Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy (CRRP) emphasizes the importance of aligning educational content with the diverse cultural backgrounds of students. Schools inherently operate through their own cultural lenses, which may not always align with those of their students.
o Schools have their own set of cultural filters. Therefore, students are perceiving the knowledge being learned by another set of cultural filters. If they do not match, then learning will not take place. Instead of placing the onus on the students to adapt, CRRP tasks the school with modifying and adapting its messages through lenses appropriate to the students’ cultures.
o Students are not cultural blank slates. CRRP builds on students prior knowledge and prior cultural knowledge
o Make connections between what is known and what growth is next
o Provide comparisons and contrasts
Takes students lived experiences and make linkages between what students know and do, and what they understand
Becoming a culturally responsive educator
Understanding that diversity goes beyond race to all aspects of culture (experience, values, ethnicity, language, perspectives, opinions)
Classroom is managed with firm, consistent, caring control
Classroom is physically and culturally inviting
Personally inviting them into the safe space
Cultural competence
Create safety and an inclusive place
The main vehicle for CRRP is building relationships