CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING

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Best Practices Omaha, Nebraska

• CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE TEACHING
• DR. KAY TAYLOR
• SANDRA FERNANDEZ
• JUNE 1, 2009

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Introduction

• Who we are . . .

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Introduction

• Participants
• Affiliation/position/grade taught
• Average number of students in class(es)
• Brief demographics
• Why selected this seminar and what do you hope to
  learn.

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Activity

• Groups
• Respond
• What do you think Culturally Responsive Teaching
  means?

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Walk About

• Look for similarities and differences
• Write on another poster sheet to share
• Put list on wall when done
• Prompt What does responsive mean? Understanding
  and acting on, in educationally constructive
  ways, (Gay, p. 52, 2000)

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Different Terms

• Cultural Competence Comes from social work
  literature. Example Kansas State Universitys
  Multicultural Competencies
• http//www.k-state.edu/tilford/MulticulturalCompet
  encies.htm
• Cultural Proficiency (Lindsey, Robins, Terrell,
  2003)
• Inside out approach, i.e., you must first know
  yourself -
• who you are to then undertake the process to
  teach
• students in a culturally responsive way
• http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid-601752990
  473453204eikx0USoRZjPyuAobnkGMqGenevaGayhle
  n

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Culturally Responsive Teaching

• Culturally Responsive Teaching is part of a
  multicultural teaching repertoire
• Validating and Affirming
• Comprehensive
• Multidimensional
• Empowering
• Transformative
• Emancipatory
• (Gay 2000)
• http//www.intime.uni.edu/multiculture/curriculum/
  culture/Teaching.htm

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Validating and Affirming

• Using cultural knowledge and prior experiences to
  make learning relevant. It teaches to and
  through student strengths. It validates and
  affirms the students culture.
• Session facilitators share
• I dont see color. All students are the same.

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How can we affirm and validate our students?

• Variety of teaching strategies
• that connect to different learning
• styles
• Teach students to praise their
• own and others cultural heritage
• Infuse culture in all school subjects

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Self-Reflection

• Importance of self-reflection is to become
  better educators . . .
• We need to develop reflective practice . . .
• We need to be critically conscious and
  reflective of our beliefs, knowledge, and
  values.
• This allows us to explore, question, and
  speculate about ourselves.

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Comprehensive

• Using cultural references to teach skills
• Appropriate for lesson
• All parts of me are nurtured in the learning
  environment.
• Skills are taught within the curriculum
• Within the curriculum not separate
• Respect the culture of students
• High educational expectations for ALL students
• Belief that students are part of a supportive
  environment
• Build an academic community of learners in which
  human dignity is honored and students individual
  self-concepts are then promoted

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Multidimensional

• Includes (My culture is apart of every subject
  area)
• Curriculum content
• Climate of the class
• Relationship (teacher/student)
• Performance assessments
• (offer students choice in the form
• of evaluation and assessment)
• Feedback
• Written
• Peer
• Observation

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Empowering

• Builds personal confidence
• Teachers demonstrate high expectations for
  student Success
• Students believe they can Learn the tasks AND
  take Ownership of their own learning
• Curiosity
• Mastery
• Teaching styles
• Differentiated learning

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Transformative

• Respecting cultures and experiences of ALL
  students
• Teachers are encouraged to change
  social/classroom environment
• Using appropriate teaching resources materialsGo
  Beyond the Textbook!!!
• Teaching
• Emphasize the cultural strengths and
  accomplishments of all cultural groups, i.e., do
  NOT use deficit thinking or model

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Emancipatory

• Liberating (Asante, 1991 Au 1993 Erickson,
  1987 Gordon, 1993)
• Students of color are released from the
  constraints of mainstream knowledge Help
  students realize that no single version of
  truth is total and permanent (p. 35)
  Incorporate multiple perspectives
• Authentic learning about different cultural
  groups
• Promotes pride that is both psychological and
  intellectual creates the freedom for students
  to be who they are rather than covering up
  their cultural identity
• Increased learning
• High achievement

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Questions/Comments
Thank You

• Dr. Kay Ann Taylor
• Associate Professor
• Foundations of Education
• Department of Secondary Education
• Kansas State University
• ktaylor_at_ksu.edu

• Sandra L. Fernandez
• Coordinator of National Origin
• Midwest Equity Center
• Kansas State University
• sfdz_at_ksu.edu