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As educators seek to implement a culturally responsive pedagogy in their school and classroom, some critical reflective questions teachers and school administrators may ask themselves:

1. What does a classroom and school look like when it is inclusive and when instruction is responsive to the full range of student diversity?

2. What questions might we reflect upon to examine our own biases towards diversity and cultural responsiveness?

3. How might we integrate specific life experiences of our students into daily instruction?

4. How might we support students in making decisions about their learning that integrate who they are and what they already know with their home and community experiences?

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Strategies for Implementing a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

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Strategies for Implementing a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

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The Ministry offers some helpful strategies that support a culturally responsive pedagogy. They consist of:

Recognizing the informal and subtle ways in which our curriculum emphasizes what is valued and undervalued in our society

Using inquiry-based approaches to student learning

Using a variety of resources that reflect the lives of students and the community

Seeing the curriculum as flexible and adaptive to the lived experiences of the students

Knowing and building upon students’ prior knowledge, interests, and learning styles

Differentiating instruction and offering a wide range of opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning

Ensuring that the socio-cultural consciousness of students is also developed

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Educators capitalize on the wealth of research available to them to promote culturally responsive teaching practices in their classroom.

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Educators possess a deep knowledge of their students, their varied backgrounds and learning styles, which informs their daily teaching practices. Such a richness brought to the classroom adds depth and meaning to the curriculum for the students.

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Educators undertake a constructivist approach to their teaching which integrates “locally situated learning into daily instruction and learning processes” (p. 5).

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Educators desire to make a difference and see themselves as agents of change in fostering equity and inclusivity in the classroom. Educators strive to remove “deeply problematic systemic and institutional” (p. 5) barriers present in the classroom, which affect certain vulnerable groups such as students with special needs, or students described as having low socio-economic status, or students with language difficulties.

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The personal dimension refers to the mindset of culturally responsive educators with an emphasis placed on practising ongoing self-awareness and self-reflection when teaching.

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Educators maintain high expectations of all their students and “hold positive and affirming views of their students and their ability to learn and achieve academic success” (p. 4) embracive of the students’ social identities.

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Educators possess a socio-cultural consciousness by self-reflecting on their position as educators, continually questioning their own attitudes and practices, and understanding how social identities are shaped by society.

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There are six characteristics that define the mindset of a culturally responsive educator

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The instructional dimension refers to teaching practices that reflect a great understanding of the students’ background knowledge and learning styles and incorporating that knowledge into student-based inquiry and learning.

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School administration and leadership exerts an important influence on student achievement and can greatly shape the inclusiveness and cultural responsiveness present in a school. School administrators are responsible for fostering a school-wide inclusive community and fostering caring relationships between parents and the school community.

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A Culturally Relevant Pedagogy consists of Three Dimensions

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Culturally relevant teaching integrates a student’s background cultural knowledge and home and community experiences into the curriculum and teaching practices in the classroom.

Under such an approach, educators come to understand that students’ learning styles are influenced by a multitude of factors, including social and cultural identity. Such an understanding is essential for all teachers and, in particular, ELL teachers.

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What is a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy?

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What is a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy?

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A culturally responsive pedagogy is one in which schools and classroom embrace a vision for an inclusive education system that provides equitable learning opportunities for all students by removing any discriminatory biases and barriers, inclusive of ethnicity and language. Such an approach recognizes the significance of students' varied social identities, not just by acknowledging them but by nurturing them as well.