Beyond the Classics: Enriching K-1 Language Arts Curriculum Through Cultural Representation

• In Event: Culturally Responsive Research: Bridging Practices and Scholarship

Abstract

Neoliberal forces within education incentivize quick and easy educational solutions such as standardized testing and scripted curricula. Along these lines, Texas developed Open Education Resources (OER) intending to minimize the burden on teachers for finding rigorous and relevant instructional materials. Through the lenses of culturally responsive teaching and culturally sustaining pedagogy, this content analysis aims to better understand the opportunities and barriers of OER for enacting these pedagogies. From these data, three themes emerged: a pedagogy of behaviorism, a banking model of education, and bite-sized pieces of inclusivity. Implications include the continued interrogation of seemingly inclusive curricula that merely aim to check a box to indicate that diversity, equity, and inclusion have been covered.

Authors

• JaNiece M. Elzy-Palmer, Texas Woman's University

• Victor Antonio Lozada, University of North Texas - Dallas