“But That’s Just Good Teaching” talks about culturally relevant pedagogy. The main point this paper makes is that culturally relevant pedagogy extends beyond traditional pedagogy or teaching. It requires understanding student’s culture and using it as a way to increase student learning and achievement. The goal of culturally relevant teaching is to motivate students to “choose academic excellence”. “Introduction to Critical Race Theory” breaks down critical race theory which states that racism is prevalent in people of color’s daily lives and gives the dominant group privileges that people of color don’t have access to. It also states that race is not biological, but social. It provides data and examples to showcase the stark differences between the lives of white people and people of color in American society. In “Decisions That Matter”, the player goes through certain scenarios and has to make decisions that affect what happens next. The game dealt with issues of consent.
I think culturally relevant (or responsive) teaching is an important concept and I hope to use it as a teacher one day. In my schooling experience, we had cultural days and some of my teachers spent days talking about holidays from different parts of the world. On the rest of the days, we never really talked about the cultures the students came from. I think this played a big role in making me feel like I could not share my culture, which is a big part of my identity, at school. These kind of feelings, which many other people of color face, affects the classroom environment and in turn learning. This issue is especially prevalent now because of the growing number of people of color and immigrants in the U.S. The point the Critical Race Theory article makes about microaggressions and subtle racism stuck out to me. People of color face these issues in their daily lives. It is important for educators, and people in society, to learn about critical race theory so that they understand the subtle affects of race relations.
My question for the class: Did you have a teacher who implemented culturally relevant teaching?
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