"Culturally Relevant Teaching is a pedagogy that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes."^[1]

First introduced by Dr.Gloria Ladson-Billings in 1992 as "culturally relevant teaching", the term is now widely known and accepted in the education field. Many leading scholars have added to the quality research and study Dr. Ladson-Billings originally published. According to John Uzo Ogbu, "A culturally relevant pedagogy must provide a way for students to maintain their cultural identity while succeeding academically".

Tenets of Culturally Relevant Teaching

1. "Students whose educational, economic, social, political, and cultural futures are most tenuous are helped to become intellectual leaders in the classroom."
2. "Students are apprenticed in a learning community rather than taught in an isolated way."
3. "Students' real life experiences are legitimized as they become part of the "official" curriculum."
4. "Teachers and students participate in a broad conception of literacy that incorporates both literature and oratory."
5. "Teachers and students engage in a collective struggle against the status quo."
6. "Teachers are cognizant of themselves as political beings." ^[2]

Characteristics of Culturally Relevant Teachers

1. View teaching as an art rather than a science
2. Believe all students can achieve
3. Maintain fluid relationships with students, parents, and the community
4. Demonstrate connectedness with students
5. Believe in shared knowledge between teachers and students
6. Help students make connections between community, national, and global identities.

History

Many methods and theories, such as: "culturally congruent", "cultural appropriateness", "cultural responsiveness", and "cultural compatibility", are concerned with diverse students and their accessibility to the school. Culturally relevant pedagogy is different because of the long-term study used to map out the specific characteristics of culturally relevant teachers and their methods. Its importance stems from the attention it has called to the needs of African American children (or children belonging to a culture besides the dominant one) and the need for teacher education programs to teach and prepare their student-teachers for working in a diverse classroom. Another leading scholar in culturally relevant teaching Geneva Gay states, "The validation, information, and pride it generates are both psychologically and intellectually liberating."^[3]

Example

When a culturally relevant teacher is confronted with a situation in which his/her students do not understand a text, because the text's information is so completely removed from their own lives and experiences, the teacher would remove the text and using different examples or materials would teach to the student's knowledge base.

References

External links

Coffey, Heather (2008). Culturally Relevant Teaching.http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4474

No author identified. Culturally Responsive Teaching.http://www.intime.uni.edu/multiculture/curriculum/culture/Teaching.htm

Similar terms include: Culturally Appropriate; Culturally Congruent; Culturally Responsive; and Culturally Compatible

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