Using a Cultural Identity Development Model to Plan Culturally Responsive Reading and Writing Instruction

Cultural identity development has serious implications for the academic achievement and psychological well‐being of culturally diverse and linguistically diverse learners. Given that culture influences students' learning styles, behaviors, and attitudes, we (a) discuss possible causes and effects of culturally unresponsive instructional strategies, (b) provide a rationale for the selection and use of a cultural identity model, (c) describe a five‐stage cultural identity development model that provides insight into some of the issues that culturally and linguistically diverse learners bring to the classroom, and (d) use the cultural identity development model to identify strategies for developing culturally responsive reading and writing instructional methods.