What is Culturally Relevant Teaching/Pedagogy?
Culturally Relevant Teaching/Pedagogy (CRP) is an "approach to teaching and learning that facilitates the achievement of all students by recognizing that culture is a powerful force in shaping how we see ourselves and the world around us."1 (National Equity Project
Links to an external site.)
Based on Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings Culturally Relevant Pedagogy framework2 (1994) CRP focuses on student learning and academic success, development of students’ cultural competence to assist students in developing positive ethnic and social identities, and support of students’ critical consciousness or their ability to recognize and critique societal inequalities.
According to Dr. Zaretta Hammond3, it is “an educator’s ability to recognize
- students’ cultural displays of learning and meaning making and
- responding positively and constructively with teaching moves that use cultural knowledge as a scaffold to connect what the students know to new concepts and content in order to promote effective information processing.
- The educator understands the importance of being in relationship and having a social-emotional connection to the student in order to create a safe space for learning.”
1National Equity Project. (n.d.) Cultural responsive teaching. https://www.nationalequityproject.org/culturally-responsive-teaching
Links to an external site.
2Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But that's just good teaching! A case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory into Practice, 34(3), 159-165.
3National Equity Project. (n.d.) Cultural responsive teaching. https://www.nationalequityproject.org/culturally-responsive-teaching
Links to an external site.