Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995) articulated and defined culturally relevant pedagogy as being comprised of three components: (a) Student Learning - The students’ intellectual growth and moral development, but also their ability to problem solve and reason; (b) Cultural Competence - Skills that support students to affirm and appreciate their culture of origin while developing fluency in at least one other culture; (c) Critical Consciousness - The ability to identify, analyze, and solve real-world problems, especially those that result in societal inequalities. Geneva Gay (2010), a professor of education at the University of Washington, defines culturally responsive teaching as “using cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant and effective for them. It teaches to and through the strengths of these students.” Essentially, both of these definitions provide directional support for educators in empowering their students. While effective educators intuitively understand that relationships are at the heart of creating a pathway to learning, culturally responsive teaching (CRT) helps to define the necessity of this for underserved populations of students and begins to support teachers in understanding how to penetrate existing barriers in order to propel all students forward. Within this context, culturally responsive teaching needs to continue to be defined for all educators, but also redefined in light of the impact of COVID. Educators need to be given a toolbox to support them in understanding best practices, methods for implementation and time for reflection on their evolving CRT pedagogy.

Authors:
Heather Dean, California State University Stanislaus, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Heather Dean is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at CSU Stanislaus in United States

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