Space and resources, as well as the pedagogy used in classrooms in

underserved areas of the United States, are inhibiting students’ learning, performance,
motivation, and overall educational experience (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Oakes, 2005;
Payne, 2008). In this research study, my team of undergraduate researchers and I will
explain and describe students’ wants and needs for effective schooling. Through
collaboration with high school students and IAPD graduate students, we have defined
the purpose of this study as utilizing the prongs of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and
other learning pedagogies to create innovative curricular design. The theoretical
framework that is aligning closely with our study is CRP, grounded by the six prongs
that Ladson-Billings lays out. CRP is a pedagogical theory that promotes learning for all
students. The six prongs include: cultural competence, sociopolitical consciousness,
academic achievement, strong conception of self and others, teacher’s strong
conceptions of social relationships, and conceptions of knowledge (Ladson-Billings,
1994). The methodology of this qualitative research study will be action research
(Pelton, 2010). Through working collaboratively with K-State Interior Architecture and
Product Design students, we will gain information through interviews and project-based
learning in students’ classroom and school environments. We will be obtaining
information by working with teachers and students in the Kansas City, Kansas Public
Schools, Sumner Academy and J.C. Harmon. We hope that through this project, we will
learn how we can best apply CRP and other learning pedagogies based on what the
students need. How to work with students to recreate current student spaces to meet
current pedagogical and environmental needs will be a large focus of this project. We
will apply the findings of this project to our own classroom practices as well as share
this as a resource for teachers to use in a 21​st​ century classroom.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The Flat world and education: How America’s

commitment to equity will determine our future. New York: Teachers College Press.
Oakes, J. (2005). Keeping track: How schools structure inequality. New Haven, CT:
Yale University Press.
Payne, C. (2008). So much reform, so little change: The persistence of failure in urban
schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press
Citation for Action Research:
Pelton, R. (2010). Action research for teacher candidates using classroom data to
enhance instruction. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Citation for CRP:
Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African
American Children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1994