Preparing Teachers for Culturally Responsive/Relevant Pedagogy (CRP): A Critical Review of Research

Abstract

Context: Proposed more than two decades ago, culturally relevant/responsive teaching or pedagogy (CRP) is one promising approach to transforming the education experience of historically marginalized groups. The development of CRP has since inspired changes in teacher education programs and resulted in considerable research on preparing teachers for CRP. However, critics have argued that much work on CRP has not fulfilled its transformative potential of addressing racism and the white-supremacist foundations underlying teacher education research and practice and have urged CRP research to grow from the existing knowledge base and to innovate. Purpose of Study: This study critically examines the research practices of empirical studies on preparing K-12 preservice teachers for CRP in the United States by merging ideas of research as social practice with critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, and Indigenous epistemologies to argue for research as racialized social practice. The goal is to provide perspectives and lines of research that are true to the radical shifts the original theories called for, yet might not have been fully fulfilled. Research Design: This critical literature review applies the research-as-racialized-social-practice lens to examine how CRP research studies frame problems and research questions, elaborate theoretical frameworks and research methodology, and discuss findings and implications. Our analysis positions CRP research on the research-as-racialized-social-practice continuum, ranging from maintaining the racist status quo to intentionally disrupting it. Findings: Our analysis reveals that dominant research practices—emphasizing the problem of individual deficiencies rather than inequitable systems, employing a research logic focusing on linearity rather than complexity, and lacking in-depth examination of racialized and cultural ways of knowing for both researchers and participants—maintain the inequitable status quo rather than disrupting taken-for-granted assumptions and practices. While we recognize the important work and useful knowledge accumulated by this body of literature over two decades, we urge teacher educators and researchers to stay vigilant and resist research epistemologies and practices that recenter, recycle, and maintain whiteness, perpetuating the racist status quo. Conclusions: We recommend that teacher education researchers can construct research questions capable of generating new knowledge to disrupt racial injustice; utilize and further develop critical theoretical frameworks that sufficiently attend to various aspects of race and racism in teaching, learning, and society, and are meaningfully linked to disruptive research methodologies; and, finally, attend clearly to the ability of research to disrupt the racist status quo within their findings and implications.

Check yourself! Exploring current culturally responsive teaching assessment measures

“…The dearth of literature focused on evaluating CRT practices may be due to the inconsistent interpretations of the CRT framework (Cervantes & Clark, 2020). There are numerous CRT-related theories to draw from, including culturally responsive pedagogy (Chang & Viesca, 2022), CRT (Tanase, 2022), and culturally relevant teaching (Byrd, 2016). A plethora of studies are being published simultaneously to unpack these theories and how they can best be represented in the classroom, which can cause misconstruals across theories.…”

The Validity of Pre-Service Teachers’ WASSCE Results in Predicting Academic Performance at the Presbyterian College of Education

“…The OECD monitors and reports on the pathways youth can take throughout their journey in life through education. The transition from High school to higher levels of education, and their progression through higher levels of education, and from education into the labour market [12], [20], [21]. The UN believes that only education can propel individuals to acquire the skills needed to contribute meaningfully to society [22].…”

When literacy ate language: An analysis of a research‐based literacy intervention for designated English Learners

“…With variation, claims can be made that such low implementation has led to different and perhaps lower outcomes (Carroll et al, 2007). Critiques about the fidelity of implementation persist, as there is great variation in teacher preparation and fidelity can foreclose culturally responsive approaches for ELs (Chang & Viesca, 2022).…”

“…Drawing on students' resources does not merely involve their background experiences; their language histories and identities must also be taken into account (Morita‐Mullaney, 2018). When the role of the native language is dismissed, important linguistic resources are diminished (Morita‐Mullaney et al, 2022; Plaisance et al, 2018) and connections to students' linguistic and cultural identities are dissuaded (Chang & Viesca, 2022). Finally, because literacy interventions often take place outside of the general education classroom, designated ELs may be retracted from collaborative resources negotiated in their larger classroom communities, which can include use of their native languages.…”