Culturally Responsive Teaching Essay

Overcoming stereotyping is a challenge educators can encounter when it comes to ensuring that teaching strategies are appropriate for culturally diverse children. Some educators may compare one child to another child that comes from the same cultural background and use the same teaching strategy. One way to overcome this is to make sure that educators know each of the students individually instead of comparing one to another or relying on stereotyping. “To truly engage students, we must reach out to them in ways that are culturally and linguistically responsive and appropriate, and we must examine the cultural assumptions and stereotypes we bring into the classroom that may hinder interconnectedness.” (Teaching Tolerance, 1991) Once they know more about each of the students then they can avoid stereotyping and adjust their teaching strategy to meet the individual needs of the students in the classroom.

America now is a very culturally diverse nation; most of the minority and immigrant population lives in cities, which indicates that the public school classrooms in urban areas are full of versatile cultural identities. According to the 2000 Census record, minority and immigrant populations has grown in increasing numbers, and most of those people live in urban areas and attend public high schools; also, the level of residential segregation still remains as high as in 1990, which proposes new problems for immigrants and minorities. Monocultural schools are very rare and the global society is very multicultural; it is very logical to prepare students in schools to enter this diverse society (Le Roux 48). Teachers are largely responsible

Public schools are beginning to see a shift in demographics in the United States. There is now a culturally diverse student population and educators need to respond to this shift in order to ensure an equal education for all students. Culture aids in determining how students learn, and culturally responsive teaching is a way teachers can educate culturally diverse students and provide an equal education for all. Culturally responsive teaching is defined by Geneva Gay as using the various characteristics, perspectives, and experiences of many cultures to effectively teach culturally diverse students (2000). Culturally responsive teaching prepares teachers to work with and teach a culturally diverse classroom of students and allows teachers to create a classroom environment that is similar to their students’ home environments so students do not have to assimilate to the dominant culture or change from their home culture to their school culture depending on their setting (Brown). Multicultural education is not only important for ensuring equal education for all students, but also creates youth who will be able to function and be effective citizens in a pluralistic society (Gay 2003). In order to implement culturally responsive teaching, teachers must acknowledge potential biases and reconstruct their attitudes, create a diverse knowledge base, be caring and empowering, and create a classroom environment that is conducive to a culturally diverse

Upon hearing the word culturally responsive classroom one envisions a class where the teacher “emphasizes a comfortable and academically enriching environment for students for all ethnicities, races, beliefs, and creeds.” (Lynch, Matthew 2011) Yet in reality most classrooms and schools are not culturally responsive in my area. Most schools are doing the best they can to differentiate instruction as well as make modifications and/or accommodations. However, as the number of diverse students rises, it our responsibility to educate ourselves on being culturally responsive.

This first chapter has quick insights of how Cultural Competence could be so effectively with children. What this chapter made me recognized is that it’s essential to building a relationship with students. As the text points that students may be more comfortable with a teacher of their own background, regardless of the teachers background the true success of having a learning environment is based on a sensitive, caring and committed teacher. Having teachers getting to know their students would be encouraging for a teacher-student relationship student might discovery acceptance and comfort in having someone who provides stability and structure by getting to know them. Additionally, teachers should not be scared to permit themselves to be taught

Classrooms will be filled with a variety of students coming from many different cultures and backgrounds. Teachers need to acknowledge each student will be different in this aspect and will have had different experiences in their lives. As the class moves forward, the goal is to provide students with the same experiences, just with through different lenses. To do this, the classroom must have a strong sense of community and a

After reading Geneva Gay’s article Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching I realized my pedagogy is culturally responsive in many ways. For one, I always

Culturally responsive classrooms are important in our schools because we are a culturally diverse society. There is a relationship between culturally responsive classrooms, inclusive education, and specialized instruction. When teachers provide a culturally responsive classroom, this in turn creates an inclusive environment for students of all cultures. Additionally, being culturally sensitive, responsive, and inclusive within the classroom will help teachers provide specialized instruction for culturally diverse students. Culture plays a large role in a student’s behavior and academic performance (Lerner & Johns, 2015). Ignoring one’s culture, and essentially their identity, could cause problems with students who are from a different culture

Educators must focus on creating culturally responsive learning environments and practices to prepare all students for success in the 21st century. This responsibility requires teachers to recognize the cultural, linguistic, and gender differences among students in order to promote effective communication, build collaborative relationships, and tailor instruction that supports learning. To accomplish this goal, one must examine his or her personal values or belief systems in an effort to eliminate any bias that may be aimed towards any specific group (Dray, & Wisneski,). This self-examination is critical because it can impede one’s ability to understand students who behave differently as a result of his or her cultural and linguistic backgrounds. For example, educators may make inappropriate placement

The identification of a culturally responsive classroom is based on the observation that the pedagogy and methodology of the learning process is student centered, teacher facilitated, and multi-cultural. The art of cultural responsive teaching is that it recognizes and validates the importance of including student’s culture into the total learning process (Landson-Billings, 1994). Brown University’s Education Alliance (2017) goes on to add that this methodology of teaching is constructed around key characteristics such as: learning takes place with the context of cultural being present, student-centered/ teacher facilitated, and curriculum is redesigned to be culturally balanced. With the redesign of the forth coming activities being centered around the previous components and thoughts, I believe the practice of culturally responsive education will be fulfilled.

I always try to teach my student with a culturally responsive pedagogy. I want my students to learn. So, I try to teach them to the best of my abilities. Part of that is responsive teaching. Since culture plays a significant role in the way we think and learn. After all, It’s our way of life. So, it’s imperative that I teach my students from their perspectives (Rychly and Graves, 2012).

It is crucial that teachers develop the knowledge and skills to teach children from diverse racial, language, and social backgrounds because classrooms today are growing in diversity. Without direct attention to cultural and individual differences in the classroom, some students have

It is important to create a culturally relevant classroom and school that embraces and celebrates diversity and acceptance of all students. As teachers, we are going to encounter students from various backgrounds and cultures. They may have different beliefs, traditions, and languages, but it is important for them to feel they are also part of the classroom and school just like all of their peers. I plan to teach social studies so it is important that I choose texts and materials that offer multiple perspectives and acknowledge the figures and accomplishments of various individuals from different cultures around the world. The textbook lists a problem that often occurs in social studies classroom. This problem includes teachers only using textbooks

As an educator it is important to be aware of the various learners in the classroom as well as being able to shift lessons accordingly to adapt to a greater number of students. In addition it is essential that culturally responsive practices is adapted in the classroom in order for all students to have a sense of belonging and are able to participate. For this reason, a teacher must actively use culturally responsive practices to engage students and their families because it helps to develop a relationship and maintain a level of communication. Learning “facts” about different cultures is not enough, it is more important that we make

Another characteristic of culturally sensitive teacher is to “learn as much as possible about the students, their families, and the community and use it in their teaching” (Glickman et al., 2014, p.375). Under