From Theory To Practice: The real-world application of culturally relevant pedagogy in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms
Open Access
Author:
Hetrick, Hannah
Area of Honors:
Elementary and Early Childhood Education
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Elizabeth A Smolcic, Thesis Supervisor Bernard Joel Badiali, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
culturally relevant pedagogy cultural and linguistic diversity ESL education classroom content relationship building advocacy
Abstract:
As culturally and linguistically diverse populations continue to grow across the United States, it is imperative that teachers possess the knowledge and methods necessary to best meet the needs of all their students. To reflect this population growth, as well as a societal shift towards promoting equity in education, many teacher education programs require preservice teachers to complete coursework related to culturally and linguistically diverse learners and English as a Second Language education. It is through these programs that many teachers receive exposure to theories such as culturally relevant pedagogy. While current literature demonstrates the efficacy of teacher education programs to impart these theories and impact preservice teacher attitudes and practice, a question remains as to the applicability of these theories in real-world teaching contexts. To investigate the applicability of culturally relevant pedagogy, in particular, I looked to seven teachers working in a variety of culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. Through semi-structured interviews that focused on the teachers’ lived experiences and current practices, as well as a grounded-data analysis, I concluded that application is feasible. Further, although individual teacher methods are varied, I discovered three common areas in which teachers reliably enacted culturally relevant pedagogy: classroom content, relationship building, and advocacy.
