"Checklists? It's a Way of Life": Becoming an Equity-Conscious Educator Through Culturally Responsive Teaching

• In Event: Teacher Perceptions and Enactments of Culturally Sustaining Practices

Abstract

The most fundamental and consequential challenge in education currently is closing educational learning, achievement, and opportunity gaps in the United States by ensuring all students have what they need to succeed in class and post-graduation. Much has been written about the benefits of culturally responsive education (CRE) but not much is known how educators become culturally responsive and equity conscious. Our findings from a 2-year action research professional development initiative show a collaborative cohort of colleagues, continuous reflexive practices, and ongoing pedagogical and curricular support from academic partnerships leading to deeper equity consciousness of educational disparities, lifestyle shifts away from deficit ideologies, and sustained determination for the continued building of culturally responsive and equitable practices for students.

Authors

• Robyn Lyn, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Elizabeth Severson-Irby, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Hillary Parkhouse, Virginia Commonwealth University