Table Of ContentCULTURALLY RESPONSIVE
PEDAGOGY:
TEACHING LIKE
OUR STUDENTS’ LIVES MATTER
INNOVATION AND LEADERSHIP IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TEACHING VOLUME 4
CULTURALLY
RESPONSIVE
PEDAGOGY: TEACHING
LIKE OUR STUDENTS’
LIVES MATTER
SHERYL V. TAYLOR
University of Colorado Denver
DONNA M. SOBEL
University of Colorado Denver
United Kingdom – North America – Japan
India – Malaysia – China
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK
First edition 2011
Copyright r 2011 Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Reprints and permission service
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CONTENTS
PREFACE vii
FOREWORD ix
PART ONE: CONCEPTUALIZING CULTURALLY
RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY
CHAPTER ONE CURRENT CHALLENGES 3
AND FRAMEWORKS
CHAPTER TWO THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS 27
AND RESEARCH
CHAPTER THREE CONTEXTUALIZING STUDENT 41
ACHIEVEMENT AND
TEACHER EDUCATION
PART TWO: PERSPECTIVES AND SUPPORTS
CHAPTER FOUR CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE 67
PEDAGOGY: THE STANCE
FROM PROFESSIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER FIVE CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE 83
PEDAGOGY: NATIONAL AND
STATE-LEVELS
CHAPTER SIX CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE 95
PEDAGOGY: EFFECTIVE
TEACHING
v
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER SEVEN CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE 119
PEDAGOGY: DISTRICT AND
SCHOOL LEVELS
PART THREE: CLASSROOMS IMPLEMENTING
CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY
CHAPTER EIGHT GRADE 3 LITERACY LESSON 133
WITH A CULTURALLY
RESPONSIVE FOCUS
CHAPTER NINE GRADE 5 MATHEMATICS 157
LESSON WITH A
CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE
FOCUS
CHAPTER TEN GRADE 9 SCIENCE LESSON 173
WITH A CULTURALLY
RESPONSIVE FOCUS
PART FOUR: SUPPORTING TEACHERS’ GROWTH IN
CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY
CHAPTER ELEVEN MENTORING AND 189
SUPPORTING CULTURALLY
RESPONSIVE TEACHING
PRACTICES
REFERENCES 209
APPENDICES 225
PREFACE
This book is the result of many years of combined teaching experience within
U.S. public schools, Mexican public and private schools, and U.S. university
settings by both authors. Yet the impetus for this work began during a faculty
retreat, when the authors were encouraged to discuss a research topic of
interest with a fellow faculty member whomwe did not knowwell at that time
and who was from a specialization area different from our own. We recall
looking around for a discussion partner and finding ourselves sitting across
the table from each other! At the time, we were new assistant professors
embarking on the journey of tenure, and as we began sharing ideas, we
immediately saw commonalities in our interests. We both were keenly
interested in examining ways that students with a diversity of linguistic,
cultural, and ability backgrounds could be meaningfully included in public
schools and general education classrooms.As teacher educators, wewere both
particularly interested in teachers’ cognition and behaviors relevant to their
preparation to work with a student population coming from a broad cultural
diversity of backgrounds and abilities. After brainstorming on several ways to
research these areas, Sobel remarked that those initial plans for a study laid the
groundwork for a collaborative writing project. Taylor quickly responded,
‘‘Actually, I think we have the makings for a long-term research agenda that
will include a series of studies for a longitudinal investigation.’’ That afternoon
in the mid-1990s signaled the start of a valued personal friendship as well as
our mutually beneficial and trusted professional collaboration.
Wewrote thisbook toprovidea seamlessharmonybetween the theoretical and
research foundation of culturally responsive pedagogy coupled with practical
applications of this pedagogy. In part, the book is motivated by our desire to
attend to our teacher education students’ questions about how to ‘‘do’’ culturally
responsivepedagogy.Understanding that culturally responsivepedagogycannot
be simplified as a set of tools or teachingmethods, our hope is that this bookwill
provide a complex and comprehensivemix of theory, research, and a conceptual
framework for reflecting on culturally responsive to students. That said, we do
not anticipate that this book will offer final answers to current questions being
asked. Instead, we look forward to this book generating discussion, critical
thinking, and further examinations on the part of practitioners, teacher
educators, administrators, professional staff developers, and researchers.
