What
Geneva Gay begins her book, Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice, by setting a framework for the ensuing chapters. She introduces the topic of low achievement by students of color and identifies the need for culturally responsive teaching to help reverse this pattern.
Gay next focuses on the concept of storymaking or storytelling as it relates to culturally responsive teaching. She explains that, “a ‘story’ perspective allows the integration of more types of information and styles of presentation than are customary in more conventional styles of scholarly writing and research” (Gay, 2010, p. 3). She goes on to explain why stories are necessary and important, and provides an illustrative story of siblings Aaron and Amy.
Gay uses the latter part of the chapter to expand on five key premises that shape the book. I’ve listed them below, along with some of my favorite quotes related to each:
- Culture counts – “…culture determines how we think, believe, and behave, and these in turn, affect how we teach and learn” (Gay, 2010, p. 9).
- Conventional reform is inadequate – “These programs attempt to deal with academic performance by divorcing it from other factors that affect achievement, such as culture, ethnicity, and personal experience” (Gay, 2010, p. 13).
- Intention without action is insufficient – “Goodwill must be accompanied by pedagogical knowledge and skills as well as the courage to dismantle the status quo” (Gay, 2010, p. 14).
- Strength and vitality of cultural diversity – “If education is, as it should be, devoted to teaching the whole child, then this comprehensive focus should be evident throughout the curriculum, instruction, and assessment” (Gay, 2010, p. 16).
- Test scores and grades are symptoms, not causes, of achievement problems – “The search for reasons why different students are performing as they are, should begin with a much more careful disaggregation of achievement data” (Gay, 2010, p. 17).
So What
I have a Master’s degree, I’m a librarian, and I teach university students (including Master’s level and PhD level), so I’ve read a lot of academic and scholarly material. Sometimes it can be inaccessible, dry, or even extremely technical. I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging and accessible I found this book!
Stories have always played a large role in my life and I love the idea of incorporating a storytelling or storymaking approach into my teaching and learning. The idea of “creating a story of culturally responsive teaching” (Gay, 2010, p. 2) really resonates with me. Gay makes a strong case for doing so with her explanations and examples, which I’m sure will continue throughout the book.
Although I grew up in a fairly non-diverse environment (small-town Vermont), in the years since I’ve had the privilege to live in a number of diverse cities around the United States. Based on these experiences, I found myself nodding in agreement as I read Gay’s five assertions related to improving student achievement. The one that struck me as the most important was “intention without action is insufficient” (Gay, 2010, p. 13). Without this one, in my opinion, the others are rendered ineffectual.
I interact with and teach fairly diverse students and I’ve done so for my entire time in higher education (i.e., six years). I always take the time and energy to know my students as individuals and approach the curriculum in terms of what will be the most relevant and interesting to them in all aspects of their lives – academic, professional, personal, civic, etc. I also give them a lot of freedom to make choices about topics to explore and readings, which often allows me – and everyone else in the class – a glimpse (or more) into a class member’s culture, personal interests, and diverse background and experiences. When that type of freedom is offered and an environment of trust is built, some amazing stories emerge!
Now What
I’m really looking forward to learning techniques to create my own story of culturally responsive teaching, and formally incorporating storymaking/storytelling into my approach to teaching and learning.
I’ve also been struggling to keep up the momentum to continue to move from intention to action in my own efforts. This isn’t something you do just once, it’s an ongoing process. I hope this book and the course will reveal some concrete ideas to assist me in these efforts.
Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and
practice. (2nd Ed.). Teachers College Press.
Cultural Reflections 