10 March: What It Means to “See” Your Students: Responding to the Needs of Diverse Youth

Presented by Elizabeth Self

Teachers often do harm to their relationships with students when they fail to see them not only as individuals but also as members of cultural groups that have been marginalized in U.S. society. In order to heal these relationships, teachers must let go of “culture blindness” and learn to see with a “cultural eye.” In the first half of this session, I will share my current research on clinical simulations and how simulations can be used to develop cultural competence among both pre- and in-service teachers. I will walk teachers through one such simulation in order to better understand the potential dangers of “culture blindness.” In the second half of the session, I will work to help mathematics teachers think about what they can do in their own classrooms to better “see” their students in ways that support mathematics outcomes as well as healthy identity development.