Edu 692 Education Redefined - snaptutorial.com

EDU 692 Entire Course
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EDU 692 Week 1 Assignment My School and Its Culture
EDU 692 Week 1 Discussion Caine's Arcade
EDU 692 Week 2 Assignment Cultural Competence in the Classroom
EDU 692 Week 2 Discussion 1 Landfill Harmonics and 21st Century
Skills
EDU 692 Week 2 Discussion 2 Outside Challenges
EDU 692 Week 3 Assignment Analyzing Cultural Relevance in
Instruction
EDU 692 Week 3 Discussion 1 Creating an Evaluation Instrument for
Cultural Relevance in the Classroom
EDU 692 Week 3 Discussion 2 Equal Versus Equitable
EDU 692 Week 4 Assignment Culturally Relevant Inspiration
EDU 692 Week 4 Discussion 1 Models of Creativity
EDU 692 Week 4 Discussion 2 Triangle of Support
EDU 692 Week 5 Assignment A Case for Problem-Based Learning
EDU 692 Week 5 Discussion 1 Decisions!
EDU 692 Week 6 Discussion Creativity, Innovation and Culture
EDU 692 Week 6 Final Project Creative Teaching Designing Culturally
Relevant Instruction
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EDU 692 Week 1 Assignment My School and Its
Culture
As illustrated in the introduction discussion this week, each of you has
experienced a unique journey through a variety of educational
experiences throughout your lives. Naturally, some of these experiences
will have contributed to your personal development and identity with
greater impact than others. Furthermore, many in-school variables have
affected your educational journey. The decisions made by those teachers
and school staff defining your in-school learning experiences were
derived from their philosophies of education and their understanding of
educational theory. The prevailing educational theories informing your
teachers could likely be defined along the continuum of major theories
that include behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Refer to the
Learning Theories resources provided in the Instructor Guidance for a
concise review of these major theories. Keep in mind also that
prominent educational philosophies influencing professional educators
have included perennialism, essentialism, progressivism and/or
reconstructionism. Each of those theories is described in within the
Instructor Guidance material for Week One.
After reading selected material from Chapters 7, 8 and 11 of the course
text, you should now be familiar with the research that describes the
relationship between social class and school success (Chapter 7), the
impact of diversity on learning (Chapter 8), and the importance of

family involvement (Chapter 11). You will use this knowledge as a
foundation for completing this assignment.
For this assignment, describe a school-related experience that you
believe influenced your identity either positively or negatively or both.
You will analyze this experience and reflect on all the factors that might
have shaped it, and the different ways these experiences shaped you.
This analysis will include an examination of factors outside of school
(such as social class, socioeconomic status, diversity, family issues, etc.)
as well as factors inside of school (theories and philosophies) that you
believe influenced classroom decisions. This type of analysis provides a
powerful introduction to learning more about the relationship between
culture, education and the teachers’ decisions in the classroom.
Your analysis should include the following:
Content Expectations
• School Experience (1 point): Describe your selected school experience
that influenced your personal identity development.
• School Characteristics and Cultural Dimensions (1 point): Describe the
school where your experience took place including (a) school
characteristics, (b) student population characteristics, (c) socio-economic
background of the families affiliated with the school, and (d) the family
structures represented in the school.
• Educational Philosophy Analysis (1.5 points): Describe the educational
philosophies that defined the school’s structure, purpose, operation, and
how the local culture may have influenced these philosophies.
• Learning Theory Analysis (1.5 points): Describe the type(s) of learning
theories you believe your teachers used to help them design the
instructional experiences including (a) why or how you believe your
teachers demonstrated applications of behaviorism, cognitivism, and/or
constructivism and (b) how you feel these theories affected the
instructional decisions the teachers made. Refer to the Learning Theories
resources provided in the Instructor Guidance for a concise review of
these major theories.
• Personal Influences (1 point): Reflect on the influence that your
family’s “funds of knowledge” and social capital had on your ability to

succeed in your school; address your success in the following three
areas: academic success, social success, and emotional success.
• Application (1 point): Explain, using specific examples, how educators
could use information about culture and individual student identities to
make effective instructional decisions.
Written Communication Expectations
o Page Requirement (.25 points): Submit three to five pages, not
including the title and reference pages.
o APA Formatting (.25 points): Format your paper according to APA
style as outlined in the Ashford
Writing Center.
o Syntax and Mechanics (.25 points): Display meticulous
comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as
spelling and grammar.
o Source Requirement (.25 points): Reference at least two scholarly
sources in addition to the Wardle (2013) textbook to provide compelling
evidence to support ideas. All sources on the references page need to be
used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.
It is strongly recommended that you review this week’s Instructor
Guidance for additional information about completing this assignment!
Contact your instructor for clarifications about this or any assessment in
the course before the due date using the “Ask Your Instructor” forum.
Then, also using the Grading Rubric as a guide for your performance on
this assignment, construct your assignment to meet each of the content
and written communication expectations.
Next Steps: Review and Submit the Assignment
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EDU 692 Week 1 Discussion Caine's Arcade

