(Re)inscribing White Cultural Hegemony: The Paradox of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy?

Abstract

This study examines teachers’ (mis)understandings of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in one school district in a socially conservative area of the U.S. Midwest. The central concern of this paper involves interrogating the way teacher conceptualizations of CRP maintain inequalities in urban schools by normalizing, reproducing, and protecting White cultural hegemony, including the colorblind notion that racism plays no factor in schooling. As the findings of this study demonstrate, a significant difference exists between what teachers in this district publicly assert as their proficiency in CRP and what they actually understand, believe, and practice. Ultimately, teacher attachments to deficit narratives hamper CRP’s usefulness for critique of dominant knowledge, oppressive social structures, and racism.