Teachers

Some ideas for what Teachers can do:

• Learn about culturally responsive teaching by attending professional development seminars or reading up on it.

• Talk about culture openly with your students – work together to define culture, and talk about how our home cultures influence how we interact with other people, how we talk, and how we learn.

• Reinforce the importance of Catholic education to the future of the Church in the United States. Download (Catholic School Advantage Fact Sheet)

• Learn as much as you can about the culture your students come from.

• Visit your students homes and get to know their families.

• Educate yourself about the social and political issues that affect your students. For example, if you teach in an immigrant community, visit a local advocacy center and learn about the complexities of an issue that dramatically affects your kids’ everyday lives.

• Ask your students to identify the most important places in the local community and spend some time in those places.

• Join or visit the parish your students belong to, and get involved in the parish community. Go to the Spanish Mass occasionally.

• Invite parents and other important people in the community into your classroom and draw on their expertise. Every family has an expert in something – find out what your students’ parents are good at and treat them like experts.

• Treat your students’ home language as a resource, not an obstacle. Encourage bilingualism among your students, not monolingual English speaking. And work on your Spanish!

• Read Acts 2: 1-12, and discuss with your class how the Holy Spirit took a culturally responsive approach to Pentecost!

Tell us what has worked for you!