Caine’s Arcade. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Caine is a 9-year-old boy whose
afterschool and weekend project turned into an international imagination
movement. As theCaine’s Arcade video explains, Caine built a gaming
arcade almost entirely out of cardboard and opened it up for business in
the storefront of his father’s auto parts store. This story provides an
excellent example of how characteristics of Caine’s personal identity
might affect how and what he learned from the specific experiences
portrayed. The cultural values that nurtured Caine’s curiosity and
inventiveness can be identified within his video story and the factors
contributing to his “funds of knowledge” going into the project can be
readily analyzed in the video. After viewing Caine’s amazing story,
reflect on the different skills he learned and applied as he completed his
“project,” and consider how his personal identity shaped, and was
shaped by, his amazing experiences. To help you better understand the
underlying influences affecting Caine’s learning experiences, read the
following sections of the course text:
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 11
These chapters present information and examples associated with how
poverty, diversity and family factors influence student achievement and
behavior in school. You also need to read the article by Lopez (n.d.)
regarding Funds of Knowledge.
Initial Post: View the Caine’s Arcade video and construct an initial
response that addresses the following questions:
• What external factors influenced Caine’s ability to successfully create
his arcade? (e.g., what role did his father play in encouraging his
project?)

• What internal factors influenced Caine’s ability to successfully create
his arcade? Consider his world view, values, and funds of knowledge as
internal factors.
• How valuable do you think these skills are in the real world? How well
do they align with one or more of the 21st-century skills identified on
the Framework for 21st Century Learning web page?
Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts. In
your responses, comment on any similarities or differences between
your response and those of your peers. Though two replies is the basic
expectation, for deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to
provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to
you. This will further the conversation and provide you with
opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking,
and real-world experiences with this topic.
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EDU 692 Week 2 Assignment Cultural
Competence in the Classroom
Nikhil Goyal is a successful high school student who, like many students
his age, hates school. But unlike most students his age, Nikhil wrote a
speech about it and delivered it to a global audience via a TEDX
Youth(2012) presentation. The central theme of the presentation is
relevance and, specifically, how schools often lack relevance to the lives

of their learners. The majority of Nikhil’s story focuses on Nick Perez, a
boy who was marginalized in school and medicated to be able to adhere
to the parameters of thought and behavior expected for participation in
the school. As you view the presentation, you will learn how Nick
became disillusioned by the lack of relevancy and interest in his studies
and how his disenfranchisement eventually led him to drop out of
school.
In this assignment, you will reflect on the story of Nick Perez and
analyze it based on what might have happened differently if Nick’s
education targeted the learning of 21st century skills through culturally
relevant learning opportunities. Additionally, you will recommend a
culturally relevant learning experience that might have been able to meet
Nick’s needs in high school. Review the Instructor Guidance for this
week for additional information and use the Ladson-Billing (1995)
resource and Chapter 4 of Wardle (2013) to define a culturally relevant
learning experience; apply this framework to the creation of solutions.
Then, create your formal written assignment to meet the content and
written communication expectations stated below.
• Video Analysis (3 points): Address the following three guiding
statements:
1. According to Nick, “I was denied the right to exist normally. My
school had wasted my time until there was no time left”. Based on the
information presented in the video, describe the learning experiences
and cultural competencies that you believe were valued at Nick’s school.
Then, using Nick’s interest in computers as a form of his cultural
identity, describe cultural competencies and learning experiences that
would be most applicable and interesting to Nick (think about the way
that he described his life at home and at computer camp).
2. Examine the 4C skills (a) creativity and innovation, (b) critical
thinking and problem solving, and (c) communication and (d)
collaboration that are presented in Learning and Innovations Skills.
Determine which of these skills you perceive are most likely relevant to
Nick’s current position as a programmer in an advertising firm and

