Culturally Responsive Teaching: What do selected United States elementary school teachers think?

Abstract

In this paper culturally responsive teaching is viewed as one way of implementing the concept of multicultural education in schools. In recent years, scholars have devoted considerable attention to the importance of aligning classroom experiences with students' home culture as a way of enhancing social, academic and cultural enrichment of all children. This study was, therefore, designed to identify perceptions of teachers toward the importance of culturally responsive teaching in elementary schools in the United States. The responses of 33 teachers were analyzed by using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The findings of this study, along with a summary and implications for future studies, are presented in this paper. The data analysis clearly indicated that over 96% of the respondents considered culturally responsive teaching to be an important part of working with culturally diverse students. It was significant to note that the way teachers reported their perception toward the importance of culturally responsive teaching matched the manner with which they responded to the characteristics of culturally relevant teaching.