Creating a Culturally
Responsive School
Presented By:
LaAlice Hopkins, NELA Principal Resident, NNHS
Debbie Hite, Assistant Principal, NNHS
Objectives
• To explain & assess the need to be
culturally responsive
• To analyze personal biases & the impact
on teaching & leadership
• To discover cultural instructional
practices that boost student achievement
Culture Walk
“Education should not be the filling of a
pail, but the lightening of a fire.”
– William Butler Yeats
What does it mean to be
Culturally Responsive?
Cultural responsiveness is the ability to
learn from and relate respectfully with
people of your own culture as well as
those from other cultures.
Culturally Proficient
“A culturally proficient educator has a
palpable sense of his or her own culture
and has the self-awareness to discern
what about him/herself may be offensive
to others or what may be perceived as a
barrier to others-especially if they are a
member of an alpha or agent culture.”
(Culturally Proficiency, A Manual for School Leaders, p. 121)
Cultural Competence
The ability to successfully communicate
and empathize with people from diverse
cultures and incomes, skills needed to
close the achievement gap.
4 Tools for Developing Cultural Competence
The Barriers
”Why should I learn
about their culture?
They moved here,
they should learn
ours.”
-Systems of
oppression
-Sense of privilege or
entitlement
-Unawareness of the
need to adapt
The Guiding Principles
These are the core
values, the
foundation
-Culture
is a predominant force
-People are served in varying
degrees by the dominant culture
-Acknowledge group identities
-Diversity within culture is
important
-Respect unique cultural needs
- Best of both worlds enhances
the capacity of all.
Cultural Proficiency Continuum
The Essential Elements
What’s in a Label?
Inside - Out Change
Commitment to:
*Examine own values, assumptions, & behaviors
*Working with colleagues to examine school’s & district
policies & practices
*Becoming an integral part of community you serve by
learning with & from community
Inside - Out Change
The journey toward cultural proficiency
involves you in:
*Introspection: understanding your own thoughts,
feeling, motives
*Reflections: examine your actions
*Examination: study current policies & practice of
school & district
Inside - Out Change cont.
The journey toward cultural proficiency
involves you in:
*Analysis: understand the relationship of all parts of
schooling processes
*Planning: being intentional in providing for social &
academic needs of all demographic groups of
students.
Characteristics of Culturally
Responsive Pedagogy
1. Students receive equal opportunities to achieve full potential.
2. Student preparation for competent participation in increasingly
intercultural society.
3. Teacher preparation for effective facilitation of learning for every
student.
4. Schools are active participants in ending oppression of all types.
5. Education more fully student-centered and inclusive of the student
voices and experiences.
6. Educators, activists, and others take active roles in reexamining all
educational practices and how they affect the learning of all students.
Equality vs. Equity
Engage in Equitable Practices
The Race
Cultural Disconnect
Leads to:
•Poor self-concepts
•Discipline problems
•Poor academic outcomes for minorities
Discipline Data
Reflection: Equitable Treatment
of Students
*Which students are being disciplined most often?
*What behaviors are targeted as needing disciplinary
attention?
*Are we more patient & encouraging with some
students, and more likely to chastise others?
*What is the root cause of student resistance?
*Do we make stereotypical judgments of our students
character & academic potential?
Common Beliefs
• Each group read their card and discuss
the questions. Be prepared to share your
group’s thoughts in 30 seconds.
Key Features of Culturally Responsive
Teaching
Are our classrooms/schools
meeting the needs?
Building Relationships
1. To what extent, do you make your students feel
welcome in your classroom? How do you greet
students?
2. How do you facilitate mutual sharing opportunities
that promote relationship building?
3. What ways do you think your body language impact
teacher-student relationships?
4. What strategies might you use to strengthen your
relationship with your students & incorporate that
knowledge into instruction?
Communication of High
Expectations
• High expectations
influence
– Teacher-student
relationships
– Student performance
– Motivation
– Self-concept
Teacher as the Facilitator
• Develop
learning
activities that
are relevant
to student’s
cultural
experiences
• Stretch
students
beyond the
familiar
Cultural Sensitivity
•
•
•
Children whose language &
culture correspond more
closely to school have an
advantage in learning
process
If children experiences are
devalued or unrecognized
become alienated &
disengaged in learning
process
Cultural sensitivity is not
equated to stereotyped
artifacts of a culture
Reshape the Curriculum
An effective culturally
responsive curriculum
characteristics:
•Is integrated &
interdisciplinary
•Meaningful, studentcentered, connects to
student’s real life
•Develops higher order
knowledge & skills
•Variety of learning strategies
Student-Controlled Classroom
Discourse
•
Understand the home &
community norms
Active Teaching Methods
•
•
•
Shift from traditional teachercentered format to where students
are empowered to direct their own
learning
Example: inquiry-based curriculum
that encourages students to work
together on content that is socially &
culturally relevant to them.
Questions, activities, & actions
extend to parents & community are
consistent to ways they learn
outside of school & link to real life
issues.
Positive Perspectives of
Families
Reframe the Question
Why are students failing?
How are the learning
experiences provided
by our district, school,
or classroom failing
these students?
If we seek to improve student performance, we
must focus on the work or learning experiences we
provide to students.
Instructional Strategies
*Call & Response
*Cooperative Learning
*Differentiated Instruction
Call & Response
Interaction between speaker & listener in
which statements (calls) are emphasized
by expressions (responses) from
listeners in which responses can be
solicited or spontaneous.
Cooperative Learning
Learner centered
instructional process
where you
intentionally select
small groups to work
together on a welldefined learning
task
Examples:
*Think-Pair-Share
*Roundtable
*Corners
*Graffiti
*Jigsaw
*Group investigation
Differentiated Instruction
*Teachers adapt their instruction to
student differences
*Teachers modify instruction to meet
individual student’s readiness levels,
preferences, and interests.
*Content, Process, Product
Feel free to contact us:
LaAlice Hopkins
lwhopkins@nrms.k12.nc.us
Debbie Hite
dlhite@nrms.k12.nc.us
(252) 937-9040