Culturally responsive teaching is an approach to education that recognizes and nurtures unique cultural strengths that every student brings to the classroom not only to encourage success but also to promote an open-minded, supportive environment that celebrates cultural differences. Thus, culturally responsive teaching strategies build trust and encourage collaboration in the school community; improve communication, and create a supportive, respectful atmosphere where every student can thrive (School of Education, December 5, 2019).
Some characteristics of culturally responsive teaching strategies are; getting to know the students and their families, designing an inclusive curriculum, accounting for language differences, communicating consistently high expectations, facilitating student empowerment, and addressing teachers’ biases (School of Education, December 5, 2019). We, teachers, should be familiar with these characteristics as they improve student success and enrich their learning experiences.
My class comprises several ethnic minorities and a few immigrants.
…show more content…
We can incorporate books and some forms of media that highlight our students’ cultural backgrounds, or, ask them to write about their cultural heritage and share it with the class. For example, for the ‘Urbanization’ topic, some students have their own family stories of political or social reasons for leaving rural regions. For the “Traditional snacks’ topic, their family can participate with some demonstration of the unique formula of their traditional snacks. In a culturally responsive lesson, students’ LI proficiency is acknowledged and appreciated as an important accomplishment. This also promotes a culturally inclusive learning environment and allows students to use their two languages in productive contact (Keyes et al.,