Impact of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy on Teaching and Learning

 

“What is the impact of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy on Teaching and Learning?”

“Culturally relevant teachers create a net… that is designed to catch all the students. The goal is not coverage. The goal is mastery.” (Ladson-Billings, 2014)

 

Wow… This quote from Gloria Ladson-Billings stopped me in my tracks when listening to her speech “Hip Hop/Hip Hope: Reinventing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy”. I listened to her description of the pride that many teachers, especially professors take, in making a class the “weed out” class. I know I have sat through my fair share of lectures led by professors who wore this badge of honor. But Gloria’s point is that a truly culturally responsive teacher will ensure that he or she is there to truly support all of the students in that classroom to reach whatever goals and aspirations they have. I really appreciate the fact that she recognizes and points on that these goals are individual to the students and have to be owned by them. This philosophy was supported through her policy that she always allowed her students to revise and revisit their work to achieve whatever success looked like to them.

I saw an example of this in my last placement in a elementary math classroom. The teacher gave each student a “mad minute” math worksheet and the class would have five minutes to complete as many problems as they could. The following day, students who completed all problems correctly would be given a new set of problems that would allow them to continue advancing in difficulty. Students who had either not completed the problems or had answered questions incorrectly were given the original piece of paper back to revisit those questions. This allowed students to not only progress at their own pace (students were not aware of how quickly or slowly other students in the class were advancing through the various problems so there was no sense of competition) but it also allowed students to understand where they were making mistakes to adjust their thinking as they revised the incorrect problems. This isn’t just about math… it’s about teaching the students perseverance, goal setting, and problem solving.

I also really like the idea that culturally relevant pedagogy is as much about fostering cultural competence in our students as it is a perspective for us as teachers to understand and appeal to the various cultures in their classroom. “Bi-culturally competent” (Ladson-Billings, 2014) as Gloria mentioned, should be the goal for all students. At surface level, you might think… just two? Just the student’s culture and one other? But I think if a person is truly fluent in one culture outside of their own, it opens pathways for empathy, understanding, and curiosity that serves people of ALL cultures. I am becoming more comfortable in the fact that I am probably only culturally literate (thinking a step or two below fluent) in one or two other cultures outside of my own… which isn’t good enough for my future students. So I am going to challenge myself to find a culture that I can work towards becoming culturally fluent within my fall placement and spring student teaching assignment. As I learn more in this class, I will update my IPDP to contain one of these goals to hold myself accountable.  

 

References

 

Ladson-Billings, G. (2014, October 29). Hip Hop/Hip Hope: Reinventing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_-_NDCiLLQ