Cognitively Guided Instruction is a pedagogical approach that reaches beyond the curriculum barriers of dominant culture education. The teaching strategies encouraged by this approach are also based on guidelines directed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This research-based approach addresses the following issues in mathematics classrooms:
- Ability ranges
- Frequent absences
- Basic concepts deficiency
- Irrelevancy
- Language
- Absence of challenge
- Lack of engagement
- Learning disabilities
Mathematics is simply a group of methods by which we resolve situations, and has existed in Native cultures long before the arrival of Western civilization. The problem-solving capabilities of Native people are evident in language, living structures, food preparation, ceremony, and celebration, and are nurtured in the very essence of survival.
Problem-solving is also the foundation of the new Reform Movement in mathematics. Standardized assessments are slowly moving away from pure computation, and states are adopting standards that require students to use investigative reasoning.
What’s the problem?
Teachers are left to carry the load of addressing standards, performing proficiently on state tests, and ensuring Adequate Yearly Progress. This has left teachers with feelings of resentment toward these new “requirements,” as though they are simply responsible for “teaching to the tests.”
What’s the solution?
Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) is a professional development for teachers, tutors, and paraprofessionals founded on the six principles of Reform that accommodate Native learning preferences while addressing state and national standards. Research has shown that Reform Pedagogy and Native Pedagogy share many of the same instructional values. CGI establishes what they are, and how they look in the classroom.
What is Cognitively Guided Instruction?
CGI is a research-based pedagogical approach that accommodates Native learning preferences in an attempt to bridge the achievement gap in this critical core subject area.
It encourages teaching strategies that strengthen and foster the intrinsic cognitive processes proven to be unique to Native students as a result of culture. This approach is founded on current research, and is a perfect complement to the variety of culture-based ethno-curriculum that exists today.
The focus of CGI is to analyze instructional methodology and assist teachers in practicing teaching tactics conducive to Native learning, and endorsed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).
A teacher must be familiar with the mathematical abilities of students in their classroom to effectively and appropriately challenge each student. Consequently, this approach promotes continuous assessment, formal and informal, throughout each phase of instruction. Many written curriculums claim to be student-centered and yet are designed such that individual solution strategies are discouraged and each must learn at the pace and sequence of a textbook or guide.
Assessment is nearly impossible without “accountable talk.” Students often know more than they are given credit for and teachers need to teach the skill of articulation necessary to explain concepts in a comprehensible manner. In a culturally responsive classroom, teachers are guides rather than lecturers, who facilitate critical discussion. Students learn just as much from each other as they do from the teacher.
A typical CGI “session” involves at least 35 hours of detailed professional development. Teachers, paraprofessionals, and tutors are presented with specific examples, lesson modeling, standards relativity, research, and the philosophy of the approach. Shorter workshops are an option, and are presented as introductory models to the approach.
Follow-up training is highly recommended to ensure proper implementation of the approach.
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