which of these skills you perceive are not adequately addressed in
typical classroom environments today.
c. Explain how the acquisition of learning and innovation skills through
culturally relevant learning opportunities can lead to greater student
success in the classroom and in the real world.
• Cultural Competencies References (1.5 points): Reference cultural
competencies in your response to the Video Analysis guiding
statements. Include examples using at least one of the following four
characteristics:
1. Awareness of one’s own cultural worldview (including biases)
2. Knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews
3. Positive attitudes and open-mindedness toward cultural differences
4. Ability to work successfully with others from different cultures
• Culturally Relevant Learning References (1.5 points): Reference
culturally relevant instruction in your response to the Video Analysis
guiding statements. Reflect on strategies that align with this approach
and include at least one of the following nine areas:
1. Maximizing academic success through relevant instructional
experiences
2. Addressing cultural competence through reinforcing students’ cultural
integrity
3. Involving students in the construction of knowledge
4. Building on students’ interests and linguistic resources
5. Tapping home and community resources
6. Understanding students’ cultural knowledge
7. Using interactive and constructivist teaching strategies
8. Examining the curriculum from multiple perspectives
9. Promoting critical consciousness through opportunities to challenge
predominant elements of the
students’ social norms
• 21st Century Skills Framework (1 point): Reference 21st century skills
in your response to the Video Analysis Questions to reflect the
framework developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning.

• Page Requirement (.25 points): Submit three to five pages, not
• APA Formatting (.25 points): Format your paper according to APA
style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Syntax and Mechanics (.25 points): Display meticulous comprehension
and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and
grammar.
• Source Requirement (.25 points): Reference at least one scholarly
source in addition to the Partnership for 21st Century Learning’s Skills
Framework, Ladson-Billing (1995) resource, and Chapter 4 in Wardle
(2013) to provide compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on
the references page need to be used and cited correctly within the body
of the assignment.
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EDU 692 Week 2 Discussion 1 Landfill
Harmonics and 21st Century Skills
Landfill Harmonics and 21st-Century Skills. 1st Post Due by Day 3. As
educators, knowing about the 21st- century skills is important, and being
able to recognize the skills within specific examples is an indicator that

you truly understand them and how they work in application. In Week
One, we discussed the story of Caine and his arcade as a way to explore
how culture influences creativity, imagination, and inventiveness. In this
discussion, we go a step further by considering 21st-century skills in
relation to another inspiring story of creativity, imagination, and
inventiveness.
The Landfill Harmonic project showcases the story of a garbage picker,
a music teacher, and a group of children from a Paraguayan slum that,
out of necessity, started creating instruments entirely out of garbage
found in a landfill. Children who ordinarily would drop out of school to
sift through garbage in search of salvageable recyclables became
involved in learning to play instruments together and formed an
orchestra out of instruments they crafted. Valuing the arts and
encouraging students to become involved in cross-cultural projects (such
as participation in an orchestra) reflect excellent examples of learning
contexts and strategies that can promote 21st- century skills, particularly
the 4Cs within the Learning and Innovation skills category: creativity
and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication,
and collaboration.
Your reflections on this story will provide a rich backdrop for learning
more about the impact that social and cross-cultural skills have on the
more academic pursuit of keeping children engaged in learning 21st-
century skills. After reviewing this week’s Instructor Guidance material,
you will have a good working knowledge of social and cross-cultural
skills and will be able to recognize how they might support the learning
of 21st-century skills, especially within the Landfill Harmonic project.
Initial Post: View the Landfill Harmonic Amazing and Inspirational
video about the Landfill Harmonic project and then view more specific
information about the project on its official website. Next, review the
Framework for 21st Century Learning web page. Then, create an initial
post that addresses the following in at least one paragraph for each:
• Describe the Learning and Innovation (4Cs) as well as Life and Career
Skills from the Framework for 21st Century Learning that you perceive
the students learned and applied as a result of their participation in the
Landfill Harmonic project.

• Describe the cultural competencies you perceive were demonstrated by
the students in the Landfill Harmonic project (these are summarized in
the Instructor Guidance for this week).
• Describe the social factors and attitudes you perceive were needed to
initiate the project, including a consideration of the cross-cultural skills
that may be necessary for supporters to sustain the Landfill Harmonic
project.
your responses, compare the 21st-century skills and cross-cultural skills
your peers identified with the ones you described. You are encouraged
to ask questions about their posts. Questions might include requests for
clarification on points made or for elaboration on an area of their post.
Though two replies is the basic expectation for this discussion, for
deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to provide
responses to any comments or questions others have given to you. This
will further the conversation and provide you with opportunities to
demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real world
experiences with this topic.
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EDU 692 Week 2 Discussion 2 Outside
Challenges

