Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Teaching Like our Students' Lives Matter

1. National Professional Development Grant
Cleveland State University
February 16, 2012
Sherry Taylor, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Literacy, Language & Culturally Responsive Teaching
Program
School of Education & Human Development
University of Colorado Denver

2. Sharing a bit about
me…. Learning a
bit about you
Identify our current educational context & the
background of the learners with whom we
work.
What learning experiences have we had that
have prepared us to teach learners from
linguistically & culturally diverse
backgrounds?
To what extent have these experiences

3. Today‟s Objectives
Conceptual Overview
 Guiding assumptions, theoretical principles, &
definitions of culturally responsive pedagogy;
 Demographics & their impact on educational
contexts;
 Professional Standards & Supports
Practical Applications
 Provide practical supports for teachers to organize &
plan for the implementation of a culturally responsive
pedagogy.
 Highlight classrooms where teachers have effectively
operationalized their commitment, knowledge and
skills of a culturally responsive pedagogy in
multilingual & multicultural classrooms; grounded in
classroom-based research (Taylor & Sobel, 2011).

4. Guiding Assumptions Grounding My Work
With Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
1. Culture is central to learning, language, literacy and
education; it is pervasive in people‟s ways of knowing and
responding to life; it influences teachers‟ and students‟
decisions and mutual interactions.
2. Children arrive at school having been socialized at home in
how to use language to acquire the knowledge their
community has judged appropriate for someone at their age
level.
3. Learning is socially constructed and mutually negotiated,
not transmitted; learning is influenced by learners‟
background knowledge, life experiences and cultural
knowledge.

5. Guiding
Assumptions
4. Language, literacy and culture are
interrelated and intersect with the learning
process.
5. All children deserve the opportunity to an
equitable and quality education.
6. All students deserve access to a curriculum
that is relevant and to instruction that
accommodates for their learning interests,
abilities, and needs. This includes
instructional planning and practices aligned
with a pedagogy that is inclusive and
equitable in order to facilitate the academic

6. Take a Stance

7. Strongly Agree Dis- Strongly
Take a Stance on Agree agree Disagre
Assumptions 7-10 e
7. Education is not politically neutral;
sociopolitical and historical contexts
influence educational policies, schools,
curricular decisions, administrators,
teachers and students.
8. While English is becoming a common,
global language, there is value in all
languages. Multilingualism promotes
mutual understanding; maintenance of
one‟s native language is a basic human
right.
9. One‟s native language is a valuable
resource and a useful tool. This is
particularly so when a speaker is adding a
new language to his/her linguistic
repertoire.
10. Individuals in today‟s world need to be
prepared to function in a multicultural,
inclusive society within the United States &

8. A Changing World Context
 School classrooms worldwide consist
of students from a diversity of
languages, cultures, racial/ethnic
backgrounds, religions, economic
resources, interest abilities and life
experiences.
 Schools are expected to take the lead in
socializing students and helping them
gain the knowledge and skills needed for
a successful life in a global context.
 Globally, a striking cultural mismatch
between teachers and students exists.

9. Demographics of U.S.
Educational Contexts (NCES, 2009)
A large yet
1.04 million 1 in 5 children undetermined # of
immigrate to US have a foreign- undocumented
yearly born parent immigrants arrive
annually
70% of student Currently nearly
By 2025, 40% of the
population consists million ELL
school-age
of student of color in
population will be students attend
the 20 largest school
students of color school
districts
Some ethnic groups are 95% of students with
overrepresented in disabilities are By 2025, 1 in 4
special education students will initially
programs and served in general
underrepresented in education be classified as an
gifted programs classrooms. ELL student

10. Pause to reflect
on your
educational
 context
What are the demographics of the student
population in the district where you work?
 How do district demographics compare with those
of the school where you work?
 What are the demographics of faculty,
administration & support staff at this school?
 What are similarities & differences between
demographic data of students at the school &
teacher demographics? Demographics of students
& support staff? Students & administrators?

11. What do you notice
as you reflect on
estimates of the
demographic data
in your context?
TRENDS?
OBSERVATIONS?

12. Ohio Standards for
the
Teaching Profession
Standard 1: Teachers understand
student learning & development and
respect the diversity of the students
they teach.
Teachers understand what students
know & are able to use this knowledge
to meet the needs of all students.
Teachers model respect for students’
diverse cultures, language skills &
experiences (ODE, 2005).

13. Definitions of
culturally responsive teaching
“Using the cultural knowledge, prior
experiences, frames of reference, and
performance styles of ethnically diverse
students to make learning encounters
more relevant to and effective for them”
(Gay, 2010)
“…a framework that recognizes the rich
and varied cultural wealth, knowledge, and
skills that students from diverse groups
bring to schools.” (Howard, 2010)

14. Theoretical Principles: Culturally
responsive pedagogy supports…
A recognition of the complexity of culture including educators
allowing students to use their personal culture to enhance
their quest for educational excellence.
An authentic and culturally informed notion of care for
students, wherein their academic, social, emotional,
psychological, and cultural well-being is abided by.
A critical consciousness and sociopolitical awareness that
reflects an ongoing commitment to challenge injustice, and
disrupt inequities and oppression directed at a group of
people.
The disruption of the idea that Eurocentric or middle-class
forms of discourse, knowledge, language, culture, and
historical interpretations are normative.
The eradication of deficits-based ideologies toward culturally
diverse students. (Howard , 2010)

15. Culturally Responsive Teaching
What does it look like when
teachers understand what students
know & can use this knowledge to
meet the needs of all students?
Would we know culturally responsive
teaching if we saw it?

