Creating Culturally Responsive Instruction: For Students' and Teachers' Sakes

Abstract

The field of education faces a number of issues regarding how to improve the quality of school life and educational outcomes of culturally different 1 students-namely African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and American Indians. All of the issues (high dropout rates, high suspension and expulsion rates, high rates of school failure, low test scores and grades, low academic engagement, poor student-teacher relationships, etc.) fall under the umbrella of three broad areas: the achievement gap, gifted education underrepresentation, and special education overrepresentation. Educators, administrators, and policy makers grapple daily with ways to resolve these issues and subissues but have yet to see much success on a large-scale and consistent basis.Many studies and theories, along with personal speculation, have been advanced to explain the differential school performance of the aforementioned culturally different students. Likewise, a number of interventions, strategies, and recommendations have been put forth. A strongly advocated recommendation, especially by culturally different scholars, is that educators avoid colorblind/cultureblind approaches and philosophies and, instead, give more credence to creating culturally responsive classrooms (CRCs) for the culturally different students listed above. MAY 2009The term culturally responsive can have numerous meanings and interpretations. At its core, it means responding proactively and empathetically to appeals, efforts, and influ-. ences. When we are responsive, we feel an obligation, a sense of urgency, to address a need so students will experience success. When teachers are culturally responsive, they are student centered; they break down barriers to learning and, hence, provide keys that open doors to students' success. Thus, to be culturally responsive means that teachers work proactively and assertively to understand, respect, and meet the needs of students from cultural backgrounds that are different from their own. Cultural responsiveness is the recognition that students are similar to, but also different from, each other.1 In this article we adopt the term culturally different rather than culturally diverse. Everyone has a culture; every group is culturally diverse. Instead, we propose that cultural differences are what contribute to misunderstandings, tensions, and frustrations.

School Racial Climate and the Academic Achievement of African American High School Students: The Mediating Role of School Engagement

“…Findings indicated that when African American students were asked about their experiences with discrimination, they described hostile relationships with adults in positions of authority including teachers in school (Rosenbloom & Way, 2004 (Ford & Kea, 2009;Ford & Harris, 1996;Hollins & Guzman, 2005). Not surprising then is that African American youths report racially biased treatment within the classroom.…”

Culturally relevant teachers : a critical beacon in the educational standards movement.

“…By using a reflective journal, scenario responses, and group and one-on-one interviews, Bennett (2012) found that the teachers demonstrated a generic understanding of culturally relevant teaching. Echoing the findings of other research, they acknowledged the need to incorporate culture by using multicultural literature or creative arts (Atwater, 2008;Ford & Kea, 2009;Goldenberg, 2014;Lawrence, 2005). One group of four students immersed themselves with students, built relationships with students, and started to critically reflect on their biases based on their dominant culture views.…”

“…Debnam et al (2015) and Ford and Kea (2009) found that students of color found academic success when taught by teachers who incorporated students' lives with the curriculum, identified which aspects of lessons matter to students, and used students' cultural capital in instructional decisions. Teachers who embrace culturally relevant teaching serve as a stimulus for improved reading achievement among students who are culturally and linguistically diverse-so much so that Debnam et al (2015) and Ford and Kea (2009) call for research into what drives a teacher to use a strengths-based approach and into the role that professional development plays in teachers' use of students' cultural capital. Accordingly, this study examines how teachers integrate culturally relevant pedagogy in implementing CCSS so that students can move toward a future in which they are contributing citizens in a democratic society.…”

The Relationship Between Educational Placement, Instructional Practices, and Achievement Gains of Black Students with Specific Learning Disabilities in Secondary Urban School Settings

“…Ford and Kea (2009) actually prefer the term "culturally different" over "culturally diverse". Since everyone has a culture, "culturally diverse" describes every group.…”

“…Increasing the academic achievement of CLD students is possibly the most important goal of culturally relevant teaching (Howard, 2003). The focus is ensuring success and learning, whether the term culturally responsive 'teaching', 'pedagogy', or 'instruction' is used (Ford & Kea, 2009). …”