Outside Challenges. 1st Post Due by Day 3. This discussion focuses on
identifying the economic, technological, social and personal factors
outside of school that can result in barriers to academic success inside
school. From Week One’s readings of the course text and the
assessments related thereto, you should now be familiar with the
research that describes the relationship between factors of social class
and school success, the impact of diversity on learning, and the
importance of family involvement. These factors represent powerful
variables outside school that impact learning inside school. For this
discussion, discuss factors in your own life, outside of school and the
direct and indirect relationships with your learning experiences inside of
school. Be sure to review the Week Two Instructor Guidance for
additional information that can assist you in excelling in all assessments
for this week.
Initial Post: Create an initial post that describes the relationship between
a challenge you faced outside school from one or more of the following
areas: economic, technological, social and personal. Next, describe how
your challenge may have contributed to your academic and/or social
success inside the classroom. This challenge may have occurred when
you were a child or it may be a current challenge that you have faced or
are facing as an adult. Please only share about challenges that you are
comfortable discussing with the class.
your responses, comment on how the specific challenges presented in
their posts resonate with you personally. You might choose to indicate
that the challenges reflect similar challenges you faced growing up, or
possibly the challenges are representative of difficulties faced by many
of your students. Additionally, offer suggestions from your own
experiences that might help mitigate any negative consequences of your
peers’ current challenges. As with all discussions, for deeper
engagement and learning, you are encouraged to provide responses to
any comments or questions others have given to you. This will further
the conversation and provide you with opportunities to demonstrate your
content expertise, critical thinking, and real world experiences with this
topic.

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EDU 692 Week 3 Assignment Analyzing
Cultural Relevance in Instruction
In Chapter 12, Wardle (2013) summarizes the important characteristics
of a culturally relevant teacher. Use this information as a guide or
resource throughout this assignment to help inspire your thinking as you
apply your knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy toward specific
solutions to problems facing a teacher with a very diverse student
population. This exercise provides excellent practice over the application
of culturally relevant principles in the design of effective instructional
solutions. You will need to design such instructional solutions within the
Final Project, so it is very important to practice such skills here.
Specifically, for this assignment, you will view a brief video taken with
a cell phone by a student in a high school social studies class. The video
(Bliss, 2013) documents a meltdown Bliss experienced during his World
History course at Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas. A
transcript of the audio is provided in the Instructor Guidance for this
week along with other detailed assistance for completing this
assignment.

After reviewing the Instructor Guidance for this task, create your
assignment to meet the content and written communication expectations
below.
• Video Analysis Questions (2 points): Answer the questions below
based on your inferences and ideas
after viewing the events captured in the cellphone video.
1. Description: What is the problem (from Jeff Bliss’s perspective as
well as from Ms. Phung’s perspective)?
2. Diagnosis: What probably caused it? Who benefits? Who loses? What
position do you take on this issue?
3. Solution: How could a more equitable, culturally relevant approach to
the class improve the situation? How might Ms. Phung respond
differently to Jeff’s concerns?
• Equity Strategies (2.5 points): Describe any equity strategies you
noticed or inferred being implemented in the video. Suggest at least one
strategy for each of the four categories that the teacher could have
utilized to help meet student needs in a more equitable fashion.
a. Instruction
b. Classroom Environment
c. Student Grouping
d. Student Recognition/leadership
• Culturally Relevant Strategies (2.5 points): Describe evidence of any
culturally relevant pedagogy in action in the cellphone video and suggest
at least three strategies that could be used to create a more culturally
relevant classroom. Such strategies might be drawn from the following
areas:
experiences
integrity
c. Involving students in the construction of knowledge

predominant elements of the students’ social norms
• Page Requirement (.25 points): Submit three to five pages, not
• APA Formatting (.25 points): Format your paper according to APA
style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Syntax and Mechanics (.25 points): Display meticulous comprehension
and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and
grammar.
• Source Requirement (.25 points): Reference the cellphone video and
Wardle (2013) textbook. All sources on the references page need to be
used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.
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EDU 692 Week 3 Discussion 1 Creating an
Evaluation Instrument for Cultural Relevance in
the Classroom

Creating an Evaluation Instrument for Cultural Relevance in the
Classroom. 1st Post Due by Day 3. In this discussion, you will apply
your knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy to examine the degree
to which a specific place-based experience implements culturally
relevant strategies. Please review this week’s Instructor Guidance for
detailed assistance on preparing for and completing this discussion.
Initial Post: For this post, you will complete a rubric to determine the
degree to which an instructional experience incorporates culturally
relevant pedagogical principles. Based on your knowledge about
culturally relevant teaching, you will add two more criteria to the rubric
below and then use it to evaluate one of the place-based lesson “stories”
shared on the PromiseofPlace.org. Then, using the rubric with your
results from your evaluation, summarize how well you think your
selected place-based experience addresses cultural relevance.
You can copy the rubric into a word document, complete the rubric, and
then paste into the discussion forum along with your summary.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.
Examine their instruments and brief report, and comment on the
effectiveness of the instruments developed and their evaluation of the
lesson. In your responses, consider asking questions about their posts to
encourage further conversation. Though two replies is the basic
and real world experiences with this topic.
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EDU 692 Week 3 Discussion 2 Equal Versus
Equitable

