Introduction Copy

The modules below align and inform the Curriculum Transformation Process and MPS work around culturally sustaining pedagogy.

We are now diving into the 4th Digital Experience which will be a combination of Competency #3 and Competency #9 given their curriculum overlap. You will not be asked to do double work for two competencies.

Competency #3

Drawing on Students’ Culture to Share Curriculum and Instruction

Competency #9

Respecting, Embracing, and Incorporating the Integrity of Students’ Cultural Knowledge

COMPETENCY DESCRIPTION

Central to culturally responsive teaching is the belief that students’ cultural background and existing knowledge can help bridge new learning. Believing this to be true, culturally responsive teachers use cultural scaffolding by providing links between new academic concepts and students’ background knowledge that comes from their families, communities, and lived experiences. They regularly use student input to shape assignments, projects, and assessments. Although school system leaders traditionally set formal curricula, culturally responsive teachers evaluate the textbooks and instructional resources they use to ensure they do not perpetuate stereotypes or fail to represent certain identity groups.

They complement the official curriculum with examples, newspaper clippings, articles, song lyrics, plays, comics, video games, and other resources that reflect experiences, characters, settings, and themes their students can relate to. In addition to providing “mirrors” reflecting students’ own worlds, teachers provide “windows” into the history, traditions, and experiences of other cultures and groups.

Reference – New America: Teacher Competencies that Promote Culturally Responsive Teaching