Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies by

Culturally Responsive Library

mcksimmons — 2024-03-28 14:45:40 UTC

As a teacher a strategy to support and highlight cultures would be to include stories that discuss various cultures and ethnicities. Another important library consideration is ensuring having authors from a variety of cultural backgrounds (Burnham, 2020). This could be specifically applicable to k-5 teachers with classroom libraries as well as ELA teachers in higher grades that have a classroom library.

Rapport Building

mcksimmons — 2024-03-28 15:04:58 UTC

Building a strong relationship with students allows teachers to learn more about students cultures and personal beliefs. This can support other strategies that are specific to cultural considerations. A way this could be accommodated would be through icebreakers early in the year or questionnaires.

Consider guest speakers

mcksimmons — 2024-03-28 16:03:36 UTC

Invite guest speakers from the community in positions of interest in your classroom. One prime example would be woman engineers or doctors to show representation. This could be most effective in early high school classes to prepare students for the career field and encourage them to follow career goals.

Normalize Pronoun Introductions

mcksimmons — 2024-03-28 16:16:36 UTC

In the beginning of the school year allow students to create their own self introductions. Provide an example and include basics such as legal name/preferred name, pronouns, and any other information that could be insightful regarding identity. This would likely be most appropriate in high school classes.

Expectations

mcksimmons — 2024-03-28 16:27:47 UTC

Create non-negotiable classroom strategies that promote respect among classmates. Then include students in creating their own community rules and expectations for one another that are relevant to their experiences and culture (Howe & Lisi, 2024).

mcksimmons — 2024-03-28 16:41:06 UTC

Burnham, K. (2020, July 31). Culturally responsive teaching: 5 strategies for educators. Northeastern University Graduate Programs. https://graduate.northeastern.edu/resources/culturally-responsive-teaching-strategies/

Howe, W. A., & Lisi, P. L. (2024). Becoming a multicultural educator: Developing awareness, gaining skills, and taking action. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Self-reflective presentations

mcksimmons — 2024-03-28 16:56:39 UTC

Encourage students to research their own cultures or share about their families culture and beliefs. This could be done in a presentation way where students share with their class. This would also support students learning about other cultures and their classmates.

Allow for Written or Verbal Responses

mcksimmons — 2024-03-28 17:49:17 UTC

Being mindful of language barriers and when possible allow for students to respond written or verbally. This could include directly telling the teacher their response or utilizing text to speech services (Howe & Lisi, 2024).

Language Awareness

mcksimmons — 2024-03-30 19:09:03 UTC

It is important to be aware of students primary languages and how this could affect them in the classroom. Teachers could ask students and families questions about their English fluency and other languages spoken.

Activating Prior Knowledge

mcksimmons — 2024-03-30 19:12:17 UTC

Be aware of students experiences and how this may vary culturally when making references to personal anecdotal references. Use the rapport and knowledge of your students to activate their previous knowledge.

Show and Tell

mcksimmons — 2024-03-30 19:16:46 UTC

Show and tell is a great way to engage youth in cultural reflection and sharing. Students can bring items from a family tradition to share with their class or exist in the classroom space as a representation of their identity and culture. This would be great for a younger group of students.