Culturally responsive education as a sustainable educational approach: Reflections from primary school teachers’ life science course practices
Emrullah Akcan 1
More Detail
1 Gaziantep University, Turkey

Abstract

This paper aimed to determine primary school teachers’ practices and classroom examples regarding culturally responsive education (CRE) in their life science courses. The study was conducted with the participation of 20 teachers, half of whom were employed in a primary school in Gaziantep province and the other half employed in the PIKTES [Promoting Integration of Syrian Kids into the Turkish Education System] project in the same province. The study adopts a qualitative research design that involves semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that the most common challenges experienced by primary school teachers were Syrian students' language and communication problems, as well as primary school teachers' lack of awareness about minority kids' culture and CRE. The most popular teacher techniques were those that aimed to increase student empathy. Based on the results, some suggestions were recommended for future studies.

Keywords

References

  • Aronson, B. & Laughter, J. (2016). The theory and practice of culturally relevant education: A synthesis of research across content areas. Review of Educational Research, 86(1), 163–206. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315582066
  • Baldwin, T. A. (2015). Culturally responsive pedagogy: a transformative tool for cccu educators in multicultural classrooms. CEJ (Christian Education Journal), 12(1), 97-117. https://doi.org/10.1177/073989131501200108
  • Brown-Jeffy, S. & Cooper, J. E. (2011). Toward a conceptual framework of culturally relevant pedagogy: An overview of the conceptual and theoretical literature. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38(1), 65-84.
  • Byrd, C. M. (2016). Does Culturally Relevant Teaching Work? An Examination From Student Perspectives. SAGE Open, 6(3), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016660744
  • Cannella, G., & Reiff, J. (1994). Teacher preparation for diversity. Equity and Excellence in Education, 27(3), 28-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/1066568940270305
  • Civil, M. & Khan, L. H. (2001). Mathematics instruction developed from a garden theme. Teaching Children Mathematics, 7(7), 400–405.
  • Ebersole, M., Kanahele-Mossman, H. & Kawakami, A. (2016). Culturally responsive teaching: Examining teachers’ understandings and perspectives. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(2), 97-104. http://dx.doi.org/10.11114/jets.v4i2.1136
  • Erdem, C. (2017). Instructional problems experienced by primary school teachers who have refugee students in their classes and their solutions for problems. Medeniyet Journal of Educational Researches, 1(1), 26-42.
  • Ford, D. Y. (2010). Culturally responsive classrooms: Affirming culturally different gifted students. Gifted Child Today, 33(1), 50–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/107621751003300112
  • Forman, J., & Damschroder, L. (2007). Qualitative content analysis. In Empirical methods for bioethics: A primer. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  • Gay, G. (2014). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers Collage Press.
  • Gay, G. (2002a). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education 53(2), 106-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053002003
  • Gay, G. (2002b). Culturally responsive teaching in special education for ethnically diverse students: Setting the stage. Qualitative Studies in Education, 15(6), 613-629. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839022000014349
  • Gay, L. R., Mills, G. E. & Airasian, P. (2009). Education research competencies for analysis and applications. Pearson Education.
  • Gillham, B. (2000). The research interview. Continuum International.
  • Ginsberg, M. & Wlodkowski, R. (2009). Diversity and motivation: Culturally responsive teaching in college. Joseey-Bass.
  • Göktuna-Yaylacı, F., Serpil, H. & Yaylacı, A. F. (2017). Refugee and asylum-seeker education from stakeholder perspectives: Eskişehir Case. Mediterranean Journal of Educational Research, 11(22), 101-117.
  • Hammond, Z. (2016). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin.
  • Keehne, C. N. K., Sarsona, M. W., Kawakami, A. J., & Au, K. H. (2018). Culturally responsive instruction and literacy learning. Journal of Literacy Research, 50(2), 141-166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X18767226
  • Kotluk, N. (2018). Examining teachers' views and self-efficacy perceptions about culturally relevant/responsive education [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van.
  • Kotluk, N. & Kocakaya, S. (2018). An alternative approach for Turkey: Culturally relevant/responsive education. YYU Journal of Education Faculty, 15(1), 749-789. http://doi.org/10.23891/efdyyu.2018.86
  • Ladson-Billings, G. (1992). Liberatory consequences of literacy: A case of culturally relevant instruction for African American students. Journal of Negro Education, 61(3), 378-391. https://doi.org/10.2307/2295255
  • Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The Dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. Jossey-Bass.
  • Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465-491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465