Equal Versus Equitable. 1st Post Due by Day 3. It can be difficult for
students in any class to understand the importance of equity in their
classroom. “It’s not fair!” is a common reaction from students who
observe other students getting benefits that they did not receive. For
example, some students with specific learning disabilities may receive
additional time to complete assignments. Wardle (2013) points out a
clear distinction between equality and equity noting that “Equal
education is providing equal resources and opportunities for all students
to succeed in education” (p. 51). On the other hand, according to Banks
(2013), equitable education “goes beyond equal, and to some extent
contradicts it, in that it requires tailoring the educational approach... to
each student, based on the student’s individual and cultural
characteristics, so the student can achieve to his or her full potential,” (as
cited in Wardle, 2013, p. 51).
Initial Post: This discussion asks you to reflect on the importance of
valuing equity over equality in the classroom and in life outside the
classroom. You will identify at least two examples of equity versus
equality in popular culture that you might be able to use in a class to
help your students understand the value of equity. This might include
advertisements (pictures), song lyrics, or commercials (linked from
Youtube.com, for example). Try to locate examples that could be used in
a class you might teach now or in the future. Next, briefly reflect on the
role equity plays in the classroom by explaining how you would use
your selected examples to help students understand the differences
between equity and equality, and why equity is more important in the
classroom.

your responses, comment on the degree to which you feel their examples
will be helpful in promoting student understanding of the value of equity
in the classroom and ask them to elaborate if needed. As with previous
discussions, though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper
the conversation and provide you with opportunities to demonstrate your
content expertise, critical thinking, and real world experiences with this
topic.
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EDU 692 Week 4 assignment Culturally
Relevant Inspiration
A number of important resources supporting the design, development,
implementation, and evaluation of culturally relevant instructional
experiences are available online. Throughout this course, you have had
many opportunities to view a number of such resources. This assignment
encourages you to reflect on the key concepts presented in the course
through the creation of a web-based presentation or website that you can
use in the future to support your teaching efforts. The goal is to

showcase several model schools or programs representing what you
have learned thus far regarding culturally relevant practices, creativity,
and innovation. A plethora of options exists as you search for model
schools or programs. While the K-12 public school setting may be on the
forefront of your mind, remember there are a variety of learning
environments available, such as charter and private schools, technical
programs, post-secondary education and training programs, schools and
programs pertaining to the military, Sunday schools and other religious
schools, and more. Therefore, expand your search efforts to gain a well-
rounded perspective to share in your website or web-based presentation.
The resource you create can also be shared with colleagues (as well as
the public in general) to advocate for implementing a more culturally-
relevant instructional approach to professional practice.
A listing of good free tools you might choose to use as you develop a
website is presented in the Instructor Guidance. Each tool includes its
own collection of help files and tutorials to support your creative
endeavor. Similarly, there are numerous web-based tools that could be
utilized to create an interactive presentation, such as animoto, knovio,
prezi, or present.me. Use your creativity and try something new!
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EDU 692 Week 4 Discussion 1 Models of
Creativity

Models of Creativity. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Robinson (2011) noted
that “When people say to me that they are not creative, I assume that
they haven’t yet learnt what is involved” (p. 1). Do you find it
interesting to consider that creativity can be learned? Or conversely, that
it can be unlearned? In this discussion, you will apply your knowledge
of creativity and the strategies needed to encourage it by reflecting on a
personal experience in which your creativity was either stifled or
enhanced. Please review this week’s Instructor Guidance for specific
assistance on excelling in this discussion.
Initial Post: Read the NACCCE report, All Our Futures: Creativity,
Culture and Education, focusing specifically on the Creative and
Cultural Education (pp. 54-60) and Teaching and Learning (pp. 100-
123) section. As you read through this work, describe some of the
specific strategies NACCCE recommends for facilitating creativity
skills. Make a list of these strategies for future reference. Once you have
a clear picture of the types of educational strategies Robinson believes
supports creativity, view the When there is a Correct Answer video. This
is a short two-minute summary of Dr. Segev’s research on creative
drawing with children.
Based on the results of Dr. Segev’s research, describe a situation during
your life in which your creativity was either inhibited due to an
understanding that whatever you were creating needed to be completed a
“correct” way, or encouraged because you were not given such stringent
design parameters. Write about this incident in a narrative, storytelling
way. Within your story, make a connection to at least two of the
NACCCE strategies you listed. Consider how these were either
supported or not supported within the scenario you described of the
decisions the teacher (or teachers) made regarding the experience. Once
you complete your story, post it in the discussion forum. Feel free to be
creative with this story. For example, you may want to try Storybird,
which is a digital storytelling platform (free accounts are available to

