Maya Bryant

STEM 434
10/24/21
CRP
After reading article 1 Moving Culturally Relevant Pedagogy From Theory to Practice:
Exploring Teachers’ Application of Culturally Relevant Education in Science and Mathematics I
was shocked to hear urban teachers didn't automatically incorporate cultures into their lessons. I
would have expected it from rural teachers because I see the wide-open countryside and small
towns with a small pool of culturally diverse populations. This article was explaining that some
urban teachers didn't know how to reach their urban students. Maybe it’s where I was raised but
I remember having assignments where I found successful people in STEM classes that looked
like me and having to do a report on their awesomeness. The only question I have is, why are
urban teachers having trouble being the cultural bridge-builder between students in their class
and their cultures? It is our job as teachers to meet the needs of each student but to do that you
have to know their culture and meet them where they are so we can help them succeed.
The second article I read was CULTURE MATTERS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION: A
FESTIVAL CREATES CULTURALLY RELEVANT LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR
STUDENTS AND PARENTS. It reflected Culturally Relevant Pedagogy by including the parents
in the learning. It incorporated the cultural and linguistic background of each of the students.
I don’t really know how this lesson could be enhanced, each student had an opportunity to be
proud of where they come from and teach their peers their culture while also engaging with the
STEM lesson. It was a community event and the instruction was meaningful and connected to
each student differently.
I have three takeaways from reading these articles. The first being Urban teachers
understand that culture is important but struggle to be the advocate for their student’s cultures
because they either don’t know it or they cant figure a way to incorporate it in the classroom.
The second being Use the science fair as an opportunity to not only allow students to engage and
take control of their own learning but use it to learn and connect the families and cultures to your
students. The final takeaway I have from reading these articles is, the main idea of CRP is
culture and practicing tolerance and positive interaction, and learning connections for each
individual student. CRP is very important to practice in the elementary classroom because the
more exposure the students have to cultures and to STEM the more they will ask questions, find
answers and become well-rounded smart citizens in the future.
There are five main ways I can incorporate CRP into my classroom. The first is the
easiest way, have parents involved, invite them into the classroom, to watch or read books to our
students. The second way is to have projects as I mentioned before where students do research
on successful engineers, astronauts, scientists, and more that look like them or have the same
culture or even simply come from where they come from. The third way is to encourage students
to collaborate with each other and get to know each other through group activities and lessons.
The fourth way I can incorporate CRP into my classroom is by having a culture day! Have
students and parents choose a culture that is not their own and shares interesting findings and
foods and successful creations by people from that culture. The last way is to get community
involvement to expose the students to as many cultures and walks of life as possible.