Puruggnan Inspiration

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What inspired this project?

I currently work at a Public School with a student population of 86% Spanish speakers. This makes my job as the Spanish teacher very unique when compared to districts I've worked prior. That being said, I couldn't help but notice a rather significant deficit when comparing the overall grades of my Heritage Spanish speakers to my non-Heritage speaking white students. How could this be? Clearly something needed restructuring, and that something was my content and teaching. Upon deeper analysis and reflection, I came to realize that the text and curriculum provided for our Spanish class, the traditional "World Language" curriculum was extremely out of touch and felt even insensitive at time given the realities and experience of many of my students: some who I know are undocumented, and others who are first and second generation immigrants. For these students, the unit themes provided in the textbook were simply irrelevant.

Thus my research project was born: developing a new curriculum that incorporated the philosophies of culturally relevant and responsive teaching practices to see if that had any affect on student engagement and subsequently achievement in my classroom.

Research shows that culturally relevant teaching practices significantly boost academic engagement.
To address the issue of academic disparities for our minority populations in US public schools, culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) has emerged as a vital approach to create inclusive and equitable learning environments. Seminal researchers like Gloria Ladson-Billings, Geneva Gay, and Zaretta Hammond argue that incorporating students' cultural backgrounds into the curriculum both in terms of content and assessment practices results in higher academic achievement.

Students are more likely to engage with material relevant to their experiences, which in turn leads to more authentic interactions and stronger relationships within the classroom. CRP's positive impact includes higher attendance rates, increased participation, and a stronger sense of belonging. All of these factors help to build stronger relationships in the classroom (student-student and student-teacher alike) which helps to set higher expectations for themselves and each other, leading to increased performance. Effective CRP requires teachers to understand their students' cultural values deeply, using this knowledge to develop lessons that build on prior understanding. This approach goes beyond superficial multicultural education, calling for a fundamental shift in curriculum development and delivery. My research sought to apply CRP theories to analyze their impact on student engagement and achievement, demonstrating the transformative potential of culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy.

Research

Design Process

Support and Next Steps