Culturally Responsive Teaching

Commitment to Culturally Responsive Teaching pays off in student engagement, ease of classroom management, and the joy of learning!

We created this slideshhow to provide a quick overview of culturally relevant pedagogy and to offer basic suggestions for examining the role of culture in your own teaching practice.

Cultural self-awareness is what further distinguishes culturally relevant pedagogy from other student-centered teaching practices.

In my undergrad program, "Learn To Teach/Teach To Learn," I was taught to use action research to to develop customized learning solutions. I learned to do “kidwatching,” which is documenting informal observations regarding the learning and practices of individual students. This zones instructors in on students' interests, as well as their strengths, weaknesses. and learning processes. The program also instilled in me an instinct to foster strong classroom community and a healthy culture of learning ---using methods like supporting student inquiry and encouraging critical literacy.
All of these practices lead to learner-centered instruction, valuing the prior knowledge each student brings to the classroom, and encouraging students to utilize their strengths to address their individual challenges.

The use of these methods is, in essence, why Gloria Ladson-Billings says that culturally relevant pedagogy “is just good teaching.”
Still, it's important to understand that there is one significant difference between culturally relevant pedagogy and simply using good teaching methods.
In our undergrad cohort it took the form of: 28 pre-service teachers, picked to study in a classroom of an urban public school building, examining our own cultures, assumptions, and biases, and familiarizing ourselves with the cultural perspectives of individual students.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse