Beginning to Examine Universal Practices with a Culturally Responsive Lens Action Planning Tool
TRUE COLORS



Fill out the true colors survey, identifying your own personal style(s).
Identify a specific student or fellow coworker that you have experienced personal style
differences.
Use the student color characteristics and teacher value charts to action plan towards
more positive relationship building and improved outcomes. Compare and contrast your
own personal style preferences to those of your student/coworker. Action plan around
ways you could bridge the differences and identify 1-2 items you could try from the
student characteristics/teacher value sheets.
CULTURAL BEHAVIORS SPECTRUM
Look at both sides of the Cultural Behaviors Spectrum and action plan around how to
incorporate more non-traditional line items in your programming.
CULTURAL RELEVANCY DEFINITION
Cultural Relevancy Definition by Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings
Gloria Ladson-Billings (UW-Madison) coined the term “cultural relevancy” in 1994. It is a way of
teaching that “empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using
culture to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes.”
Key components of culturally responsive practices are:
• teachers who are culturally competent about their students’ cultural beliefs and practices;
• teachers who think of all of their students as capable learners, have high expectations for
them, and help the students set short and long term goals for themselves;
• teachers who know each student and draw on the students’ own experiences to help them
learn;
• teachers who have a wide variety of teaching strategies and skills to engage the students;
• teachers who can help the students deal with the inequitable treatment of students of color
and other underserved populations by helping them become critically conscious and
knowledgeable about the students' culture; and
• teachers who can create a bridge between the students’ home and school lives while meeting
district and state curricular requirements.

Look at the Cultural Relevancy definition from Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings

Identify three line items to work on with your district/school improvement plan to work
toward achieving improved outcomes.
VALIDATE, AFFIRM, BUILD BRIDGE
Look at the VABB definition by Dr. Sharroky Hollie



Identify ways in which the institution has made illegitimate what should be seen as
legitimate and made negative what should be seen as positive, as it relates to culture
and language.
How can you reverse this process through the use of VABB ?
Think about the cultural behaviors spectrum. How can you validate and affirm the
norms used by your underserved students and fellow coworkers and build and bridge
them to traditional school/work environment norms?