Culturally Responsive Teaching: Honoring Backgrounds and Broadening Perspectives

One of the substandards of Illinois' Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading (CRTL) standards urges us to [i]nclude representative, familiar content in the curriculum to legitimize students’ backgrounds, while also exposing them to new ideas and worldviews different from their own.

In our delving into this substandard, Gloria and I asked ourselves the following questions:

• What do we do to legitimize our students’ backgrounds through the curricular choices we offer?
  

• How do we facilitate student exploration of new ideas and different worldviews?

This past week we celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day and I thought about how the backgrounds of indigenous students were being legitimized (or not), such that both indigenous and non-indigenous students were learning about indigenous languages and culture. It was good to learn about related efforts in Canada.

Check out https://the-peak.ca/2022/06/122878/ to learn a bit about new requirements in British Columbia where "starting the 2023–24 school year, all BC students will be required to take at least one Indigenous class before graduation.

Courses like “Contemporary Indigenous Studies 12 and BC First Peoples 12,” in which students are exposed to Indigenous history and modern challenges, would now be required for graduation. 

Would love to hear from others about similar efforts in other places. Head over to the discussion and make a post if you have something to share. Join Discussion