# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Image by Tina Kugler
When it comes to personalized learning, there's one topic that tends to get swept under the rug whether we realize it or not, and that area is cultural background. Despite the fact that many students are constantly engaged in a complex transformation of culturally influenced identity-which in many cases can have a major impact on academic performance-instructors oftentimes don't anticipate and address cultural needs as urgently as they do intellectual, behavioral, or social needs.

If you don't know the term "culturally responsive instruction," you should add it to your repertoire. Gay (2000) defines it as the process of using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles of diverse students to make learning more appropriate and effective for them. By this definition, culturally responsive instruction also has the following characteristics:

1. It helps students understand that individuals' experiences, values, and perspectives influence how they construct knowledge in any field or discipline.

2. It acknowledges the cultural heritages of different ethnic groups, both as legacies that affect students' dispositions, attitudes, and approaches to learning and as worthy content to be taught in the formal curriculum.

3. It builds bridges of meaningfulness between home and school experiences as well as between academic abstractions and reality.

4. It uses a wide variety of instructional strategies that are connected to different learning styles.

5. It teaches students to know and praise their own and each others' cultural heritages.

6. It teaches the whole child by recognizing not only the importance of academic achievement, but also the maintaining of cultural identity and heritage.

7. It approaches individual growth as an active, cooperative, and social process intended to develop strong skills, academic knowledge, habits of inquiry, and critical curiosity about society, power, inequality, and change.

8. It guides students in understanding that no single version of "truth" is total and permanent by making authentic knowledge about different ethnic groups accessible to all.

9. It aims not to incorporate traditional educational practices with respect to nontraditional students but to use the cultures and experiences of these students as resources for teaching and learning.

10. It empowers marginalized groups and transforms individuals by helping them develop the knowledge, skills, and values needed to become effective social critics.

There are a number of multicultural issues that should be taken into account during the planning process for any class. Becoming comfortable with your lack of knowledge about certain groups and seeking ways to inform yourself are absolutely essential in maintaining your professional development as an instructor.

Common Assumptions Placed On Students From Other Cultures

An important first step in developing this competency is to raise your awareness of issues that are multicultural and how they might manifest themselves in class. Start by considering assumptions that you may hold about the learning behaviors and capacities of your students. Below are a few common misconceptions held by instructors, identified by researchers Shari Saunders and Diana Kardia of the Center for Research on Teaching and Learning at the University of Michigan:

1. Students will seek help when they are struggling with a class.

2. Students from certain groups are not intellectual, are irresponsible, are satisfied with below average grades, lack ability, have high ability in particular subject areas, etc.

3. Students from certain backgrounds (e.g. students from urban or rural areas, students who speak with an accent, students from specific racial or ethnic groups) are poor writers.

4. Poor writing suggests limited intellectual ability.

5. Older students or students with physical disabilities are slower learners and require more attention from the instructor.

6. Students whose cultural affiliation is tied to non-English speaking groups are not native English speakers or are bilingual.

7. Students who are affiliated with a particular group (gender, race, ethnic, etc.) are experts on issues related to that group and feel comfortable being seen as information sources to the rest of the class and the instructor who are not members of that group.

8. European American students do not have opinions about issues of race or ethnicity and members of other groups do have opinions about these issues.

9. All students from a particular group share the same view on an issue, and their perspective will necessarily be different from the majority of the class who are not from that group.

10. In their reading, students will relate only to characters who resemble them.

11. Students from certain groups are more likely to: be argumentative or conflictual during class discussions, not participate in class discussions, or bring a more radical agenda to class discussions.

Instructional Strategies

The cultural inclusiveness of a learning environment will depend upon the kinds of interactions that occur among you and your students. These interactions are influenced by course content; prior assumptions and awareness of potential multicultural issues in educational situations; planning of class sessions, including the ways students are grouped for learning; your knowledge about the diverse backgrounds of your students; and your decisions, comments, and behaviors during the process of teaching.

Below are recommendations for instructional delevopment in this regard:

1. Anticipate possible responses to controversial topics. Students should be encouraged to openly share their views during discussions, but be prepared to correct stereotypes and challenge students' assumptions when comments are exchanged. It can be a difficult task to reconcile the tension between challenging offensive speech and not suppressing free speech. You should also consider your own response to emotion in the classroom and use this awareness to inform the planning process.

2. Establish agreed upon guidelines early in the class. This will help keep discussion etiquette in check and save time during class. If guidelines are established early, though, students will need to be reminded periodically of the rules throughout the semester, especially if their behavior suggests that they are ignoring them.

3. Use a variety of methods to create learning groups. Group composition can have a significant impact on group functioning, which is why it's always wise to have a variety of methods on hand. Try assigning students heterogeneously across race, gender, or class, or mix them up randomly and see what happens.

4. Be ready to challenge assumptions that groups will either be aided or hindered by having certain kinds of students in their group. Men in math or science classes may feel they have to help the women along; white students working on a project on "rap music" may be eager to have an African American student as part of their group. Spend some time informing the class that each individual brings a different combination of strengths and weaknesses into the group work context. Group exercises that identify the specific resources that each group member brings can be useful in the early stages of group formation. It is also important to inform students of your availability to discuss problems that the groups themselves have been unable to successfully address.

5. Get to know your students by having them write mini autobiographies. The autobiography can be as short as two pages, and can be framed in ways that are relevant to the course content. For example, if you are responsible for math or science courses, you can ask students to share their early experiences (formal and informal) with math and science. This kind of assignment could help you to explore, early on, some of the assumptions you might hold about your students and their experiences. It may also help students feel that real interest is being taken in them.

6. Examine course content for inaccurate information and the absence of relevant perspectives. Prepare for each class session by reading upcoming assignments in order to identify omissions, misleading interpretations, and intentional or inadvertent expressions of personal opinion by the author. You may then alert students to problems with the text and encourage students to read critically themselves.

7. Be careful about the comments made during class lectures, discussions, recitation sessions, etc. Be aware of the fact that comments that are not fully explained may inadvertently invoke stereotypes or promote inaccurate conclusions. Similarly, skewed examples of religious, historical, or other events have the potential to lead students to believe that inaccuracies are truths.

8. Create a classroom climate that encourages and expects questions about and critiques of course content. Such a climate will help to create a norm of critical thinking that will facilitate the learning process for all students. As students share their critiques with the class, other students will benefit by being exposed to different interpretations, perspectives, and concerns regarding course material. This climate can also provide an opportunity for students to add to the course content by correcting inaccuracies or misrepresentations related to the history or experience of their own groups.

9. Make decisions about when to devote unanticipated time to class discussions to deal with issues raised by students that pertain to content or process. These issues, which may deal with the history or culture of a group with which you are unfamiliar, are an equally important part of the course content. It is best to be honest about your lack of knowledge, acknowledge the students' point, and make efforts to secure information about the students' point to share with the class in a future session.

10. Be open to students' reactions to course material, even when you feel uncomfortable with the manner in which they are expressed. Be prepared for students to publicly challenge inaccurate information about particular groups that appears in class readings, films, etc. Students may react strongly upon hearing what they perceive to be inaccurate and negative information about their group. Giving serious consideration to students' views that are in the "minority" will encourage students to respond honestly about issues while also encouraging students to think more broadly about issues.

11. Give serious consideration to students' requests for alternative materials when materials currently used inaccurately represent aspects of students' social identity groups or cultures. Changes should be made when justified. If you receive criticisms about materials, you should make clear to students that the criticism can be accompanied by specific recommendations of alternative materials.

12. Invite all students to contribute to class discussion, even if you assume that the discussion is more relevant to some students than others. Students (irrespective of background) do not like being forced to serve as the spokesperson for their group. Students also do not appreciate being expected to know everything about issues relating to their group or the assumption that all students from their group feel the same way about an issue.

13. Be sensitive to the experiences of visibly underrepresented students in your class. Students with identities that are underrepresented and visible or known may face certain challenges that unfairly compromise their learning environment. Students from underrepresented groups may feel a self-imposed pressure always to portray themselves in a good light so they do not reinforce stereotypes about their group. Whereas "majority students" can slack off from time to time when working within groups, occasionally show up late to class, or be absent without peers attributing their behavior to membership in a particular group, students from underrepresented groups often sense that their behavior is interpreted as a reflection on their group.

