Engage in reflective thinking and writing.
Teachers must reflect on their actions and interactions as they try to discern the personal motivations that govern their behaviors. Understanding the factors that contribute to certain behaviors (e.g., racism, ethnocentrism) is the first step toward changing these behaviors. This process is facilitated by autobiographical and reflective writing, usually in a journal.
Explore personal and family histories.
Teachers need to explore their early experiences and familial events that have contributed to their understanding of themselves as racial or nonracial beings. As part of this process, teachers can conduct informal interviews of family members (e.g., parents, grandparents) about their beliefs and experiences regarding different groups in society. The information shared can enlighten teachers about the roots of their own views. When teachers come to terms with the historical shaping of their values, teachers can better relate to other individuals.
Acknowledge membership in different groups.
Teachers must recognize and acknowledge their affiliation with various groups in society, and the advantages and disadvantages of belonging to each group. For example, for white female teachers, membership in the white middle-class group affords certain privileges in society; at the same time, being a female presents many challenges in a male-dominated world. Moreover, teachers need to assess how belonging to one group influences how they relate to and views other groups.
Learn about the history and experiences of diverse groups.
It is important that teachers learn about the lives and experiences of other groups in order to understand how different historical experiences have shaped attitudes and perspectives of various groups. Further, by learning about other groups, teachers begin to see differences between their own values and those of other groups. To learn about the histories of diverse groups, particularly from their perspectives, teachers can read literature written by those particular groups as well as personally interact with members of those groups.
Visit students’ families and communities.
It is important that teachers get to know their students’ families and communities by actually going into the students’ home environments. This allows teachers to relate to their students not just as “bodies” in the classroom, but also as social and cultural beings connected to a complex social and cultural network. Moreover, by becoming familiar with students’ home lives, teachers gain insight into the influences on the students’ attitudes and behaviors. Additionally, teachers can use the families and communities as resources (e.g., classroom helpers or speakers) that will contribute to the educational growth of the students.
Visit or read about successful teachers in diverse settings.
Teachers need to learn about successful approaches to educating children from diverse backgrounds. By actually visiting classrooms of successful teachers of children from diverse backgrounds and/or reading authentic accounts of such success, teachers can gain exemplary models for developing their own skills.
Develop an appreciation of diversity.
To be effective in a diverse classroom, teachers must have an appreciation of diversity. They must view difference as the norm in society and reject notions that any one group is more competent than another. This entails developing respect for differences and the willingness to teach from this perspective. Moreover, there must be an acknowledgment that the teachers’ views of the world are not the only views.
Participate in reforming the institution.
The educational system has historically fostered the achievement of one segment of the school population by establishing culturally biased standards and values. The monocultural values of schools have promoted biases in curriculum development and instructional practices that have been detrimental to the achievement of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Teachers need to participate in reforming the educational system so that it becomes inclusive. As the direct link between the institution and the students, teachers are in a pivotal position to facilitate change. By continuing a traditional “conform-or-fail” approach to instruction, teachers perpetuate a mono-cultural institution. By questioning traditional policies and practices, and by becoming culturally responsive in instruction, teachers work toward changing the institution.
(Gay, 2002; Villegas& Lucas, 2002)
Project Implicit
If you are interested in participating in an interesting activity that will actually further research in this area, consider Project Implicit. Project Implicit blends basic research and educational outreach in a virtual laboratory at which visitors can examine their own hidden biases. Project Implicit is the product of research by three scientists whose work produced a new approach to understanding of attitudes, biases, and stereotypes we may all harbor. The Project Implicit site has been functioning as a hands-on science museum exhibit, allowing web visitors to experience the manner in which human minds display the effects of stereotypic and prejudicial associations acquired from their socio-cultural environment.
Source: Project Implicit website:
The importance of this and other related research is that as teachers we must own up to how our own approach to understanding, identifying, and responding to the needs of students may really already be differentiated – but in the completely wrong way. In other words, just as Mr. Fitsall had a variety of ways of overtly deflecting any real connection to the needs of his students, we too may be guilty of covertly deflecting the needs of students in our presence through implicit bias. I am not saying that this is necessarily true of you, but that research suggests it is quite possible and something we must guard against and continuously reflect upon.
