Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Culturally relevant pedagogy is one of those terms in education that can carry with it a long and sometimes confusing definition. But breaking it down, to me, it simply means utilizing a student’s culture to enhance the learning experience in the classroom. The difference lies in what exactly we teach them and how we have them think to make connections to content. It is easy for example, to use content that is common to help explain topics. But what would be even better would be to use an example your own students have experienced in their lives or know about, in which they can relate and feel more of a personal connection. This affects teaching and communication with students in many ways. For starters, the lesson planning process becomes more challenging as you not just hit on the examples given in a curriculum but rather seek out further content that can connect to each of your students. You have to find a way to make more broad topics hit home on a smaller and personal level, which requires more time in doing so. In terms of your students, it is the idea of getting to truly know them and where they come from. Things such as interests, background, outside school life, types of intelligences, and for lack of a better term, “what makes them tick”. By using this process students become more aware of themselves and their own potential. They are not just recalling information and being told where they stand academically. Students develop the right to think highly of themselves and strive to achieve more by understanding the opportunity at hand. With these types of patterns engraved in them from early on, they can move on to the next chapter of their life making a significant and positive impact in their world.

One of the many benefits that comes with teaching in a community such as the one in Baltimore County in which I found myself, is the cultural diversity that makes up the school. I have students from multiple different backgrounds including African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian-American, and White/Caucasian. Some students are first generation in their family to attend high school here while others are second or third. Each and every student brings with them a very unique background and outside-school life. Further adding to the demographic is the fact that a majority of students in the school are of low-socioeconomic background. These facts are things that make culturally relevant pedagogy very important within my own classroom. Multiple examples have already arisen in my classroom in which culturally relevant teaching practices have taken place. Within a unit discussing genetic diseases students were prompted to research a disease within their own families. Because of the different demographics of students, a variety of different conditions that are more prevalent within different cultures were showcased, ultimately expanding classmates’ perspectives. As you can see, a two-fold benefit occurs here, as students expand their views and also have a pathway to learn more about themselves and their families. For some students this also serves as motivation, as one of my students of Asian decent shared how she aspires to be a doctor and hopes to work on such issues. This type of practice helps to create thinkers and innovators of students in which they strive to exceed any boundary they may have once thought existed for them. Moving forward, I plan to utilize relevant local examples to apply concepts and content. I want to use discussion prompts that challenge students to think more about where they stand and challenge any social or political boundaries they believe exist. In doing so, I will put in the necessary amount of time and preparation to teach students about themselves and others, so they have a firm root in their understanding of their own education.