Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: A Case of the Missing Cultural Relevance

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Ten
  In Roundtable Session: Entanglements, Critiques, and Cultural Relevance (Table 1)

Abstract

There is much research on White teachers’ biases about their students of color. Less is known about Mexican American teachers' biases. It is often assumed that there exists a strong understanding of culturally relevant pedagogy by Mexican American teachers. What better way to teach academic content than through the students' culture and language? Conceptual frameworks of culturally relevant pedagogy informed this investigation on the ways Mexican American teachers conceptualized cultural relevance as part of their pedagogy. Through an inductive approach, interviews and lesson observations, data was collected. A finding that emerged was a need for critical dialogue about cultural relevance due to a pedestrian grasp on the tenets of culturally relevant teaching.

Author

• Nora Alicia Luna, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author