scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Journal ArticleDOI

Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

01 Sep 1995-American Educational Research Journal (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 32, Iss: 3, pp 465-491
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a culturally relevant theory of education for African-American students in the context of collaborative and reflexive pedagogical research, and explore the intersection of culture and teaching that relies solely on microanalytic or macro-analytic perspectives.
Abstract: In the midst of discussions about improving education, teacher education, equity, and diversity, little has been done to make pedagogy a central area of investigation. This article attempts to challenge notions about the intersection of culture and teaching that rely solely on microanalytic or macroanalytic perspectives. Rather, the article attempts to build on the work done in both of these areas and proposes a culturally relevant theory of education. By raising questions about the location of the researcher in pedagogical research, the article attempts to explicate the theoretical framework of the author in the nexus of collaborative and reflexive research. The pedagogical practices of eight exemplary teachers of African-American students serve as the investigative “site.” Their practices and reflections on those practices provide a way to define and recognize culturally relevant pedagogy.
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The notion of culturally sustaining pedagogy was introduced by as discussed by the authors, who argued that teaching and learning relevant and responsive to the languages, literacies, and cultural practices of students across categories of difference and (in)equality.
Abstract: Seventeen years ago Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995) published the landmark article “Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy,” giving a coherent theoretical statement for resource pedagogies that had been building throughout the 1970s and 1980s. I, like countless teachers and university-based researchers, have been inspired by what it means to make teaching and learning relevant and responsive to the languages, literacies, and cultural practices of students across categories of difference and (in)equality. Recently, however, I have begun to question if the terms “relevant” and “responsive” are really descriptive of much of the teaching and research founded upon them and, more importantly, if they go far enough in their orientation to the languages and literacies and other cultural practices of communities marginalized by systemic inequalities to ensure the valuing and maintenance of our multiethnic and multilingual society. In this essay, I offer the term and stance of culturally sustaining pedagogy ...

1,921 citations


Cites background from "Toward a Theory of Culturally Relev..."

  • ...…2009, 2011) necessary for success and access in our demographically changing U.S. and global schools and communities.3 Although it is clear that Ladson-Billings (1995) was laying out the ground for maintenance and cultural critique, the term and stance of “relevance” or “responsiveness” does…...

    [...]

  • ...Educational Researcher, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 93–97 DOI: 10.3102/0013189X12441244 © 2012 AERA. http://er.aera.net April 2012 93 Seventeen years ago Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995) published the landmark article “Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy,” giving a coherent theoretical statement…...

    [...]

  • ...Resource pedagogies found their most lasting theoretical framework in the work of Moll and Gonzalez (1994) with their formulation of funds of knowledge....

    [...]

  • ...Educational Researcher, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 93–97 DOI: 10.3102/0013189X12441244 © 2012 AERA. http://er.aera.net April 2012 93 Seventeen years ago Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995) published the landmark article “Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy,” giving a coherent theoretical statement for resource pedagogies that had been building throughout the 1970s and 1980s....

    [...]

  • ...Keywords: bilingual/bicultural; cultural analysis; diversity; equity; instructional practices; multiculturalism; social justice It was now 17 years ago that Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995) published the landmark article Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, Ladson-Billings reflects on the history of her theory of culturally relevant pedagogy and the ways it has been used and misused since its inception.
Abstract: In this article, Ladson-Billings reflects on the history of her theory of culturally relevant pedagogy and the ways it has been used and misused since its inception. She argues for the importance o...

1,383 citations


Cites background from "Toward a Theory of Culturally Relev..."

  • ...My work in this area resulted in the development of what I termed culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995)....

    [...]

  • ...Indeed, in response to my earlier work (Ladson-Billings, 1995), people regularly asked me why I chose to focus on African American students as subjects for developing a pedagogical theory....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare and contrast the experiences of Chicana/Chicano students through a Eurocentric and a critical raced-gendered epistemological perspective and demonstrate that each perspective holds vastly different views of what counts as knowledge, specifically regarding language, culture, and commitment to communities.
Abstract: For too long, the histories, experiences, cultures, and languages of students of color have been devalued, misinterpreted, or omitted within formal educational settings. In this article, the author uses critical race theory (CRT) and Latina/Latino critical theory (LatCrit) to demonstrate how critical raced-gendered epistemologies recognize students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. In doing so, she discusses how CRT and LatCrit provide an appropriate lens for qualitative research in the field of education. She then compares and contrasts the experiences of Chicana/Chicano students through a Eurocentric and a critical raced-gendered epistemological perspective and demonstrates that each perspective holds vastly different views of what counts as knowledge, specifically regarding language, culture, and commitment to communities. She then offers implications of critical raced-gendered epistemologies for both research and practice and concludes by discussing some of the critiques of the use of the...

1,285 citations


Cites background from "Toward a Theory of Culturally Relev..."

