When the traditional classroom does not support teachers and empower students, it’s time for educators to transcend the status quo. This requires that we embrace culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining pedagogy that allows K-12 teachers to optimize their educational practice and create a thriving, equitable learning community for 21st century students. Readers of Equitable Instruction, Empowered Students: A Teacher’s Guide to Inclusive and Culturally Competent Classrooms will:

• Understand the injustices inherent in education

• Design a curriculum that fosters equity and justice and provides diverse assessments for all learners

• Create a classroom environment where any student can feel safe and heard

• Ensure their pedagogical practices align with their mission and vision

• Enable effective and culturally appropriate communication with students and families

 

We, as educators, should strive to be more than culturally competent. We should seek information to have an understanding and appreciation of cultures, attitudes, traditions, values, and beliefs are different. Creating an equitable learning environment first requires inclusion and cultural competence because equitable learning for all includes accessibility, multiple opportunities, justice-driven, and independence and collaboration across curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Practical ways to ensure an equitable and justice-driven classroom include ensuring language is positive and inclusive, understanding student needs and providing scaffolds to ensure those needs are met, teaching students’ skills and strategies to meet their own needs, and incorporating and integrating quality multicultural content that includes all perspectives and voices of diverse people.