Out of the Shallows: Four Principles for Diving Deeper into Culturally Responsive Practices
The continued presence of the racial achievement gap is not merely an indication of how poorly individual students perform, but more of an indication of a school’s lack of effectiveness to teach certain students. True or false? Depending on how one answers the previous question ultimately depends on one’s understanding of the importance of culturally responsive practices in the classroom. Critical to the reform of negative educational opportunities, outcomes, and experiences for marginalized students is the presence of effective and culturally responsive educators in the classroom (Banks, 2019; Gay, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 2009). Unfortunately, many culturally conscious efforts fall short of meeting the needs of diverse students because many educators have not had practice in developing sound, in-depth principles of culturally responsive teaching. If teachers are ever going to get real about the equity efforts in education and become truly responsive educators, they have got get out of the shallows, dive…