Cultural Engagement Overview
Essential Question
How can teachers improve cultural engagement in their classrooms to shift from student engagement to student empowerment?
Module Goal
To create an understanding of culturally responsive teaching practices that allow for student empowerment in the classroom
Module Objectives
Participants will reflect on how their pedagogy engages students from diverse cultures and perspectives.
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Participants will explore ways to select culturally relevant materials for their classroom.
What is Cultural Engagement?
Cultural engagement refers the process in which educators strive to appropriately understand and represent the unique and diverse cultures in their classroom and school through assignments, activities, and artwork.
How do we engage in Culturally Responsive Pedagogy?
Engaging in culturally responsive pedagogy begins before students walk into the classroom. The mindful educator can prepare their classroom for culturally responsive practices through the development of their syllabus and selection of course materials for the semester or school year, and recognizing their own cultural biases in order to address them. If your course has a syllabus, this can be your first step to addressing how diverse perspectives will be respected and how discriminatory language and conversations will be addressed according to school and district guidelines. Fostering cultural empowerment focuses on building students' interactional and participatory skills.