students and teachers). If you use a web-based technology to create your
story, be sure to post a link to it in your post.
your responses, consider asking questions about their posts to encourage
further conversation. Read (or experience) the stories presented by the
students in the class and identify at least two stories that resonate with
your own experiences. Offer some words of commiseration and provide
some “words of wisdom” to encourage future creative endeavors. As
with previous discussions, though two replies is the basic expectation,
for deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to provide
responses to any comments or questions others have given to you. This
will further the conversation and provide you with opportunities to
demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real world
experiences with this topic.
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EDU 692 Week 4 Discussion 2 Triangle of
Support
Triangle of Support. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Have you ever seen Blue
Man Group perform? If not, here is a ten- minute video that showcases
the group’s unique, creative talent: Blue Man Group – part 01. In their

own way, the members of the Blue Man Group reflect the essence of the
Landfill Harmonic project. For example, at the heart of Blue Man
Group’s act are musical instruments made from things that were not
originally designed to make music. Similar to the Landfill Harmonic
accomplishments, Blue Man Group’s creativity is not just applied to
making music, but to making the instruments that make the music.
Something you might not know about the Blue Man Group is that the
members have created a school specifically designed to encourage and
cultivate the creative spirit in children. Called “Blue School,” this
educational environment applies the principles described by Ken
Robinson (and others) to the design and operation of a school. This short
three-minute video provides an overview of the school and its mission:
The Blue School.
Blue School actively supports the learning of 21st-century skills. When
carefully examining the instructional experiences that help students learn
and apply 21st-century skills, you might realize that culturally relevant
pedagogy is often a natural byproduct of such approaches. This
discussion is designed to provide you with further practice in analyzing
learning situations to better understand how culturally relevant
pedagogy, learning 21st- century skills, and creativity naturally form a
triangle of support:
As you discovered while viewing the video on Blue School, there are
schools that encourage culturally relevant pedagogy, creativity, and
innovation. The background information you gained through learning
about Blue School leads you to the focus of this Discussion and another
prime example of a school doing some amazing things.
Initial Post: High Tech High is a secondary school committed to
facilitating 21st-century skills. Examine the 21st Century Skills Culture
at High Tech High video that provides an overview of High Tech High
and its commitment to facilitating 21st-century skills. As you carefully
examine the information presented about the school, consider how its
courses and programs naturally support a culturally relevant approach to
instruction that promotes creativity. After viewing the video, answer the
following questions about the school:

• In what way is culturally relevant pedagogy evident at the school? Link
specific observations from the video with one or more of the following
specific characteristic of a culturally relevant environment:
experiences.
integrity.
3. Involving students in the construction of knowledge.
4. Building on students’ interests and linguistic resources.
5. Tapping home and community resources.
6. Understanding students’ cultural knowledge.
7. Using interactive and constructivist teaching strategies.
8. Examining the curriculum from multiple perspectives.
i. Promoting critical consciousness through opportunities to challenge
predominant elements of the students’ social norms.
• Do the same for creativity instead of cultural relevance. In what way is
creativity evident at the school? Link specific observations from the
video withone or more of the following specific characteristic of
instruction that supports the development of creativity:
1. Encouraging students to believe in their culture-influenced creative
potential.
2. Nurturing the confidence to try.
3. Helping learners find their creative strengths.
4. Promoting experiment and inquiry and a willingness to make
mistakes.
5. Encouraging generative thought, free from immediate criticism.
6. Encouraging the expression of personal ideas and feelings.
7. Conveying an understanding of phases in creative work and the need
for time.
8. Developing an awareness of the roles of intuition and aesthetic
processes.
9. Encouraging students to play with ideas and conjecture about
possibilities.
10. Facilitating critical evaluation of ideas.

• Briefly summarize your own viewpoints on the relationship between
21st-century skills, culturally relevant instruction, and creativity.
Guided Response: Review at least two other classmates’ initial posts.
Compare the examples they used from the High Tech High presentation
with your own. Did they align with the same characteristics of culturally
relevant instruction or creativity as yours? Ask questions if the
relationship they suggest is not clear to you. As with previous
discussions, though two replies is the basic expectation, for deeper
the conversation and provide you with opportunities to clarify your own
understanding of the material analyzed.
*******************************************************
EDU 692 Week 5 Assignment A Case for
Problem-Based Learning
For this assignment, you need to assume the role of a classroom
educator. This can be based on a class that you are currently teaching,
one that you have previously taught, or one that you hope to teach in the
future. Suppose you are participating in a department team meeting with

