Diversity Celebration or Mainstream Assimilation: How Could Culturally Relevant Content be Taught in a Culturally Relevant Way?

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 7:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Teaching at the Intersections: Language, Culture, and Equity in Multilingual Classrooms

Abstract

K-12 curriculum has long been critiqued for lacking representation of the diverse cultures, languages, literacies, and practices of students from diverse communities. Researchers have advocated for culturally relevant curriculum and pedagogy to address educational inequities. Using a fifth-grade module by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as an example, this paper reports a content and critical discourse analysis of the representation of diverse students and communities as well as what students are guided to learn. While the unit included authors and characters from varied immigrant backgrounds, our analysis showed that the learning activities, assignments, and objectives continued to center White, American culture and experiences. Recommendations on how this content could be taught in a culturally relevant way are provided.

Authors

• Katrina Liu, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Kody Lightfoot, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Elsa Lopez, University of Nevada - Las Vegas