Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: An Overview

WHICH MEANS...

• Paying attention to similarities and differences between teachers, students and the comunity (Chenowith, 2014 p. 35)

AND...

• Providing information about diverse groups
• Fighting Racism
• Reforming society

(Sarraj, 2015, p. 39)

AND...

REASON 1

REASON 1

Understanding the beliefs, biases, and behaviors of students allow teachers to make culturally informed decisions about how to make learning most effective (Chenowith, 2014, p. 35)

REASON 2

REASON 2

Asynchronous cultures between teachers, students and the community can interfere with students academic achievement, their motivation to learn, and their ability to acquire new knowledge (as cited in Chenowith, 2014, p. 35).

REASON 3

REASON 3

Students should be exposed to cultures that are different from their own at an age when they are discovering who they are as well as those around them (Sarraj et al., 2015, p. 37).

Key components

Of Culturally Responsive Teaching

Key Components

Create safe spaces where dialogue can take place (Siope, 2013, p. 41)

Listen to students' experiences as valid and authentic (Siope, 2013, p. 45)

Assume that the cultural diversity of students is a strength and favorable resource for improving learning for all students (Chenowith, 2014, p. 35)

Include students' cultures in literacy instruction (Chenowith, 2014, p. 37)

Benefits of

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Students are given the opportunity to challenge and re-conceptualize idealogies that perpetuate the status quo (Chenowith, 2014, p. 37)

"In general, a program that is designed to meet the specific needs of the learner will produce a greater chance of language improvement and academic success for the student" (Chenowith, 2014, p. 36).

Students may develop greater empathy for and curiosity towards the cultures of others (Sarraj et al. 2015, p. 43)

QUESTION EVERYTHING

STRATEGY

1

• What is the cultural background of each student?
• How do I integrate literature and resources from their cultures into my lesson?
• Do I consistenly begin my lessons with what students already know from home, community and school?
• What's the difference between academic language and my students' social language?
• How can I bridge the two?

(National Education Association, 2006)

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

• Monitor your speech- are directions clear or confusing to students?
• Be specific about expectations
• Be sensitive to how diverse cultures deal with conflict
• Emphasize a positive environment, not punishment
• Use humor

(Finley, 2014)

STRATEGY

2

GET OUT OF THE CLASSROOM

STRATEGY

3

• Walk around students' neighborhoods
• Use cultural ambassadors to make connections
• Talk to parents and community members outside of school

(National Education Association, 2006)

TEACH THEM USING WHAT THEY ALREADY KNOW

STRATEGY

4

• Value their experience
• Use their culutral setting
• Use their interests

(National Education Association, 2006)

FINAL THOUGHTS ...

Creating a supportive learning environment requires respecting students and their diverse backgrounds, implementing culturally responsive teaching, creating a communal classroom space where students have a say in their learning, making student feel welcomed through daily interactions, and making classroom expectations clear and consistent for all students. Price and Steed (2016) recommend “...developing and teaching two to five classroom expectations that are linked to the values and cultures of the children, teachers, and families” (p. 38). By creating expectations that involve student values as well as teacher values, students will know that their voices are heard and play an active role in their learning experience.

REFERENCES

Chenowith, N. H. (2014). Culturally responsive pedagogy and cultural scaffolding

in literacy education. Ohio Reading Teacher, 44(1), 35-40.

Finley, Todd. (2014, August). Relationship Building Through Culturally Responsive

Classroom Management. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/

relationship-building-culturally-responsive-classroom-todd-finley

National Education Association. (2006, November). Sounds Great but How Do I

Do It? Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/16711.htm

Price, L. C., & Steed, E. A. (2016). Culturally Responsive Strategies to Support

Young Children With Challenging Behavior. YC: Young Children, 71(5), 36-43.

Sarraj, H., Bene, K., Li, J., & Burley, H. (2015). Raising cultural awareness of fifth-

grade students through multicultural education: An action research study.

Multicultural Education, 22(2), 39-45.

Siope, A. (2013). “A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations”:Coming to

understand. Waikato Journal of Education, 18(2), 37-49.