Using Teacher Experiences to Examine Complexities of Culturally Responsive Instruction

• In Event: Culturally & Linguistically Responsive Science Teaching

Abstract

Culturally responsive, relevant, and sustaining are terms sometimes used interchangeably to mean different things to different stakeholders. Additionally, a lack of resources to help teachers conceptualize what CRI looks like in practice may contribute to a “multilevel learning problem (Neri et al., 2019). As part of a larger study, 13 elementary teachers learned about CRI in science and implemented a curriculum about a local marine environment to implement CRI in their classrooms. Semi-structured interviews and narrative vignettes of teachers’ experiences implementing CRI provided qualitative data about teachers’ perceptions of CRI. From these sources, we identified three questions that illustrate complexities of CRI. These questions and supporting examples can be used to create cases to support teacher learning about CRI.

Authors

• Josie Melton, Western Washington University

• Sarah Voss, Western Washington University

• Deborah Hanuscin, Western Washington University