Dimensiones de la democratización de la comunicación

Look. The researcher anticipated that Cycle 1 would be the longest of the cycles

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During this cycle, the participants (third- and fourth-grade teachers, ELA coach, and

principal) formed one PLC. According to Dufour and Eaker (1998), the members of

PLCs have mutual interests and shared beliefs. PLC members may differ in terms of

their titles, positions, and responsibilities; however, the belief is that they all have

knowledge and expertise that can contribute to the success of the organization. As

Ikehara (as cited in Dufour & Eaker, 1998) posited, learning occurs when these members

can share their knowledge and expertise through communication and social interaction.

When experts are free to dialogue on goals, strategies, and processes, they learn from one

another, which leads to organizational growth and improvement. According to Dufour

and Eaker, the members do not simply accept the status quo; they challenge it by asking

questions and pursuing new ways of getting better.

During the first PLC meeting, the team reviewed the purpose of the study, the

research questions, and Stringer’s (2014) action research model of look, think, act. Each

cycle of the study addressed specific research questions the researcher identified prior to

starting the cycle. Consistent with Stringer’s action research model, during each cycle,

the researcher framed the problem or issue under investigation in the form of a question.

As the research process evolved, the PLC had the flexibility to create additional framed

problems or to adjust the preconceived set of framed problems. Throughout the study,

the researcher collected ongoing data in the form of questionnaires, observations,

interviews, and PLC notes. The researcher used coding to organize this data and to

capture salient information. During the first PLC meeting, the researcher introduced the

committee to the concept of coding based on the theory of Saldana (2009). Finally, the

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scale, questionnaire (Appendix B), and Culturally Responsive Classroom Checklist

(Appendix E) as a launching point to conduct an in-depth discussion of culturally

responsive teaching. Using Gay’s (2018) theory of culturally responsive teaching, the

committee gained an in-depth understanding of what culturally responsive teaching was.

During Cycle 1, the PLC focused on answering Research Questions 1 and 2:

1) What are teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about the cultural knowledge and

prior experiences of ethnically diverse students?

2) How can teachers and administrators of Lanier Elementary School develop an

awareness of their sociocultural knowledge and beliefs that impact classrooms

and teaching practices?

Through the PLC, the teachers began to develop the skills to challenge the traditional

classroom pedagogies and they examined their own beliefs and biases about teaching a

diverse classroom. This meant that teachers participated in a self-reflection process in

which they reflected on their past educational experiences of being in diverse

environments, the messages they learned about race and culture, and how their personal

experiences of race influenced their current teaching (Irving, 2014; Sensoy & DiAngelo,

2012). Teachers examined their values with a sense of curiosity in a nonthreatening

environment. For teachers to become competent, caring culturally responsive educators,

they must go through a self-analysis process in which they look at their beliefs about the

relationship between culture, ethnicity, and the ability to succeed academically (Gay,

2018). According to Vavrus (n.d.), culturally responsive teachers need to explore their

own personal ideas and beliefs about their cultural and racial identity formation. The

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work of Ladson-Billings (1995) and Gay (1975, 1980, 2002, 2010, 2013), and it

discussed practices of culturally responsive teaching versus traditional classroom

teaching. According to Stringer (2014), in the look stage of action research, it is

important to clarify and deepen participants’ understanding of the issue.

Think. Having established a starting place, the PLC analyzed the survey data to

answer the following questions, according to Stringer (2014): What is happening here?

How or why are things as they are? The PLC identified and discussed key experiences

of having a nonculturally responsive classroom, identifying the main features of their

current classrooms, which were nonculturally responsive, and identifying themes that

were common in all their classrooms. During PLC meetings, teachers used storytelling

as a method of sharing their experiences, connecting, analyzing, and interpreting the data.

Dyson and Genishi (1994) stated that “we all have a basic need for story,” and that

“storytelling is a way to organize our experiences into important events” (p. 1-10). Using

the method of storytelling during the PLC group meetings created connections and

openness among teachers and administrators. Reflecting and developing cultural self-

awareness and consciousness-raising for teachers was critical for teachers to succeed as

culturally responsive educators (Gay, 2018).

Act. After reviewing the data on teachers’ experiences, beliefs and biases, the

PLC planned to identify one major issue and common thread in how their belief system

impacted the students in their classrooms. The PLC sought to develop an action plan for

catching teachers’ thinking when biases presented during their planning and teaching.

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teaching. Teachers kept a journal of biases for later reflection. According to Darling-

Hammond (2005), developing awareness is the first step in changing beliefs and biases.

In the end, this process strengthened the teacher participants’ self-efficacy in

making classroom decisions to meet the needs of all students in a diverse classroom.

Chen et al. (2009) posited that teachers who are culturally responsive can counter beliefs

that are implicit in institutional biases and construct classroom environments that are

inclusive and that address social differences, different cultures, and different races.

Additionally, culturally responsive teachers have faith in the human dignity and

capabilities of all their students (Gay, 2018). For teacher participants to enter into Cycle

2, Developing a Culturally Responsive Classroom, teachers needed to start by developing

self-awareness.