Today’s post finishes a two-yearlong series examining common mistakes made in the name of culturally responsive teaching and what to do instead.

‘A Dynamic Framework’

Chandra Shaw has more than 25 years of experience in education, as a teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, and now a literacy consultant at one of her state’s regional service centers:

One of the most common things teachers get wrong about culturally responsive teaching is thinking that it is a single or even a series of isolated actions or protocols that you can follow occasionally that somehow prove your commitment to diversity and inclusion. Culturally responsive teaching isn’t performative. It requires a shift in mindset and a commitment to constant self-reflection and personal and professional growth. It requires learning and, in many cases, “unlearning” pedagogical practices that we have grown quite comfortable with.

Many teachers misunderstand culturally responsive teaching as merely incorporating diverse materials or activities into their lesson plans. They may seek out books from diverse authors or that contain characters of color but fail to ever genuinely connect with those same types of students in their class. They may fail to learn about those students’ diverse communities and cultures. While including diverse perspectives in literature is important, it’s equally crucial to recognize the underlying cultural dynamics at play within the classroom and curriculum.

Culturally responsive teaching involves understanding students’ backgrounds, experiences, and cultural contexts to create a learning environment that respects and values their identities, not simply “tolerating” them.

Many educators easily fall into the trap of believing that they can become culturally responsive solely through surface-level minor adjustments rather than deep-rooted changes in their teaching philosophy. They might implement occasional activities or celebrate certain cultural events like hosting a cultural food fair without addressing the systemic issues that perpetuate inequities in education.

True cultural responsiveness requires ongoing engagement with anti-bias and anti-racist practices; challenging ingrained often, unintentional biases; and actively working to dismantle barriers to learning for marginalized students.

Culturally responsive teaching is far more than a checklist of activities or occasional gestures toward diversity and inclusion. It requires a fundamental shift in mindset, ongoing reflection, and a commitment to equity and inclusion in all aspects of education. By recognizing and addressing these common misconceptions, educators can better cultivate culturally responsive learning environments that empower all students to succeed.

Empathy Is Not Enough

Francisco Faticati, biliteracy coordinator, instructional coach, and adjunct professor, is dedicated to revolutionizing classroom instruction for equitable education:

Education can easily become a monotonous routine. Educators clock in, they teach their classes, then at the end of the day, another line of face-hanging teachers forms as they await to clock out for the day. In this cycle, it’s common to focus solely on teaching content for specific purposes without ever considering the profound impact on students’ lives or encouraging critical thinking about the world around them.

Particularly in schools with predominantly brown faces, it’s crucial not to overlook the systemic racism and historical marginalization that students and teachers may experience in their educational journeys, so that the pattern does not repeat itself. One prevalent mistake educators make in culturally responsive teaching is limiting efforts to recognizing cultural diversity, often confined to specific heritage months.

Assigning readings during Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month, or other cultural observances is a commendable start, but it doesn’t automatically raise awareness about real-life issues. It is easy to assign a Gary Soto poem during Hispanic Heritage Month, or a Martin Luther King Jr. or a Maya Angelou text during Black History Month, or the entire class will read “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

However, to truly address the underlying complexity and dynamism of these issues, educators and administrators should take concrete actions to understand how these texts impact their classrooms and involve students in systemic change.

Engage in Collaborative Practices for Culturally Sustaining Teaching:

In a field that is dominated by standardized testing, teachers often work in silos in order to come up with the best strategies to beat the other classrooms, but that has to stop. Teachers should work together to tackle the systems of oppression that surround our students’ lives. The following questions are a quick guide on sparking these important conversations:

1. What connections could be made between the content and students’ lives?

Understanding students’ individual lives and their connection to learning is crucial for internalizing information and awareness of social contexts.

2. What systems of power can be investigated or questioned in this text/content?

Identify and discuss systems of oppression embedded in the content, such as male/female roles, poor/rich dynamics, immigration, racism, ignorance, toxic behavior, machismo, and many other topics that could be identified and discussed with students in order to slowly chip away at the systems of oppression.

