Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/912628
with the goal of achieving cultural com- p et enc y, b ased on th e phi lo s ophy of building on students' cultural strengths to promote their achievement and their sense of well-being in the world. "I have an unwavering belief and phi- losophy that cultural relevance must h a p p e n i f e q u i t y i s o u r g o a l ," s ay s R e i s , a p r o f e s s o r i n t h e D e p ar tm ent of E du - cational Leadership at San Jose State Univer- sity. She incorporates t h i s p h i l o s o p h y i n t e a c h i n g g r a d u a t e students as well as in research on social jus- tice leadership. "As teachers, we need to be activists and not perpetuate the status quo. We must be agents of change when it comes to improving education for all students." The California Faculty Association m emb er know s a thing or tw o about organizing and change. As a teenager, she helped United Farm Workers in Salinas Valley with its organizing efforts. Reis taught preschool, kindergarten and first grade, and was an elementary school principal. She has been a mentor teacher and lecturer in the credential program at UC Santa Cruz. She has also been a BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment) provider and helped cre- ate the first unit for that program about equity and multiculturalism in schools — one of her proudest achievements. During three decades of developing instructional programs to help educators effec- t iv e ly t e a c h E n g l i s h learn ers, sh e led th e development of several state and national cur- riculum and coaching prog ram s, in cludin g w i t h t h e C a l i f o r n i a Department of Educa- tion and NEA. Her most recent contribution has been through the Instructional Leadership Corps. ILC, a CTA project in partnership with the Stanford Center for Opportu- nity Policy in Education and the National B o a rd R e s o u r c e C e n t e r a t S t a n f o rd University, is at the forefront of educa- tor-driven professional development to benefit all schools and students. Reis' involvement with ILC includes w o r k i n g w i t h t e a c h e r s i n t h e l o c a l regions, and with CalTeach interns. She created a series of ILC lessons designed to h elp t each ers implem ent th e n e w standards, "Building Blocks for a Cul- turally Relevant Pedagogy," which she presented at CTA's Summer Institute in August. e three building blocks are: • Vision — Implementing your vision for a culturally relevant pedagog y with challenging curriculum. This might include providing an interac- tive learning environment or having students collaborate at tables instead of sitting in rows. • Curriculum approaches — Levels for multicultural education include language development, contextual- ization, challenging activities, and in str u c tion al c onv ers ation s . Th e highest level takes a social justice approach, where students address issues within their own community, such as recycling or DACA. • Pedagogy — The delivery of rigor- ous, culturally responsive lessons that address the sociopolitical con- text of schools. e goal is to engage s t u d e n t s t h r o u g h d i a l o g u e a n d encourage them to use questioning to foster critical thinking skills. "Seeing teachers embrace and imple- m e n t t h e s e c h a n g e s f o r t h e g o o d of th eir students i s my biggest reward ," says Reis. Reis with several of her graduate students at San Jose State University. " I HAVE AN UNWAVERING BELIEF AND PHILOSOPHY THAT CULTURAL RELEVANCE MUST HAPPEN IF EQUITY IS OUR GOAL." 27 D E C E M B E R 2 017 / J A N U A R Y 2 018