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Equitable Instruction, Empowered Students
Focus
Purpose
Sample Questions
Emotional self-management
Ensures that we do not let our
Sample questions include:
emotions lead our behavior
What are my triggers
nor infect our students with
(someone standing next to me
our emotions
while I’m sitting, discussing racial differences)? What makes me defensive? How do I respond to these triggers? What am I trying to control?
Action plan
Sample questions include:
solving to prevent becoming
What strategies can I use
emotionally unstable from
to ensure I am an equitable
fear, anger, hurt, or anxiety
and social justice–driven teacher? How will I diffuse toxic or threatening situations, especially the ones I create?
Engaging in self-reflection prompts us as teachers to question our actions. It encourages us to have honest discussions with ourselves about our intent, actions, behaviors, and biases. With honest personal reflection, teachers can begin to transform their practices away from the educational status quo and toward culturally appropriate pedagogies.
Understanding Appropriateness Versus Appropriation It’s important here to discuss the difference between striving for cultural appropriateness versus veering into cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is the adoption of another’s cultural norms and elements to exploit that culture’s identity for one’s own gain (Matthes, 2019). And yes, as a teacher, you can become exploitative. For example, a non-Black teacher using hip-hop music and its jargon to get Black students to believe he, she, or they are one of them is exploitative. It is exploitative for a teacher to wear a sari and a bindi to demonstrate to Indian students that he, she, or they are embracing their culture and preparing them for the next book by an Indian author. Notice the teacher’s motive in each example: it is self-focused. Culturally relevant pedagogy is concerned with empowering students. How can teachers disrupt cultural appropriation? They must commit to a continuous practice of self-reflection. They must uproot the exploitative impulse to reach their students. This is why it is necessary to create a positive and affirming classroom environment in which students can lead discussions related to their own cultural values. Teachers can create
©️2022 by Solution Tree Press
Ensures effective problem
