MAT ALG Grant : Culturally Responsive Instruction

Creating a classroom of belonging provides students with instructional experiences that draw on their individual experiences.

Strong teacher-student relationships are central to the learning process. Instruction becomes more effective in spaces where students feel safe and supported.

Edutopia (2020) brings us to Amigos School, where educators have invested in a shared sense of how teaching can be culturally responsive. Through learning walks, teachers learn more from one another about equitable student participation as well as culturally responsive instructional decision-making and strategies.

Angela Di Michele Lalor with Edutopia (2020) outlines three steps to developing an asset-based approach to teaching, which focuses on student strengths and allows teachers to promote a growth mindset through their instruction.

"Culturally responsive teachers support students by seeking out knowledge about different cultures. Teachers may do this by asking students direct questions, asking students to complete interest inventories, meeting with families, attending cultural events in communities, and seeking out information about cultural traditions through reading, viewing, and traveling. Culturally responsive teachers also seek to understand how their own backgrounds, experiences, and biases may influence their teaching, such as having different expectations for various student groups based on stereotypes" (para. 3).

George Washington University's Milken Institute of Public Health (2020) defines inequality vs. equality vs. equity vs. justice and then, encourages readers to explore examples of equality and equity related to the medical and education fields.

Prodigy (2017) provides us with 15 culturally responsive strategies with corresponding examples. How could you use one or more of these strategies in a lesson?

Schoology (2017) showcases 16 ways that you can integrate culturally responsive teaching practices into your classroom. How do these complement (or build upon) the ones outlined in Prodigy's (2017) list?