Cultural responsive teaching refers to the various approaches that are undertaken to facilitate the teaching process. There are several theories and approaches to this practice. These approaches are the procedural approach, environmental approach and a perceptual approach.
The procedural approach is whereby the learning process has been seen to follow a certain fixed schedule or procedure. It is something that goes on every time the students get into the classroom. For example, they maybe hand in their assignments. This method is efficient as it facilitates the scheduling of activities. Also, when activities are done repeatedly, they stick in the students mind and they are able to remember. Students are also exposed to new information. The teacher or educator can also introduce the element of surprise to the learning process and create room for interruptions of the procedure. This theory has its successes and failures. The major drawbacks are the fact that it creates monotony when a routine is repeated over n over and a student is likely to easily get bored. This can be overcome by the teacher increasing the interval of the element of surprise to keep the students excited and ready to learn.
The environmental approach is that approach where the teachers create the theme of the classroom to be in line with what they want to teach. This for example is like where the teacher wants the students to learn about the red Indians, the environment is set to facilitate the Red Indian culture and environment. The environmental approach is known to greatly improve the learning process. Its major drawback is the fact that students may tend to get carried away by the whole scenario. To deal with this issue the teacher can include a quiz or a question and answer section to ensure that the students remain attentive.
The final approach is the perceptual approach. This is where visual cues and props are used in teaching. The teacher can introduce pebbles or marbles to be used for example in teaching arithmetic. This approach is suitable for all age brackets and has been seen to improve the learning process too. However, this approach poses a distraction to the student and they tend to get carried away. This in turn causes the students not to absorb what is being taught. Teachers should therefore put up measures in order to strike a balance in the classroom.
References:
Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
Sleeter, C. E., & Cornbleth, C. (2011). Teaching with vision: Culturally responsive teaching in standards-based classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press.
Wlodkowski, R. J., & Ginsberg, M. B. (1995). Diversity and motivation: Culturally responsive teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
