"It's Not Intentional": Contradictions in Culturally Responsive Teaching

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Striving for Humanization: Teachers' Work With Marginalized Youth

Abstract

Given that culturally responsive teaching is not uniform and instead spans a myriad of dispositions, knowledge, and skills, this study asks: are certain culturally responsive characteristics more easily embodied and performed than others, and what accounts for these tensions? In this paper, we present Margaret, a beloved and expert English language arts (ELA) teacher, and distill the ways in which she discusses and reflects on her teaching. To understand the complexities of Margaret’s case, our analysis turns to theories of culturally responsive pedagogies to articulate the tensions between her culturally responsive characteristics. We conclude with a discussion of how literacy stakeholders have come to conceptualize culturally responsive ELA teaching, and how this presentation is both complicated and merits further complication.

Authors

• Jeanne Dyches, Iowa State University

• Deani Thomas, Iowa State University

• Brandon Lee Sams, Iowa State University