16. Characteristics of Culturally
Responsive Educators
1.Understand how learners construct knowledge and have the
skills to assist learners to do this;
2. Take time to learn about the cultures and lives of their students;
3. Use their knowledge about students to design instruction that
builds on students‟ cultural perspectives & knowledge, then
expand the content and learning to depths beyond the starting
point;
4. Affirm students from diverse backgrounds and recognize
differences as resources, not as problems to overcome;
5. Are socio-culturally conscious, meaning they recognize that
there are multiple ways of perceiving reality;
6. See self as responsible for & capable of bringing about change
that will make schools more responsive to all students. (Villegas & Lucas,

17. TAKE A
LOOK IN
THE
MIRROR
Reflecting on the
Villegas & Lucas
characteristics,
consider examples of
your own teaching
practice that exemplify
these characteristics.

18. Take a look & ask
yourself…
1. What do I understand about:
 how learners in my classroom construct knowledge?
 about their cultures and life experiences?
2. In what ways do I use my knowledge about the students in my
classroom to design instruction that builds on their cultural
perspectives & background knowledge?
3. How do I go about affirming students‟ backgrounds?
4. How do I integrate multiple ways of perceiving reality or
curricular content within the curriculum?
5. How do I go about prompting change at the school level to build
an environment with increased cultural responsiveness toward all
students?

19. Building on our
existing expertise
CONSIDERATIONS

20. Building on our existing expertise:
Considerations
Legitimize students’ cultures and life experiences, by
moving beyond understanding surface level
culture, such as foods, dances and holidays.
Use the cultural legacies, traits, and orientations of
students as filters through which to teach students
academic knowledge, thereby teaching “to and
through” students‟ frames of reference.
Include more significant and comprehensive
information about different cultures and their
contributions in school subject content. (Gay, 2010)

21. Building on our existing expertise:
Considerations (2)
Make learning an active, participatory endeavor in
which students are assisted in making meaning
and giving personal meaning to new ideas.
Teach the students style-shifting (code-switching)
skills so that they can maneuver between home
and school languages and cultures with ease.
Build the moral commitment, critical
consciousness, and political competence that
students need to consider their role in promoting
social justice and social transformation. (Gay,
2010)

22. A daily “entry” activity has potential
to be culturally responsive
Exempla
Non-
exemplar r of CRT
of CRT in in K-3 Calendar is
K-3 Standard wall
positioned at student
calendar w/ eye level, all cards
pockets for day contain picture cues
and date cards and multilingual
presented in representations of
English are days of the week.
decorated with Multiple multisensory
colorful balloons. manipulatives are
used for counting
practice.
Randomly,
students are Teacher appoints a student to
verbally called use picture name cards to call
upon to identify upon peers. Teacher gauges
each student‟s calendar task
today‟s weather. so it matches their learning
need (e.g. counting, vs.
prediction of weather).

23. The 5-minute “entry”
activity has the potential to
be culturally responsive
Three periodic tables are
displayed on the side
Periodic Table Exempla walls of the classroom for
positioned on the r of CRT easy viewing & access.
wall in the front Each periodic table
of the classroom. in 9-12 presents a different
Non- perspective &
exemplar Science
organization of the
of CRT in
9-12 elements.
science
Upon entering the
room, students are
directed to write a Students work in
description of the table groupings of 4
atomic structure of to discuss three
3 selected selected elements &
elements. The hypothesize why
teacher calls on they are placed in a
random students to different organization
share description. in each of the 3
tables displayed.

25. Middle School Math
PEEKING INTO
A
CLASSROOM

26. WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?
What would you suggest to this
teacher about ways to design
instruction to support her students,
especially her student, Moises, who
is struggling to communicate his
understandings & knowledge
of the content.
http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/watch/9/immersion

27. Planning for culturally responsive
pedagogy: An organizational framework
7. Scaffolding/Instructiona
l adaptations
1. Considering the 8. Distribution of
learner teacher‟s attention
2. Environment 9. Check for
/Environmental understanding/Evidenc
print e of student
3. Curriculum understanding
considerations 10. Classroom
4. Language behavior/managing the
objective classroom
5. Social context for 11. Connecting with family,
learning/grouping community, local
strategies. culture. (Taylor & Sobel, 2011).
6. Content materials
for instruction

28. Planning for culturally responsive pedagogy
What planning and
information gathering
need to occur
when we organize for
culturally responsive
instruction?
Using an „Organizational Framework‟ as a
lens for planning & reflecting on
classrooms & instruction
(Taylor & Sobel, 2011)

29. Taking a “bird’s eye view” into
the classroom
3RD GRADE LITERACY
LESSON

30. Will I know it if I see it?
Taking a peek at a teacher‟s journey
Literacy instruction: 3rd grade classroom
As you listen to the classroom scenario,
visualize you are there as the lesson evolves &
takes shape. Use the note-catcher to identify
examples of the teacher’s use of the
organizational framework in her planning for
culturally responsive instruction.

31. Note-catcher
Components of Identify exemplars of responsive teaching that are
Responsive Teaching evident in the “Classroom Context & Tour” and
“Literacy Instructional Episode”
1) Considering your
learner
2)
Environment/Environ
mental Print
3) Curriculum
considerations

32. Designing Culturally Responsive
Instruction
How did Ms. Reni Ruíz do?
Analyze the teaching scenario and identify
explicit examples of what the teacher did that
illustrate aspects of “using the cultural
knowledge, prior experiences, frames of
reference,
and performance styles of culturally diverse
students to make learning encounters more
relevant to and effective.” (Gay, 2010)

33. Concluding our conversations: Supports
& structures for advancing our efforts to
culturally responsive instruction
Organizational Framework
Professional Organizations
Mentoring Tool: Illustrates a variety of
key elements of culturally responsive
pedagogy; supports discussion and
conferring relevant to the
organizational & planning components
(Taylor & Sobel, 2011).

34. Your questions,
thoughts, next steps?
THANK YOU!