Becoming a Culturally Responsive Educator

Cultural biases can be overcome with a little hard work and reflection.  The most needed component for eliminating biases is a willingness to go through a process of self-reflection.  Yes, a deep dive into your beliefs. By doing so, you will learn what needs to be changed to teach in a culturally responsive manner.  A great way to begin this approach is by writing.  Write down your reflections.  Reflections you have about your family as well as your upbringing, and your relationships. Then examine how those experiences may appear for a person raised in a different culture. Eventually the focus of this reflection will turn towards your ideas about race and bias.  A culturally responsive educator should reflect on their fears, beliefs, and biases.  One may have these about individuals that are different from their culture and when an educator  recognizes that their own  interests are not  better than other people who are different from them, they can begin to learn and respect the customs and values of other cultures.