Teachers should adapt their instructional practice to the distinctive cultures of African American, Latino, Asian and Native American students.
Background
Teachers who are responsive to their students' values, beliefs and experiences will be more effective than those who are not. Some generalizations about the cultures of different racial and ethnic groups can help teachers to begin to understand their students. However, these generalizations also can lead to stereotypes and a failure to recognize that within broad racial and ethnic groupings (e.g., Latino and Asian) there are significant average differences related to subgroups (e.g., Chinese Americans and Cambodian Americans), as well as social and class differences within groups. Moreover, even within subgroups and students of similar socioeconomic status, there are often significant differences in the factors that influence student learning. There is no substitute for getting to know each student well and adapting instruction accordingly.
Questions to Consider
- What is culturally relevant pedagogy?
- What are some ways in which teachers can view the cultures of their students without stereotyping them?
To explore these and other questions, take a closer look at the resources below. At any time, add your comments to the Discussion by starting a new discussion or viewing an ongoing discussion.
- Geneva Gay argues that cultural generalizations are useful as a baseline frame of reference bit that they should not obscure variations within group cultures:
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- Jacqueline Jordan Irvine says that it is important to guard against over-generalizing about cultural differences. Understandings about diverse cultures may be thought of as frameworks within which to test hypotheses about student values and experiences:
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- Sonia Nieto observes that in order to know their students well, teachers need to be aware of their own dispositions about race, culture and class:
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- See "Educator Check-In on Culture," a check list teachers can use to assess their own cultural responsiveness, developed by the National Education Associations C.A.R.E. initiative
Balancing Cultural Awareness and Understanding Individual Differences
- Geneva Gay describes a continuum along which members of any culture express their cultural identities in individual ways
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- Carrie Kilman supports the notion that teachers must reflect on their own cultural filters in order to understand immigrant students’ school experiences (Kilman, C. Crossing Borders/Border Crossing, Teaching Tolerance 28, Fall 2005).
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
- Jacqueline Jordan Irvine identifies the fundamental premises of culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy:
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- Kris Gutierrez describes the importance of thinking of culture in dynamic terms, as the practices and behaviors of each individuals in their daily lives:
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How Can Teachers Get to Know the Beliefs, Values and Experiences that Influence Their Students’ Learning?
- Luis Moll describes how teachers can learn about their students by visiting them in their homes and communities:
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- Victoria Purcell-Gates describes the assignments she gives her pre-service teachers, requiring them to spend time in the communities in which they teach:
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- Lisa Delpit encourages teachers to discover who their students are outside the classroom.