14. Be aware of gender dynamics in classroom discussions. Even when women are in the majority, men may sometimes consciously or unconsciously dominate class discussions or interrupt women. Monitor the occurrence of this behavior and encourage women to speak up.

15. Be careful not to respond to comments in ways that students might interpret as dismissals. You should give sufficient attention to (a) students' comments that differ from the majority of students' views or your own views, (b) students' views that are based on experiential knowledge, and (c) women's views in predominately male classes or traditionally male fields. Be aware of differential feedback given to students who differ on some aspect of their social identity (gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, etc.). For example, you should attend to whether you speak down to women or "brush off" their questions, yet give men responses that are informative and detailed.

16. Respond to classroom conflict in a manner that helps students become aware of the "learning moment" this conflict provides. Students appreciate tensions between groups in the class being recognized and effectively addressed.

17. Recognize student fears and concerns about conflict. Students enter a class with different levels of experience and comfort with conflict. It is important to normalize the experience of conflict in the classroom, particularly in classes that focus on controversial topics. This can be accomplished through explicit discussion of student experiences with conflict and the use of structured discussion exercises.

18. Maintain the role of facilitator. One of the challenges of teaching is maintaining the role of instructor under a variety of conditions. Examine your typical responses to conflict and find ways that you may admit your limits with respect to content areas while maintaining responsibility for the group process.

19. Include multiple perspectives on each topic of the course rather than focusing solely on a single perspective. For example, if the topic is "The Great Depression in the USA" the content should not focus solely on the experiences of European Americans. Americans of African and Asian descent, American Indians, Mexicans, etc. had experiences and views that should be acknowledged. It would also be important to include the experiences and views of people with different socio-economic statuses in this example.

20. Include, as much as possible, materials written or created by people of different backgrounds and/or perspectives. If all the authors or creators of materials in a course are male (or female), white (or another group), liberal (or conservative), etc., instructors will be sending a message about the voices that are valued and will be devaluing the scholarship of others who have written or created materials on the topic. On a related note, it is important to include works authored by members of the group that the class is discussing. For example, if the course deals with topics related to Muslims or Islam and the syllabus does not include materials written by Muslim authors, the message sent to students may be that you devalue the contributions of and scholarship produced by Muslims.

21. Include materials (readings, videotapes, etc.) that address underrepresented groups' experiences in ways that do not trivialize or marginalize these groups' experiences. Books that include a section on some aspect of diversity at the end of the text or books that highlight women, people of color, people with disabilities, gay men, lesbians, etc., in boxes and not in the body of the text can be seen as examples of the marginalization of these topics, groups, and group members' contributions. When it is important to use such books for other reasons, instructors have a responsibility to make students aware of the texts' limitations at the beginning of the course and to facilitate students' ability to read critically with these issues in mind.

22. Be aware of and responsive to the portrayal of certain groups in course content. For example, if an Asian country's policies are being used to contrast Australian policies, the policy of the Asian country should not always be used as a negative example or always used as a positive example. You need to address the role of culture in foreign policies and not present policies as either wholly good or bad. Such treatment ignores the complexity of other cultures' policies or practices.

23. Avoid dichotomizing issues of race into black and white. It is essential to recognize and acknowledge that there are other groups for whom racial issues are relevant (Arab Americans, Asians Americans, Latinos/as, Native Americans, etc.). Whenever possible, perspectives on racial issues from other groups should be included in course materials. If you have difficulty finding such materials, you should bring other perspectives into course lectures and discussions.

24. Customize your attendence policy. At the beginning of the semester, ask your students to let you know if their attendance, their participation in class, or their ability to complete an assignment on time will be affected by their observance of religious holidays or practices, or because of a disability.

25. Use the same grading standards for all students. When you use different criteria to evaluate the performance of students from certain groups, this can create tensions in the class because students tend to share their grades. Ask all students about their prior experiences with the course content and should inform students of the criteria by which their performance will be assessed along with the rationale for differential evaluations if such a practice will be used.

26. Use examples from a variety of cultural reference points. Instructors who use examples drawn only from their own experience may fail to reach all students in the class. Given that examples are designed to clarify key points, you should collect examples from a variety of cultural reference points. For example, in 1995/1996 "Friends" was a sitcom that received high ratings in the U.S. However, this show was less popular among many African American people than shows like "Living Single" and "Martin."

27. Be aware of different discourses. Not all students speak Standard Formal English at home, and the adoption of it may challenge aspects of their identity. Be clear and open about the reasons you are teaching SFE and at the same time recognize the legitimacy of other discourses and habits of language.

28. Adapt content to fit student lifestyles. If you teach literature, choose content that reflects multiple ethnic perspectives and literary genres. If you teach math, incorporate everyday-life concepts-such as economics, employment, consumer habits-of various ethnic groups into your lessons.

29. Intervene when necessary. A safe learning environment is not only fostered at the start of the course but maintained during the course of the semester. In many classes, there are critical moments that can confirm in students' minds how safe the classroom is, how committed is the teacher to equitable participation and student learning. This may happen the first time one student harshly criticizes another, or the first time a loaded question is directed to the teacher. If the instructor intervenes or responds in a way that is effective, this can set the stage for more and more honest student interaction.

30. Share your own learning journey. Mark Kiselica, a psychologist who conducts multicultural training, stresses the importance of teachers self-disclosing their own journey in becoming more culturally sensitive and knowledgeable. Kiselica states that "the process of developing multicultural awareness and sensitivity is a journey marked by fears, painful self-reflection, and joyful growth," and students can learn from an instructors who share their mistakes, incidents that led to their learning, and what they have gained from the process.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
30 Ways to Become a Culturally Sensitive Educator - InformED

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Image by Tina Kugler When it comes to personalized learning, there's one topic that tends to get swept under the rug whether we realize it or not, and that area is cultural background. Despite the fact that many students are constantly engaged in a complex transformation of culturally influenced identity-which in many cases can have...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Image by Tina Kugler
When it comes to personalized learning, there's one topic that tends to get swept under the rug whether we realize it or not, and that area is cultural background. Despite the fact that many students are constantly engaged in a complex transformation of culturally influenced identity-which in many cases can have a major impact on academic performance-instructors oftentimes don't anticipate and address cultural needs as urgently as they do intellectual, behavioral, or social needs.

If you don't know the term "culturally responsive instruction," you should add it to your repertoire. Gay (2000) defines it as the process of using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles of diverse students to make learning more appropriate and effective for them. By this definition, culturally responsive instruction also has the following characteristics:

1. It helps students understand that individuals' experiences, values, and perspectives influence how they construct knowledge in any field or discipline.

2. It acknowledges the cultural heritages of different ethnic groups, both as legacies that affect students' dispositions, attitudes, and approaches to learning and as worthy content to be taught in the formal curriculum.

3. It builds bridges of meaningfulness between home and school experiences as well as between academic abstractions and reality.

4. It uses a wide variety of instructional strategies that are connected to different learning styles.

5. It teaches students to know and praise their own and each others' cultural heritages.

6. It teaches the whole child by recognizing not only the importance of academic achievement, but also the maintaining of cultural identity and heritage.

7. It approaches individual growth as an active, cooperative, and social process intended to develop strong skills, academic knowledge, habits of inquiry, and critical curiosity about society, power, inequality, and change.

8. It guides students in understanding that no single version of "truth" is total and permanent by making authentic knowledge about different ethnic groups accessible to all.

9. It aims not to incorporate traditional educational practices with respect to nontraditional students but to use the cultures and experiences of these students as resources for teaching and learning.

10. It empowers marginalized groups and transforms individuals by helping them develop the knowledge, skills, and values needed to become effective social critics.

There are a number of multicultural issues that should be taken into account during the planning process for any class. Becoming comfortable with your lack of knowledge about certain groups and seeking ways to inform yourself are absolutely essential in maintaining your professional development as an instructor.

Common Assumptions Placed On Students From Other Cultures

An important first step in developing this competency is to raise your awareness of issues that are multicultural and how they might manifest themselves in class. Start by considering assumptions that you may hold about the learning behaviors and capacities of your students. Below are a few common misconceptions held by instructors, identified by researchers Shari Saunders and Diana Kardia of the Center for Research on Teaching and Learning at the University of Michigan:

1. Students will seek help when they are struggling with a class.

2. Students from certain groups are not intellectual, are irresponsible, are satisfied with below average grades, lack ability, have high ability in particular subject areas, etc.

