Culturally Responsive Teaching

The issue of cultural responsiveness in our classes .. 

 Scholarly resources on the topic of Culturally Responsive Teaching 

Leadership approaches in education regarding cultural diversity and cultural responsiveness is closely associated with the need we feel as educators to prepare our students for the 21st century. Our learners need appropriate skills to function in their diverse cultural communities and beyond their cultural borders. (Banks, 2012)

 Title: Culturally responsive practices as whole school reform. Authors: V.M. Mayfield University of Colorado, Denver & Dorothy Garrison-Wade University of Colorado, Denver. Date of publication: 2015 Journal: Journal of Instructional Pedagogies.

The purpose of the study is to outline successful culturally responsive practices in a Middle School in the US which appears to be closing academic opportunity gaps between White and Black students. Data collection techniques : observations, interviews, and focus groups. There has been a fairly extensive discussion about improving the educational experiences especially for marginalised students from ethnically and/or culturally diverse background and phrases such as ‘all children can learn’, ‘opportunity to learn’ or legislation such as ‘No child left behind’ are indicative of various legislative efforts in the US and elsewhere to bridge the gap of educational injustice. However, according to Mayfield and Garrison-Wade (2015), the assumption that a simple implementation of technical practices would be enough to improve the overall academic achievement of students of colour is naive. Developing a Responsive School Culture requires an effort to change behaviours, and that involves targeted professional development, opportunities for open discussions of issues related to race and ethnicity and active family engagement (Hawley & Nieto, 2010) In their study, Mayfield and Garrison-Wade (2015) identify behaviours that fulfil the ideals of culturally responsive practices and specifically focuses on the attention that should be drawn to the perceptions of staff towards people of colour and how these perceptions affect the entire school programme. The results of the study appear to be generalisable as I have witnessed cases in educational organisations where the school principal’s determination to openly address issues of racism along with specific teachers’ practices who would regularly integrate culturally relevant content can actually foster the development of cultural responsiveness

 Title: Teacher Characteristics for Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Author: Laura Rychly & Emily Graves Date of publication: 2012 Journal: Multicultural Perspectives

The purpose of the study is to outline elements of culturally responsive pedagogy and specific teacher qualities and characteristics that would ensure the delivery of such an approach. The increasing interest in Culturally Responsive Pedagogy is attributed to the growing body of evidence showing that students coming from diverse backgrounds underperform compared to mainstream students. There is a universal principle behind culturally responsive pedagogy: When students are engaged in the school environment and feel validated as members of the community, they learn better. (Laura Rychly & Emily Graves, 2012) Core characteristics include Caring (not willing to tolerate underachievement), Reflective about their own beliefs about other cultures and their own, Reflective About Their Own Cultural Frames of Reference (avoiding “cultural blindness” which can often be perceived as a sense that they are invisible), Knowledgeable About Other Cultures, Practitioners’ Thinking Shows the Ability to Perceive Classroom Practices From Both His or Her Own and the Learners’ Points of View. The research i have done this last week has helped me realise that I often resort to cultural/race-blindness in classes, failing to acknowledge diverse background in an effort to avoid discrimination (Willis & Nieto, 2010) I have also realised the significance of looking closer into teachers’ conscious or unconscious bias. (Mayfield & Garrison-Wade, 2015)

Reflection

These findings made me recall informal discriminatory comments during breaks made by leaners and teachers.  Adopting a culturally responsive approach and fostering intercultural sensitivity in our classes will eventually develop our learners' cultural intelligence. As leaders of learning, we should do all we can to build communities through the development of trust and positive regard and try to move from a dominant culture of ethnocentrism to intercultural competence and towards ethnorelativism (Bennet, 1986)

 References:

Banks, J. A., (2012) Educating Global Citizens in a Diverse World, Available at: http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/multicultural-education/educatingglobalcitizensinadiverseworld/, (accessed: 26/06/17).

Bennett, M. J., (1986) ‘Towards Ethnorelativism: A Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity’, in Paige, R. M., (ed.) Cross-Cultural Orientation: New Conceptualizations and Applications, New York: University Press of America. Retrieved from University of Roehampton Online Library.

Graves, E & Rychly L. (2012) Teacher Characteristics for Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15210960.2012.646853 (Accessed: 20/06/17)

Hawley, W., & S. Nieto, (2010) ‘Another Inconvenient Truth: Race and Ethnicity Matter’, Educational Leadership, 68 (3) pp. 66-71. Retrieved from University of Roehampton Online Library.

Mayfield, V. M. & Garrison-Wade, D. (2015) Culturally Responsive Practices as Whole School Reform. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies. 16 pp.1-17. Available at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1069396.pdf (Accessed: 28/06/2017).