ED 551 Culturally Responsive Teaching: 3 semester hours
In this course, students will examine major themes related to family and community engagement. According to Ladson-Billings (1994; 2006), “Culturally Responsive Teaching is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students' cultural references in all aspects of learning” (n.d.). Since culture is central to learning, “it plays a role not only in communicating and receiving information, but also in shaping the thinking process of groups and individuals.” This pedagogy acknowledges, responds to, and celebrates fundamental cultures and offers full, equitable access to education for students from all cultures. P. C. Gorski and K. Swalwell (2015) add that “Schools can commit to a more robust multiculturalism by putting equity, rather than culture, at the center of the diversity conversation” (p. 34). Gorski and Swalwell insist that “at the heart of such a curriculum that is meaningfully multicultural lie principles of equity and social justice” (p. 36).