3. How does this text or content affirm my students’ identities or perspectives?

Enrich the curriculum to recognize diverse cultures or races, ensuring that presented concepts affirm the identities and perspectives of all students.

4. How does this text/content expand my students’ perspectives?

Address gaps in cultural sustainability and actively raise awareness and understanding of central issues.

True transformation in education requires a systemic and sustained effort. By actively participating in culturally sustaining planning and teaching practices, diversifying the curriculum, and fostering a supportive, inclusive environment, educators can play a pivotal role in shaping a more equitable and enriching educational experience for all students.

Asset-Based Strategies

Altagracia H. Delgado, also known as Grace, has been in the education field for 30 years. She is currently the executive director of multilingual services for Aldine ISD, in the Houston area:

Culturally responsive teaching is defined as a research-based approach to teaching that connects students’ cultures, languages, and life experiences with what they learn in school, while helping students make connections to rigorous curriculum and develop higher-level academic skills.

In order for teachers to practice culturally responsive teaching, it is required for them to know their students and the communities from where they’re from and open their shared space for honest exploration of all areas of culture. This means that the adults must cultivate and embrace a sense of cultural humility and open themselves to learning about others’ customs and values. By providing these safe spaces, students and families will feel an enhanced sense of belonging in the schools.

What sometimes teachers get wrong about culturally responsive teaching is that they feel that expressing a lack of knowledge will diminish their position as a teacher. This means that they may attempt to access this integration of cultural connection through a minimizing lens and only explore it through generic connections to culture like those found in foods, names, or clothing.

Instead, they could practice integrating and sharing values and traditions that could be learned by opening communication with students.

Examples of these wrong practices can be found in typical celebrations during Hispanic Heritage Month in which many teachers celebrate the month by only celebrating facts from one country and making assumptions that other Hispanic students come from the same country or have the same celebrations or foods.

A more honest integration of culturally responsive teaching practices into the everyday could be found when teachers display and use literature that represents multiple cultures and traditions into everyday lessons and activities. This use of resources is representative of the theory of mirrors, windows and sliding doors, which helps students view differences as assets and cultivates cultural humility by allowing everyone to learn from others cultures.

Another asset-based strategy can be utilized when embracing the multiple languages that exist in classrooms and engaging students in discussions that allow for showcasing these languages. Words can be showcased and displayed, enabling other students to engage in conversations using these newly learned words.

One last strategy that merges content and culture is when teachers open classroom discussions and ask students for lived or known experiences when covering specific topics in class. For example, when discussing a unit in science like land forms, students can share those that they have encountered or visited in their travels. Or when talking about historical figures, students can inform their classmates about influential people from their countries and compare their contributions to those they’re learned about from this country. Sharing these personal experiences can help solidify knowledge while also enhancing a sense of community in the classroom.

Thanks to Chandra, Francisco, and Grace for contributing their thoughts!

Today’s post answered this question:

What do you think are the most common things teachers get wrong about culturally responsive teaching?

Part One in this series featured Zaretta Hammond.

In Part Two, Françoise Thenoux, Jehan Hakim, and Courtney Rose contributed their responses.

In Part Three, Crystal M. Watson, Tiffani Maher, Kristi Mirich-Glenwright, and Keisha Rembert shared their comments.

In Part Four, Gholdy Muhammad, Shondel Nero, and Denita Harris provided their commentaries.

Part Five featured responses from Andrea Castellano and Erica Buchanan-Rivera.

Melanie Battles, Mary Rice-Boothe, and Vera Naputi shared their answers in Part Six.

Part Seven highlighted contributions from Laura Franco-Flores , Esmeralda Cartagena Collazo , and Alexandra Gorodiski.

Part Eight included responses from Laleh Ghotbi, Angela M. Ward, Dwayne Chism, and Shannon Smith.

Part Nine featured the ideas of Lou Edward Matthews, Jay Schroder, Marta Silva, and Keffrelyn D. Brown.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at lferlazzo@epe.org. When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on X at @Larryferlazzo or on Bluesky at @larryferlazzo.bsky.social

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