Bridging Cultural Divides: Why Culturally Responsive Teaching is Essential in the Classroom

By: Mercy Hillo

Today’s classrooms face a critical challenge: bridging cultural divides that hinder learning. Culturally responsive teaching is a research-based approach that centers students’ identities and experiences by acknowledging cultural differences and their influence on learning. Culturally responsive teaching centers student cultural backgrounds to facilitate connections with their studies. Unlike other methods of teaching that center dominant culture, this approach engages each student's experience to optimize their learning experience. By integrating students’ identities, educators build deeper connections with their students and create classrooms where students can thrive.

Cultural backgrounds play an important role in student learning. Students' upbringing can influence the way they think, act, and feel. Some students may learn differently and thus need inclusive forms of teaching. Differences in the dominant culture at school and the backgrounds of students can lead to cultural gaps that hinder learning. If left undressed, they can lead to misunderstandings in the classroom that cause students to underachieve. In more severe cases, cultural gaps can make marginalized students more vulnerable to disproportionate discipline and even contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline. Culturally responsive teaching addresses these gaps and works to address barriers in teaching to elevate all students.

In the classroom, culturally responsive teaching can take shape in many forms. For instance, classrooms equipped with books from a diverse collection of authors is a standard culturally responsive teaching practice. This is because it offers diverse representation for students. A more subtle example could be simply learning about students. At the beginning of the year, teachers can hand out surveys or questionnaires to help get a full picture of all of their students.  This allows teachers to have an in-depth understanding of their students. In both these instances students are embraced into the classroom environment which further engages them in their learning.

Culturally responsive teaching provides further benefits in the classroom. Along with engaging students, this approach encourages critical thinking in the classroom. It allows room for students to ask difficult questions and build social awareness. Additionally, this strategy promotes a sense of safety and belonging. Even small actions such as incorporating diverse books allows students to feel supported and affirmed in their learning. Statistically, this approach can reduce educational achievement gaps between the lowest and highest achievers whilst also elevating all levels of educational achievement. 

Despite its benefits, culturally responsive teaching has received significant backlash from political opponents. In a recent executive order mandated by the Trump Administration, publicly funded classrooms are prohibited from using language related to race, gender, and sexual orientation. This order is one of few attacks on teaching that centers identity. Orders like this one prohibit teachers from acknowledging diverse identities and thus censor them from recognizing social barriers their students may face, ultimately deepening cultural gaps.

Amidst a divisive political climate, teachers should make a concerted effort to embrace their students' cultural backgrounds. While culturally responsive teaching can sometimes involve simple practices, it is overall a complex approach that requires the cooperation of teachers, administrators, schools systems, and even the law. Without adequate resources, teachers may feel overwhelmed or helpless. However, there are several concrete steps teachers can take to facilitate a culturally responsive classroom: 

• Teachers should make learning contextual by drawing parallels between learning and real world experiences

• Encourage students to leverage their cultural backgrounds

• Build relationships with students by getting to know them beyond academics 

While these are just a few steps to attaining a culturally responsive classroom, they make a large difference to students’ learning experiences

Culturally responsive teaching promotes a learning environment where all students are represented, acknowledged, and heard. In doing so, it fosters engagement and prepares students for success outside the classroom. Because of this, teachers are encouraged to make efforts to embrace all their students and commit to reducing cultural gaps for the success of all students.