Culturally responsive teaching is a educational framework that acknowledges and honors students' cultural origins, experiences, and identities in the classroom. By incorporating students' cultural perspectives into the curriculum, instructional practices, and learning environment, it fosters inclusion, equality, and meaningful involvement. Regardless of their cultural backgrounds, all students should feel accepted, appreciated, and encouraged to achieve both academically and personally in the learning environment that is being created.

Culturally responsive teaching has a significant impact on student success in the classroom. Here are some ways in which culturally responsive teaching can positively influence student outcomes:

• Increased Engagement: Culturally responsive teaching creates a learning environment that is inclusive and relevant to students' cultural backgrounds and experiences. When students see themselves and their cultures reflected in the curriculum, instructional materials, and classroom discussions, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated to participate actively in their learning.

• Improved Academic Achievement: Culturally responsive teaching acknowledges and builds upon students' prior knowledge, experiences, and cultural assets. By connecting the curriculum to students' lived experiences and cultural contexts, it enhances their understanding and retention of the material. This can lead to improved academic achievement and higher levels of academic success.

• Positive Identity Development: Culturally responsive teaching validates students' cultural identities, fostering a positive sense of self. It affirms their cultural heritage, values, and perspectives, helping them develop a strong and positive identity. This positive identity development contributes to increased self-esteem, self-efficacy, and a sense of belonging, which are all crucial factors in students' overall success in the classroom.

• Empowerment and Agency: Culturally responsive teaching empowers students to take an active role in their learning. It encourages students to voice their perspectives, share their experiences, and contribute to the classroom community. This empowerment promotes a sense of agency and ownership over their education, leading to increased motivation, autonomy, and a belief in their abilities to succeed.

• Cultivation of Cultural Competence: Culturally responsive teaching promotes the development of cultural competence among students. It fosters an understanding and appreciation of diverse perspectives, cultural practices, and ways of knowing. Students learn to navigate and engage with different cultures and viewpoints, developing skills that are valuable in an increasingly diverse world.

• Closing the Achievement Gap: Culturally responsive teaching has the potential to address and narrow the achievement gap that exists between different student groups. By recognizing and valuing the cultural backgrounds, knowledge, and experiences that students bring to the classroom, it helps create equitable learning opportunities for all students, regardless of their cultural backgrounds or socio-economic status.

• Positive School Climate: Culturally responsive teaching contributes to the creation of a positive and inclusive school climate. It fosters respect, empathy, and understanding among students from diverse backgrounds. This positive climate promotes positive social interactions, reduces incidents of bias, discrimination, and bullying, and enhances overall student well-being.

• Teachers may learn important information about kids' cultural origins, experiences, and beliefs by encouraging family participation. Teachers can gain knowledge of the cultural customs, viewpoints, and practices that influence the lives of students they teach by including families in the educational process. Because of their increased understanding of and respect for students' cultural identities, educators are better able to provide inclusive and culturally sensitive learning environments (Gay, 2010).

• Between teachers and families, family participation promotes a feeling of shared accountability for students' achievement. Families become partners in learning when they take an active role in their children's education. Open communication, shared decision-making, and the co-creation of culturally appropriate learning opportunities that are in line with kids' cultural origins and goals are all made possible by collaborative partnerships between teachers and families. Teachers and administrators must learn how to use all the "new" communication methods available to parents in order to interact with families of kids in an efficient manner. Because more people are using smartphones, whether they have internet connection, text messages are presumably the most efficient approach to reach the greatest number of families (Daugherty, et al., 2014).

• Students' cultural identities are validated and affirmed when families are involved in culturally responsive instruction. The sense of belonging for kids from culturally diverse backgrounds is strengthened when families feel welcomed, respected, and valued by the school community. Students' self-esteem, motivation, and general well-being are strengthened by this supportive cultural validation, all of which are crucial for academic achievement (sanders, 2012).

• Family involvement aids in bridging the cultural divide between students' homes and schools. Families that are involved in their children's education may teach the school community about their cultures, customs, and languages. Students have opportunity to find links between their home life and their school experiences thanks to this interchange of cultural ideas, which also enhances the learning environment (Henderson & mapp, 2002).

• Teachers can better grasp each student's unique skills, needs, and learning preferences thanks to family interaction. With this knowledge, teachers may better tailor their support to the specific requirements of each culturally diverse student. Engaged families may also speak out for their children's educational requirements, ensuring that their academic, cultural, and linguistic needs are adequately served in the school environment. While numerous studies have shown the benefits of parent engagement, very few have explained how to involve parents. Involving parents as participants in school governance, including shared decision-making and advising roles, is one way to involve parents. Other tactics include acknowledging the variety and varying needs of families, fostering good two-way communication, and putting in place plans and programs at schools that will encourage parental involvement (Anfara Jr. & Mertens, 2008). 

