DR. CHOFLÁ 'S LIQUID SYLLABUS
Welcome, co-learner and co-teacher!
Welcome to Butte College and CDF57 (Teaching in a Diverse Society!
My name is Dr. Shaun-Adrián Choflá, and I will be your co-learner and co-teacher in the Fall 2024 semester that officially begins on Monday, August 26. I am checking in early to help you settle before our class begins.
With care,
Dr. Choflá
(Él/Him/Them)
COURSE INFO
Let's talk about Teaching in a Diverse Society!
This course examines the development of social identities in diverse societies, including the theoretical and practical implications of oppression and privilege as they apply to young children, families, programs, classrooms, and teaching. Various classroom strategies will be explored, emphasizing culturally and linguistically appropriate anti-bias approaches that support all children in becoming competent members of a diverse society. The course includes self-examination and reflection on issues related to social identity, stereotypes and bias, social and educational access, media, and schooling.
Thoughts to reflect on –
What does diversity mean, and how does it relate to culture? How do these - often - invisible factors influence the way young children think and learn? And, how do diversity and culture influence the teachers
who strive to promote the healthy development of their young learners?
As you might have already studied in various other courses, human diversity begins at conception, when egg and sperm unite, and the embryo begins to interact in unique ways with a unique prenatal environment. In this course, you will explore the interconnections between cultural diversity, bias, thinking, identity, teaching, and learning. You will investigate how multiple cultural identities and the world influence human beings subtly yet profoundly to deepen your understanding of how you, young children, think and learn.
It is important to note that this course, more so than many other courses, will include challenging conversations related to diversity topics with your co-learners. The course and its assignments will offer you supported opportunities to engage in deep reflective introspection designed to inspire your personal and professional growth.
Therefore, immerse yourself in your studies and make an effort to be patient, sensitive, thoughtful, reflective, and certainly respectful of yourself as well as your co-learners.
MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
My teaching philosophy is that, just like you, I am both a co-learner and a co-teacher and that together, as a learning community, we will build knowledge together. All of us in this class will be learning with and from each other.
This teaching approach reflects how I teach and what it means to me to be a teacher. Four goals underpin my philosophy: (1) increasing student self-efficacy and personal empowerment, (2) differentiating
instruction to support diverse learners, (3) ensuring that curricula are relevant and meaningful, and (4) providing authentic collaboration and community-building opportunities.
My philosophy and these four goals describe the essence of my teaching philosophy, not just for this class but all of my classes, whether at the community college, graduate school or even when learning with and from young children.
COLLECTIVE
EXPECTATIONS
What you can expect from me
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I will be vulnerable and take the same types of risks that I ask you to take.
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I will provide you with a clear, organized course designed to ensure you meet our course goals meaningfully.
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I will provide a mixture of resources and engaging activities to meet your learning needs.
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I will be actively present in your learning. I will respond to your canvas messages and emails promptly and provide timely feedback on your assignment submissions.
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I will reach out to you when I feel you might need support.
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I will treat you with dignity and respect and be flexible to support your individual needs.
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I will view my own mistakes as an opportunity to learn and grow and embrace all feedback you graciously share with me.
What I will expect from you
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You will be open to taking risks, with the understanding that disequilibrium, those feelings of fear we feel doing new things, are an important aspect of our growth and development.
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You will strive to be an active co-learner in this course and strive to meet due dates.
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You will maintain an open line of communication with me, so I understand how to support you. You will reach out with questions as soon as, if not before, you begin to feel confused or frustrated.
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You will strive to regularly contribute to collaborative activities to ensure other members of our learning community have ample opportunity to read/listen, reflect, and respond to your ideas.
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You will treat your co-learners with dignity and respect, understanding that wherever others are right now in their learning, at this moment, is exactly where they need to be.
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You will do your best to have patience with technology and yourself in navigating it. There will be hiccups; expect them. Let me know, and we will get through them together.
CO-LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
As a co-learner and co-teacher in CDF57 (Teaching in a Diverse Society), your voice is needed, wanted, valued, and critical to our collaborative learning journey.
The environment in this class should be one of safety; therefore, it is important that we collectively respect one another’s thoughts, ideas, and feelings and listen with an engaged and caring ear.
In a class where there is more participation, you might experience moments of disequilibrium. These moments of imbalance can be challenging, and they can create tensions and conflicts within us and our interactions with others. Disequilibrium is a positive aspect of our development because out of disequilibrium comes real learning. To this end, we must all take risks to grow effectively and become fully empowered humans and future professionals who can support others in validating and transformative ways.
Communication Essentials
Once you log into Canvas after the semester starts, my preferred method of communication is Canvas messages.
Because I am in Canvas so often, I respond to Canvas messages incredibly quickly, typically within minutes or hours, but during super busy days, it might take me up to 24 hours from Monday-Friday.
But, if you need to reach me prior to the start of class, please email me at choflash@butte.edu.
RESOURCE
Starting something new can be overwhelming. I get it! Before logging into the canvas or starting the semester, I thought you would want to know what books you need to access for our class.
Textbook:
We will begin reading our textbook in Week 1. You can order a new or used version of this book, ensuring you get the 2nd edition. You can buy it from the Butte College Bookstore or other online bookstores such as powells.com and redleafpress.org.
STEPS TO SUCCESS
Whether you have experience working with (or raising) children or not, you are in the right class. I am so glad you joined me!
How do you plan for and study in this class?
Succeeding in college has a great deal to do with self-management. As you settle into class, here are some things that will help you organize your time.
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Start early each week: We will step through each weekly module together, which is broken into many small chunks. So, jumping in early (on Monday) and working on one to-do item at a time is key!
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Stay together and connected: Students often take online classes because they are convenient. (I myself am a student taking online classes as part of a graduate program.) But I also know staying together and connecting with me and your co-learners (your classmates) is helpful. We are in this together!
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Reach out for help: If you have a question or are struggling, please don't hesitate to reach out. I care about your success but don't always know you are struggling.
COURSE GOALS
Each college course has what we refer to as Student Learning Outcomes or course goals. Think of these as an umbrella under which everything in this class will sit.
Once we start our class, I will be breaking these down a bit for you in smaller pieces, but for now, the following provides you with a broad understanding of where we are going in this class.
Throughout our semester, you will, in many ways:
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Describe historical and current perspectives on diversity and inclusion.
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Identify and differentiate between various forms of diversity.
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Discuss how stereotypes, bias, discrimination, systemic oppression and internalized privilege impact children’s learning, development and school experiences.
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Reflect on your own values and implicit and explicit biases and the ways in which these may positively and negatively affect teaching and learning.
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Evaluate classroom environments, materials, and approaches for developmental, cultural, and linguistic appropriateness for infants and toddlers through the early primary years.
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Describe appropriate teaching strategies and potential curriculum and pedagogical modifications to help all young children access the curriculum.
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Describe strategies to promote an inclusive and anti-racist classroom community.
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Identify approaches to help children negotiate and resolve conflict related to social injustice and bias.
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Describe strategies to build collaborative, respectful partnerships with families.
Assignments
Reading
Media
Lectures
Discussions
SUPPORT FOR YOU
We all need help at one point in life; indeed, we all need support resources when balancing life and school. Here is only a small collection of resources we have available at Butte College. Please let me know if you need someone else, and I will be happy to support you. I will also provide a more comprehensive list in our canvas classroom.
You can also call the friendly folks at the Butte College call center at 530-895-2511, who can provide you with additional information and assistance.
