Culturally Relevant and Responsive Teaching
Feeling that you belong in a setting depends on many factors. Language, as we have explored so far, is a huge part of this - knowing that your own language is important, respected, reflected within the school - as well as recognising the importance of becoming as proficient and confident as possible in the language of the curriculum and assessment - in this case, English.
Another key factor is culture - again, feeling that your culture is recognised and celebrated, within a diverse and inclusive environment.
Thinking about culturally relevant and responsive teaching is part of this and can help us make connections with pupils; building relationships which enhance the learning experience, not just for our pupils, but for us as practitioners.
Access the 1-slide PowerPoint below and listen. Within this are links to 2 readings which provide excellent ideas for culturally responsive/relevant teaching/pedagogies.
Whilst the video indicates to click on the PPT slide - the articles are included below the video for your convenience
Make a note of some of the strategies suggested in the Ladson-Billings reading.
Are there ways that you could incorporate these into your curriculum planning?
Now access the article below from EducationWeek and have a read through:
Near the beginning of the article is a powerful quote - a good starting point for thinking about our own approaches to culturally responsive teaching:
“when academic knowledge and skills are situated within the lived experiences and frames of reference for students, they are more personally meaningful, have higher interest appeal, and are learned more easily and thoroughly” (Geneva Gay, 2000).
Jot down some ideas you have, whereby your own subject might make good use of students’ lived experiences.
A little further down the article is the following quote:
“Half the curriculum walks in the door with the students” (Emily Style, the former founding co-director of the National SEED Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity))
What do you think Styles means by this? How might this influence how we approach the curriculum for our particular subject?
A framework for culturally relevant pedagogy
Ladson-Billings undertook a 2-year project observing teachers considered ‘excellent’ by senior leaders and pupils.
From this research, Ladson-Billings developed a framework of culturally relevant pedagogy, which “not only addresses student achievement but also helps students to accept and affirm their cultural identity while developing critical perspectives that challenge inequities that schools (and other institutions) perpetuate.”
Open the Word document below, within which we have set out the key components and characteristics of culturally relevant pedagogy, taken from the EducationWeek article.
The table leaves room for you to add ideas relating to your own subject and to rate yourself against the characteristics.
This activity should not be a judgement of yourself.
Rather, it is a way to identify new approaches you might try out, which reflect the ideas of Ladson-Billings and which may, in turn, help you develop even stronger relationships with your pupils.
To finish this section, you might want to access and print off the 1-page document below, which outlines culturally relevant teaching strategies.
There is also an interesting reading which puts forward the voices of the students and you can access this here:
Hopefully these resources have been useful and have promoted some ideas for developing culturally relevant and responsive pedagogies within your lessons and everyday school life.
In the next sections, we’ll move onto some specific ideas for supporting reading and writing for pupils with EAL, across curriculum subjects.