Task 2: Academic writing

1.0 Definition of cultural relevant pedagogy

Malaysia is one of the most diverse country with people of different race, religions and
cultures that live together and has been recognised as one of the best model countries for a
country that is so diversely rich with cultures and beliefs. Thus, giving birth to an educational
platform that is filled with students from all types of cultural background. This is a challenge that
is faced by all teachers in Malaysia and if teachers want to make their teaching and learning
session as effective as possible, a culturally relevant pedagogy needs to be used in classrooms.
Gay (2000) believes that cultural relevant pedagogy approach is an approach that uses cultural
knowledge, experience, reference and different showcase according to the different ethnic of the
students and this makes the learning more productive and meaningful.

2.0 Creating culture friendly classroom

But why is cultural relevant pedagogy so important then? According to Gloria Ladson
Billings (1992), cultural relevant pedagogy is a pedagogy that enhances the intellectual strength,
social, emotional and political state of the students by referring to their own culture in mastering
knowledge, skill and attitude.

2.1 Physical

. An effective classroom management is essential to nurturing cultural friendly

environment for the students. According to Noriati et al. (2011), effective classroom management
can be divided into two aspects which are the management of the teaching and learning source
and the arrangement of the classroom. First of all, a teacher must be aware and give his/her
attention in choosing the materials for activities during the teaching and learning process by
choosing materials that portray the importance of good relationship between all race and ethnic.
The teacher can choose any material from CD or videos or articles or basically just anything as
long as it does the job.The arrangement in the class plays an important role too as relationships
between students of different ethnics will be fostered more effectively when they are placed
between their friends of different cultures instead of just sitting among themselves. This is
because the students will then interact through conversations which will then help them to learn
Task 2: Academic writing

more about others and be more respective, tolerant and accepting of other culture’s beliefs and
practice.

2.2 Emotional

When it comes to emotion, teachers need to know that emotional stability is crucial and it
is a teacher’s responsibility in helping their students to manage their emotions. Teachers should
help to eradicate the feeling of hatred of students towards each other. The solution for that would
be activities that expose other people to the culture of the students. Teachers should give students
task like making flash cards or giving them a corner in the class to share about their culture and
beliefs. Teachers can also give the students the opportunity to explain about their culture in front
of the classroom. This helps to give understanding to others therefore avoiding any future conflict
and hatred towards each other.

2.3 Social

Humans are social creatures. Which means that they need to interact with the people
around them. Building and maintaining good interaction with others means that one need to have
good communication and teamwork. What better way to instil those two skills if not through
sports? Teachers should take a step further by using traditional games during teaching and
learning session to teach students how to cooperate with one another. Games such as takraw,
top spinning, hopscotch, galah panjang, will foster teamwork and communication skill among the
students. Through traditional games like these too, can the teacher show to their students that we
need each other to succeed and if we want our country to be as developed and successful as
other countries, teamwork is crucial and essential.
Task 2: Academic writing

2.4 Sociolinguistic

There are so many ways for a teacher to instil literary and sociolinguistic elements in their
classroom. Among them are the teachers can use folk tales of different race while teaching the
students. Folk tales carry a lot of cultural value and tells a lot about how people of a certain culture
used to live and believe in the past. The teacher can use this opportunity to teach the student
other aspect such as grammar or vocabulary as students will be giving their extra focus because
they are interested in listening more of the tales. Teachers can also instil these values by teaching
rhythm, harmony, melody and expression for music in classroom. A teacher can use folk songs
such as “Ikan Kek-Kek”, “Jong Jong Inai”, “Puteri Santubong Puteri Sejinjang”, “Kang Di Qing
Ge“, “Bu Yu Ge” and more during class. Doing these activities helps to improve students’ verbal
and communicative ability as it encourages the student to involve themselves more during class.
Teaching poems of different cultures will also help in giving more exposure to the children.
Teachers can take this a step further by asking the students to go out and present the writing that
they have made so they can share their thoughts with their classmates as well as building their
courage and dealing with the fear to speak at front.

3.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, cultural relevant pedagogy is an approach that is very

comprehensive and suitable to be used by educators at school. It one very important
aspect when it comes to teaching in a country that is so diverse in Malaysia. In order to
make it work, a teacher should have the right education and training that builds towards
the empowerment of knowledge on cultural diversity. A teacher should also be able to
produce and use the right pedagogical practice that is connected and meaningful to the
students. In fostering good ethnic relationship in Malaysia, culture relevant pedagogy is
one effort that must be kept constant by teachers throughout Malaysia.