Office Chat: Culturally Responsive Teaching

I had the pleasure of talking with Dr. Kavatus Newell today about Culturally Responsive Teaching. In this interview Dr. Newell explains that culturally responsive teaching is a method for differentiating our instruction to facilitate learning for students of differing cultural backgrounds.  Just as we can enhance learning by incorporating visuals for visual learners and multimedia for auditory learners, we can assist students from diverse cultures by creating an inviting environment in which to learn.

This can include using labels in multiple languages, incorporating cultural symbols, and displays of artifacts from various cultures. But even more significant than these physical signs of inclusiveness is the psychological and social atmosphere of the classroom.  As teachers we can examine ourselves to become aware of any biases we may and strvie to eliminate those. We can gain awareness by talking with our students, with their parents, and with community leaders from that culture.  And in order for that dialogue to be genuine there must be a level of trust established by which students, parents, and teachers feel open and invited to communicate.

In speaking of cultural responsiveness we should be aware that culture involves race, gender, ethnicity, nationality and a host of other factors that influence a student’s background knowledge. By incorporating language, symbols, and ideas from the student’s  knowledge base we have the opportunity to assist the student in gaining a greater understanding as they construct knowledge, to reach for the upper limit of their zone of proximal development as Vygotsky discussed.

We have this obligation and opportunity in teaching online students as well as students in the classroom. Responsiveness in teaching is just as true online as it is face-to-face; as effective a tool for teaching students of varying learning styles as teaching students of varying cultural backgrounds. So, in designing your online course, which is after all a teaching environment – a learning community, we should look for ways to be aware of cultural backgrounds and incorporate symbols and language which presents an inviting environment to the online student.

References:

The Education Alliance: Teaching Diverse Learners — Culturally Relevant Teaching. http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crt-principles.shtml

Culturally Responsive Teaching.
 http://www.culturallyresponsive.org/index.html