3. Students from certain backgrounds (e.g. students from urban or rural areas, students who speak with an accent, students from specific racial or ethnic groups) are poor writers.

4. Poor writing suggests limited intellectual ability.

5. Older students or students with physical disabilities are slower learners and require more attention from the instructor.

6. Students whose cultural affiliation is tied to non-English speaking groups are not native English speakers or are bilingual.

7. Students who are affiliated with a particular group (gender, race, ethnic, etc.) are experts on issues related to that group and feel comfortable being seen as information sources to the rest of the class and the instructor who are not members of that group.

8. European American students do not have opinions about issues of race or ethnicity and members of other groups do have opinions about these issues.

9. All students from a particular group share the same view on an issue, and their perspective will necessarily be different from the majority of the class who are not from that group.

10. In their reading, students will relate only to characters who resemble them.

11. Students from certain groups are more likely to: be argumentative or conflictual during class discussions, not participate in class discussions, or bring a more radical agenda to class discussions.

Instructional Strategies

The cultural inclusiveness of a learning environment will depend upon the kinds of interactions that occur among you and your students. These interactions are influenced by course content; prior assumptions and awareness of potential multicultural issues in educational situations; planning of class sessions, including the ways students are grouped for learning; your knowledge about the diverse backgrounds of your students; and your decisions, comments, and behaviors during the process of teaching.

Below are recommendations for instructional delevopment in this regard:

1. Anticipate possible responses to controversial topics. Students should be encouraged to openly share their views during discussions, but be prepared to correct stereotypes and challenge students' assumptions when comments are exchanged. It can be a difficult task to reconcile the tension between challenging offensive speech and not suppressing free speech. You should also consider your own response to emotion in the classroom and use this awareness to inform the planning process.

2. Establish agreed upon guidelines early in the class. This will help keep discussion etiquette in check and save time during class. If guidelines are established early, though, students will need to be reminded periodically of the rules throughout the semester, especially if their behavior suggests that they are ignoring them.

3. Use a variety of methods to create learning groups. Group composition can have a significant impact on group functioning, which is why it's always wise to have a variety of methods on hand. Try assigning students heterogeneously across race, gender, or class, or mix them up randomly and see what happens.

4. Be ready to challenge assumptions that groups will either be aided or hindered by having certain kinds of students in their group. Men in math or science classes may feel they have to help the women along; white students working on a project on "rap music" may be eager to have an African American student as part of their group. Spend some time informing the class that each individual brings a different combination of strengths and weaknesses into the group work context. Group exercises that identify the specific resources that each group member brings can be useful in the early stages of group formation. It is also important to inform students of your availability to discuss problems that the groups themselves have been unable to successfully address.

5. Get to know your students by having them write mini autobiographies. The autobiography can be as short as two pages, and can be framed in ways that are relevant to the course content. For example, if you are responsible for math or science courses, you can ask students to share their early experiences (formal and informal) with math and science. This kind of assignment could help you to explore, early on, some of the assumptions you might hold about your students and their experiences. It may also help students feel that real interest is being taken in them.

6. Examine course content for inaccurate information and the absence of relevant perspectives. Prepare for each class session by reading upcoming assignments in order to identify omissions, misleading interpretations, and intentional or inadvertent expressions of personal opinion by the author. You may then alert students to problems with the text and encourage students to read critically themselves.

7. Be careful about the comments made during class lectures, discussions, recitation sessions, etc. Be aware of the fact that comments that are not fully explained may inadvertently invoke stereotypes or promote inaccurate conclusions. Similarly, skewed examples of religious, historical, or other events have the potential to lead students to believe that inaccuracies are truths.

8. Create a classroom climate that encourages and expects questions about and critiques of course content. Such a climate will help to create a norm of critical thinking that will facilitate the learning process for all students. As students share their critiques with the class, other students will benefit by being exposed to different interpretations, perspectives, and concerns regarding course material. This climate can also provide an opportunity for students to add to the course content by correcting inaccuracies or misrepresentations related to the history or experience of their own groups.

9. Make decisions about when to devote unanticipated time to class discussions to deal with issues raised by students that pertain to content or process. These issues, which may deal with the history or culture of a group with which you are unfamiliar, are an equally important part of the course content. It is best to be honest about your lack of knowledge, acknowledge the students' point, and make efforts to secure information about the students' point to share with the class in a future session.

10. Be open to students' reactions to course material, even when you feel uncomfortable with the manner in which they are expressed. Be prepared for students to publicly challenge inaccurate information about particular groups that appears in class readings, films, etc. Students may react strongly upon hearing what they perceive to be inaccurate and negative information about their group. Giving serious consideration to students' views that are in the "minority" will encourage students to respond honestly about issues while also encouraging students to think more broadly about issues.

11. Give serious consideration to students' requests for alternative materials when materials currently used inaccurately represent aspects of students' social identity groups or cultures. Changes should be made when justified. If you receive criticisms about materials, you should make clear to students that the criticism can be accompanied by specific recommendations of alternative materials.

12. Invite all students to contribute to class discussion, even if you assume that the discussion is more relevant to some students than others. Students (irrespective of background) do not like being forced to serve as the spokesperson for their group. Students also do not appreciate being expected to know everything about issues relating to their group or the assumption that all students from their group feel the same way about an issue.

13. Be sensitive to the experiences of visibly underrepresented students in your class. Students with identities that are underrepresented and visible or known may face certain challenges that unfairly compromise their learning environment. Students from underrepresented groups may feel a self-imposed pressure always to portray themselves in a good light so they do not reinforce stereotypes about their group. Whereas "majority students" can slack off from time to time when working within groups, occasionally show up late to class, or be absent without peers attributing their behavior to membership in a particular group, students from underrepresented groups often sense that their behavior is interpreted as a reflection on their group.

14. Be aware of gender dynamics in classroom discussions. Even when women are in the majority, men may sometimes consciously or unconsciously dominate class discussions or interrupt women. Monitor the occurrence of this behavior and encourage women to speak up.

15. Be careful not to respond to comments in ways that students might interpret as dismissals. You should give sufficient attention to (a) students' comments that differ from the majority of students' views or your own views, (b) students' views that are based on experiential knowledge, and (c) women's views in predominately male classes or traditionally male fields. Be aware of differential feedback given to students who differ on some aspect of their social identity (gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, etc.). For example, you should attend to whether you speak down to women or "brush off" their questions, yet give men responses that are informative and detailed.

16. Respond to classroom conflict in a manner that helps students become aware of the "learning moment" this conflict provides. Students appreciate tensions between groups in the class being recognized and effectively addressed.

17. Recognize student fears and concerns about conflict. Students enter a class with different levels of experience and comfort with conflict. It is important to normalize the experience of conflict in the classroom, particularly in classes that focus on controversial topics. This can be accomplished through explicit discussion of student experiences with conflict and the use of structured discussion exercises.

18. Maintain the role of facilitator. One of the challenges of teaching is maintaining the role of instructor under a variety of conditions. Examine your typical responses to conflict and find ways that you may admit your limits with respect to content areas while maintaining responsibility for the group process.

19. Include multiple perspectives on each topic of the course rather than focusing solely on a single perspective. For example, if the topic is "The Great Depression in the USA" the content should not focus solely on the experiences of European Americans. Americans of African and Asian descent, American Indians, Mexicans, etc. had experiences and views that should be acknowledged. It would also be important to include the experiences and views of people with different socio-economic statuses in this example.

20. Include, as much as possible, materials written or created by people of different backgrounds and/or perspectives. If all the authors or creators of materials in a course are male (or female), white (or another group), liberal (or conservative), etc., instructors will be sending a message about the voices that are valued and will be devaluing the scholarship of others who have written or created materials on the topic. On a related note, it is important to include works authored by members of the group that the class is discussing. For example, if the course deals with topics related to Muslims or Islam and the syllabus does not include materials written by Muslim authors, the message sent to students may be that you devalue the contributions of and scholarship produced by Muslims.

21. Include materials (readings, videotapes, etc.) that address underrepresented groups' experiences in ways that do not trivialize or marginalize these groups' experiences. Books that include a section on some aspect of diversity at the end of the text or books that highlight women, people of color, people with disabilities, gay men, lesbians, etc., in boxes and not in the body of the text can be seen as examples of the marginalization of these topics, groups, and group members' contributions. When it is important to use such books for other reasons, instructors have a responsibility to make students aware of the texts' limitations at the beginning of the course and to facilitate students' ability to read critically with these issues in mind.

