Culturally Responsive Teaching with Emily Affolter
Aug 20, 2024
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Emily Affolter, a PhD program educator in Sustainability Education at Prescott College, shares her insights on culturally responsive teaching. She discusses how to build trust with diverse students and reimagines learning with equity at the forefront. Emily emphasizes the importance of acknowledging instructors' identities and the role they play in fostering inclusivity. The conversation also touches on decolonizing marine biology and how personal experiences, like birdwatching, can challenge fixed categories in science education, promoting a more open and pluralistic approach.
Culturally responsive teaching reshapes classroom dynamics to ensure equity by valuing diverse student backgrounds and fostering meaningful dialogue.
Building trust through open discussions about identities and power dynamics creates a supportive environment for all students to engage fully.
Deep dives
Culturally Responsive Teaching in Diverse Contexts
Culturally responsive teaching focuses on understanding and addressing the diverse backgrounds of students. It involves rethinking classroom dynamics to create equitable spaces where all voices are heard and valued. In the context of a PhD program in Sustainability Education, educators aim to connect academic content with students’ professional experiences from various fields, such as music and medicine. This approach emphasizes the need for educators to be reflective about their own positionality and how it influences their teaching methods and interactions with students.
Trust and Relationships in the Classroom
Building trust is essential for fostering a supportive learning environment where all students feel comfortable participating. By openly discussing their own identities and the power dynamics present in the classroom, educators can create a space that encourages vulnerability and mutual respect. This encourages students, especially those with marginalized identities, to share their perspectives and engage in meaningful dialogue. The goal is to create a community where trust and belonging lead to deeper learning experiences for all participants.
Balancing Instruction and Student Input
Effective instruction requires a balance between predefined learning objectives and responsiveness to student needs and interests. While educators may have a structured curriculum, it is crucial to remain flexible and open to student feedback to foster a participatory learning environment. This can involve using formative assessments to gauge understanding and adapt teaching strategies accordingly. Encouraging students to take an active role in shaping their learning experiences creates a sense of ownership and promotes a collaborative atmosphere.
Decolonizing Knowledge in Education
The concept of decolonizing knowledge challenges mainstream narratives and recognizes the importance of indigenous perspectives. Engaging with indigenous communities and their understanding of ecosystems sheds light on alternate classifications and knowledge systems overlooked by traditional science. This approach not only enriches academic discourse but also promotes a more equitable exchange of knowledge, empowering diverse voices. By fostering curiosity and openness to multiple ways of knowing, educators can help students develop a more nuanced understanding of the world around them.
Emily Affolter teaches in the PhD program in sustainability education at Prescott College in Arizona. Her students come from all different professions, some even already have PhDs. They’re in the program to pursue what Emily describes as “social and environmental justice as enacted in teaching, learning, and leading.” How do Emily and her colleagues meet these diverse students where they are and help them achieve their goals? That’s where culturally responsive teaching comes in, which Emily describes as reimagining a class with equity at the center.
Emily talks with me about what culturally responsive teaching looks like in her program at Prescott, how to build trust with one's students, the unique position an instructor has in fostering equity, how to work toward equity even in large lecture courses, and what it means to decolonize marine biology.