Incorporate Students' Cultural Practices
Overview
Learning about students' cultures and connecting them to instructional practices helps foster a Sense of Belonging and mitigate Stereotype Threat. When educators integrate the linguistic and cultural funds of knowledge that learners bring, they help learners draw on their Background Knowledge to better understand and relate to the material, supporting Motivation and learning.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how this high school teacher uses courageous conversations to discuss difficult topics around race and equity, giving students the opportunity to connect their learning to their own lives and build their Critical Literacy skills. By creating a safe space for students to share their emotions and experiences, they are building a supportive and inclusive classroom community that helps students develop their own identities and beliefs.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
Learn how Mission US incorporates diverse historical and fictional characters into their history game. By allowing learners to take on different roles and having them see themselves reflected in the stories, they navigate historical events and engage with the content in a more immersive manner.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Culturally Responsive Strategies
Developing empathy in educators and in learners is an iterative process that requires taking the time to understand and honor others' perspectives.
Checking in with learners, or taking the time to talk with individual learners about their experiences or goals, is important for fostering a positive classroom environment.
Developing cultural awareness as an educator is an ongoing process that includes building empathy for the full diversity of students, intentionally recognizing how one's own identity intersects with students' identities, and creating an awareness of how the learning environment can impact students' Sense of Belonging.
Discussing race with students can range from celebrating the importance of diversity to understanding the impact of racism from the perspective of those who have been historically marginalized.
A first step to supporting learners is truly understanding who they are.
Equitable grading systems and practices reimagine how to assess and communicate student progress through various methods that reduce subjectivity and increase opportunities to learn.
Family engagement happens when educators and schools collaborate with families to collectively support their child's learning in meaningful ways, both at school and at home.
Selecting culturally responsive reading materials, including multicultural and diverse texts, is critical for supporting all students.
Student-led conferences are meetings between students, parents, and teachers where the student actively leads the conversation by reflecting on their progress toward goals and sharing examples of their work.
Translanguaging is a flexible classroom practice enabling students to listen, speak, read, and write across their multiple languages or dialects, even if the teacher does not have formal knowledge of these additional languages.
