Culturally relevant teaching is important.

My definition of culturally responsive teaching as being attuned and acknowledging students diverse backgrounds. It also means educating them with the lens that their heritage, background and cultural assets are advantages and can enhance their education.

I saw the importance of culturally relevant teaching with my work in urban schools.  Students already possess a genius within them because of the experiences, culture and heritage that they bring to the classroom. It is up to the teacher to facilitate and nurture this genius within children.

I was made aware of this repeatedly in my teaching. For example, I taught a second grade lesson poetry using a poem written by Langston Hughes and the students were able to dissect and find hidden meaning within the poem without a lot of prompting.

Culturally relevant teaching helps to improve students’ confidence.

Teaching students about their history gives them a sense of confidence and identity that lasts throughout their lifetime.

My early learning experience demonstrates this point beautifully. As an example, I spent my formative years in Jamaica, where I attended elementary school. In our history lessons we learned about early kingdoms in Africa, particularly Ghana.

We learned about the rich cultural practices such as drumming and stories that taught enduring lessons. These learnings have stayed with me into my adult life and helped me to form a positive identity of myself.

I think about the students who never get the opportunity to learn their history and the damage it can cause to their self esteem.

Students of diverse backgrounds will thrive in an environment that has high expectations of them.

In terms of culturally responsive teaching, when students see that their teachers value and know their history, it gives them a sense of confidence.

In other words, when students see themselves in someone who is confident, it gives them the permission to be confident in spite of their circumstances.

Culturally relevant teaching is a need and not a nice to have in education.

Students deserve an education that values their background, history and heritage.

These are just some of my thoughts on culturally responsive teaching. As teachers and human beings we evolve, learn and grow and so should our practices.

What are some of your teaching practices that you consider culturally relevant?