2024 Track D: Curriculum Assessment: Being Culturally Responsive
Educators have the incredible capacity to transform how students experience the world. By embracing culturally responsive curriculum and instruction, we can move beyond a legacy built on white supremacy and marginalization.
It's time to break free from outdated systems. Culturally responsive practices allow us to:
- Deepen student engagement and achievement: Curriculum that reflects diverse perspectives ignites curiosity and fosters deeper understanding.
- Champion equity and inclusion: Every student deserves to see themselves reflected in their education.
- Elevate teaching practice: Culturally responsive methods empower us to be more effective educators.
- Cultivate a positive learning environment: When all voices are valued, the classroom thrives.
Join us as we explore how to assess our curriculum and instruction for cultural responsiveness. Together, we can create a learning experience that is culturally sustaining for all students, empowering them to reach their full potential.
This session addresses culturally sustaining pedagogy and anti-racist practices to create spaces for our students to own their narratives and agency as they develop English language skills. Participants will discuss and walk away with lessons, resources, and activities that center students’ voice and agency.
This session will benefit faculty interested in an in-depth reflective and collaborative experience to transform their practice and create spaces where students can find a place of belonging, community, and liberation beyond the classroom.
Intended Audience: Faculty
Outcomes: Participants will:
- Discuss the principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy and its impact on students learning.
- Reflect on the importance of centering students' voices and agency in the ELL classroom.
- Collaborate in creating a repository of ideas, lessons, activities, and materials that lead students to a place of belonging, community, and agency in and beyond the classroom.
Session Materials
In this interactive, 90-minute seminar, you will explore project-based learning: its purpose and benefits for improving student engagement and outcomes. Designed for faculty, whether a seasoned practitioner or new to the classroom, you will receive insights and actionable takeaways.
Discover the powerful transformational power of project-based learning (PBL)as we understand its core principles, offer practical strategies for the classroom (short, one-lesson projects that will engage your students), and give you the resources and tools to implement PBL.
Outcomes:
- Describe Project Based Learning and its supporting research
- Experience Project Based Learning
- Brainstorm projects for up to five different topics (digital literacy, civics, health literacy, workplace prep, financial)
- Develop an outline (or more!) of a project to use in your classroom
Session Materials
This presentation is for faculty to explore the ways that our beliefs and values naturally underpin culturally responsive teaching and anti-racist pedagogy. Teachers will reflect on their own core beliefs about teaching and how these beliefs can create a bridge that will help guide them to make culturally responsive decisions in the classroom. The presentation will include a practice of mindfulness and creativity by making a small guidebook of beliefs about teaching.
Outcomes:
- Participants will understand the importance of CRT in disrupting educational practices rooted in racism and colonialism
- Participants will reflect on the ways that their core beliefs can guide the practice of CRT
- Participants will practice mindfulness through a creative project making a small guidebook about their beliefs on teaching
Session Materials
In this interactive session primarily intended for faculty, participants will explore culturally sustaining pedagogy while discussing how to put this knowledge into practice. This session will emphasize the ongoing process of trying things, seeing how they go, and reflecting – rather than performing perfection. Participants will walk away with a tool they have created to help guide this process of practice for themselves and their work in their specific classrooms.
Outcomes:
- Participants will demonstrate an understanding of the principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy.
- Participants will identify elements of culturally sustaining pedagogy that they want to practice.
- Participants will create their own mini-assessment plan to reflect on their work with students as it relates to culturally sustaining pedagogy.
Session Materials
A session to remember, literally! Participants will experience an engaging strategy that creates meaningful connection to a concept, increasing comprehension and retention. Learn how the intentional use of strategies like this can expand into and deepen complex cognitive skills and improve equitable access for all learners. During the session participants will experience a learner-centered strategy paired with processing time through the educator’s lens, taking a deeper dive into differentiating for learner needs.
Audience: Instructors, Administrators, Program Directors, Curriculum Developers (anyone who would be presenting to groups).
Outcomes:
- Participants will experience authentic learning related to academic content that builds upon personal relevancy and connectedness.
- Participants will reflect on how to utilize the strategy in their own practice to impact all students.
- Participants will understand how an intentional approach to targeting high cognitive demand and learner strengths simultaneously fosters meaningful learning.
Session Materials
Adult students who have experienced trauma have deeply personal and complex learning needs. When instructors utilize trauma-informed teaching strategies, they can improve attendance, strengthen student success and increase program completion.
Outcomes:
- Understand the complexities of trauma-informed instruction
- Meet the unique learning needs of students in crisis
