It's Time to Have the Conversation: Differentiation & Cultural Power Distance
- Sarah Harrison
- Jun 3, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 14, 2021
Differentiation is a concept that is not new to education. It is likely that any educator who has had formal training can spout off a variety of ways to modify the content, process, or product of an educational situation to benefit individual learners. But what about cultural differentiation?
Photo: Sophie Vinetlouis @vinetloupictures
As an international educational consultant who has worked in the field of education on two different continents, I have seen many examples of how teachers diligently work to create a variety of methods for content, process, and product differentiation (Tomlinson, 2017, Location 228), yet some students still seem to not benefit. Why? Could it be that we, as an educational community, have missed the mark somehow? Could there be more and, especially, more effective ways to differentiate if we focused on cultural differences first and foremost?
As a white woman living in the Middle East, I was an obvious outsider, and so were my very blonde children. Although my children attended an international school, it was clear that academic standards were not the only basis on which my children were being evaluated; they were also being evaluated either consciously or unconsciously by the cultural markers decided upon by the predominant culture. Even standards-based evaluation was flavored with underlying cultural bias, evidenced when my daughter, a native English speaker, received less than excellent marks for English fluency from a teacher who spoke English as a second language. This is not to say that my children's teachers did not attempt to differentiate for the academic needs of their students; they did. But it wasn't enough. While cultural misunderstandings were (and, in fact, are) common, what concerned me was that despite traditional differentiation attempts made by their teachers, my children's academic needs ultimately were not being met due to a cultural barrier. What was an even greater concern, however, was that my children were beginning to internalize the predominant culture's view that their abilities were somehow subpar. Sound familiar? It should.
Differentiating for culture within the classroom is not only prudent, it is necessary. Allowing students to have a say in what they are learning as well as how they are learning it can go a long way in allowing that to happen in an appropriate way. Authors Martinez and Stager in their book Invent to Learn (2016), discuss teacher Maryann Molishius's open-ended approach to her students' learning when she asks her them each year, "What do you want to learn and how do you want to share it with the class?" (Location 1485). In this sense, with an open-ended approach to the learning needs of the students, cultural differences of approach to or styles of learning can come to the forefront, but within a method where those who do not benefit from the power distance of the predominant culture can have a sense of advocacy. Molishius's approach essentially communicated that learning and demonstrating the results of learning in a variety of diverse ways is not only acceptable, it is preferred.
However, there is a caveat when it comes to evaluating culturally relevant learning opportunities: nothing screams unequal power distance quite like receiving a B+ on a project about your own culture. Educators must be aware of the systemic cultural injustices and inequity that exist within the educational system, and be prepared to adjust for that reality, especially in methods of evaluation. Even in a student group work setting, "peer review can create a 'power' relationship between team members" (Wang, 2007, p.308). We must be conscious of this. If we, as educators, will commit to differentiating for culturally relevant learning opportunities, it is paramount that we also investigate the best evaluative practices for those opportunities, as well. Otherwise, we are once again relegating progressive, appropriate learning environments back to a situation of cultural power and oppression.
The idea of culturally-relevant learning has been addressed in recent years by Malcolm Gladwell. Revisiting the landmark Brown vs. The Board of Education ruling that led to the desegregation of schools in the U.S., he has argued that the idea that (specifically) black students having to sit next to white students in order to receive an adequate education was "nonsense"(Nussbaum, 2017). Instead, he pointed to the inherent power/oppression narrative that the ruling ultimately supported by eliminating the avenue for black students to be evaluated academically from within their own cultural frame of reference. (Content, process, product, anyone?) As a result, society has allowed institutional structures to remain "that systematically disenfranchise African Americans" (Nussbaum, 2017). While Blackwell was speaking specifically about the African-American plight, certainly other non-dominant cultures' experiences would read similarly.
Photo: Jakayla Toney @ jakaylatoney.myportfolio.com
In the situation with my own children, the power distance between the host culture and my children meant that their education was anything but properly differentiated. While the teachers may have made efforts to create different activities or allow different assessment opportunities, none of those efforts were enough to bridge the span of the cultural gap. As a result, I saw not only my children's academic performance declining, but also their sense of self-worth. Lin et al. (2019) point out that "high power distance may facilitate self-preservation" (p.942), and as any trauma-informed educator will tell testify, if students are focused on self-preservation, they are not focused on learning.
So what can educators do about this, today? Lin et al. (2019) suggests that "[t]he results of the moderating effect of power distance on the relationship between personal sense of power and voice suggest that leaders should pay attention to ... individual cultural values." (p.948). Likewise, Wang (2007) (speaking specifically about online learning opportunities) noted, "instructional designers should evaluate their audiences on the basis of an additional cultural dimension" in order to"present to each learner the activities that the learner can best utilise [sic] and benefit from" (p.309). Ultimately, educators must pay attention to the cultural differences within their classrooms in order to differentiate most effectively.
This issue runs deep, and there may not be concrete answers as to how best to address it entirely at this point. However, we can begin working toward change by addressing the need head-on.
It's time to have the conversation.
References:
Francis, M. (2016, March). Let's get to the root of racial injustice [Video]. Ted Conferences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aCn72iXO9s
Lin, X., Chen, Z. X., Tse, H. H. M., Wei, W., & Ma, C. (2019). Why and when employees like to speak up more under humble leaders? The roles of personal sense of power and power distance. Journal of Business Ethics,158(4), 937–950. https://doi-org/10.1007/s10551-017-3704-2
Lyiscott, J. (2018, May). Why English class is silencing students of color [Video]. Ted Conferences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4dc1axRwE4
Martinez, S.L. & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom. https://www.amazon.com
Nussbaum, D. (2017). A conversation with Malcolm Gladwell: Revisiting Brown vs. board. https://behavioralscientist.org/conversation-malcolm-gladwell-revisiting-brown-v-board/
Peterson, A. (2014, November). What I am learning from my white grandchildren-truths about race [Video]. Ted Conferences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5GCetbP7Fg
Tomlinson, C. A. (2017). How to differentiate instruction in academically diverse classrooms. https://www.amazon.com
Wang, M. (2007). Designing online courses that effectively engage learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. British Journal of Educational Technology,38(2), 294–311. https://doi-org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2006.00626.x
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