  • Ladson-Billings, G. (2014). Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the Remix. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 74-84.
  • Marie, A. R. (2006). The role of social foundations in preparing teachers for culturally relevant practice. Multicultural Education, 13(3), 10-13.
  • McAllister, G. & Irvine, J. J. (2002). The role of empathy in teaching culturally diverse students: A qualitative study of teachers' beliefs. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(5), 433–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/002248702237397
  • Ministry of National Education [MoNE]. (2018). Hayat Bilgisi dersi öğretim programı [Life studies lesson curriculum]. Retrieved from https://mufredat.meb.gov.tr/Programlar.aspx
  • Mensah, K. M. (2011). A case for culturally relevant teaching in science education and lessons learned for teacher education. The Journal of Negro Education, 80(3), 296-309.
  • Mersin University (2014). Suriyeli Göçmenlerin Sorunları Çalıştayı Sonuç Raporu [Workshop on Problems of Syrian Migrants Final Report]. Mersin, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.madde14.org/images/b/b0/MersinUnivSuriyeCalistay.pdf
  • Milner, H. R. (2011). Culturally relevant pedagogy in a diverse urban classroom. Urban Review, 43(1), 66-89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-009-0143-0
  • Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93–97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12441244
  • Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. Jossey-Bass.
  • Pehlivan-Yılmaz, A. (2019). Culturally responsive teaching in social studies education: Interaction with refugee students [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Anadolu University, Graduate School of Educational Sciences, Eskişehir.
  • Polat, S. & Akcan, E. (2017). Analysis of the films with an educational theme from the perspective of multicultural education. International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic Volume, 12(18), 475-504. http://dx.doi.org/10.7827/TurkishStudies.12108
  • Porto, M. (2010). Culturally responsive L2 education: An awareness-raising proposal. ELT Journal, 64(1), 45-53. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccp021
  • Seggie, F. N. & Bayyurt, Y. (2021). Nitel araştırma yöntem, teknik ve yaklaşımları [Qualitative research methods, techniques and approaches]. Anı.
  • Soylu, A., Kaysılı, A. & Sever, M. (2020). Refugee children and adaptation to school: an analysis through cultural responsivities of the teachers. Education and Science, 45 (201), 313-334. http://dx.doi.org/10.15390/EB.2020.8274
  • Sönmez, V. (1997). Sosyal bilgiler öğretimi ve öğretmen kılavuzu [Social studies teaching and teacher guide]. Anı.
  • Subaşı, M. & Okumuş, K. (2017). Case study as a research method. Current Perspectives in Social Sciences, 21(2), 419-426.
  • Şahin, M. (2009). Evolution of the social studies curriculum from republic to present. The Journal of International Social Research, 2(8), 402-410.
  • Şahin, V. (2019). An approach to life science and social sciences curriculum in terms of cultural geography. Journal of National Education, 48(222), 173-183.
  • Tarman, B. & Gürel, D. (2017). Awareness of social studies teacher candidates on refugees in Turkey. Journal of Social Studies Research, 41(3), 183-193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2016.11.001
  • Ullman, C. & Hecsh, J. (2011). These American lives: Becoming a culturally responsive teacher and the ‘risks of empathy’. Race Ethnicity and Education, 14(5), 603-629. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2011.589172
  • Ünal, S. (2014). Turkey's unexpected guests: Foreign immigrants and refugees experience in the context of “other”. Journal of World of Turks, 6(3), 65-89.
  • Villegas, A. M. & Lucas, T. (2002). Preparing culturally responsive teachers: Rethinking the curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(1), 20-32. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053001003
  • Walker, A. (2019). Culturally relevant pedagogy, identity, presence, and intentionality: A brief review of literature. Journal of Research Initiatives, 4(3), 1-13.
  • Wanless, S. & Crawford, P. (2016). Reading your way to a culturally responsive classroom. Young Children, 71(2), 8-15.
  • Warren, C. A. (2013). The utility of empathy for white female teachers’ culturally responsive interactions with black male students. Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching and Learning, 3(3), 175-200.
  • Warren, C. A. (2018). Empathy, teacher dispositions, and preparation for culturally responsive pedagogy. Journal of Teacher Education, 69(2), 169-183. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487117712487
  • Yıldırım, A. & Şimşek, H. (2006). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri [Qualitative research methods in the social sciences]. Seçkin.
  • Yılmaz, A. (2015). International migration and Turkey: The rights of the child migrants and asylum-seeking families in Turkey and suggestions for better practices. Academic Sight International Refereed Online Journal, 49, 475-493.
  • Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research. Sage.
  • Yuan, G. (2006). On value and culture. Frontiers of Philosophy in China, 1(2), 237-244.

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.