Literature is a tool used to introduce new topics and concepts for students, letting them begin to understand the world around them in an understandable way. Thus, stressing the importance of including all cultures, ethnicities, and races when reading is crucial. Five studies have been examined, within these studies, the themes of drawing connections and equal representation have provided insight into culturally responsive teaching in reading.
Studies have addressed Culturally Responsive Teaching in reading; studies have found this to be a very successful way to create connections with students and students among their peers. "The standards for culturally responsive instruction in this lesson include connecting the lesson to students' backgrounds and interests, engaging the students in deep dialogue to help them understand, providing a safe way for children to participate (choral reading) that draws on their linguistic strengths rather than highlighting what they might not be able to successfully do, and keeping instructions rigorous” (McIntyre, 2011, p. 14). With teachers prompting these connections among students, the students are able to learn more about each other while learning about different cultures and ethnicities. If teachers recognize this and become culturally responsive applying pedagogies that acknowledge cultural differences, students from these groups improve their engagement. Teachers bridge the gaps between the school and home cultures (Mitchell, 2015), and they can move between two or more cultures. Cultural awareness begins to develop among the students while doing reading-based activities that promote these crucial conversations to be held between students and teachers.
Children's literature is an immensely helpful tool for helping students understand society. While integrating culturally responsive teaching, books with an array of diversity and cultural differences, diversity in children's literature introduce young children to cultural differences and even similarities. Grasping these concepts at a young age can give children the to look around and notice their surroundings and the people and things around them. "In the United States alone, language varies widely across different socioeconomic groups, cultural groups, and geographic regions. It differs in pronunciation, word usage, syntax or grammar, and in less obvious ways such as eye contact, gestures, and body language" (Mclntyre, 2011, p. 16). As students and teachers learn more about each other they are able to become increasingly culturally aware and competent. ‘‘Inclusion, multicultural, and non-sexist children’s literature also gives students in the 'majority' an understanding of their 'minority' peers struggles, triumphs, and contribution to our culture and society’’(Toppel, 2015, p. 2). Being exposed to people from different parts of the world or who have special needs is important in child development. Through children's literature children are eased into the concept of what struggles and issues that goes in their society.
Mathematics helps build an essential toolbox of logical reasoning skills that students use both inside and outside of the classroom. When analyzing five articles, examining how math is taught in schools through a cultural lens it is clear that integrating cultural concepts into math units aids in teaching as well as the white-centric math taught in schools today. When addressing these themes it is apparent that to ensure equal education is provided to all demographics of students, teachers need to see mathematics through a cultural lens by drawing on connections students can make.
Students enter a classroom with different experiences, knowledge, and understanding of the world that is sculpted through a cultural lens (Harding-DeKam, 2014). Teachers have the ability to address this cultural lens in mathematics by activating the prior knowledge the student brings with them into the classroom (Ukpokodu, 2011). When teachers create connections between students' prior knowledge to new material, it is a way to counterattack any math-rooted anxiety in students. As a teacher, developing an appealing approach is a smooth segway to concepts that could have appeared impossible without prior connections (Aguirre, 2013; Harding-DeKam, 2014; Ukpokodu, 2011). "These include: using word problems that are culturally familiar; integrating social issues relevant to the students’ community; and evaluating instructional materials and resources for hidden curriculum and bias" (Harding-DeKam, 2014, p. 11). Culturally responsive teaching, encompasses curriculum content, learning context, classroom climate, student-teacher relationships, instructional techniques, classroom management, and performance assessment.
Inside the classroom math teachers perpetuate racism in schools by shaping the expectations, interactions, and kinds of mathematics that students experiences. ""Over the years the dominant teaching practice in mathematics (as well as other subjects) for urban students has followed a traditional approach that is based on linear and dualistic thinking (right or wrong, one correct answer) and views the teaching and learning of mathematics as solely objective and culturally-neutral. These conceptions and practices in mathematics do not meet the learning and problem-solving styles and processes of most urban students and have immensely contributed to their low motivation and lack of interest and success in mathematics learning (right or wrong, one correct answer) and views the teaching and learning of mathematics as solely objective and culturally-neutral" (Ukpokodu, 2011, p. 27). When a student is unable to make cultural connections they become disengaged in the material; teachers start to expect worse performance from certain students, start to teach lower content, and start to use lower-level math instructional practices a snowball effect that is avoidable with the correct steps taken. "This structure of teaching mathematics through culture is an awareness that integrates the prior knowledge of students in a way that builds upon what they already know leading to mathematical understanding" (Harding-DeKam, 2014, p. 9). Culturally responsive teaching, encompasses curriculum content, learning context, classroom climate, student–teacher relationships, instructional techniques, classroom management, and performance assessment (Aguirre, 2013).
