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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County urging school districts within Allegheny County to include culturally responsive teaching perspectives in their curriculum as a means of providing students with an additional tool for undertaking the holistic analysis of social, governmental, and private institutions, as well as cultural, economic, and other factors that shape the world in which they live.
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Whereas, culturally responsive teaching is a teaching methodology “that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills and attitudes” (Ladson-Billings, 2009, p. 20).; and
Whereas, the five key components of culturally responsive teaching are (1) developing a knowledge base about cultural diversity, (2) including ethnic and cultural diversity content in the curriculum, (3) demonstrating caring and building learning communities, (4) communicating with ethnically diverse students, and (5) responding to ethnic diversity in the delivery of instruction (Gay, Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice, Teachers College Press 2000); and
Whereas, culturally responsive teaching in accordance with these core principles allows for teaching context and practical relevance, rather than mere memorization of facts that are divorced from pragmatic relevance; and
Whereas, by way of example, when discussing the U.S. Constitution in class, a culturally responsive teaching method would be to incorporate a discussion of the Emancipation Proclamation, and to have students evaluate the impact of the Constitution on non-whites, discuss why the Emancipation Proclamation was necessary despite the language incorporated into the Constitution, and apply the concepts embodied within the Constitution to consider whether equal rights have in fact been granted and what current statutes may need to be altered or enforced differently in order to further the stated cultural goal of equi...
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