HUMAN DIVERSITY IN EDUCATION: IN-SERVICE TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON APPROACHES TO MODELING CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY

This paper seeks to present in-service teachers’ perspectives on approaches to modeling CRP (culturally responsive pedagogy). The CRPP (culturally responsive pedagogical practices) survey was administered to forty five K-12 in-service teachers from various school districts in a Teacher Education Program. The instrument measured their perception of the importance of five aspects of classroom practice, as essential elements in implementing culturally responsive pedagogy such as: 1) teacher dispositions toward human and cultural diversity, 2) teacher knowledge of cultural self and multicultural content, 3) use of research-based multiple teaching methods, 4) use of alternative assessments, 5) use of culturally responsive classroom management strategies and motivation techniques. The use of these five categories allowed me to determine the candidates’ strong beliefs that these aspects are essential to practicing culturally relevant teaching as well as their beliefs that a strict connection among these elements is conducive to effective teaching. Data analysis also indicates that various barriers to implementing CRP persist including lack of time among others. A significant insight is that despite their strong beliefs that such practices reflect a teacher’s educational philosophy, there is no indication that teacher unwillingness to diligently execute culturally responsive practices constitutes a critical barrier to transforming his or her pedagogy. This paper seeks to frame the discussion within the framework of culturally relevant teaching suggested by various researchers including Ladson-Billings (1994), Irvine & Armento (2001), Banks & Banks (2001), and Helm (2006).