Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995) identifies three components of culturally relevant teaching:
"(a) Students must experience academic success;
(b) students must develop and/or maintain cultural competence;"
and (c) students must develop a critical consciousness through which they challenge the status quo of the current social order."
Our Educator's Guide allows teachers to address all three components. The activities we have planned build on each other, giving students an opportunity to continually work on a skill. This can help them experience academic success. There is also an element of choice in most of our activities, which Ladson-Billings (1995) says is the "trick of culturally relevant teaching." Students get to choose the video tool for their book review, they can choose a character to analyze in the theme activity, they can choose the digital tool for the theme activity, and they can choose an activist to write to. This level of choice allows students to maintain cultural integrity as well. They can incorporate their culture into the products they create. Maybe they present their book review in the form of a song or rap. Maybe they create a Tiktok for their theme activity. There's lots of room to make these activities their own. The discussion and journal prompts allow students to "...develop a broader sociopolitical consciousness that allows them to critique the cultural norms, values, mores, and institutions that produce and maintain social inequities" (Ladson-Billings, 1995). Our prompts go beyond surface level comprehension and force students to examine the greater context and implications.
Another component of culturally responsive instruction is providing students with windows and mirrors. As educators, we have a responsibility to help our students develop positive identities. Without a positive view of their identity, students will not be motivated or engage in instruction. One of the simple ways we can do this is by reading texts that celebrate and affirm their identities. If we don't do this, "...they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society in which they are a part" (Bishop, 1990). Dear Martin serves as a mirror for many of our African-American/Black students. I do think it's important for educators to keep in mind this might not be a mirror for ALL Black/African-American students and we should be careful not to group an identity group together based on one experience. That's why reading Dear Martin isn't enough. Teachers must include texts that highlight the various experiences of different identity groups to truly provide mirrors to all students. This book serves as a window to students who do not identify as Black/African-American. If students don't have these windows and only see mirrors, "...they will grow up with an exaggerated sense of their own importance and value in the world- a dangerous ethnocentrism" (Bishop, 1990).
Culturally relevant and responsive instruction takes all students into consideration. It challenges them to view the world differently. It should be noted that teachers need to examine their own biases and prejudices before teaching Dear Martin. Teachers need to adequately prepare students to engage in the types of conversations and activities we are presenting. Learning for Justice has a lot of great resources for teachers. While culturally relevant and responsive instruction is essential, it has to be done right. Engaging in these discussions without setting ground rules can be dangerous and make students feel unsafe. There is a difference between feeling uncomfortable, which leads to growth, and feeling unsafe.
References:
Bishop, R. S. (1990). Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors. Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, 6(3).
Ladson-Billings, Gloria. (1995). But That's Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. Theory Into Practice. 34. 10.1080/00405849509543675.