the other teachers in your grade level. You are having a discussion about
an upcoming unit. One of the teachers indicates that she plans to
distribute the same packets she used last year and schedule five days of
independent seat work for her students to complete the packets by
locating answers in the course textbook. This would be followed by a
written exam over the material in the packets.
You have been aware for some time that the students in this teacher’s
class are frustrated, bored, and worst of all, not really learning anything
important about the content as shown through the student data. This
could be your opportunity to get her to try something new and more
valuable to students. You explain to this teacher that you plan to
implement a week-long problem-based learning experience for your
students, involving group projects, computer time, and class
presentations; you would like to share this plan with her and to partner
together on the project. She is apprehensive because it sounds like a lot
of work, but you assure her that you have the entire experience planned
well.
In this assignment, you will apply principles of problem-based learning
to the design of a specific learning experience within a culturally
relevant and collaborative learning experience that facilitates the 21st
century skills of creativity and innovation. Review the Week Five
Instructor Guidance for detailed assistance on preparing for and
completing this assignment, including access to resources that will help
you identify the characteristics of problem-based learning environments.
Next, create your assignment to meet the content and written
communication expectations below.
• Plan (9 points): Create a general plan for a problem-based and project-
based learning (PBL2)
experience that includes the following six components:
1. Overview of the general problem you will establish related to the
topic, including the following:
• A brief description of the grade, subject, and demographics of the
class.
• An overview of how student groups will be assigned and monitored.

• A description of the project that will need to be developed by the
group and presented to the class.
• Common characteristics of problem-based learning, addressing an
open-ended problem posed to each learning group (see guidance).
• A description of how the creativity and innovation with 21st century
skills are learned and/or specifically applied within the project.
• A description of how culturally relevant strategies are
included/applied within the project.
*******************************************************
EDU 692 Week 5 Discussion 1 Decisions!
Decisions! Decisions! 1st Post Due by Day 3. Teachers are professionals
who must make many decisions throughout their day! Some decisions
are immediate, spur of the moment choices like disciplining students or
revising a lesson that is not working. Others decisions are more
calculated, like developing a semester-long project designed to
incorporate community resources into a problem-solving scenario. All
the small decisions teachers make throughout their day likely support the
two most important, larger overarching decisions that are made at the

beginning of a learning experience and are based in part on many
macrocultural and microcultural factors:
• What is truly important for students to learn?
• What is the best way to arrange experiences within the learning
environment to maximize the probability
that all students will learn what is intended for them to learn?
Chapter 1 of the course text provides a number of different definitions
for the term “culture.” Wardle (2013) makes a distinction between
cultural factors at the national level (macroculture) and cultural factors
unique to a specific sub-population of people in local communities
(microculture). This discussion provides you with additional practice
identifying cultural influences on specific decisions teachers make to
develop the most effective learning experiences possible, which further
prepares you for the Week Six Final Project. You will use one of the
schools or programs identified in last week’s assignment (website or
web-based presentation) that you and your peers developed as the
subject of the first discussion. Recall that these schools showcase
examples of innovative educational experiences designed to promote
21st-century skills while promoting culturally relevant pedagogy.
Initial Response: This discussion requires you to select one of the
schools/programs you researched and included in your Week Four
Assignment. Once selected, you need to conduct a brief analysis of the
decisions that needed to be made in the design and implementation of
the school or program you selected. To help guide this analysis, ensure
that the following questions are addressed:
• What decisions, in general, did the program developer(s) and/or other
professional(s) need to make in order to plan the school or program?
• What macroscopic cultural influence likely supported the development
and implementation of the program?
• What microscopic cultural influence likely supported the development
and implementation of the program?
Be sure to provide a link to the school or program you are analyzing so
that other students can have easy access as they review your work.
Guided Response: Navigate through several of your classmate’s selected
schools or programs and respond to at least two peers, paying close

attention to the particular school or program they featured in their initial
discussion post. Review the analysis of the decisions and cultural
influences discussed and indicate how you agree or disagree with their
analysis. As with previous discussions, though two replies is the basic
and real world experiences with this topic.
*******************************************************
EDU 692 Week 6 Discussion Creativity,
Innovation and Culture
Creativity, Innovation, and Culture. 1st Post Due by Day 3. In this final
reflection, you are asked to describe a set of skills you acquired over the
years that allows you to be creative in some way. This might be musical
instrument skills, cooking, knitting, writing, model-building,
gardening....anything you consider yourself “good at” that encourages
you to experience “...the process of having original ideas that have
value” (Robinson, 2011, p. 151). By analyzing these skills in light of the