22. Be aware of and responsive to the portrayal of certain groups in course content. For example, if an Asian country's policies are being used to contrast Australian policies, the policy of the Asian country should not always be used as a negative example or always used as a positive example. You need to address the role of culture in foreign policies and not present policies as either wholly good or bad. Such treatment ignores the complexity of other cultures' policies or practices.

23. Avoid dichotomizing issues of race into black and white. It is essential to recognize and acknowledge that there are other groups for whom racial issues are relevant (Arab Americans, Asians Americans, Latinos/as, Native Americans, etc.). Whenever possible, perspectives on racial issues from other groups should be included in course materials. If you have difficulty finding such materials, you should bring other perspectives into course lectures and discussions.

24. Customize your attendence policy. At the beginning of the semester, ask your students to let you know if their attendance, their participation in class, or their ability to complete an assignment on time will be affected by their observance of religious holidays or practices, or because of a disability.

25. Use the same grading standards for all students. When you use different criteria to evaluate the performance of students from certain groups, this can create tensions in the class because students tend to share their grades. Ask all students about their prior experiences with the course content and should inform students of the criteria by which their performance will be assessed along with the rationale for differential evaluations if such a practice will be used.

26. Use examples from a variety of cultural reference points. Instructors who use examples drawn only from their own experience may fail to reach all students in the class. Given that examples are designed to clarify key points, you should collect examples from a variety of cultural reference points. For example, in 1995/1996 "Friends" was a sitcom that received high ratings in the U.S. However, this show was less popular among many African American people than shows like "Living Single" and "Martin."

27. Be aware of different discourses. Not all students speak Standard Formal English at home, and the adoption of it may challenge aspects of their identity. Be clear and open about the reasons you are teaching SFE and at the same time recognize the legitimacy of other discourses and habits of language.

28. Adapt content to fit student lifestyles. If you teach literature, choose content that reflects multiple ethnic perspectives and literary genres. If you teach math, incorporate everyday-life concepts-such as economics, employment, consumer habits-of various ethnic groups into your lessons.

29. Intervene when necessary. A safe learning environment is not only fostered at the start of the course but maintained during the course of the semester. In many classes, there are critical moments that can confirm in students' minds how safe the classroom is, how committed is the teacher to equitable participation and student learning. This may happen the first time one student harshly criticizes another, or the first time a loaded question is directed to the teacher. If the instructor intervenes or responds in a way that is effective, this can set the stage for more and more honest student interaction.

30. Share your own learning journey. Mark Kiselica, a psychologist who conducts multicultural training, stresses the importance of teachers self-disclosing their own journey in becoming more culturally sensitive and knowledgeable. Kiselica states that "the process of developing multicultural awareness and sensitivity is a journey marked by fears, painful self-reflection, and joyful growth," and students can learn from an instructors who share their mistakes, incidents that led to their learning, and what they have gained from the process.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
30 Ways to Become a Culturally Sensitive Educator - InformED

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Image by Tina Kugler When it comes to personalized learning, there's one topic that tends to get swept under the rug whether we realize it or not, and that area is cultural background. Despite the fact that many students are constantly engaged in a complex transformation of culturally influenced identity-which in many cases can have...

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1. Positive perspectives on parents and families

2. Communication of high expectations

3. Learning within the context of culture

4. Student-centered instruction

5. Culturally mediated instruction

6. Reshaping the curriculum

7. Teacher as facilitator

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Emily Style's Window and Mirror Curriculum

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Emily Style's Window and Mirror Curriculum

# data[].attributes.body
" If the student is understood as occupying a dwelling of self, education needs to enable the student to look through window frames in order to see the realities of others and into mirrors in order to see her/his own reality reflected."

# data[].attributes.headline
Latino Children's Literature That Should Top Lists

# data[].attributes.subject
Latino Children's Literature That Should Top Lists

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CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Celeste Headlee. Michel Martin is away. Coming up, we'll find out how Nelson Mandela inspired a group of actors here in the U.S. to join in the struggle for a better South Africa. But first, let's talk about books. If you're interested in buying books as a gift this holiday, as many people are, especially for the kids in your life, you might want to check out the New York Times notable children's book of 2013. You will find everything on that list - a picture book about the slave trade and a modern fantasy tale about magical cats.

What you will not find are Latinos. The list does not include a single book either penned by a Latino author or featuring a Latino protagonist. So the group Latinas for Latino Literature wants to fill in that gap. The organization works to bring more attention to Latino authors and increase Hispanic literacy rates as well. And they have their own list of recommended titles for kids. Joining us now are two of the group's founders Monica Olivera, blogs at "Mommy Maestra." She joins us from her home near Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. And also with us is Viviana Hurtado. She is blogger-in-chief of "The Wise Latina Club." And she is a wise Latina. She has a doctorate in Spanish and Portuguese literature. She's here in our D.C. studios. Welcome back to the program, both of you.

VIVIANA HURTADO: Thanks, Celeste, for having us.

MONICA OLIVERA: Thank you for having us.

HEADLEE: So, Viviana, let's talk about this list. Why is it necessary for you to have it? Why can't you make changes, say, in the New York Times list every year?

HURTADO: Well, it's precisely because the New York Times has excluded Latina authors and illustrators from their children's list. In the last 10 years, they've only found one Latina author, one Latina illustrator that they can include in their list. And we find that to be, quite frankly, out of touch. You know, the list has been around since 1952. It seems that the selection for this year - and by the way, they're terrific tomes - seems more like it's representative of the culture of 1950s and '60s than today's changing America, which is increasingly diverse and mixed.

HEADLEE: Well, Monica, I can already hear the arguments from the editorial board already, right? I mean, saying, perhaps, the Latinos are writing fewer children's books, there's fewer to choose from, or that they simply go through the stack of books they have and choose the best ones. What's your response to that?

OLIVERA: Well, you know, there's 52 million Latinos who live in the United States, and I think that if you're going to put together a list for the nation that's inclusive, and it should be representative of all the people that exist here in the United States. And I don't think that having just one title of Latino children's lit would be out of line. I think that would be a fantastic way to appeal and represent that demographic. So, yes, we've created a list because there are quite a few actually, in fact, many that were published this year by Latino authors or about Latino characters.

HEADLEE: One that was included on your list was an author that we spoke to not too long ago on this show, "Good Night Captain Mama" by Graciela Tiscareno, a former Air Force captain. And she talked to us about the importance of writing kids books in Spanish. Take a listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVAL RECORDING)

GRACIELA TISCARENO: For me, it's about role modeling. It's about the little 5-year-old girl last week in elementary school who pulled on my sleeve at the end of the assembly and said in Spanish, I want to fly airplanes like you did.

HEADLEE: So, Viviana, should every book by a Latino author be in Spanish, or what's the balance?

HURTADO: Well, we actually have in our list titles that are all in English. And that has to do with the fact that the population is booming here in this country. And we also know that English is the language of power in the United States of America. So in order to be successful and to really go to the furthest ends of your imagination and your potential and your ambition, English is the way to go. That said, we promote Spanish, bilingual books. If you look at our different lists and author reads, author favorites, they are publishing in English, in Spanish and even bilingual books where you're able to see on one page the Spanish version and illustration, and on the other page, the exact same text but translated into English.

What we want to argue is that this approach, this inclusion is actually more accurate because so many terrific Latino authors and illustrators are publishing. Including in 2013, it's more representative of America that's more diverse and mixed. And, you know, it's also going to help - the benefit to our country is that we know the power of identification. And it could go such a long ways in helping improve literacy and education rates among Latino students, which is an area where there is still a significant lag. That's a problem for all of society if you think that this group is growing and is going to form the basis of the labor force and the tax space.

HEADLEE: And be a third of a population not too far in the future. Monica, have you spoken with the editors and managers at the New York Times? What's their response been?

OLIVERA: You know what? We actually have not had a response from the New York Times at all about this topic. So we just continue to promote our list and hope to encourage them that maybe next year they can. If they need help, they can contact us or they can take a better look at the Latino children's literature that is available.

