This book, now in its third edition, defines culturally responsive teaching as 'using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively.' It outlines six key practices of culturally responsive teaching, including having high expectations for all students, engaging students' cultural knowledges and experiences, bridging gaps between home and school practices, and critically questioning normative schooling practices. The book provides extensive research and practical strategies for implementing culturally responsive pedagogy, aiming to increase student engagement and academic success by aligning educational practices with students' cultural backgrounds[1][3][4].
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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.
Episode Resources
· Emily Affolter’s faculty page, https://prescott.edu/people/emily-affolter-ph-d/
· Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice, Geneva Gay, https://www.tcpress.com/culturally-responsive-teaching-9780807758762
· Relationship-rich education with Isis Artze-Vega, https://intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/14292897-relationship-rich-education-with-isis-artze-vega
· Universal Design for Learning at scale with Thomas Tobin, https://intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/14935277-universal-design-for-learning-at-scale-with-thomas-j-tobin
· “The Importance of Indigenous Knowledge in Curbing the Loss of Language and Biodiversity,” Wilder, O’Meara, Monti, & Nabhan, https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/66/6/499/2754233
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