In Part One of my S5E20 @schoolutionspodcast conversation, Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh shares how inclusive teaching can profoundly impact the student experience and foster a sense of belonging for all students, emphasizing that education for all hinges on deeply connected learning. She discusses how a Spanish teacher's innovative language learning approach helped her overcome feelings of invisibility in the classroom.
In this part one deeply personal conversation, Michelle reveals:
✨ Why 54% of students feel culturally unseen in classrooms
✨ How invisibility shows up as "silence in the curriculum"
✨ The difference between learning for compliance vs. connection
✨ Gloria Ladson-Billings's culturally responsive pedagogy framework
✨ Why humanizing ourselves as teachers unlocks classroom belonging
Stay tuned for Part Two (on Friday), where Michelle offers digital storytelling tools.
Some resources mentioned:
➡️Storytelling Can Bridge Cultural Gaps
🎤How Cultural Representation Improves Education
➡️ Gloria Ladson-Billings
➡️ StoryCorps
➡️ Smithsonian Learning Resources
➡️ Zinn Education Project
➡️ PBS LearningMedia
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction: What Does Invisibility in the Classroom Look Like?
1:00 Meet Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh: A Year in the Making
1:46 Today's Focus: Storytelling Can Bridge Cultural Gaps
2:13The Research Foundation: Gloria Ladson-Billings & Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
2:53 Taking Us Back: 9 Years Old, Newly Arrived from Jamaica
3:14 Education as Priority: Coming to America for Better Opportunities
4:00 The Adult Lens: Looking Back as an Educator and Researcher
4:44 Invisibility Wasn't Loud—It Was Silence in the Curriculum
5:31 Learning for Compliance, Not Connection
6:04 Succeeding Without Being Fully Seen
6:42 The Shock: When Friends Met Her Indian Family
7:00 The Statistics: 54% Students of Color, 82% White Teachers
7:24 The Representation Gap in Education Today
8:00 Enter Ms. Fernandez: Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade Spanish Teacher
8:51 Education Beyond Performance and Perfection
9:17 Prioritizing Connection Over Transaction
9:42 The Learning That Stuck: Songs, Café con Leche, and Las Tiendas
10:34 Standing Up Out of Respect: A Cultural Moment
11:42 Permission to Be Different While Honoring Culture
12:17 Reflecting on Teaching Refugees in California
13:00 The Equal Playing Field: Learning Spanish Together
13:42 Lightning Round Begins!
14:00 Top Resource for Storytelling: Start with Listening
15:00 Storytelling Requirement: Beyond Textbooks and into Lives
16:00 "When You Share Your Story, You Become Human"
16:42 What Would Ms. Fernandez Say? A Look of Pride
17:00 Wrapping Part I: The Spanish Spelling Bee Memory
17:33 Preview of Part II: Getting Practical with Digital Tools
18:00 Closing: Your Homework—Share
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