  • ...…scholars have begun talking about critical raced and raced-gendered epistemologies that emerge from a social, cultural, and political history different from the dominant race (e.g., Delgado Bernal, 1998; Dillard, 1997, 2000; Gordon, 1990; Ladson-Billings, 1995, 2000; Scheurich & Young, 1997)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, Nieto makes student learning the primary objective of multicultural education and draws on a host of research in learning styles, multiple intelligences and cognitive theories to portray the way students learn, taking the reader beyond individual learners to discuss the social context of learning, educational equity, the influence of culture on learning and critical pedagogy.
Abstract: Sonia Nieto makes student learning the primary objective of multicultural education. She draws on a host of research in learning styles, multiple intelligences and cognitive theories to portray the way students learn. Nieto then takes the reader beyond individual learners to discuss the social context of learning, educational equity, the influence of culture on learning and critical pedagogy. Centering on multicultural education as a transformative process, the text includes many reflections of teachers who have undergone this process and whose experiences will be invaluable to other teachers.

1,150 citations


Cites background from "Toward a Theory of Culturally Relev..."

  • ...Increasing the number of teachers of color does not ignore the fact that some White teachers are excellent instructors for students of color and that some teachers of color are ineffective with culturally diverse students (Ladson-Billings, 1995)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Paris and Alim as discussed by the authors argue that CSP seeks to perpetuate and foster linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism as part of the democratic project of schooling and as a needed response to demographic and social change.
Abstract: In this article, Django Paris and H. Samy Alim use the emergence of Paris's concept of culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) as the foundation for a respectful and productive critique of previous formulations of asset pedagogies. Paying particular attention to asset pedagogy's failures to remain dynamic and critical in a constantly evolving global world, they offer a vision that builds on the crucial work of the past toward a CSP that keeps pace with the changing lives and practices of youth of color. The authors argue that CSP seeks to perpetuate and foster linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism as part of the democratic project of schooling and as a needed response to demographic and social change. Building from their critique, Paris and Alim suggest that CSP's two most important tenets are a focus on the plural and evolving nature of youth identity and cultural practices and a commitment to embracing youth culture's counterhegemonic potential while maintaining a clear-eyed critique of the ways in ...

1,064 citations

References
More filters
Book
12 Oct 2017
TL;DR: The Discovery of Grounded Theory as mentioned in this paper is a book about the discovery of grounded theories from data, both substantive and formal, which is a major task confronting sociologists and is understandable to both experts and laymen.
Abstract: Most writing on sociological method has been concerned with how accurate facts can be obtained and how theory can thereby be more rigorously tested. In The Discovery of Grounded Theory, Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss address the equally Important enterprise of how the discovery of theory from data--systematically obtained and analyzed in social research--can be furthered. The discovery of theory from data--grounded theory--is a major task confronting sociology, for such a theory fits empirical situations, and is understandable to sociologists and laymen alike. Most important, it provides relevant predictions, explanations, interpretations, and applications. In Part I of the book, "Generation Theory by Comparative Analysis," the authors present a strategy whereby sociologists can facilitate the discovery of grounded theory, both substantive and formal. This strategy involves the systematic choice and study of several comparison groups. In Part II, The Flexible Use of Data," the generation of theory from qualitative, especially documentary, and quantitative data Is considered. In Part III, "Implications of Grounded Theory," Glaser and Strauss examine the credibility of grounded theory. The Discovery of Grounded Theory is directed toward improving social scientists' capacity for generating theory that will be relevant to their research. While aimed primarily at sociologists, it will be useful to anyone Interested In studying social phenomena--political, educational, economic, industrial-- especially If their studies are based on qualitative data.

53,267 citations


"Toward a Theory of Culturally Relev..." refers background in this paper

  • ...In education, work that recognizes the import of practical experience owes an intellectual debt to scholars such as Smith (1978, Atkin (1973), Glaser and Strauss (1967), and Lutz and Ramsey (1974) who explored notions of grounded theory as an important tool for educational research....

    [...]

Book
01 Jan 1967
TL;DR: In this paper, the discovery of grounded theory is discussed and grounded theory can be found in the form of a grounded theory discovery problem, where the root cause of the problem is identified.
Abstract: The discovery of grounded theory , The discovery of grounded theory , کتابخانه مرکزی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تهران

22,245 citations

01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: Lee S. Shulman as mentioned in this paper builds his foundation for teachi ng reform on an idea of teaching that emphasizes comprension and reasoning, transformation and reflection, and argues that this emphasis is justified by the resoluteness with which research and policy have so blatantly ignored those aspects of teaching in the past.
Abstract: Lee S. Shulman builds his foundation for teachi ng reform on an idea of teaching that emphasizes comprension and reasoning, transformation and reflection. "This emphasis is justified" he writes, "by the resoluteness with which research and policy have so blatantly ignored those aspects of teaching in the past". To articulate and justify this conception, Shulman responds to four questions: What are the sources of the knowledge base for teaching? In what terms can these sources be conceptualized? What are the processes of pedagogical reasoning and action? And What are the implications for teaching policy and educational reform? The answers -informed by philosophy, psychology, and a growing body of casework based on young and experienced practitioners- go far beyond current reform assumptions and initiatives. The outcome for educational practitioners, scholars,

13,211 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Lee S. Shulman as mentioned in this paper builds his foundation for teaching reform on an idea of teaching that emphasizes comprehension and reasoning, transformation and reflection. "This emphasis is justified," he writes,...
Abstract: Lee S. Shulman builds his foundation for teaching reform on an idea of teaching that emphasizes comprehension and reasoning, transformation and reflection. "This emphasis is justified," he writes, ...

12,926 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ..."wisdom of practice" (Shulman, 1987, p. 12) of these excellent practitioners....

    [...]