Delpit Ladson-Billings
See students’ brilliance: Do
not teach less content to
poor, urban children but
instead, teach more!
Ensure that all students gain
access to “basic skills”—the
conventions and strategies
that are essential to success
in American society.
Demand critical thinking,
regardless of the
methodology or instructional
program being used.
Provide the emotional ego
strength to challenge racist
societal views of the
competence and worthiness
of the children and their
families.
Recognize and build on
children’s strengths.
Use familiar metaphors,
analogies, and experiences
from the children’s world to
connect what children
already know to school
knowledge
Create a sense of family and
caring in the service of
academic achievement
Monitor and assess children’s
needs, and then address
them with a wealth of
diverse strategies.
Honor and respect the
children’s home culture.
Foster a sense of children’s
connection to community—
to something greater than
themselves.
Sleeter
Believe that students are Hold high expectations for
capable of academic success students’ learning, regardless
of how they are doing now.
See teaching pedagogy as art Engage students
— unpredictable, always in academically by building on
the process of becoming. what they know and what
interests them
See yourself as a member of Relate to students’ families
your students’ community and communities and regard
them in culturally accurate
ways.
See teaching as a way to give Envision students as
back to the community. constructive participants in a
multicultural democracy.
Believe in a Freirean notion
of “teaching as mining” or
pulling knowledge out.
Maintain fluid
teacher/student
relationships.
Demonstrate connectedness
with all of the students.
Develop a community of
learners.
Encourage students to learn
collaboratively and be
responsible for one another
Believe knowledge is not
static but meant to be
shared, recycled, and
constructed.
Culturally Responsive Teaching. pp.8 (2016) Education North