Mod 17 Discussion: Culturally Responsive Teaching

The National Equity Project is a non-profit organization founded in 1995 dedicated transforming the academic outcomes and life experiences and future potential for families and children who have been and are marginalized by an inequitable education system. The work of the foundation is support education leaders, schools, school districts, and even federal agencies focused on creating an educational system where ALL youth can thrive. At the core of their mission, is a focus on culturally responsive teaching, and to that end they provide both training and resources to help teachers (and schools and school districts) create culturally responsive classrooms.  Courses most relevant for teachers are 1. Learning Partnerships & Teaching for Equity; and 2) Coaching for Equity. But it is in the resources they provide that teachers can make use of a set of tools to transform their classrooms immediately. Their “equity” focused resources include: 1) the BELE framework: A guide to Building Equitable Learning Environments (in other words it is a guide for transforming student experiences and learning outcomes); 2) “5 ways to create a culturally responsive classroom”, 3) “What it means to do equity” (a nearpod course), along with other articles and frameworks to provide a teacher with all sorts of idea about how to transform a classroom in an cultural responsive classroom. 

1. Positive perspectives on parents and families:
Their core beliefs reflect a strong commitment to supporting the resilience of families, parents and students.

2. Communicating high expectations:
The BELE Framework posits that equity is both a process and an outcome and starts with a rigorous commitment to high intellectual standards. They further define the results of building equity: to quote from their website: an Equitable Learning Environments result in the following student outcomes: 1. Intellectual curiosity and strong academic skill; 2. A sense of agency and optimism for the future; 3. Self-love, self-acceptance, and pride in one’s multiple identities; 4. Understanding of one's own and others’ cultural histories and contributions; and 5 Empathy for and meaningful connections with others.”

3. Learning within the context of culture: As noted above, The BELE framework believes that equitable learning results in “4. Understanding of one's own and others’ cultural histories and contributions.” That places learning directly within the context of culture.

4. Student-centered instruction: The (BELE) Framework begins with exploring how to create a student-centered classroom. In their own words, they say: “We have an opportunity in this moment - with all the structural inequities of the outdated system visible for all to see - to center the experiences of young people by listening to them and ensuring that our decisions, actions and designs are informed by their voices, needs and aspirations. Schools and classrooms can be places where students are affirmed, seen and known well; provided with tools and opportunities to learn; and supported to develop their agency, pursue their dreams and contribute to the collective well-bein g of our world.” 

The remain 3 criteria of the 7 criteria for culturally responsive teaching (5. Culturally mediated instruction; 6. Reshaping the curriculum; and 7. Teacher as facilitator)  are woven into the fabric of The National Equity Project’s mission writ large. There focus is on transformative change that produces real-world impacts. Their goals are thus related to 1. Building shared language and understanding to address problems arising from inequity; and 2) help educators and educational leaders adopt what they call “a racial equity thinking lens” to address the need for change and how to facilitate change.

I will use their resources on how to transform a classroom into a culturally responsive classroom, so for me the resource is almost like a blueprint that I can follow.