Culturally Responsive Teaching

Being a culturally responsive classroom teacher means

being willing to reflect on the ways that classroom

management decisions help or hinder students' access to

learning. A culturally responsive teacher can be an

invaluable guide for students, helping them bridge the gap

between their own culture and the culture of schools.

http://www.intime.uni.edu/multiculture/curriculum/culture/teaching.htm

Validating

It is important to validate the cultural knowledge and

experiences of the students in your classroom. Doing so

goes beyond the one time acknowledgement of a

student's culture to embedding his beliefs, customs,

traditions, and values into the learning environment.

For example, accepting alternative algorithms from the

student's country as a teaching tool in math,

incorporating the music from the varying backgrounds in

your classroom, or providing culturally diverse texts.

The goal in the classroom is to respect and be inclusive

of all cultures and not to expect students to conform

to your personal culture.

Comprehensive

When we say that culturally responsive teachers are

comprehensive, we are referring to the way the teachers

develop the students’ intellectual, social, and emotional skills.

The teachers incorporate the students’ own cultures into their

classroom. They create a classroom where the students are

valued and develop a sense of belonging to the community.

Teachers and students see the classroom as “our classroom.”

The teacher takes time to get to know her children and

develop them socially and emotionally in addition to

intellectually. In other words, teachers teach the WHOLE

child.

Multidimensional

Teachers use a variety of teaching strategies to reach the

students. They know their students learning styles and

multiple intelligences and use them to reach each child.

The teacher knows that there is more than just content the

students must learn. Integrating the arts into instruction is a

great way to meet the needs of all your students. Often

teachers will work with the special area teachers to create

interdisciplinary units.

Empowering

Teachers empower their students to succeed. Students must

believe they can succeed in learning tasks and have

motivation to persevere. Success and motivation are cyclical,

success leads to motivation and motivation leads to success.

Teachers must demonstrate high and appropriate

expectations and give their students support towards

academic achievement. Teachers celebrate individual and

collective accomplishments with their students.

Transformative

Teachers promote respect and acceptance of all students’

cultures. Teachers use the students’ culture, strengths and

accomplishments when teaching. They become a resource

for teaching and learning.

For example, a teacher may use the verbal creativity and

story-telling that is unique among some cultures and

acknowledge it as a gift and contribution and use it to teach

writing skills

Emancipatory

Culturally responsive teachers help students find their voice.

They engage them in multiple ways of knowing and thinking.

Teachers help students take an active role in shaping their

learning, they learn about themselves as learners.

For example, teachers have students learn about their

learning style and/or multiple intelligences and have students

reflect why that is important for them to know about

themselves. The students become liberated by their

education, not held captive by it.