Culturally Responsive Teaching isn’t a set of activities. It isn’t multicultural education or social justice education. It is a pedagogy that acknowledges the power of the affective filter, the psychological filter that enhances or hinders learning, and creates opportunities for students to become independent learners and thinkers. It is very much about building relationships in which students feel valued and about increasing the cognitive load-bearing capacity of students.
Culturally Responsive Teaching isn’t something we do for our BIPOC students, but rather reflects sound instruction and results in all students being better equipped to live and work in a diverse world.
Resources to explore:
- Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, blog post by Zaretta Hammond
- Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students, a deep-dive by Zaretta Hammond, e-book version available soon from the libraries’ Anti-Racism Resources
- A New Kind of PD, short episode on the Teaching Channel’s PD Podcast
- Culturally Responsive Teaching at the Education Alliance at Brown University, of particular interest is the link to Culturally Mediated Instruction
Variety of sources available for you to browse in the NMC Library collection