A Reflection on Culturally Responsive Teaching

           A couple of weeks ago, I attended The Batschelet Conference on Intercultural and Intersectional Competence for School Leaders: Building an Empirical Base for Professional Development at Penn State University. At this conference I was able to attend two different speaker’s talks. From each talk, I gained a new perspective of how to approach Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) and how to be a culturally competent individual. 

Three quotes that stood out:

“Teachers set the tone for acceptance in their classroom” -Dr. Annmarie Jackson

How will you create a welcoming tone in your classroom for all students?

“Every culture makes you strong and weak at the same time” -George Spindler 

Exposure to other cultures strengthens the positives of your own culture while allowing for reflection on the weak points, clarifying your core values.

“Pushback is pushing a generation forward” -Robyn ‘Queen-Educator’

Starting a conversation about a differing viewpoint pushes someone into action.

During the conference, hearing multiple perspectives and approaches to CRT, I left feeling conflicted about which approach to follow. On the one hand, Dr. Annmarie Jackson explained how she believes that all students should be treated similarly, minimizing differences while meeting individual needs. I agree that students should not be called out or put on the spot simply because of their cultural background, but I also think we should celebrate cultural differences as much as students are willing to in order to expose others to diversity. Robyn ‘Queen-Educator’ brought a different perspective: that we should celebrate differences in the classroom, share our cultures and learn about others to become as globally competent as possible. This approach is also challenging however, because you never want to put a student on the spot, making them feel pressured to share more than they are comfortable with. 

After grappling with all of the information I took in for a couple days, I have come to the conclusion that there is no single right way to approach CRT. The appropriate approach depends on your class and on your students. It depends on their individual backgrounds, needs, and comfort levels in sharing with each other. Though this is out of a teacher’s control, teachers can work to make their classrooms welcoming environments where students feel comfortable to share about themselves and the parts of their lives that make them who they are. By enforcing a safe space, you are doing your part to let students open up and share the diversity that makes your classroom colorful.