Does it Really Matter? Exploring Cultural Relevance within a Majority White Classroom

African American Child and Adolescent Academic Help-Seeking: A Scoping Review

“…For example, the critical race theory highlights how negative racial stereotypes and biased perceptions may oppress and deter the academic choices of Black students (Howard, 2008). Similarly, the culturally responsive model argues how a reliance on a traditional school curriculum (while ignoring student individual culture) is problematic for students of color and is linked to student disengagement, lower participation, and indifference (Ortiz et al, 2018). Also, the oppositional culture theory fuels the debate on the impact of differences in student–teacher ethnicity.…”

(Ontologically) Black and Proud

“…We see consistently throughout the mathematics education research that high expectations for students is incredibly important to the mathematics success of students, especially those who are Black (Delpit, 2012;Ladson-Billings, 1995;Ortiz et al, 2018). Stinson (2008) stated that one of the sociocultural factors undergirding the success of the African American males in his study, and the one which was most impactful to their stories of success, was the care and empathy from teachers who held high expectations for these students.…”

“…In my review of the literature, I have come up with three interconnected claims that are related to the capital that Black children bring within the classroom: macro and micro issues related to their sociohistorical realities as related to resistance and resilience (Martin, 2006(Martin, , 2012McGee, 2014;Nyamekye, 2013;Strayhorn, 2013), communalism and a collective Black identity (Davis, 2018;Tate, 1995;Carter, Hawking, & Natesan, 2008;Berry, 2005;Lemons-Smith, 2008;Ortiz, Capraro, & Capraro, 2018) and beauty in communication and non-dominant linguistic patterns (e.g., Blake & Van Sickle, 2001). I expand on these ideas below, and subsequently describe how they may play off one another.…”

“…Tate (1995) and Burt and Johnson (2017) described the use of these Afrocentric paradigms as ways to make mathematics learning reflect more valid representations of Black people's contributions to mathematics. Additionally, culturally relevant (Ladson-Billings, 2006) and culturally responsive pedagogies (Gay, 2009) have been used to think about ways to make mathematics instruction tailored towards the lived experiences of Black children (e.g., Bonner & Adams, 2012;Leonard & Evans, 2018;Ortiz et al, 2018). It is based on finding ways in which teachers can use learning to empower our students, especially in ways that acknowledge their academic excellence, their cultural competence and their sociopolitical consciousness.…”

“…The inquiries I propose in this study are related, yet distinct, from other conversations regarding culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) (Ladson-Billing, 1994;1995; where scholars like Leonard (2017), have insisted that we should be connecting our mathematics teaching to the cultural knowledge of these students. CRP literature has produced unequivocal astute scholarship illustrating how to connect mathematics learning to their cultural experiences (e.g., Jett, 2013;Ortiz, Capraro, & Capraro;Tate, 1995), yet I am claiming that Black children are brilliant and skilled (perhaps privileged) because of the cultural capital that they bring into the classroom, and am operating from the notion that they already have skills that exist by virtue showcasing examples of CRP in mathematics, authors do not in most cases share explicitly why certain interventions are culturally relevant for any particular group of students.…”