Culturally Responsive Teaching and culturally relevant pedagogy are terms that are used
quite often in schools and by buzzing speakers, facilitators, and trainers. However, if you were to talk to most teachers about what culturally responsive teaching is or what it means to have a culturally relevant pedagogical stance, I’m not sure how they would respond. In this piece, I urge readers to reflect on what these terms mean beyond scratching the surface.
Recently, Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, one of the most widely respected researchers in
teacher-education reflected on her foundational work on culturally relevant pedagogy and more specifically on how her work has been misused over the years. Her original study in 1994 followed eight successful teachers of African-American students [both white and black] that were connected to their students, families, and the lives of those interconnected communities. The three central domains that emerged in her pivotal study following the work of these teachers were evidence of cultural competence, academic rigor, and sociopolitical consciousness. All three were significant and interwoven(1). What Dr. Ladson-Billings noted in her 2014 reflection was a sadness around the failure of teachers to push students to consider critical perspectives or to be change agents in ways that directly impact their lives and the lives of their communities(2).
Dr. Geneva Gay, another well-recognized researcher and teacher-educator, defines
culturally responsive teaching as “using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and
perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them effectively” (Gay, 2002, p.106). Being a culturally responsive teacher is also rooted in building a learning community with high-expectations (Gay & Kipchoge Kirkland, 2003, Lucas & Villegas & Lucas, 2007).
Culturally responsive teachers see themselves as an extension of their students’ familial
community and work to establish ongoing and effective communication. They understand that culturally responsive teaching obligates them to value social justice, freedom, and equality(3). This social justice action-orientation is rooted in agency; both the teacher and the student are working together towards action after deeply examining their own social positions, experiences, and perspectives.
You might ask, who actually does this kind of work and what does it look like?
Furthermore, what does it look like in 21st-century learning environments? One model of a
program intersecting culturally responsive teaching and tech integration is COMPUGIRLS. 4 This program encouraged African-American and Latina girls to use multimedia, computational thinking and analytical skills to create projects that drew attention to important issues in their community while helping them develop positive self-concepts and reimagine their success in the field of technology. All the girls in the program also wrote reflections and engaged in critical dialogue to make sense of the challenges they faced while reflecting on their growth in meeting rigorous goals and objectives.
I recently had a conversation with a close friend of mine whose daughter is in fifth grade
and is studying how climate change impacts penguins. She and her classmates hold virtual
conversations They ask each other about how the small things they do on the southside of
Chicago can have a great impact on the environment, global warming, and making our world safer for animals. I bring up this example because a ten-year-old can have age-appropriate, relevant, engaging, yet academically rigorous conversations about social impact. And, if teachers can design this type of instruction around how what we do impacts penguins, we can surely do the same when we design instruction in a culturally responsive classroom. We can expose students to asset-based and affirming historically accurate content about culturally diverse populations; we can examine environmental and social systems that contribute to inequitable situations as problems while offering solutions. And, we can connect traditional content to our students' lived experiences and those of those communities they live in.
Culturally responsive teaching is not collaborative group work. Culturally responsive
teaching is not watching a diverse movie, playing a rap song, or even eating soul food. There is not one-size-fits-all culturally responsive teaching, and there are several entry points. However, having conversations alone without critical components are merely scratching the surface. Being a culturally responsive teacher is high-level instruction and cultural bridge-making, it’s heart work, but it can be done. You don’t have to skim the surface. If you invest the time to find out what it is and seek out the resources, you’d be surprised at the possibilities.
Author: Elissa Joy
Twitter: @fraziersvision
Bio: Elissa is a practitioner-researcher and an Educational Consultant. She provides school-based and district-level professional development on Embedding Cultural Responsiveness into curriculum and instructional practices. Elissa’s current research focuses on culturally responsive teaching with technology and organizational evaluation. She has worked in both urban and suburban schools at the elementary and high school levels serving as an English teacher, Reading Specialist, and Instructional Coach. She is a mom of four amazing children, writes children’s books, and is an Autism advocate.
Book: “Daddy’s Favorites”
Daddy’s Favorites is a book about Jill, a five-year-old little girl, who wants to be the center of
everyone’s world. But, her most favorite person in the world, without fail, is her Daddy. She
wants so much to share her ideas, her creations, and most of all--her time. But Daddy has to be Daddy, and most times that means he has to be there when everyone needs him, especially when her brother Danny needs him. Danny is exceptional. He is talented. He is special, and he steals the attention she wants the most. And although Daddy doesn’t mean to, sometimes he asks her to share Jilly-Daddy time.
(1) Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465-491.
(2) Ladson-Billings, G. (2014). Culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: aka the remix. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 74-84.
(3) Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal Of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116
(4) Scott, K. A., & White, M. A. (2013). Compugirls’ Standpoint: Culturally Responsive Computing and Its Effect on Girls of Color. Urban Education, 48(5), 657-681. doi:10.1177/0042085913491219
References
Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal Of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116
Gay, G., & Kirkland, K. (2003). Developing Cultural Critical Consciousness and Self-Reflection in Preservice Teacher Education. Theory Into Practice, 42(3), 181-187.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465-491.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2014). Culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: aka the remix. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 74-84.
Scott, K. A., & White, M. A. (2013). Compugirls’ Standpoint: Culturally Responsive Computing and Its Effect on Girls of Color. Urban Education, 48(5), 657-681. doi:10.1177/0042085913491219
Villegas, A. M., & Lucas, T. (2007). The Culturally Responsive Teacher. Educational Leadership, 64(6), 28-33.