Mod 17 Discussion: Culturally Responsive Teaching

One resource from this module that I see as highly culturally responsive is the video “Teaching Culture Through Music.” This resource has the potential to meet all seven criteria for culturally responsive teaching.

Cultural-friendliness: Music is a universal expression of culture, and using it in the classroom creates a welcoming space where students’ identities are valued. By inviting students to share songs from their backgrounds, the classroom affirms their heritage and helps them see it as an asset in their learning.

Potential: This resource is powerful because it can be applied across subjects. In language arts, lyrics can serve as rich texts for building vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension skills. In social studies or history, music can be analyzed as a reflection of cultural movements or migration stories. It also naturally lends itself to cooperative projects where students learn from one another, communicate high expectations, and gain confidence in their own cultural voices.

Use in my classroom: I would use this resource to design student-centered projects. For instance, students could select a song meaningful to their culture, research its history or social message, and present it to the class. This would reshape the curriculum by supplementing textbooks with authentic cultural artifacts, while also allowing students to become the experts. My role would be to facilitate discussion, guide critical thinking questions, and connect student work to broader academic objectives.

Through this approach, music becomes more than just an engaging activity , its also a pathway to higher-order thinking, cultural understanding, and stronger connections among students. This resource, in my opinion aligns s with the seven attributes of culturally responsive teaching.