Culturally Relevant Instruction: Using Traditional and Progressive Strategies in Urban Schools∗

Effective Educational Practice: A Crucial First Step in Addressing the Needs of Traditionally Overlooked Students

“…Using a balance of teaching and assessment approaches provides a more accurate perspective of students' strengths and needs, and helps students learn to think flexibly and compensate for weaknesses by capitalizing on strengths (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2004;Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Jarvin, 2001;Sternberg, Torff, & Grigorenko, 1998;Sternberg & Zhang, 2005). Rather than relying on a specific set of strategies, style, or approach, effective learning experiences: connect to students' cultural, political, and emotional worlds (Seidl, 2007); use content and learning processes that are culturally relevant (Banks, 2006; EFFECTIVE EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 20 Delpit, 2006;Matczynski, Rogus, Lasley, & Joseph, 2000); and reflect an understanding of how students best learn (Sternberg, 2010). Curriculum and instruction are potentially powerful means to connect to students' cultural backgrounds, help students understand themselves and others, support students in viewing their own cultures as valuable resources in learning (Benson, 2003), and foster positive interrelationships among students, their families, the community, and school (Morrison, Robbins, & Rose, 2008;Richards, Brown, & Forde, 2007).…”

“…Banks, 2006;Benson, 2003;Ladson-Billings, 1992;Martinez, 2009;Matczynski, Rogus, Lasley, & Joseph, 2000;Morrison, Robbins, & Rose, 2008;Richards, Brown, & Forde, 2007;Rothstein-Fisch & Greenfield, 2000;Seidl, 2007;Sternberg, 2010;Sternberg, Gringorenko, & Bundy, 2001;Swartz, 2009).…”

“…Delpit, 2006;Howard, 2001;Ladson-Billings, 1992;Morrison, Robbins, & Rose, 2008;Swartz, 2009), (2) affirming and capitalizing on student culture and strengths, and (3) developing student efficacy and sense of empowerment (e.g. Banks, 2006;Benson, 2003;Ladson-Billings, 1992;Martinez, 2009;Matczynski, Rogus, Lasley, & Joseph, 2000;Morrison, Robbins, & Rose, 2008;Richards, Brown, & Forde, 2007;Rothstein-Fisch & Greenfield, 2000;Seidl, 2007;Sternberg, 2010;Sternberg, Gringorenko, & Bundy, 2001;Swartz, 2009).…”

“…Both the handbook and the staff development protocol lay a foundation of overall best practices from which the more specialized needs of traditionally overlooked students can be met. & Jarvin, 2001;Sternberg, Torff, & Grigorenko, 1998;Sternberg & Zhang, 2005), culturally relevant content and pedagogy (Banks, 2006;Delpit, 2006;Matczynski, Rogus, Lasley, & Joseph, 2000), promoting student self-efficacy and sense of empowerment by positioning them as co-contributors in the class learning (Freire, 2009;Morrison, Robbins, & Rose, 2008;Patchen & Cox-Petersen, 2008), and helping students recognize and work toward social change (e.g. Banks, 2006;Benson, 2003;Ladson-Billings, 1992;Martinez, 2009;Morrison, Robbins, & Rose, 2008;Swartz, 2009).…”

“…Delpit, 2006;Howard, 2001;Ladson-Billings, 1992;Morrison, Robbins, & Rose, 2008;Swartz, 2009), (2) affirming and capitalizing on student culture and strengths, and (3) developing student efficacy and sense of empowerment (e.g. Banks, 2006;Benson, 2003;Ladson-Billings, 1992;Martinez, 2009;Matczynski, Rogus, Lasley, & Joseph, 2000;Morrison, Robbins, & Rose, 2008;Richards, Brown, & Forde, 2007;Rothstein-Fisch & Greenfield, 2000;Seidl, 2007;Sternberg, 2010;Sternberg, Gringorenko, & Bundy, 2001;Swartz, 2009).Such efforts require a foundation of best educational practices (Hattie, 2009), and Tomlinson's model of Differentiation (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011) is a highly useful frame for considering both best educational practice and the needs of traditionally overlooked students. This is because it is a model that is grounded in research-based approaches in all areas of classroom practice; rather than being a formula or collection of strategies, it is an approach to thinking about teaching and learning where teachers "proactively modify curricula, teaching methods, resources, learning activities, and student products to address the diverse needs of individual students and small groups of students to maximize the learning opportunity for each student in a classroom" (Tomlinson, Brighton, Hertberg, Callahan, Moon, Brimijoin, Conover, & Reynolds, 2003, p 121).…”