For Jason McCoy, principal of Cradlerock School in Columbia, learning about biases and how to overcome them is equivalent to being on a “journey.”
“It?s not a program; it?s getting people to look inward and examine how you view kids socioeconomically, racially; it?s becoming more aware of how your comments and actions are perceived,” McCoy said.
Once teachers are aware of their prejudices, they can work to overcome them, establish a positive connection with their students, thus leading to better achievers, he said. School Board members mentioned developing this “cultural proficiency” as one of the ways to close the achievement gap between minority students and their white counterparts, which was discussed Monday at a meeting with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Since last year, Howard County School System employeeshave been involved role playing and group discussions. Cultural proficiency training “emphasizes how people behave according to different class structures,” said Board Member Patricia Gordon after the meeting.
“This is one of the arrows in our bow to help that situation.”
Katherine Carter, an assistant principal at Cradlerock, citing an example, said the training could help a teacher who harbors a negative bias toward students from single-parent homes.
“You may not realize that you have lower expectations for those students,” she said. Cultural proficiency training helps make teachers and staff more aware of stereotypes they might have about different cultures.
“You have to be able to recognize it and turn it into a positive,” she said.
Natalie Woodson, chairwoman of the Education Committee of the Howard County branch of the NAACP, said she is excited about the school system being trained in cultural proficiency.
“It?s training that will help people become aware of various learning styles and variables that interfere with learning,” she said.
Cultural proficiency training is offered by of Brenda and Franklin Campbell-Jones, authors of “The Culturally Proficient School.”
