Blog Post #6: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

This week's lesson's response post is on two sources, a video on Youtube by Learning for Justice with the title "Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy," as well as a reading by Alfie Kohn called "What to Look for in a Classroom."

ARGUMENT:  This group, Learning for Justice, is trying to argue that culturally responsive pedagogy is the responsibility of all teachers. Culturally responsive pedagogy does not simply believe that students are blank slates in regard to culture, but instead builds on their unique cultural backgrounds that they bring from home into the classroom. It's imperative that students are not simply forced to conform their views to the school environment, but instead that they are given the chance to have the school's lessons proffered to them at the individual level. Different students have various stages of understanding, on a cultural level, the American school system, and it's the jobs of teachers to bring some understanding of their own into the classroom. 

Kohn talks about making the classroom an inviting place for students to critically think about the world around them. That requires an inviting classroom environment, a teacher that facilitates classroom discussion, and decorations that show the student's contributions, in addition to other aspects. It's a good idea to combine these aspects with the other source's beliefs, by saying that not only should the classroom be inviting to students in a general sense, but also attempt to be culturally inclusive with decorations, by possibly asking students to bring some items from their homes that they are willing to decorate the room with. Otherwise, possibly crafts could achieve the same result?

A question that I'd like to raise to the class is as follows: "In what ways can we practically implement culturally responsive pedagogy in our classrooms while also fostering an inviting environment for critical thinking? For instance, how can we balance students’ cultural backgrounds with the need to create a unified classroom culture, especially when those backgrounds may sometimes conflict?"