“Here’s What We Need”: Teacher and Student Perspectives on Culturally Responsive Language Arts Curriculum

• In Event: Teacher Participation and Awareness: Poised for Participatory Work

Abstract

This participatory case study seeks to understand the perspectives of a U.S. eighth-grade teacher and students on a district-mandated, “culturally responsive” English language arts curriculum, as well as explore the possibilities of teachers and students in conversation together about curriculum. This project primarily utilized open-ended, semi-structured interviews with the participating teacher and students and a process of teacher-researcher participatory co-analysis to identify different understandings of the curriculum. The disconnect occurring between the intended, enacted, and experienced curriculum ultimately indicates a lack of cultural responsiveness in the implementation of this curriculum. Findings indicate that to address this disconnect, curriculum implementation’s hidden labor must be named, and student voice in curriculum conversations must be prioritized.

Author

• Carly McClennahan, University of Wisconsin - Madison