The Key to Unlocking the Full Potential of Every Student
Written by Teaching Lab
Embedded deep inside the Teaching Lab model and teacher professional learning service is the goal to acknowledge and respect the diverse cultural backgrounds and experiences of every student. We understand that every student comes from different ethnic, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds, which underscores their ability to learn and develop.
Appropriately called Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education, or CRSE for short, this teacher mindset and approach allows for a classroom environment that values inclusion. When students feel that their cultural identities are seen, valued, and included, they are more likely to be academically engaged and motivated. It provides a sense of belonging that leads to a pathway toward equitable education.
Zaretta Hammond and CRSE
One of the original scholars of CRSE is Zaretta Hammond, who has dedicated her life to understanding and addressing the achievement gap that has plagued (and continues to plague) many schools around the country. She is an educator, author, and consultant who is determined to make a difference.
Throughout her career as an educator, she refused to accept the notion that some students were simply destined to fail. As a result, she recognized that traditional teaching methods did not consider a student’s cultural background and lived experiences. She knew that every student had the potential to unequivocally learn based on their strengths — and regardless of their backgrounds.
Her groundbreaking book, “Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain,” became a must-read book for teachers and educators, who want a better understanding of student learning and how it intersects with culture.
In her book, she writes:
”An educator’s ability to recognize students’ cultural displays of learning and meaning making and respond positively and constructively with teaching moves that use cultural knowledge as a scaffold to connect what the student knows to new concepts and content in order to promote effective information processing. All the while, the educator understands the importance of being in relationship and having a social-emotional connection to the student in order to create a safe space for learning.”
The DNA of Teaching
Motivated by our deep desire to affect change, we embarked on a mission to spread awareness and provide educators with the tools they needed to create inclusive and culturally responsive learning environments.
It reflects a profound belief we hold at Teaching Lab:
Any student can learn anything when their cultural and linguistic identities are viewed as funds of knowledge and assets that can aid in the process of learning.
Enacting this definition requires us to critically understand and subsequently disrupt patterns of harm our country has inflicted on those most marginalized — particularly the communities of color that cascade through our education systems.
We began to look at the ways high-quality instructional materials and aligned professional learning contribute to — and perpetuate — a lack of fairness and social justice so we could dismantle dominant conceptions of quality, redesign our professional learning, and ultimately, redefine quality.
And so in the following report, which can be downloaded below, you can learn more about what Teaching Lab did to enact these values and make progress against these goals. Because, ultimately, CRSE empowers students. It validates their identities, provides them with a more comprehensive education, and equips them with the skills necessary to succeed in a diverse world.
To download “The DNA of Teaching,” please fill out the form below.