HEADLEE: So, Viviana, who's the more important audience here for these books by Latino authors and illustrators and books with Latino protagonists? Is it the young Latino-American kid, or is it the, maybe, white or African-American kid who has no experience with Latino culture?

HURTADO: That's a great question, Celeste, because it's actually all of the above. C, all of the above. It's important that Latino children see themselves represented in books, in media, in movies because, as I said earlier, that's the power of identification and how far it can go to help a student realize their ambitions and dreams, spark imagination, want to go further with their professional and their academic goals. But it's equally important for all children - white children, African-American, Asian and all of the mixed children that are out there - to see what other kids look like and their experiences.

They go to school with many of these children. We know public schools are filled with 25 percent Latino students. And so wouldn't it be wonderful for them to see their experiences represented, which, by the way, they see likely every single day, certainly if they attend American public schools.

HEADLEE: Monica, why is the New York Times list important? I mean, obviously, people can go to their bookstore, their library and if they can find these books, does it matter what the New York Times says was a great book in 2013?

OLIVERA: Well, that's a very good point. You know, if people go to their bookstores or libraries, can they find these books? And a lot of times the collections that are carried in those institutions and those bookshops are based on lists, for example, by the New York Times, which is very representative of the publishing industry. So it's important that they are inclusive because right now when you go into a bookshop, your local bookshop, chances of finding Latino children's literature or any kind of bilingual book that isn't, you know, "Dora the Explorer" is very difficult to do. I mean, it's hard to find those titles. And if you do have a small area, it's just really very few titles that actually represent the richness and the diversity of the Latino culture.

HURTADO: And just to add, you know, there has been lots of Latino literature published, historically, throughout the years by small independent presses. And we also know the rise of self-publishing in the last five to 10 years. But the role of the New York Times is important because of the precedent, the green light that they send to mainstream publishers in New York City. And that is where Latino authors and illustrators are very underrepresented. Tying into what Monica said, they're going to take their cues from the New York Times. The ripple effect is that's the kind of books that will be stocked in our libraries and in our bookstores across the nation.

HEADLEE: But in the meantime, if people want to buy these books, they're going to have to check out your list. That, what you just heard from Viviana Hurtado. She is a blogger-in-chief at "The Wise Latina Club." And also with us, Monica Olivera from "Mommy Maestra." They're the cofounders of Latinas for Latino Literature with their own list of books from Latino authors and illustrators that were the notable books of 2013 for kids. Thanks so much for both of you.

HURTADO: Thanks, Celeste.

OLIVERA: Thank you.

Copyright © 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.

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Latino Children's Literature That Should Top Lists

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Each year The New York Times highlights top children's books. But this year, not one book is by a Latino author. Guest host Celeste Headlee speaks with blogger Monica Olivera, and Latinas for Latino Lit co-founder, Viviana Hurtado, about books they feel were overlooked this year.

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What's the Color in Children's Literature?

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What's the Color in Children's Literature?

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Marley Dias Andrea Cipriani Mecchi

Marley Dias is like a lot of 11-year-olds: She loves getting lost in a book.

But the books she was reading at school were starting to get on her nerves. She enjoyed Where The Red Fern Grows and the Shiloh series, but those classics, found in so many elementary school classrooms, "were all about white boys or dogs ... or white boys and their dogs," Marley says.

Black girls, like Marley, were almost never the main character.

What she was noticing is actually a much bigger issue: Fewer than 10 percent of children's books released in 2015 had a black person as the main character, according to a yearly analysis by the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. And while the number of children's books about minorities has increased in the last 20 years, many classroom libraries have older books.

Last fall, Marley decided to do something about it. She set a goal of collecting 1,000 books about black girls by the beginning of February, and #1000blackgirlbooks was born.

She has far exceeded her goal, with almost 4,000 books and counting. Now, she wants to set up a black girl book club and pressure school districts to change what books are assigned to students. Morning Edition's David Greene spoke with Marley about her campaign and how she's handled her success.

The thing NPR Ed wanted to know? Her take on a subject she now knows well: books about black girls. Here are her top five picks.

'Brown Girl Dreaming,' by Jacqueline Woodson

Age level: Grades 6-8

Genre: Autobiography

Why Marley recommends it: "It's definitely one of my favorites, mainly because I am a very avid reader and it was one of the first books I ever had a challenge reading. I know that sounds not really good because then you couldn't understand it. But it was like the first time that I ever fully had to wait and think through something and take my time, which I think is definitely something important because you have to be patient."

"It's also a poetry book and I think that poetry is cool even though I don't really write poetry that much. I do think it's cool to read it. And it's a very important book and there's a lot of themes in the book. There's a lot of ways to interpret it, but it's about the '60s and '70s and Jim Crow laws in South Carolina and New York and how a girl talks about her family and racism and how they experience it."

'One Crazy Summer,' by Rita Williams-Garcia

Age level: Grades 3-5

Genre: Historical fiction

Why Marley recommends it: "The black girls that I know ... thought that this was one of the best books about black girls. I haven't finished reading it yet. I know it's kind of disappointing that I haven't read one of the most popular books that we've been getting. It's about three girls who go to see their mother, who they haven't seen ever since they were babies babies. So, they go to visit the summer with her and they have a whole giant adventure."

'President of the Whole Fifth Grade,' by Sherri Winston

Age Level: Grades 3-5

Genre: Fiction

Why Marley recommends it: "It's about a girl named Brianna Justice who runs for fifth-grade president." Marley explains the main character is following in the footsteps of her role model, "who's a cupcake baker from the same town in Michigan that she's from. So, it's about her whole journey to become president of the whole fifth grade. It's a series and there's President of the Whole Sixth Grade as well."

'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,' by Mildred D. Taylor

Age level: Grades 5-8

Genre: Historical fiction, classic

Why Marley recommends it: "I like this one because it's a classic book in general and it's one of the most famous black girl books ever. The main character, she's very independent. She's very strong. She's very family-oriented and she protects her family. So, that's definitely one of the main things that the book is popular for. It has a very important life lesson: to be protective of the things you have, even though you might not be 100 percent grateful for it and to always stand up for what you believe in, even if you're the only one. So, I think those are definitely good themes that could help girls - and boys - learn how to represent their voices when there's a problem."

'Please, Baby, Please,' by Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Kadir Nelson

Age level: Grades 3-5

Genre: Comedy

Why Marley recommends it: When it comes to books for little kids, Marley has a tie: "Please, Baby, Please" and "Please, Puppy, Please." "They're really funny and sweet little books about a baby who is being a little trouble maker and then about a dog who's being a little trouble maker. They're funny and they're sweet and kids enjoy them."

Want to donate?

Marley continues to accept donations. You can send books to:

59 Main St., Suite 323 West Orange, NJ 07052

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Where's the color in kids' lit? Ask the girl with 1,000 books (and counting)

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Marley Dias is like a lot of 11-year-olds: She loves getting lost in a book. But the books she was reading at school were starting to get on her nerves. She enjoyed Where The Red Fern Grows and the Shiloh series, but those classics, found in so many elementary school classrooms, "were all about white boys or dogs ...

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This website is a resource for building social justice spaces in the classroom. There are lesson plans and anti-bias education for students.
http://www.teachingforchange.org/

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This is an article with 4 strategies to use when working with students of different languages.

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The face of the United States is changing, and so are many of your early childhood classrooms. As racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity increases, so does the importance of your role in teaching children to live and work together respectfully. In this article, you'll find suggestions and strategies for doing just that. Read on for advice on working with all children and families, fostering bilingualism, and encouraging tolerance and self-esteem.

Four Strategies for Working With Children and Families of Different Languages and Cultures

What happens during children's earliest years shapes whether they become open to or fearful of people with different skin colors and customs. It determines whether children learn to feel proud or ashamed of their heritage. It lays the foundation for children to grow up speaking English as well as the language of their home.

As an early childhood teacher, you play a crucial role in laying this foundation. You're creating the first group environment most children encounter outside their home, and your challenge is to make it inclusive and respectful. One key factor for success will be your ability to work well with children's families, some of whom may not speak English. The following four strategies can help.

Strategy 1: Exchange information with parents about race, language, and culture.

Orientation is a great place to start. Because this is often the first meeting between you and the parents of the children in your program, it can set the tone for your ongoing relationship and lay the foundation for open communication on sensitive topics, including race and culture. If you didn't discuss diversity at the start of the school year, it's not too late. Ask parents these questions:

How would you like us to recognize your child ethnically?

