Culturally Relevant Curriculum

PD Overview

Why Culturally Relevant Curriculum?

The student population of public schools is becoming more diverse each year. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2019) the percentage of White students in public schools decreased from 61% to 49% while the number of Hispanic students increased from 16% to 26%. Despite the growing diversity of student populations, the make-up of public school teachers remains fairly homogeneous. The U.S. Department of Education (2016) reports that 82% of elementary and secondary teachers are White, only a two percent difference from 84% in 2000.

What is Culturally Relevant Curriculum and Culturally Responsive Teaching?

Culturally responsive teaching abandons deficit thinking, wherein a student’s background and homelife are challenges to overcome, and instead incorporates the home culture and experiences of students into the curriculum and classroom in order to teach them more effectively (Gay 2002, Ladson-Billings, 1995). Gay (2002) points to designing culturally relevant curricula as part of being a culturally responsive teacher. Educators decide which cultural identities, contexts and elements of culture will be taught and valued in the classroom, sometimes without regard for the students sitting in front of them (Gay, 2002, Khalifa, 2013).

Even the mundane or what Gay (2002) refers to “symbolic curriculum” (p. 108) such as bulletin boards, decorations, pictures of important figures, and books all communicate to students what is valued and what is not. African American and Latino students who don’t assimilate to majority White culture norms but instead ascribe to Hip Hop culture, Native American students who communicate using different language patterns, students who practice different religions, and others do not see themselves represented in their classrooms. (Khalifa, 2013.)

In this video to the right, you can see education experts Jackie Jordan Irvine, Geneva Gay and Kris Gutierrez explain how to make culturally relevant pedagogy a reality in your classroom.

Relevance to Next Gen Learning

However, when students feel their marginalized identities recognized as valuable, they are able to express newly found academic identities that lead to academic success (Khalifa, 2013). Teachers must be willing to reflect upon their own identities and preconceptions surrounding race (Brown-Jeffy & Cooper, 2011; Howard, 2003). This reflection must be on-going and knowledge cannot be superficial so as to not lead to stereotypes that will do more harm than good (Howard, 2003, Gay, 2002). Howard (2003) asserts that teachers must be prepared to acknowledge that “teaching is not a neutral act” (p. 200). Matias (2013) argues that “culturally responsive teaching will forever be a struggle against the whiten-ing of education” (p. 71). The goal is to inspire students to analyze and challenge injustices in their communities (Lenski, Crumpler, Stallworth, & Crawford, 2005).

"If you're an educator, and you're not listening to the student's interests - you're failing to make that connection to aid in their personal development and doing them a disservice." After this talk from Jeffrey Dessources, you'll understand the importance of being culturally responsive in the field of student development.

Other Suggested Culturally Relevant Videos

References:

Brown-Jeffy, S., & Cooper, J. E. (2011). Toward a conceptual framework of culturally relevant pedagogy: An overview of the conceptual and theoretical literature. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38, 65-84. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.uky.edu/stable/23479642
Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053002003
National Center for Education Statistics (2019, February). Indicator 1: Population Distribution. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_RAA.asp.
Khalifa, M. (2013). Creating spaces for urban youth: The emergence of culturally responsive (hip-hop) school leadership and pedagogy. Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 8(2), 63-93. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.uky.edu/10.1515/mlt-2013-0010
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465-491. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.uky.edu/stable/1163320
Lenski, S., Crumpler, T., Stallworth, C., & Crawford, K. (2005). Beyond Awareness: Preparing Culturally Responsive Preservice Teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 32(2), 85-100. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.uky.edu/stable/23478723
Lipka, J., & Mohatt, G. V. (1998). Transforming the culture of schools: Yup’ik Eskimo examples. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Matias, C. E. (2013). Check Yo'self before You Wreck Yo'self and Our Kids: Counterstories from Culturally Responsive White Teachers? . . . To Culturally Responsive White Teachers! Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching and Learning, 3(2), 68–81. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1063061.pdf
U.S. Department of Education (2016). The State of Racial Diversity in the
Educator Workforce. Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service, Washington, D.C.

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