, diversity reflection, and intersectionality activities; (c) experience first-hand the Noyce Scholars experiences and what they learned from these PD workshops; (d) understand the importance of doing these topics to better prepared Noyce Scholars for high-needs schools.
Evidence
Results from a post-Noyce scholars’ assessment will be presented. Three of the current Noyce scholars will share their experiences about participating in the Diversity and Cultural Awareness Mentoring training sessions.
Proposal
As part of their Professional Development and to better prepare the scholars for the high-need school teaching environment, the Noyce INSPIRE scholars at St. John Fisher University received a Diversity and Cultural Awareness Mentoring training over 4 sessions throughout the Spring semester. We provided a safe space where scholars can discuss and have these conversations with peers to reflect on these crucial topics as part of a learning community between the scholars and PI’s. The goals of this training were: (a) increase understanding of equity and inclusion and their influence on teacher-student interactions; (b) acknowledge the impact of conscious and unconscious assumptions, preconceptions, biases, and prejudices on the teacher-student relationship and acquire skills to manage them, (c) identify how your cultural beliefs, worldview, and identities influence your teaching practices; (d) apply evidence-based strategies using case studies to reduce and counteract the impact of biases to foster culturally responsive relationships; and (d) identify concrete strategies for learning about and addressing issues of equity and inclusion. Different activities were used, for example: reflecting on unconscious assumptions, a diversity reflection, case studies, culture box, and intersectionality activity. The sessions were conducted every two weeks to allow scholars to reflect on the topic(s) discussed and then a follow-up discussion will occur during the next session. Overall, the scholars’ reaction seems positive, and they appreciated being exposed to these topics in a safe space and learning about new strategies they could implement in their classrooms.