What family traditions would you like our program to acknowledge?

What can we learn about your culture to help us be as respectful as possible?

What language (or languages) does your family speak?

What holidays do you celebrate?

Remember to ask for information from families even when you and they are from a similar racial or ethnic group. In any group, opinions and practices may vary. A family's customs may differ due to religion, length of time in the United States, and other factors.

Strategy 2: Involve parents in the life of the school.

One way to build relationships with parents is by drawing them into school routines and events. Different programs have different ways of doing this. Teachers can take turns communicating with small groups of parents or coming in later on some mornings so they can stay late in the evening to be available to parents. Some programs encourage parents and teachers to write each other notes. In others, folders or steno pads (with one column for teachers and one for parents) convey information back and forth.

Another Idea: Ask parents and grandparents to share their experiences and skills with your class. Invite them in to talk about trips they've taken to their ancestral country or to demonstrate games, dancing, and crafts from their culture. Such presentations teach children about other cultures, give you information about families' backgrounds and traditions, and show children that you value their heritage.

Strategy 3: Use parent conferences to set mutual goals.

Your school may have a policy of holding meetings where parents and teachers can without distraction discuss the welfare of a child. Perhaps you even visit families' homes instead of asking parents to come to the school. Such visits are a great way to see the child and the family in their own environment and gain a better understanding of their culture and practices.

During conferences, work with parents to establish goals for their child. Such goals can relate specifically to cultural understanding, language development, and anti-bias attitudes. Striving toward a common goal can create opportunities for you and the parents to examine how you can help realize it at home and at school. For example, you may agree that a child should be grounded in his or her cultural traditions.

But it may not be realistic for parents to expect you to learn and then teach those traditions, especially if your classroom has children from a number of cultures. In this case, the parents may assume responsibility for teaching traditions to their child while you find ways to demonstrate in the classroom that you value those traditions.

Likewise, if a child's family speaks a language other than English, you and the parents can set a goal together to help the child retain the home language as he or she acquires English. Once you've done that, you can talk to parents about the steps all of you can take to achieve the goal.

Strategy 4: Validate home language in the classroom.

Some parents resist early childhood programs that promote bilingualism. English-speaking families may think that if teachers are using other languages, they're sacrificing instructional time in English. Research shows, however, that exposure to another language can enrich children's ability to acquire and comprehend languages in general.

Non-English-speaking families may not support the bilingual approach either. They often feel they're sending their children to school specifically to become fluent in English and therefore may object to using their home language in your program. They may need encouragement to nurture the child's first language so he or she won't lose the ability to speak and understand it.

Such a loss can be significant and far-reaching for both the child and the family. Because language is such an important component of culture, a child's fluency in the family language will affect his or her sense of identity. The use of the home language also promotes children's cognitive development, self-esteem, second language (usually English) acquisition, and academic preparation.

Your active support and validation of families' languages whether Spanish, Punjabi, or Japanese has a tremendous influence on how parents feel about your program and whether they get involved in school activities. Your actions also have a big effect on how children feel about their home language and whether they'll lose or retain it. To avoid communicating negative messages about home languages to children, ask yourself the following questions:

Do I respond to children when they initiate contact with me in their home language?

Do I encourage both children and parents to use their home language?

Do I take care not to use the home language only to reprimand children or give them directions?

Do I use the home language to give children positive reinforcement?

Do I create opportunities for children to use different languages in day-to-day activities?

Do I have classroom materials in the different home languages and are those materials equal in quality to the English materials?

Do I work with parents to identify when to validate home languages and dialects and when to emphasize standard English?

You can use this checklist now and throughout the year. By reinforcing home languages and communicating well with families, you'll be fostering the kind of classroom environment that can give children a strong start in life. Perhaps Anthony Behill, a member of the Chumash Tribe whose grandson attends a child-care program in California, best summed up the importance of focusing on diversity in the classroom. "Knowing who you are is important for attaining an education," he said, because knowing who you are gives you a base for learning everything."

Working It Out

Striking a balance between respecting a family's culture and standing up for what you believe in isn't always easy. What if you discover a parent is hitting a child? Is this part of the family's culture or child abuse? What if a parent believes that girls are less valuable than boys? What if parents don't want their child to call you by your first name? How would you resolve these issues in the classroom?

Think about your bottom line. People may legitimately disagree about the appropriateness of physical discipline, but if a home situation poses danger to a child, you must step in and be able to say why you did.

Understand why a family behaves a certain way. In less critical cases, talk to parents about your classroom routine and their home routines. Establishing an atmosphere of trust may keep tensions from escalating into clashes.

Agree to disagree. In the end, as long as the health of the child isn't at stake (which is usually the case), you and parents may come to compromise or simply accept differences. The important thing is to avoid letting any disagreement affect the children. Don't make them choose sides or feel bad about what their parents do at home.

Bridging the Language Barrier

A classroom can be a strange environment to parents whose primary language is not English. Some parents feel the need to be part of the system that socializes their children, but they're unable to bridge the language barrier. Others view education as their path to success and want their children to do well, but they feel uncertain about a language and culture that's different from their own. All these things put non-English speaking parents at a real disadvantage. Like all parents, they hunger for information about their child but may feel frustrated, powerless, or alienated. If they equate lack of recognition of their language with lack of respect for their culture, they may isolate themselves further. Here are some ways you can help bridge the barriers:

Establish a relationship of equality and respect from the start. If parents feel embarrassed about their English skills, you might share how frustrated you feel at not being able to communicate in their language. This demonstrates that you respect parents as equals and puts everyone at ease.

Link parents who speak the same language with one another. This is a way to encourage informal support networks among people who share similar experiences of being outside the mainstream. Parents can count on one another to translate, to solve problems, and just to commiserate about how difficult maneuvering through the system can be.

Show parents how much you value them. Reflect diversity of culture and language in your classroom. Translate notices into different languages by working with staff, community agencies, and parents themselves. And do all you can to involve parents in their children's education. Ultimately, you both have the need and responsibility to keep the lines of communication open.

At the time of this article's original publication, Hedy Chang was co-director of California Tomorrow, a non-profit organization in Oakland, California, committed to making racial and ethnic diversity work.

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Many Languages, Many Cultures | Scholastic

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The face of the United States is changing, and so are many of your early childhood classrooms. As racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity increases, so does the importance of your role in teaching children to live and work together respectfully. In this article, you'll find suggestions and strategies for doing just that.

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This website is dedicated to enhancing the capacity of teachers to work effectively and equitably with ELLs. Please view to get educational materials and the work of experts in the field that promotes high achievement for ELLs.

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This collection holds materials from the Education Alliance at Brown University. The Education Alliance was a reform support organization committed to advancing equitable educational opportunities that prepare all student populations to succeed in the 21st century. From 1975-2021, the Alliance partnered with schools, districts and state departments of education to apply research findings in developing solutions to educational challenges. Its mission was to enhance learning for culturally and linguistically diverse students and focused on district and school improvement with special attention to underperformance and issues of equity and diversity. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26300/7eez-dz04

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Brown Digital Repository | Collection | The Education ...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This collection holds materials from the Education Alliance at Brown University. The Education Alliance was a reform support organization committed to advancing equitable educational opportunities that prepare all student populations to succeed in the 21st century. From 1975-2021, the Alliance partnered with schools, districts and state departments of education to apply research findings in developing solutions to educational challenges.

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Research on implicit bias

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Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity

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Watch this video to see the importance of making lessons culturally relevant. Whether it is a Science lesson or other content areas, it is important to make sure your students' voice and culture is reflected in your lessons.

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Urban Science Education for the Hip-Hop Generation (HD)

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3 Tips to Make ANY Lesson More Culturally Responsive

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3 Tips to Make ANY Lesson More Culturally Responsive

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Last month, I reviewed Zaretta Hammond's fantastic book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Now I'm proud to have Zaretta here as a guest writer to share some specific strategies with us.

Culturally responsive teaching. Everybody is talking about it. The big question is: How do you actually make lessons culturally responsive? That comes up regularly when I am working with groups of teachers to improve outcomes for diverse students who are struggling. I remember working with a group of sixth grade teachers on improving learning for their at-risk students. These teachers were frustrated that their students, 95 percent of them students of color and English language learners, were not applying themselves to learning.

