In order for teachers to effectively integrate culturally relevant teaching into their existing practices, professional development must enable teachers to recognize how they racially, culturally, and economically view themselves and others.
The Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE) (Viadero, 2004) at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has identified the following five standards as critical to improving the learning of diverse students:
- Teachers and Students Working Together. Use instructional group activities in which students and teacher work together to create a product or idea.
- Developing Language and Literacy Skills Across All Curriculum. Apply literacy strategies and develop language competence in all subject area.
- Connecting Lessons to Students’ Lives. Contextualize teaching and curriculum in students’ existing experiences in home, community, and school.
- Engaging Students with Challenging Lessons. Maintain challenging standards for student performance; design activities to advance understanding to more complex levels.
- Emphasize Dialogue over Lectures. Instruct through teacher-student dialogue, especially academic, goal-directed, small-group conversations (known as instructional conversations), rather than lecture.
