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At a Glance
Culturally responsive teaching is a rich, intentional/student-centered approach woven into every aspect of student learning.
This approach draws and builds upon the cultural background and knowledge of students in the classroom.
It raises expectations and makes learning relevant for all students.
What is Culturally Responsive Teaching?
While there has been a plethora of research on the concept of culturally responsive pedagogy and teaching, but here I will share a brief synthesis of three well known educators who have contributed significantly to this field -Gloria Ladson-Billings, Geneva Gay, and Zaretta Hammond.
Gloria Ladson- Billings-
Gloria Ladson-Billings is one of the education scholars that contributed to the Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. In her 1995 book, “The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children”, Ladson-Billings first introduced the idea of culturally relevant pedagogy.
According to her "the culturally responsive teaching is an approach that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes These cultural references are not merely vehicles for bridging or explaining the dominant culture; they are aspects of the curriculum in their own right" (Ladson, 1995, pp. 18-19). - Gloria Ladson
In her theory of culturally relevant teaching, she (1995) states three key theoretical underpinnings that are critical to the development of culturally relevant pedagogy:
Sociocultural consciousness which she refers to the concepts of self and others.
Caring for students, which expands beyond caring about students’ academic well-being to a holistic focus on their overall needs, coupled with having high expectations of them.
Help students' in developing cultural competence so that they can develop positive ethnic and social identities.
Geneva Gay
Geneva Gay (2010) defines culturally responsive teaching as “using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for [students]” (p. 31).
According to Gay, culturally responsive teaching is a student-centered approach in which educators acknowledge/appreciate the legitimacy of the cultural heritage of various ethnic groups, builds bridges of meaningfulness between home and school experiences, and incorporate a wide variety of teaching methods that are connected to different learning styles of learners (Brockway, 2005; Aceves & Orosco, 2014; Muniz, 2019). It is important to note that this kind of approach is characterized by educators who recognize the importance of students' cultural backgrounds and experiences in all aspects of learning, establish high expectations for all learners, and position themselves as both facilitators and learners. Additionally, culturally responsive educators need to continuously reflect on their own experiences and biases and they must ask themselves how these factors influence their beliefs about cultural diversity. Furthermore, in order to avoid societal biases in their teaching, they need to actively work to develop cultural competence in themselves so that they can build understanding and appreciation for the history, experiences, values, and lifestyles of other cultures (Muniz, 2019; Krasnoff, 2016).
Zaretta Hammond defines CRT in the following way:
According to Zaretta Hammond "Culturally y Responsive Teaching is an educator’s ability to recognize students’ cultural displays of learning and meaning-making and to respond positively and constructively with teaching moves that use cultural knowledge as a scaffold to connect what the student knows to new concepts and content in order to promote effective information processing. All the while, the educator understands the importance of being in relationship and having a social– emotional connection to the student in order to create a safe space for learning". (2015, p. 15)
Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students- Zaretta Hammond
Why Culturally responsive teaching practices are important?
A culturally responsive teaching approach is beneficial for students because this kind of teaching approach takes into account equal and equitable education for all students, regardless of their socioeconomic status, language, culture, race, or sex. Additionally, it will also allow educators to move away from a deficit mindset and work toward the equity mindset (Krasnoff, 2016). Rather than focusing on students' deficits or what knowledge they lack, this approach challenges educators to recognize what strengths students bring into the classroom (Hsiao, 2015). Further, research highlights that several benefits are also associated with this kind of teaching approach. For example, studies in neuroscience and education demonstrate that drawing on learners' background knowledge shapes students' comprehension of the subject content, closing the opportunity gap, gaining support and participation from families, improving student academic performance and motivation, and a develop feeling of mutual respect between students. This approach has been shown to be an efficient means of addressing the achievement gap as well as the unequal representation of racially, culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students (Hamond, 2015; Aceves & Orosco, 2014; Muniz, 2019).
Becoming a Culturally Responsive Teacher
Becoming a Culturally Responsive Teacher
How do we become culturally responsive teachers?
Understand your own culture. How does it affect the way you relate to students?
Become aware of your own unconsciousness and implicit biases.
Create an inclusive teaching and learning environment.
Hold high expectations for all students and help all students learn.
Contribute to positive academic, attitudinal, and social outcomes for students.
Use diverse resources to plan and structure engaging learning opportunities, monitor student progress formatively, adapt instruction as needed, and evaluate learning using multiple sources of evidence.
Collaborative teaching
Curriculum should be rigorous by teaching to the highest standards, and they hold high academic and personal expectations for each student.
The curriculum must be relevant to students’ lives so that it motivates them to learn.
A culturally responsive teacher develops caring, trusting relationships with all students and their families.
The Four Practice Areas of Culturally Responsive Teaching
In the book Cultural Responsive Teaching & the Brain (2015), the author Zaretta Hammond discussed the Ready for Rigor framework, which includes four practice areas of Culturally Responsive Teaching. The four practice areas include:
Awareness
Learning Partnerships
Information Processing
Community of Learners and Learning Environment.
Each area of the framework is separate, but interdependent and connected through the principles of brain-based learning. When all of them are applied, it creates the social, emotional, and cognitive conditions that allow dependent students to more actively engage with rigorous content and instruction and take ownership of their learning process.
Source: Zaretta Hammond, "Ready for Rigor: A Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching," 2013, crtandthebrain.com/wp-content/uploads/READY-FOR-RIGOR_Final1.pdf. Accessed 1 September 2021.
Zaretta Hammond has suggested three key tips that educators can use to transform their lesson.
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