I suggested that we explore making lessons more culturally relevant in order to accelerate student learning. I remember the reaction of Janice, the science teacher. "I am not going to be rappin' about the periodic table," she said defiantly as she crossed her arms and sat back in her chair.

I couldn't blame her. Google "culturally responsive teaching" and you can find a dozen videos of well-meaning teachers leading some call-and-response chant about exponents or rapping about the Boston Tea Party while students sit back and giggle. That's because we usually talk about culturally responsive teaching only as an engagement strategy designed to motivate at-risk students to take learning seriously. Or we try to find a race-based connection to the content to make it "relevant" to minority students.

One of the biggest misconceptions about culturally responsive teaching is thinking you have to tie the lesson's content to African American or Latino students' racial background. The common belief is if you mention Africa, Mexico, or famous black and brown high achievers, it will spark students' attention. Then they will be motivated to participate.

In reality, culturally responsive teaching is less about using racial pride as a motivator and more about mimicking students' cultural learning styles and tools. These are the strategies their moms, dads, grandmas, and other community folks use to teach them life skills and basic concepts long before they come to school and during out-of-school time.

Culturally responsive teaching leverages the brain's memory systems and information processing structures. Why? Many diverse students come from oral cultural traditions. This means their primary ways of knowledge transfer and meaning-making are oral and active. It's a common cultural tradition that cuts across racial groups: African American, Latino, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander communities all have strong oral cultures. Each of these cultural groups uses the brain's memory systems for turning inert information into useable knowledge. They use memory strategies to make learning sticky, like connecting what needs to be remembered to a rhythm or music (that's why we still know the ABC song) or by reciting it in fun ways like a poem, riddle, or limerick.

I asked Janice what area of learning she wanted to help her kids improve. She said science vocabulary; they weren't learning the weekly words and it was getting in the way of their understanding of key concepts. She was frustrated and at the end of her rope. I asked how she was teaching it. She used the typical approach: On Monday, she listed the words on the board. Students copied them down and were required to look each word up and use it in a sentence. On Wednesday, there was a vocabulary test.

I suggested that we design word study to be more culturally responsive by making it more like the students' own cultural learning process. She was open for trying something different.

I offered her these three tips for transforming any lesson into something that looked and felt more culturally responsive to diverse students, something that would allow them to engage more and process the content effectively.

Games are the power strategy for culturally-grounded learning because they get the brain's attention and require active processing. Attention is the first step in learning. We cannot learn, remember, or understand what we don't first pay attention to. Call and response is just a way to get the brain's attention. Most games employ a lot of the cultural tools you'd find in oral traditions - repetition, solving a puzzle, making connections between things that don't seem to be related (Ever play Taboo or Apples to Apples?).

Organizing learning so that students rely on each other will build on diverse students' communal orientation. This communal orientation can be summed up in the African proverb, "I am because we are." Even making learning slightly competitive in a good-natured way increases students' level of attention and engagement. It's why the T.V. show Survivor has been around for so many years; it's a social-based game.

The brain is wired to remember stories and to use the story structure to make sense of the world. That's why every culture has creation stories. In oral traditions, stories play a bigger role in teaching lessons about manners, morality, or simply what plants to eat or not eat in the wilderness because it's the way content is remembered. Diverse students (and all students, really) learn content more effectively if they can create a coherent narrative about the topic or process presented. That's the brain's way of weaving it all together. (Bonus: It also offers a great way to check for understanding and correct misconceptions.)

So Janice took her weekly list of science vocabulary and created a variety of sorting and matching games for students. She built a set of simple card games based on Go Fish or Old Maid. In addition she created some team games. Each week students had different active ways to learn the vocabulary. For 10-15 minutes a couple of times during the week, students got to play these learning games rather than look up words in a dictionary. She gave them instructions for making the games at home if they wanted to.

Instead of the traditional weekly vocab test, she asked them to "storify" their understanding of key concept words like metamorphosis, using vocabulary from past weeks.

When I checked in with the group a few weeks later, she was the first one to share. She said student engagement was like night and day. Now all students were participating. She said she knew they were learning the vocabulary at a deeper level because they were actually using the new science terms during discussions and in their writing with no prompting from her.

The big A-ha's for the group that day were that (1) Culturally responsive teaching doesn't have to be some performance the teacher does to entertain students and (2) It doesn't have to mention race or reference culture at all. Instead, what makes a practice culturally responsive is that it mimics students' own cultural learning tools. They all realized that these practices are helpful for all students, not targeted at minority students.

The real trick is to use these strategies regularly as part of your instructional routine rather than doing them randomly every now and then. Consistency is the key. ♦

Learn more about how to improve diverse students' information processing skills and actually grow their brains in Zaretta Hammond's book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students .

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3 Tips to Make Any Lesson More Culturally Responsive

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Last month, I reviewed Zaretta Hammond's fantastic book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Now I'm proud to have Zaretta here as a guest writer to share some specific strategies with us. Culturally responsive teaching. Everybody is talking about it. The big question is: How do you actually make lessons culturally responsive?

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ways to actually bring some culturally responsive pedagody into the classroom ... 

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ways to actually bring some culturally responsive pedagody into the classroom ... 

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A child growing up today has unprecedented access to books, from audiobooks played through apps to the seemingly old but always relevant printed book. In this world of easy access to text, there is still something missing: books that represent all children. A student of color must scour the children's aisles to find a book that even in the most remote sense reflects him or her.

It's seemingly innocuous how a multitude of sample math problems reference Tom or Sally. The innocent white faces gazing up from textbooks unknowingly remind students that as the U.S. becomes more diverse, our materials and resources still fail to do so.

A study by the Cooperative Children's Book Center showed that of the 3,200 children's books published in 2013, only 93 were about black people. At a time when the black population represented approximately 12 percent of the total U.S. population, they represented less than one percent of children's books produced. The numbers are no better for other ethnic groups, as books representing American Indians, Latinos, or Asians all fail to push relevant numbers. The message from publishers and authors, however unintentional, is simple: Our teaching practices may change, our country may change, but the "standard student" does not change.

In creating an inclusive pedagogy, a task that many pledge to do but find the application difficult, we must remember that the text we select demonstrates our values.

How to Help Fix the Problem

1. Change the names. To be clear, what we don't want is tokenism. We want to avoid the current rash of "diverse" tests that are no more than racist stereotypes in print. There is power in adapting the problems to our students' contexts and love in allowing our students to see themselves in their work. We encourage them by having them solve real-world problems on paper before they go out and make those changes in their own lives. Opening my textbook to look at sample problems reveals the constant repetition of names that the majority of my students don't share. Changing the names to represent our students, to represent the diversity that is apparent in the world around them, is a simple way to help.

2. Search out new authors. Emily Dickinson will live on as a part of the literary canon, but Nikki Giovanni is a relevant supplement. The stories of Edward P. Jones make a great addition to any class. Adding authors from different backgrounds allows students to find themselves in resources and their voices in shared experience.

3. Be unafraid of real histories. The movements to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day are gaining momentum, but your classroom can take a stand on its own. Our history textbooks continue to share narratives of supremacy, subjugation, and inferiority. How can we expect students to grow when the history that we tell them is purely of enslavement and subjugation? Embracing authentic text, providing context to the events that have shaped American history, and allowing a critical eye to fall on events that are regularly taken for granted supports students in growing their cultural identity and their place in the world around them.

Not Settling for Incremental Increases

There has been a steady push for diverse books. Most notable are the pushes of #WeNeedDiverseBooks and @writersofcolour. Publishers have been called to task for not producing enough books that represent all children and their multitude of differences. While the increases are promising, we must not settle for just a few more books each year. We must change what it means to create books and what the standard is for all of us. Students have to experience books with black characters whose characterization goes far beyond simply being black. For too long, we have accepted characters that were stripped of depth, growth, and complexity, simply to produce a book or movie that appears inclusive.

Changing the Narrative

Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of the Broadway hit Hamilton, has made this a constant theme in his current work. Characters discuss "erasing themselves from the narrative" or "placing myself in the narrative" to show that history not only glorifies some for no good reason, but that it also diminishes others based on what we value. Hamilton, #GirlsLikeUs, @BlackGirlNerds, and podcasts like TWiB have helped change what we understand as beauty, change the narrative present in mainstream media, and claim a place in communities that have spent much of their power excluding others.