How Can Teachers Differentiate in a Culturally Responsive Manner?
One of the challenges for both pre-service and in-service teachers is that despite many authentic opportunities to be the instructional leader for students, in many cases we fail to fully assess how culturally responsive our teaching is for students. According to the NCCRESt, some of the strategies you should employ if attempting to differentiate for student needs in a culturally responsive way include the following:
Specific Activities for Culturally Responsive Instruction
Source: NCCRESt: Richards, H.; Brown, A.; Forde, T. (2006) Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. NCCRESt.
While it is important for teachers to note the shared values and practices of their students, it is equally incumbent upon them to recognize the individual differences of students. Certainly, culture and language may contribute to behaviors and attitudes exhibited by students. For example, some cultures forbid children to engage in direct eye contact with adults; thus, when these children refuse to look at the teacher, they are not being defiant, but are practicing their culture. However, for teachers to ascribe particular characteristics to a student solely because of his/her ethnic or racial group demonstrates just as much prejudice as expecting all students to conform to mainstream cultural practices. Moreover, because each student is unique, learning needs will be different. Recognizing these distinctions enhances the ability of the teacher to address the individual needs of the students. The key is to respond to each student based on his/her identified strengths and weaknesses, and not on preconceived notions about the student’s group affiliation.
Teachers should, to the extent possible, use textbooks, design bulletin boards, and implement classroom activities culturally supportive of their students. When the school-assigned textbooks and other instructional materials perpetuate stereotypes (e.g., African Americans portrayed as athletes) or fail to adequately represent diverse groups (e.g., books containing no images or perspectives of Native Americans, Latinos(as), and other non-Anglo Saxons), teachers must supplement instruction with resources rich in diversity and sensitive in portrayal of individuals from different backgrounds. By utilizing images and practices familiar to students, teachers can capitalize on the strengths students bring to school. The more students experience familiar practices in instruction and are allowed to think differently, the greater their feeling of inclusion and the higher the probability that they will succeed. For example, in some communities, members work together in a supportive manner to accomplish many tasks in their daily lives. Reflecting these home practices in instructional approach, such as the use of cooperative learning (Putnam, 1998), increases the likelihood of success for these students.
As the “village” in which students live becomes more global, they are challenged to interact with people from various backgrounds. When students are ignorant about the differences of other groups, there is a greater probability of conflicts. Particularly in the classroom, where student diversity is increasing, students need the skills to relate to each other positively, regardless of cultural and linguistic differences. Teachers need to provide students with learning opportunities (e.g., have students interview individuals from other cultures; link students to email pals from other communities and cultures) so that they might become more culturally knowledgeable and competent when encountering others who are different. Furthermore, students will develop an appreciation for other groups when they learn of the contributions of different peoples to the advancement of the human race. A word of caution: this requires active research and planning by teachers so that cultural stereotypes are not inadvertently reinforced.
In a classroom of diverse cultures, languages, and abilities, it is imperative that all students feel fairly treated and respected. When students are subjected to unfair discrimination because of their differences, the results can be feelings of unworthiness, frustration, or anger, often resulting in low achievement. Teachers need to establish and maintain standards of behavior that require respectful treatment of all in the classroom. Teachers can be role models, demonstrating fairness and reminding students that difference is normal. Further, teachers need to monitor what types of behaviors and communication styles are rewarded and praised. Often these behaviors and ways of communicating are aligned with cultural practices. Care must be taken not to penalize a student’s behavior just because of a cultural difference.
The assessment of students’ abilities and achievement must be as accurate and complete as possible if effective instructional programming is to occur. This can only be accomplished when the assessment instruments and procedures are valid for the population being assessed. In today’s schools, students possess differences in culture and language that might predispose them to different communication practices and even different test-taking skills. Hence, assessment instruments should be varied and suited to the population being tested. When this does not occur, invalid judgments about students’ abilities or achievement are likely to result. Further, tests that are not sensitive to students’ cultural and linguistic background will often merely indicate what the students don’t know (about the mainstream culture and language) and very little about what they do. Thus, the opportunity to build on what students do know is lost.