vii
viii PREFACE
Three years have passed since we first received an email inquiry from the
series editor, Martha Pennington, introducing herself and asking about
our interest in submitting a manuscript for consideration as a book that
could contribute to the Innovation and Leadership in English Language
Teaching series. We seized upon the opportunity for a chance to participate in
this stimulating global discussion and we are profoundly grateful for the
acceptance of our work as well as the keen insightsMartha has provided us in
our first book project. We extend our sincere and heartfelt thanks to Martha
for her patience, guidance, and humor.We are quite sure that the phrase, ‘‘The
devil is the details’’ was created for an editor and professional author such
asMartha, whose dedicated editorial skills have been indispensable to us. She
has been our ‘‘guardian angel’’ as we journeyed through the process of writing
this book. We are appreciative for Martha’s never-tiring encouragement that
our work needed to be shared with international audiences in the field of
English language teaching, innovation, and leadership.
We also wish to thank and acknowledge the principals who allowed us
entry into their schools and the educators who have welcomed us into their
classrooms and allowed us to conduct our research. The teachers graciously
agreed to our multiple observations in their classrooms and took time to
reflect with us about their daily practice. To those novice and veteran teachers
who allowed us to photograph their classrooms, to observe countless hours,
and to involve them in interviews and discussions, we owe you an immense
debt of gratitude. We are deeply appreciative of the permission you granted
us to spend time in your classrooms and use the photographs taken in those
teaching and learning contexts.
In addition, we each individually wish to acknowledge some special
people in our lives:
I wish to acknowledge Grace, Rick, Sara, Greg, Dan, my step-mom-Barb, my Dad, and
my Mom, who have taught me so much about life, love, forgiveness, and crossing
cultural boundaries large and small. And to Neal, who lives in our hearts always. This
book is for each of you.
– Sheryl V. Taylor
I’m one of the lucky ones in life. That is why my first individual acknowledgement goes
to my husband Alan, our son David, and our daughter Meg, who are the inspiration in
everything I do and every choice I make. I also want to acknowledge and dedicate this
book to the students and educators in public schools whose lives give me insight and
encouragement. Every time I walk into a school, I’m reminded of what really matters
and how fortunate I am to learn from so many gifted educators who strive daily to
include students in ways that genuinely support, respect and create a sense of belonging.
– Donna M. Sobel
FOREWORD
AIMS OF THIS BOOK
This book addresses the gnawing question frequently voiced by preservice
and experienced teachers alike who assert, ‘‘I want to be effective in my
teaching of culturally and linguistically diverse students; I want to be
inclusive of all learners. I’m committed to a culturally responsive pedagogy,
but how do I start? Could you just show me how to do it?’’ Such assertions
reveal a simplified view of culturally responsive pedagogy as a teaching
method or a defined set of practices, which it is not. On the other hand,
we commend these teachers for recognizing the broad heterogeneity they can
anticipate in today’s classrooms, which include students with a wide diversity
of language, culture, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic resources, ability levels,
and life experiences. This book is also for teachers who contend, ‘‘I teach
literacy and language to English language learners (ELL students); there’s
not time to consider culture.’’ Or, perhaps like us, you have also heard
teachers say, ‘‘I teach math; I don’t need to be concerned with culture! That is
for social studies teachers.’’ Regardless of their content area, teachers are
conduits of culture. When culture is coupled with pedagogy, the result
involves a complex and comprehensive mix of knowledge and skills for
teachers to use to engage a diverse student population. Howard (2010)
clarifies that culturally responsive teaching is situated in a framework that
recognizes the rich and varied cultural wealth, knowledge, and skills that
students from diverse groups bring to schools, and seeks to develop dynamic
teaching practices, multicultural content, multiple means of assessment, and
a philosophical view of teaching that is dedicated to nurturing student
academic, social, emotional, cultural psychological, and physiological well
being (pp. 67–68).
Grounded in sociocultural learning theory, culturally responsive teaching
is a contextual and situational process for both learners and teachers.
At its core, it represents a professional philosophy that is based on a
teacher’s fundamental commitment to students’ success—all students—
including students who are from a diversity of languages, cultures, racial/
ethnic backgrounds, religions, economic resources, interests, abilities, and
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