There is no substitute for building relationships and connections with your students that result in trust. Classroom management without a foundation of trust is superficial compliance in disguise.
Geneva Gay (2000) defines culturally responsive teaching as "using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles of diverse students to make learning more appropriate and effective for them; it teaches to and through the strengths of these students" (p. 29). Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, & practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
Ladson-Billings (1995) indicates that culturally relevant teaching must:
(a) develop the academic abilities of students,
(b), promote and sustain cultural competence, and
(c) develop the "sociopolitical or critical consciousness" are critical in developing a new definition of culturally responsive teaching that aligns with current systemic change efforts (p. 483). Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 465-491.
Effective teachers know their learners as they know themselves. To
know your students requires a commitment to use academic data, as well as data
on language, culture, gender, and other variables that bring understanding to the
teaching/learning dynamic (Cartledge, Singh, & Gibson, 2008). Effective
teachers also take time to examine and reflect on their own teaching practices.
Pearce (2005) provides an excellent example of one way to do this. As a
classroom teacher Sarah Pearce maintained a diary that taught her much about
herself, her students, and her own practice of teaching. She writes “keeping a
diary is a well-understood process, and is both manageable and unobtrusive... it
enables teachers to gain a degree of distance from their own thinking and
behavior, so that they can understand, analyze and ultimately begin to change it.
In other words, the diary enabled me to gain a sense of control over my
teaching, and to consciously change some of my attitudes" (p. 5). Finally,
effective teachers get to know students as individuals, versus solely studying
group characteristics. This provides the teacher with critical information that is
unique to that student and his or her life experiences and reduces problems
associated with essentializing individual traits based on group membership (p. 45)
De Pry, R. and Cheesman, E. (2010 Spring). Reflections on culturally responsive teaching: Embedding theory Reflections on culturally responsive teaching: Embedding theory into practices of instructional and behavioral support into practices of instructional and behavioral support. Journal of Praxis in Multicultural Education, 5(1) Article 7, pp. 36-51. Retrieved from http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jpme/vol5/iss1/7
DOI: 10.9741/2161-2978.1031
Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) is cultural humility in acknowledging that there are inequities in the educational system in which we teach. The system of schooling represents one extension of structural (systematic) racism and racial inequality inherent within our society. As educators we acknowledge these and strive for parity through our teaching more inclusively; continuing our individual learning through willingness to learn beyond our own biases; and advocating for the benefit of students we teach. For example, Tribal Libraries Program Coordinator Alana McGrattan emphasized that needs identified in Yazzie/Martinez case include lack of Native American teachers. Ninety-seven percent of of Native kids attend public schools. Teachers in public schools are not comfortable teaching Native kids, generally speaking. Native kids are not comfortable in schools (personal communication, September 22, 2020).
1619 Project (The New York Times)
Abolitionist Teaching (Bettina Love)
Antiracist Action for White teachers (Teaching Tolerance)
Before We Can Have Anti-racist Classrooms Teacher Education Needs an Overhaul (Ridgeway, September 2020)
Dismantling Systemic Racism Starts In Schools, Educators Say
Kendi & DiAngelo Interview on CBS (June 2020)
So you Want to Talk about Race (Ijeoma Oluo)
Teaching and Learning about Race and Racism with Young Children and Their Families
Teaching Tolerance Interviews Robin DiAngelo: White Fragility in the Classroom
Schools Drop Acellus Learning Platform over Glaring Offensive Content (Tate, Sept. 10, 2020)