Culturally Relevant Teaching


Should culturally-relevant content be taught with a different focus at the Christian University than it would at a public university?



                                  Culturally Relevant teaching strategies for Christian educators.



Philippians 2: 1-4 teaches us to imitate Christ’s humility by first valuing others about ourselves, and teachers have a greater responsibility, loving the students in their classrooms equally.



Today’s traditional classrooms do not support cultural diversity, instead, the goal is to teach the content, and produce high ranking assessment scores. This is a familiar scenario in many classrooms today. Christian Universities have the mind and wisdom to take a different path.



Culturally relevant teaching is a “pedagogy that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural references to impart knowledge, skills and attitudes” (Carlson, 2017, p. 1). Many schools acknowledge the diversity of their student body, but the curriculum and content delivery methods often stay the same. Look at any university website and you can find the demographic statistics; and then look at a course syllabus too find most of the content materials are geared toward the mainstream, white, middle class student demographic.



However, Christian Universities are seeking to teach the whole student, as Philippians 2:3 teaches us, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (NIV), that we must be looking at the diversity of the student body and designing a curriculum and integrating technology that enhances their learning by encouraging them, fueling their academic ambitions, and finally, by incorporating materials that are relevant to their understanding; while also broadening their world view and cultural perspectives. For example, professors will include text materials from authors of color, and different countries.



The focus is to empower students using a relevant “curriculum that makes sense in the context of their lives and helps them develop confidence as learners” (Carlson, 2017, p. 1). Christian University administrators can follow the example of Christ, who are mindful of students’ culture and diversity and use that knowledge to differentiate instruction so it better resonates with the learner.



References:

Carlson, A. (2017). Culturally Relevant Teaching: Strategies & Definition. Retrieved April 3,                2017, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/culturally-relevant-teaching-strategies-               definition-quiz.html




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