Making science a relatable feature in the lives of culturally diverse students involves integrating culturally relevant elements into daily instruction. Through the analysis of three studies, it was apparent that there is a lack of translation of cultural aspects to science in the classroom. This has led to disengagement and interest among students. Though, teachers are able to make adjustments to the diversity of their students, meeting all their diverse needs.
Culturally relevant teaching is congruent with the national science education standards (National Science Teachers Association, 2003) definition of scientific inquiry: "the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work” (National Research Council, 2000, p.23). "However, a key distinction between scientific inquiry and culturally relevant science is the degree of emphasis on sociopolitical and critical analyses" (Boutte, 2010, p. 14). Based on our experiences and perusal of literature, there are few classroom models of culturally relevant science (and mathematics) teaching. The lack of translation of cultural aspects of science to the classroom may be explained in part by the low priority placed on science in schools (Brown, 2018). Studies have shown that science is not taught as often as other academic domains such as reading, math, and social studies thus there being a decrease in the amount of time spent on integrating culturally responsive strategies, beneficial for both the students and teachers (Atwater; Freeman, 2018; Boutte, 2010; Brown, 2018). Using a historical, current, or fictional character that shares the same ethnicity or life experience as your students will enhance their willingness to engage in science instruction. Information learned about and from students can be used to transform classrooms into culturally relevant contexts. Culturally contextualized instruction holds the most promise for academic success not only for students of color but for White students as well (Atwater; Freeman, 2018, p. 3). Teachers can accommodate all students when implementing culturally responsive teaching "To develop exemplary abilities in any content area, teachers must be able to link instruction to what is already familiar to their students. This may require teachers to engage in micro-ethnographies of sorts to develop an in-depth understanding of children's communities, families, leisure activities, and world views. Culturally relevant teaching includes not only learning about the lives of students but learning from them as well" (Atwater; Freeman, 2018, p. 4).
As classrooms become increasingly diverse discussion surrounding diversity in history is crucial for understanding. Social studies taught in schools has traditionally left out important events and underrepresented communities- "whitewashing" history. After analyzing six studies, it is evident that a teacher's attempt to use culturally relevant pedagogy has a positive impact on students of color to eliminate the notion of white history. Though pedagogy can always be improved with greater inclusion of more ethnic and racial histories teaching students all of history rather than segmented sections of "white history".
Whitewashed history leaves out minority and marginalized communities, or hides the truth to make historical situations seem more palatable for white teachers to teach. Though the discount on the history of minority groups is pivotal to understanding history that encompasses all ethnicity and races. "Traditional teaching and learning in humanities classrooms focus on textbooks as the primary materials of instruction and teachers as didactic instructors who disseminate mainstream versions of historical and literary knowledge. In critiques of traditional approaches, some authors have shown how little race and racism have been addressed in U. S. history textbooks. One of the consequences of this evasion is the misrepresentation of the role of people of color in the history of this nation. In speaking of African Americans specifically, argued that history texts treat African Americans as invisible or base their portrayal on negative stereotypes, ultimately reducing the role of African Americans to either being 'victims or martyrs' has found that there has been very little change concerning teaching about race and racism in textbooks, and this is despite the promise to remedy this issue through national standards for social studies curriculum" (Mayorga, 2011, p. 7). The traditional ways of teaching history negatively impact students by creating a lack of cultural awareness learned through history. "The issue of curricular bias against non-White individuals is compounded by traditional social studies teacher education, which has largely minimized the importance of race and diversity (Ladson-Billings, 2003; National Council for the Social Studies, 2010). Social studies teacher candidates often carry misconceptions regarding students’ cultures that manifests as biases or deficit-model thinking" (Fitchett, 2012). When teachers limit the interpretation of the past to only one whitewashed perspective, a distorted view of history evolves. By addressing all perspectives, aspects, and events in history students and teachers can develop further connections to the material promoting cultural awareness and competence.
Introducing harder content regarding racism and segregation, students should be eased into the true events that happened in our history so that they will be able to grasp a better understanding of the history as well as notions that have come from history as well. "Culturally responsive teachers can integrate into their teaching more subtle examples of racism, as well as the more blatant aspects of oppression, in efforts to prepare young people of color for their encounters with and resistance to individual acts of racism" (Martell, 2013, p. 2). The cultural preparation put into historical content allows students to gain and understand others' perspectives and accounts that add to the history as a whole further developing students' histoical knowledge. "Culturally relevant teaching not only affirms the agency and experiences of people of color in history and society. It also represents European Americans as a diverse group whose experiences varied according to ethnicity, gender, and class. Although historically, white Americans as a group have been the main perpetrators and beneficiaries of racism, some groups of Americans today but not historically considered “white” have experienced ethnic discrimination" (Mayorga, 2011, p. 8). Culturally responsive educated teachers can teach history through a cultural lens that identifies and addresses all of history rather than chosen segmented sections excluding minority and marginalized communities, educating their students and developing the student's historical knowledge and cultural awareness as well.