culturally relevant context in which they were learned, you may realize
an even deeper understanding of the skills facilitated within this course.
Initial Post: Post a response that addresses each of the following five
items:
• What is something you do or have done in your life that is creative?
• Describe the skills you needed to learn in order to feel comfortable and
competent creating the things, ideas, or concepts that result from the
creativity you described.
• Describe some of the macrocultural factors you believe contributed to
your decisions to keep practicing and participating in the creative
endeavors described.
• Describe some of the microcultural factors you believe contributed to
your decisions to keep practicing and participating in the creative
endeavors described.
• How was learning the skills that define your creative endeavors
different from or the same as the manner in which you learned academic
skills?
Optional: If you have any pictures, sound files, or videos of your
creations, feel free to share and/or provide a link.
Guided Response: Post replies to at least two peers before the close date
of this discussion. In your replies, comment on their creativity
descriptions, asking follow-up questions about their experiences and
accomplishments.
*******************************************************
EDU 692 Week 6 Final Project Creative
Teaching Designing Culturally Relevant
Instruction

For the Final Project, you will assume the role of a classroom teacher
applying for a $10,000 Teacher Creativity Fellowship Grant. This award
provides financial resources to teachers, which allows the recipient to
spend time during the summer months developing an instructional
experience that will be implemented and evaluated during the upcoming
fall semester. These instructional experiences could include large
projects, field trips, or simply improved daily or weekly lessons. This
year’s grant recipients are awarded funding on the condition they
develop instructional experiences and programs to support the learning
of 21st century skills, specifically, creative and innovative skills.
A good example of this type of award competition in the real world is
the Teacher Creativity Fellowship. Spend some time reviewing the
information provided at this site to get a better understanding of a
teacher grant request for proposal (RFP).
To further structure and define your Final Project, imagine you teach in
a culturally diverse school, and you recognize a need to develop more
culturally relevant instructional experiences that promote creative and
innovative thinking. After carefully examining the information in the
request for proposal for the grant described above, you realize the
funding awards are based on the clarity and details of a form submitted
for evaluation. After careful deliberation, you decide to apply for the
grant to finance your time and help you obtain the resources needed to
develop the proposed instructional experiences. Keep in mind that a
primary component of your plan requires consideration of the culture
and specific needs of each child enrolled in your class (or one of your
classes) for the upcoming semester.
Writing the Final Project

Create your Final Project to meet the content and written communication
expectations below. The content expectations include the seven parts of
the request for proposal. If you have questions about the expectations for
this assignment, use the Ask Your Instructor discussion section in the
left-navigation pane of your course.
The following seven sections should be used as headings within your
paper.
Content Expectations:
• Part I: Audience and Rationale (1 point): Write an overview of the
class and target population,
including the age range, grade and/or subject area, and other relevant
attributes of the culture in which the school is situated. If you are not
currently teaching, you may use a prior class, a peer’s class, or invent
the demographic information.
• Part II: Outcomes (1 point): List the instructional outcomes (i.e.,
learning objectives and standards) of the instructional experience
including:
1. Content Outcomes
2. 21st century skills with an emphasis on creativity and innovation
3. Cultural competencies explicitly facilitated within the planned
learning experience.
• Part III: Assessment (1 point): Describe how you will measure the
degree to which the learners have acquired your targeted outcomes. You
do not need to develop the assessments, just describe the format and
what they would be in some detail.
• Part IV. Context Description (2 points): Describe the nature of the
overall instructional context established by addressing:
1. Creativity (i.e., learners involved in making or creating something)
2. Problem Solving (i.e., overall activity focuses on solving a specific or
ill-defined problem)
OR
3. A Real/Simulated Experience (i.e., activity consists of performing
tasks that are part of a real- world experience or an experience designed
to simulate real-world activity)

• Part V: Instructional Plan Summary (2 points): Summarize the planned
instructional experiences, providing a justification for the need to
employ a culturally relevant framework to help facilitate both creativity
and innovation skills and the content-area skills the instructional
experience addresses.
• Part VI. Evidence of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in the Instructional
Plan (8 points): Describe the planned learning experiences in detail.
Ensure the plan includes at least four of the following nine strategy
options:
experiences
integrity
3. Involving students in the construction of knowledge
predominant elements of the students’ social norms
• Part VII. Creativity/Innovation Strategies in the Instructional Plan (7.5
points): Ensure the planned instructional experience provides at least
four of the following ten strategies for facilitating creativity and
innovative thinking:
1. Encouraging students to believe in their culture-influenced creative
potential
2. Nurturing the confidence to try
3. Helping learners find their creative strengths
4. Promoting experiment and inquiry and a willingness to make mistakes
5. Encouraging generative thought, free from immediate criticism
6. Encouraging the expression of personal ideas and feelings
7. Conveying an understanding of phases in creative work and the need
for time

8. Developing an awareness of the roles of intuition and aesthetic
processes
9. Encouraging students to play with ideas and conjecture about
possibilities
10. Facilitating critical evaluation of ideas
*******************************************************

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