Creating Culturally Responsive, Inclusive Classrooms

Let’s repeat that: Culturally responsive classrooms specifically acknowledge the presence of culturally diverse students and the need for these students to find relevant connections among themselves and with the subject matter and the tasks teachers ask them to perform. In such programs teachers recognize the differing learning styles of their students and develop instructional approaches that will accommodate these styles. In light of the value of culturally responsive instructional practices, schools and districts need to support teachers in their quest to learn about the use of these strategies (see box, “Our Increasingly Diverse Classrooms”). This article provides guidelines for creating culturally responsive, inclusive classrooms. Teachers can use these guidelines with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in all kinds of classrooms, but particularly in inclusive settings where general and special educators work together to promote the academic, social, and behavioral skills of all students. First, teachers need to take an honest look at their own attitudes and current practice. Conduct a Self-Assessment Many teachers are faced with limited understanding of cultures other than their own and the possibility that this limitation will negatively affect their students’ ability to become successful learners. Hence, teachers must critically assess their relationships with their students and their understanding of students’ cultures (Bromley, 1998; Patton, 1998). The self-assessment in Figure 1, based on the work of Bromley, 1998), is one tool teachers can use to examine their assumptions and biases in a thoughtful and potentially productive way.