Building Culturally Responsive Classrooms

A Guide for K-6 Teachers

Teachers are dealing with increasingly diverse classroom settings, yet the majority of teachers do not share the same culture as their students. Going beyond they typical heroes and holidays approach to cultural diversity, Gaitan shows that real culture is the day-to-day experience of students and their families and involves values, language, kinship, community and social networks, common history, attitudes, and rituals. By honoring "real culture," teachers will be better equipped to reach all their students effectively.

Divided into two parts, this invaluable resource covers the classroom environment and the topics of discipline, arranging the classroom, and parent and community involvement first. In the second half of the book, Gaitan explains how teachers can be culturally responsive in the way in which they teach literacy, math, science, the interdisciplinary curriculum, and other content areas. Based on Gaitan's own interviews, observations, and audio & video recordings with teachers, parents, students, and community leaders, this book shows how teachers can transform the context and content to be culturally responsive to all their students.

Each chapter follows a accessible and user-friendly format, making it ideal for mentoring pairs, group study, or teachers working individually:

Personal reflection from a teacher related to the chapter topic

Discussion of the topic as it relates to the culturally responsive classroom, incorporating the latest research and best practice

Rich case example including dialogues between teachers and students, the author's observations, and teacher reflections about what occurred

Guiding questions

Reflective Questions

Classroom applications