Foundational Premise Culturally Responsive Practices
The population of the United States is becoming increasingly diverse and this diversity is reflected in our K-12 schools. By 2044, half of all Americans are projected to belong to a minority group resulting in a significantly more ethnically and culturally diverse population. For example, one in four female students in public schools across the nation is Latina; by 2060 that number will increase to one in three. Therefore, the youth you work with may differ from you and each other in ethnicity, race, language, and socio-economic background. To truly engage diverse youth in STEM, it is critical to reach out to them in ways that are culturally responsive and appropriate.
Culturally responsive practices (CRP) support student achievement by providing effective teaching and learning in a culturally supported environment that is student-centered. In these environments, educators identify, nurture, and use the strengths that students bring to the learning space to facilitate and promote student achievement. Geneva Gay, a professor in multicultural education, describes CRP as teaching to and through the strengths of students who are culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse. She defines culturally responsive teaching (CRT) as a process of using cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles of diverse students to make learning more appropriate and effective for students. CRP empowers youth by respecting and incorporating their interests, identities, cultures, backgrounds, and experiences as central to the learning process. Culturally responsive practices are particularly effective in motivating and engaging girls of color in STEM studies and careers as they recognize girls’ culture as an important strength upon which to construct the STEM learning experience. |
The foundation for SciGirls success requires a strong framework of practice that includes:
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Tips
A culturally responsive educator is someone with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to work effectively with and successfully engage youth from different cultures. Cultural responsiveness is a sensibility that we acquire throughout
our life. Here are a few tips on how to become more culturally responsive.
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The learning environment must also be culturally responsive, one that recognizes, reflects, and validates the history, cultures, and world-views of youth. In such an environment, diversity is valued as an asset, which leads to effective teaching and learning.
Teachers must be able to create a learning environment that is comfortable, collegial and supportive to all learners. Culturally responsive practices that validate the history, world-views and lived experiences of the students in the room are critical to making the environment inclusive and likely to succeed at building a growth mindset and STEM identity for all learners. Especially for white teachers, this also means teachers need to understand white supremacy as a construct. Learning Culturally Sustaining Practices and how to unseat racism in your classroom takes effort, but is accessible asset that any teacher can add to their repertoire or professional skills. The podcast Scene on Radio, out of Duke University, has a ten hour series on race, and another on gender, that are very, very helpful for anyone interested in improving equity in STEM and CTE fields. |
PLC Activities
- Reflect on your own cultural traditions, practices and norms and how these differ from those of your students. Consider details that are prevalent in your classroom culture such as eye-contact, phrasing of questions versus demands, and body language, as well as beliefs about the opposite gender. Where might there be misunderstandings? Where could you be more fluent in your own cultural literacy to make students feel comfortable and valued in your classrooms. Could you bring in paraprofessionals, parents, other teachers, administrators, or students to share some things they notice about your culture and things they know about some of your students' culture?
- Identify a means to jigsaw learning about students' cultural backgrounds among your PLC. Streaming videos, books, interviews, visitng different neighborhoods in the community and podcasts can provide new information that could enhance your ability to be aware of students' funds of knowledge and better access those to support their content learning in your classes. (Use the SciGirls Facebook page or email to let us know if you need help identifying a good source of information about a particular culture.)
- Discuss strategies for improving the engagement of diverse students, and each PLC member commit to adding one of them into their repertoire of instructional strategies, with the goal of making the information and overall learning/advisory experience more personally relevant for all students. Bring data from your experience back to your PLC and debrief.
- Assume the role of an anthropologist in your own classroom. Write a description of the class from an alternative perspective or create a T chart comparing characteristics of a student who represents a cultural minority in your setting and yourself or the dominant culture. For instance you might notice differences in:
- dress
- use of language, dialect
- body language/body space
- eye contact
- learning or work style (small group, individual etc.)
- confidence/apparent sense of agency
- affect in response to solicitations from other students
- interests and pastimes
- access to resources and support systems
- religious beliefs or spiritual identity
- family structure
What types of lessons/activities/ supports/ communications/ tools/ assignments do you suggest this person might use to best overcome any real or potential distance/dissonance for the student?
Additional Resources
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