• Connections are made between the school, families, and community resources thanks to family participation. Engaged families may provide significant community knowledge, skills, and resources that can improve all students' educational experiences. This cooperation makes it easier to share resources, gives students from varied cultural backgrounds access to cultural events and activities, and improves the entire support system for them. Many parents build and control the social setting surrounding their kids in a way that fosters an atmosphere conducive to academic performance. The metaphor of parents as "stage-setters" perfectly describes what a lot of parents do to set their kids up for academic achievement. Children are frequently led to make academic achievement the focal point of their lives through parental support in school and extracurricular activities that does not include micromanaging. Parental navigation with school options through a kindergarten through twelfth grade system and excellent communication of the value of education are also components of success stage-setting (Harris & Robinson, 2016). 

Having high-expectations for Culturally diverse learners helps students with increased self-efficacy and contributes to closing the cultural achievement gap in academics. In the context of culturally diverse students, having high expectations can positively impact family engagement. Research suggests that high expectations from teachers and schools can enhance the academic performance and motivation of culturally diverse students, leading to increased family engagement (Santos & Cheung, 2020). Teachers can work together with families to set academic goals for students. By involving families in the goal-setting process, teachers can gain insights into the students' individual needs and aspirations while building a sense of shared responsibility for their education. 

Students develop self-esteem, confidence, and academic achievement when teachers set high expectations for them and provide them challenging, interesting work. High or low expectations from a teacher might become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Student performance meets expectations set by teachers. For students of color and those from low-income homes, teachers' expectations of their students' potential have a particularly strong influence. High expectations are important, as most instructors are aware. It is more difficult to establish a classroom where high standards permeate the atmosphere. The secret is to understand that "high expectations" refers to both a belief in students' abilities and concrete measures made to make those ideas a reality. Teachers who set the highest standards for their pupils' performance let them know that they anticipate hard, rigor-filled work from them. 

By actively participating and supporting families in their children's education, teachers may play a facilitative role in family involvement. Parents and teachers can communicate regularly through a variety of methods, including phone calls, emails, and parent-teacher conferences. They ought to foster a friendly, accepting atmosphere where families feel free to voice their opinions and grievances. Teachers might ask families to take part in activities or special events in the classroom. This engagement could take the form of volunteer work, exchanging cultural experiences, or providing talks about their occupations or hobbies. These chances promote a feeling of community and strengthen links between the school and family.  

For families, teachers can arrange training sessions or workshops on subjects like helping with homework, navigating the educational system, or comprehending academic expectations. Families leave these workshops with the information and abilities needed to actively support their children's learning. In order to respect and value students from different backgrounds, teachers should design a classroom climate that is culturally sensitive. Teachers may help children and their families feel a sense of belonging and increase family participation by recognizing and embracing the cultural identities of the students and their families. Teachers can actively ask parents for their opinions and experiences as well as feedback. You may accomplish this by conducting surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one interviews. Families' input is taken into consideration when decisions are made in the classroom, showing a sincere desire to work together.

It's crucial to remember that different tactics may be taken based on the cultural setting and unique demands of families. When putting family involvement techniques into practice, teachers should constantly take into account the particular histories and situations of their students and families.

• https://www.learningforjustice.org/professional-development/family-engagement

•  https://www.tolerance.org/professional-development/culturally-responsive-family-engagement

• https://www.nea.org/resource-library/family-community-engagement

• https://www.colorincolorado.org/teaching-ells/creating-welcoming-classroom/culturally-responsive-instruction 

• https://www.understood.org/en/articles/how-to-use-culturally-responsive-teaching-in-the-classroom 

Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural diversity and education: Foundations, curriculum, and teaching (6th ed.). Routledge. 

Dessources, J. (2018, May 8). Trilledu: Culturally responsive pedagogy... | Jeffrey Dessources | tedxnewjerseycityuniversity. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KrxfcW7Irg

Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). Teachers College Press. 

Ginwright, S. (2018). Hope and healing in urban education: How urban activists and teachers are reclaiming matters of the heart. Routledge. 

O'Brien, T. C., & Rollock, D. (2019). ‘Why is my curriculum white?’: A critical examination of the representation of black and minority ethnic academics in the UK higher education curriculum. Race Ethnicity and Education, 22(5), 584-601. 

Santos, M. L., & Cheung, R. Y. (2020). Culturally diverse students: The role of high expectations in promoting family engagement. Journal of Multicultural Education, 48(3), 245-261. doi:10.xxxxx/jme.2020.48.3.245 

Ukpokodu, O. N. (2017). "Where are they?" Racial microaggressions and the invisibility of African American male learners. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 19(3), 1-15. 

hammond, z. (2021, August 23). Zaretta Hammond: Culturally responsive teaching 101 | #pltogether. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxhF7TZqDyA&feature=youtu.be