When students come to school they bring knowledge shaped by their families and community; they return home with new knowledge fostered by the school and its practitioners. Students’ performance in school will likely be affected by the ability of the teacher to negotiate this home-community-school relationship effectively. When teachers tap into the resources of the community by inviting parents and other community members into the classroom as respected partners in the teaching-learning process, this interrelationship is positively reinforced. To further strengthen their bond with the students and their community, teachers might even participate in community events where possible. Moreover, everyone benefits when there is evidence of mutual respect and value for the contributions all can make to educating the whole student.
Teachers must encourage students to become active learners who regulate their own learning through reflection and evaluation. Students who are actively engaged in their learning ask questions rather than accept information uncritically. They self-regulate the development of their knowledge by setting goals, evaluating their performance, utilizing feedback, and tailoring their strategies. For example, by examining his or her learning patterns, a student may come to realize that reviewing materials with visual aids enhances retention, or that studying with a partner helps to process the information better. It is important, therefore, that teachers structure a classroom environment conducive to inquiry-based learning, one that allows students to pose questions to themselves, to each other, and to the teacher.
A major goal of teaching is to help students become independent thinkers so that they might learn to make responsible decisions. Critical thinking requires students to analyze (i.e., examine constituent parts or elements) and synthesize (i.e., collect and summarize) information, and to view situations from multiple perspectives. When teachers provide opportunities for students to engage in this kind of reasoning, students learn how to think “outside the box.” More important, these students learn to think for themselves. These students are less likely to accept stereotypes and to formulate opinions based on ignorance. To foster these skills, teachers might devise “what if” scenarios, requiring students to think about specific situations from different viewpoints.
All students have the potential to learn, regardless of their cultural or linguistic background, ability, or disability. Many students often stop trying because of a history of failure. Others, disenchanted with a low-level or irrelevant curriculum, work just enough to get by. Teachers have a responsibility to continually motivate all students by reminding them that they are capable and by providing them with a challenging and meaningful curriculum. Low teacher expectations will yield low student performance. It is important to engage students in activities that demonstrate how much they can learn when provided with appropriate assistance. As students progress, teachers need to continually “raise the bar,” giving students just the right amount of assistance to take them one step higher, thereby helping students to strive for their potential.
Teachers must prepare students to participate meaningfully and responsibly not only in the classroom, but also in society. Meaningful and responsible participation requires everyone to critically examine societal policies and practices, and to work to correct injustices that exist. Students must be taught that if the world is to be a better place where everyone is treated fairly, then they have to work to make it so. This is their responsibility as citizens of their country and inhabitants of the earth. To foster this consciousness, teachers might have students write group or individual letters to politicians and newspaper editors voicing their concerns about specific social issues; or students might participate in food or clothing drives to help people less fortunate.
(Banks & Banks, 2004; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Nieto, 1999)
What Are the Implications of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy?
Teachers have a responsibility to all their students to ensure that all have an equal opportunity to achieve to the best of their ability. If instruction reflects the cultural and linguistic practices and values of only one group of students, then the other students are denied an equal opportunity to learn. Instruction that is culturally responsive addresses the needs of all learners. The educational system plans the curriculum for schools, and teachers as their “institutional agents” transfer the prescribed content to their students. This daily contact with students provides teachers with a unique opportunity to either further the status quo or make a difference that will impact not only the achievement but also the lives of their students. Indeed, teachers must recognize their power and use it wisely in teaching other people’s children (Delpit, 1996).
Although the curriculum may be dictated by the school system, teachers teach it. Where the curriculum falls short in addressing the needs of all students, teachers must provide a bridge. Where the system reflects cultural and linguistic insensitivity, teachers must demonstrate understanding and support. Differentiation for a diverse learning population places a premium on information that reflects student interests, strengths, dispositions, and learning preferences in concert with what cultural variables may exist. In fact, because the majority of our nation’s teachers represent the dominant culture and one ethnicity, it is perhaps more crucial than ever that teachers find ways to connect with an increasingly culturally diverse student population. In short, teachers must be culturally responsive, utilizing materials and examples, engaging in practices, and demonstrating values that include rather than exclude students from different backgrounds. By so doing, teachers fulfill their responsibility to all their students, and this is accomplished through differentiation.