By expanding our resources to change how we think about scenarios, names, and groups that our students can be a part of -- or that they already belong to -- we can provide them with relevant and concrete affirmations of our belief in their abilities and successes.

How are you incorporating students' experiences into the educational resources that they use?

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Matching Student Resources With Student Experiences | Edutopia

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A child growing up today has unprecedented access to books, from audiobooks played through apps to the seemingly old but always relevant printed book. In this world of easy access to text, there is still something missing: books that represent all children.

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Here is a link to a great TED talk that was mentioned in the Edutopia article

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How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them

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Our biases can be dangerous, even deadly — as we’ve seen in the cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner, in Staten Island, New York. Diversity advocate Vernā Myers looks closely at some of the subconscious attitudes we hold toward out-groups. She makes a plea to all people: Acknowledge your biases. Then move toward, not away from, the groups that make you uncomfortable. In a funny, impassioned, important talk, she shows us how.

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This is a web site is an EXCELLENT resource to have as aspiring teachers. There are lesson plans that you can choose with Essential questions that are aligned with Common Core ELA standards. (Just remember to also include the WIDA or ACTFL standards!)

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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) enabled millions of Black and other voters of color an opportunity to participate in our democracy. Ten years ago, on June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder significantly weakened a key provision of the landmark VRA. These LFJ articles remind us of the struggle for voting rights and education and the powerful legacy of Freedom Summer 1964. As we confront current voter suppression and education censorship, let us continue the fight for justice in today's movement.

"Following record-breaking voter turnout in the 2020 election, several state legislatures passed laws to disenfranchise voters, especially in Black communities. These attempts at voter suppression work in concert with censorship policies targeting education to further undermine civics literacy and engagement in the United States." -Freedom Schools for Today's Social Justice Movement

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Learning for Justice | Education Resources

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Learning for Justice provides free resources to educators-teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners-who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.

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5 ways to challenge implicit bias

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"Why?" I implored. "My students are doing the same caliber of work as honors students at the magnet school across town."

" Our students aren't accelerated enough to handle an honors curriculum," he replied in a flat tone, as if to say, "Didn't you get the memo?" I was deeply troubled by this wrong-headed and frankly racialized assumption. My students were brilliant! Didn't he get the memo? But at age 26, as a white teacher learning to become an ally and advocate for students of color, I lacked the language to argue my position.

Implicit Bias: What Is It?

In recent years, I've learned about the powerful and pernicious impact of implicit bias on students' opportunities to learn. Implicit bias refers to the attitudes and stereotypes that unconsciously affect people's perceptions, actions, and decisions (Kirwan Institute for Race and Ethnicity). According to Professor John A. Powell of the University of California at Berkeley, only two percent of our emotional cognition is conscious; the remainder lives in our unconscious networks, where implicit racial and other biases reside. Biased messages can be framed to speak to the unconscious. As they stack up, the brain uses rapid cognition to assess the humanity, threat, and worth of other human beings. More concretely, the prefrontal cortex lights up when we see someone as "highly human," but it fails to activate when we dehumanize people (Equal Justice Society).

Implicit biases often stand in opposition to a person's stated beliefs. My assistant principal believed that he was an advocate for our students, but his actions were driven by unconscious assumptions that formed a glass ceiling over their achievements. We can't afford to ignore the far-reaching effects of implicit bias in schools, including:

Disproportionality in discipline: Policies that appear racially neutral on their face, but result in the over-representation of students of color -- particularly black boys -- in suspensions, expulsions, and referrals for subjective infractions like "defiance"

Disproportionality in special education: Misguided placements that result in the over-representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education programs

Teacher mindsets and beliefs: Underestimating the intellectual capacity of culturally and linguistically diverse students, and often girls, inside the classroom

Tracking: School policies that automatically place students of color in remedial or low-track courses

Dominant discourse: Ways of thinking and talking about students and families that diminish, underestimate, or even pathologize them

Challenging Implicit Bias

How can we listen, lead, and teach for equity in the face of implicit bias? Here are five keys:

1. Become aware of your biases so that you can interrupt them.

Before entering a conversation with a student, colleague, or parent who triggers you, takes a ten-second pause to ask yourself: "What are my biases toward this person? How can I disrupt my autopilot thoughts so that I can genuinely see and listen to him or her?" With awareness, you can replace biases with receptive listening and affirming thoughts.

2. Study and teach colleagues about implicit bias.

Here are a few facts that every educator should know:

Bias is a universal human condition that must be recognized and managed, not a personal defect.

We all carry biases from swimming in the waters of a racialized, inequitable society.

According to Stanford social psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, focusing on individual acts of bias, or weeding out the "bad people," won't solve the fundamental problem.

Listening helps us take in a person's multiple stories and disrupts biased thinking.

3. Pay attention to gap-closing teachers.

We all know teachers who connect with and support the success of every child. Consider how those teachers manage their own biases. How do they get to know their students as complex individuals? How do they build trust? What learning routines characterize their classrooms and humanize students? Through conscious reflection, you can isolate and track instructional practices that interrupt bias.

4. Stop tone policing.

Blogger Maisha Johnson defines tone policing in this way: "When marginalized people speak up about our struggles, and people from more dominant groups focus not on what we said, but how we said it." To challenge implicit bias, we must listen to the voices of colleagues who have been underestimated or misjudged. Often, however, when people of color are brave enough to name bias in schools, they hear that they're "too emotional" or "making things up." There's nothing made up about implicit bias. Learn from those who have the courage to speak up.

5. Tune into implicit bias in your school.

Ask yourself these questions:

Where do I see implicit biases playing out in our school?

What fear or apprehension do I have about addressing this issue?

How can I be an ally to colleagues, students, and families who experience bias in our school?

In a wonderful TED Talk, Verna Myers defines biases as "the stories we make up about people before we know who they actually are." She asks, "Who do you trust? Who are you afraid of? . . . How many authentic relationships do you have with young black people. . . or any other major difference from who you are?" A recent study found that 75 percent of white Americans have entirely white social networks -- an experience that results in exaggerated perceptions of difference as well as fear and threat. Knowing this, you can engineer experiences in the classroom and the staffroom that build bridges and challenge misconceptions.

What are your ideas about interrupting implicit bias? I would love to hear.

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5 Keys to Challenging Implicit Bias | Edutopia

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"Why?" I implored. "My students are doing the same caliber of work as honors students at the magnet school across town." " Our students aren't accelerated enough to handle an honors curriculum," he replied in a flat tone, as if to say, "Didn't you get the memo?"

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Learn about your implicit biases. Test takes 5 minutes.

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Preliminary Information

On the next page you'll be asked to select an Implicit Association Test (IAT) from a list of possible topics . We will also ask you (optionally) to report your attitudes or beliefs about these topics and provide some information about yourself.

We ask these questions because the IAT can be more valuable if you also describe your own self-understanding of the attitude or stereotype that the IAT measures. We would also like to compare differences between people and groups.

On the IAT, you may find it easier to pair certain attributes with one group of people compared to another. Your IAT results may depart from your personal beliefs.

Note: This site is designed for adults, aged 18 or older.

Data Privacy: Data exchanged with this site are protected by SSL encryption. Project Implicit uses the same secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) that banks use to securely transfer credit card information. This provides strong security for data transfer to and from our website. IP addresses are routinely recorded, but are completely confidential. For research purposes, data without directly identifying information is made publicly available. You can find more information on our Data Privacy page.

Important disclaimer: In reporting to you results of any IAT test that you take, we will mention possible interpretations that have a basis in research done (at the University of Washington, University of Virginia, Harvard University, and Yale University) with these tests. However, these Universities, as well as the individual researchers who have contributed to this site, make no claim for the validity of these suggested interpretations. If you are unprepared to encounter interpretations that you might find objectionable, please do not proceed further. You may prefer to examine general information about the IAT before deciding whether or not to proceed.

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I am aware of the possibility of encountering interpretations of my IAT test performance with which I may not agree. Knowing this, I wish to proceed I am aware of the possibility of encountering interpretations of my IAT test performance with which I may not agree. Knowing this, I wish to proceed using a touchscreen OR using a keyboard.

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On the next page you'll be asked to select an Implicit Association Test (IAT) from a list of possible topics . We will also ask you (optionally) to report your attitudes or beliefs about these topics and provide some information about yourself.