District Develops Professional Development to Support Culturally Responsive Practices

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Culturally responsive practices increase students’ sense of belonging while fostering learning.

In Aldine, classrooms are safe spaces. Students feel they belong. It is one of the reasons AISD has encouraged culturally responsive practices for years. The Teaching and Learning Department has created a professional development plan. The district will support educators in elevating a sense of belonging in the classroom. AISD also revised curriculum documents to ensure access to the curriculum for all students. The professional development plan stresses unifying and fine-tuning educators’ skills. All while providing high-leverage practices to support different learners and content.

The district has embedded culturally responsive practices across the system. Educators will find it in instructional planning, professional development, and curriculum.

Professional development will occur throughout the school year. The goals are to build a shared responsibility for strengthening inclusion. Examples of curriculum materials include access and belonging icons. These identify opportunities to embed strategies and culturally responsive practices quickly.

According to Christi Van Wassenhove, AISD Executive Director of Literacy and Humanities, teachers can create classrooms that support each student and develop a sense of respect, safety, and acceptance for all by utilizing culturally responsive practices in everyday instruction. Van Wassenhove and Jamie Barrs, program director of primary language arts, lead the work in culturally responsive practices.

Van Wassenhove and Barrs stated that Aldine’s work with cultural awareness supports teachers in illuminating all students’ cultural identities to support student ownership, engagement, and connection to content. It does not isolate nor alienate but offers pathways to understanding, perspective, and student achievement.

What is culture, and why is it relevant to student learning?

• Culture includes the social behavior and norms found in societies. It’s the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in each group.
• Culture has layers. These layers form connections. They include observable elements. Unspoken rules and social norms. And collective unconscious norms and beliefs.
• Culturally responsive practices include student voice and connection. This includes their cultures, identities, interests, experiences, desires, and future selves.
• Cultural awareness is relevant to student learning. Why? Because knowing students deeply helps to create a safe environment for students. It fosters a sense of belonging and aids students to feel valued. When students feel valued and have a sense of belonging, they are more likely to take ownership of their learning. They will invest in their classroom and school communities.

What are the characteristics of culturally responsive practices?

• Having high expectations for all students
• Building social-emotional connections for students to create a safe place for learning
• Appreciating different communication styles and language
• Using multicultural instructional materials
• Promoting a sense of safety and belonging
• Cultivating critical thinking and problem-solving for all students
• Motivating and engaging students to examine many perspectives
• Facilitating complex thinking through research-based methods

An Asset-based Approach to Education

Barrs shared that Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, author of Cultivating Genius, defines genius as “the brilliance, intellect, ability, cleverness, and artistry that [has] been flowing in [every person’s] minds and spirits across the generations.” We focus on awareness strategies to teach our students individually and illuminate their genius through:

• Building background knowledge and skills
• Providing strategies for students to deepen their understanding through various pathways
• Focusing on student strengths as a pathway to connect with new learning

What are some examples of culturally responsive practices?

• Awareness: Design activities to support students’ learning about themselves and others. This will promote appreciation of many perspectives. Plan activities that enable opportunities to learn about your students.
• Learning Partnerships: Embrace peer teaching and peer mentoring. Communities of inquiry allow students to teach each other through exercises (e.g., jigsaw activities).
• Information Processing: Help students process new information by activating background knowledge. Students should use cultural scaffolds. These include oral traditions and/or integrating relevant word problems. Examples include contextualizing equations using word problems referencing student interests and cultures. These methods support connection and engagement.
• Community of Learners and Learning Environment: Promote student empowerment. Achieve this by adjusting the teacher’s role less as an instructor and more as a facilitator. Allow students to have a say in what they learn. Focus lessons on interesting or exciting topics. Encourage students to share thoughts and ideas in an open-minded, supportive environment.