Teachers’ Engagement in Culturally Sustaining Practices During and After Implementation of an Ethnic-Racial Identity-Based Curriculum

• In Event: Confronting Racial Bias and Fostering Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Teacher Education

Abstract

Culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) is a teaching approach that intentionally centers and embeds the lived experiences, cultures, and identities of marginalized students into the classroom (Paris & Alim, 2017); yet, little is known about teachers’ engagement in CSP and whether implementation of ethnic-racial identity (ERI) based curricula relate to these practices. This study examined 849 unique classroom observations across 14 teachers to identify teachers’ engagement in four dimensions of CSP - Ethnoracial Critical Reflection, Supportive Classroom Relationships, Teacher & Student Ethnoracial Vulnerability, and Critical Action – during an ERI-based curricular intervention and after (i.e., English or History curriculum). Findings revealed teachers’ level of CSP engagement was greater during the ERI-based curriculum than after, except for Critical Action, which was rarely observed.

Authors

• Megan Satterthwaite-Freiman, Harvard University

• Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Harvard University

• Stefanie Martinez-Fuentes, University of Arizona

• Michael R. Sladek, University of Oklahoma