Culturally Relevant Teaching Efforts: Assessing the Convergence and Divergence of Theory and Practice

• In Event: Race and Equity Issues in Teaching, Teacher Prepartion, and Educational Experiences

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the ways in which teachers enact what they define as culturally relevant pedagogy in their PK-12 classrooms and the extent to which these efforts address students’ academic achievement, cultural competence and critical consciousness. Forty-one teachers enrolled in a progressive master’s degree program were tasked with transforming a piece of their curriculum to be more culturally relevant. Teachers’ projects, reflections, and instructors’ field notes on their presentation of these projects to their peers were analyzed revealing the complexity of engaging in this work.

Authors

• Stacia M. Stribling, George Mason University

• Jenice Leilani View, George Mason University

• Elizabeth K. DeMulder, George Mason University