Abstract:

Educational environments that exist in pluralist societies today offer students from diverse backgrounds little support. The lack of understanding of the needs of students, along with preconceived notions of cultures and identities of diverse communities have resulted in a partial eradication of student cultures, and the creation of vulnerable, stigmatized, and marginalized student populations. What is evident is a “divide that exists between many educational institutions and the students they are supposed to serve” (Paris & Alim, 2017, p. 95). The divide intensifies because students do not feel that their identities are affirmed through the curriculum taught; they find it irrelevant, impractical and exclusionary to their backgrounds, experiences, and lives. This is particularly true for immigrant learners. South Africa is currently home to increasing numbers of immigrant students who have fled their countries for a variety of reasons, and teachers are challenged to address the differences manifested in their classrooms. In this paper I focus on key questions: What pedagogies can be used to address the needs of immigrant students? To examine these concerns I report on interviews conducted with youth in Johannesburg, South Africa. The majority of youth feel marginalized and devalued in the school environment. The basic findings indicate the need to adopt a more flexible whole school, whole community approach to integration. Thus, in this paper I propose culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP), as well as moving beyond CSP as a response to teaching students from diverse backgrounds in South Africa. CSP is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students' cultural references in all aspects of learning (Ladson-Billings,1994; 1995; 2014; Gay, 2010). It is a pedagogy that acknowledges, responds to, and celebrates fundamental cultures, and offers full, equitable access to education to all students from all cultures. The paper proposes potential models for classroom implementation.

Keywords:

Culturally sustaining pedagogy, immigrant students, South Africa.