I believe the most important question you can ask any student is, “What problem do you want to solve?” - Jaime Casap
DESCRIPTION
Culturally responsive teachers address the “so what?” factor of instruction by helping students see how the knowledge and skills they learn in school are valuable to their lives, families, and their communities.
They ask:
- “What does this material have to do with your lives?”
- “Does this knowledge connect to an issue you care about?”
- “How can you use this information to take action?”
They regularly assign activities, projects, and assessments that require learners to identify and propose solutions to complex issues, including issues of bias and discrimination. They actively seek input from families, community members, and students when planning learning activities and they ensure learning happens inside and outside of the classroom. For example, elementary school students might learn about environmental injustice and devise a plan for cleaning up a local river; middle school students might learn to apply math concepts to an analysis of racial inequities in traffic stop data; and high school students might engage in a Socratic seminar to explore solutions to police brutality.
Through rigorous and relevant projects, learners in culturally responsive classrooms build their sense of civic responsibility and learn to see themselves as agents of change.