Culturally Inclusive Teaching and Learning

Culturally inclusive classrooms are built on respect. They value the knowledge students bring from their homes and communities. The key tenets of a culturally inclusive classroom include:

Teachers adopt a student responsive pedagogy by taking time to learn about each student’s “known” and use this known as a foundation for lessons that are planned to scaffold from the known to the new (Clay).

Teachers hold high expectations for each students, carefully observe progress and adjust the pedagogy when progress wanes.

Teachers make space for discussions that value student voice and respectful listening. Discussion topics focus on what matters to students.

Cultural knowledge is used intentionally. “Single Stories” are avoided.

Reading materials, projects, and read-alouds reflect people and perspectives from around the world.

Community members are invited to share their stories.