What are 

Culturally Responsive Practices?

Culturally-responsive practices involve recognizing and incorporating the assets and strengths all students bring into the classroom, and ensuring that learning experiences, from curriculum through assessment, are relevant to all students. Additionally, awareness of different backgrounds includes understanding and being trained to mitigate the effects of trauma they may face day-to-day.

What is Culture?

  Culture- the value and beliefs of people or groups of peoples.  Culture is never static; it is always changing and evolving.

Anti-Racism in Education

According to Dr. Ibram X Kendi

RACIST: One who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea.

ANTIRACIST: One who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea.

Racism is a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities. 

Racial inequity is when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing.

A racist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial inequity between racial groups. An antiracist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial equity between racial groups. By policy, I mean written and unwritten laws, rules, procedures, processes, regulations, and guidelines that govern people. There is no such thing as a nonracist or race-neutral policy. 

For “Allies, Accomplices & Co-Conspirators” 

In order to best support People of Color in the fight for Racial Justice there must a focus on four non-negotiables:

1. Listen

2. Validate (believe)

3. Learn

4. Act

What will you do tomorrow…?

1. Take an Assets (Strength) Based Approach for Culturally Responsive Practices.

2. Understand your own values and beliefs around race/ethnicity.  View racism from a systemic lens.

3. Know how privilege affects structures in schools.

4. See how individual action or inaction contribute to anti-racist or racist policies in schools and school districts.

5. See this work as foundational to all other work; not additional work.  

Culturally Responsive Practice 

Quote that Addresses Racism

“Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. But we have to stay vigilant, because it’s always still in the air.”

Kareem Abdul Jabbar quote from the LA times

May 30, 2020 LA Times Op-ED