Why Culturally Responsive Teaching…..

Why Culturally Responsive Teaching….

First, let’s be clear, culturally responsive teaching (CRT) was created to increase the achievement of Black and Brown (ethnically diverse) students who were struggling to succeed in schools. In doing so, culturally responsive teaching brings to the forefront the strengths, lived experiences, and cultural heritages of Black and Brown people to make learning engaging for students. As children, Black and Brown students are looking to make sense of the world and find their significant place in it. They need a curriculum and pedagogy that supports their cultural needs as well as affirms their existence in society.

Often, ethnically diverse people (marginalized groups) are not represented in the curriculum that educators use to instruct all students. When ethnically diverse people are represented, their narratives are told from a White, Eurocentric lens which does not accurately portray the strong, positive legacies of Black and Brown people. Most importantly, for Black and Brown students the narratives they are taught do not validate or affirm their cultural identities. Repeatedly, the perspectives being taught of Black and Brown people embarrass, demean, further marginalize, and cause harm to Black and Brown children. Nonetheless, Black people have overcome immense obstacles in America and our stories of resilience, perseverance, and brilliance are not even taught in classrooms. Black and Brown students learn the Eurocentric narrative of slavery, and about the same significant cultural figures such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, and Ruby Bridges to name a few. This is not to diminish the accomplishments of these icons, but students know these stories all too well. There is so much rich African American history that could be taught to engage Black and Brown students that is disregarded.

Culturally responsive teaching provides teachers with a pedagogy that is inclusive of all students and centers ethnically diverse legacies. Ethnically diverse students need to see themselves represented in the curriculum, so they can understand who they are, where they came from and learn the direction they need to go in. CRT gives ethnically diverse students a sense of self, expands their worldviews, and increases achievement for them. Research has indicated that when CRT is implemented in classrooms there are significant gains in performance and engagement. So, why culturally responsive teaching? If student achievement is the ultimate goal for school districts and ethnically diverse students are performing the lowest, especially, in districts with large populations of Black and Brown children, then culturally responsive teaching should be the standard.

Culturally responsive teaching is deep work. It requires White teachers to self-reflect and confront their biases, perspectives, beliefs, and actions towards Black and Brown students. Impacting the achievement of ethnically diverse students begins with mindset. Mindset is how we do everything and if White teachers have negative beliefs of Black and Brown people that mindset is projected towards Black and Brown students. Black and Brown students need to feel connected and safe to learn. Culturally responsive teaching provides teachers with a pedagogy to connect, engage, celebrate, and educate Black and Brown students to bring them out of the margins and increase their achievement.

So when educators ask why culturally responsive teaching……I say why not.