Thesis advisor: Martin Scanlan / Culturally responsive practice (CRP) by educators is an essential tool to serve increasingly diverse public-school populations. This study examines the sensemaking and sensegiving that district central office administrators undertake regarding what it means for educators to be culturally responsive practitioners. This dissertation used a case study of a mid-sized urban district which has not yet undertaken systematic effort on CRP to explore three research questions: (1) How do district administrators understand what it means for educators to be culturally responsive practitioners? (2) How do district administrators seek to influence the cultural responsiveness of educators? (3) What does evidence suggest about the efficacy of these efforts to influence the cultural responsiveness of educators? Data included interviews with seven district administrators and nineteen teachers, a survey of 33 educators in the district, and a review of internal district documents. Findings included that administrators had limited understanding of CRP, though they believe it to be important. They connected CRP to methodologies and practices in which they were more fluent. Sensegiving by district administrators was more effective at conveying the importance of CRP than its meaning or how to implement it. Absent a shared definition of CRP, but with heavy signaling of its importance, educators developed varying conceptions through their sensemaking. This case study suggests several implications for research, policy, and practice, including for the study of sensemaking in multi-layered organizations grappling with multiple changes and for implementation by school districts of CRP, as well as barriers to such implementation. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Despite considerable interest among South African scholars in learner behaviour management in South African schools, there is little literature on learner behaviour management in the context of cultural diversity. The present study investigates this essentially neglected space by focusing on learner behaviour management practices of teachers in culturally diverse classrooms of a high school in the Tshwane South District within the Gauteng Department of Education, South Africa. Cultural diversity is used as a lens to explore the practices of teachers. The theoretical underpinnings of culturally responsive classroom management are used to describe and to interpret learner behaviour management practices of teachers to determine whether the approaches and the resultant strategies that they use are culturally responsive. A qualitative case study approach was used, and data was collected through semi-structured interviews that included critical incident narratives obtained from teachers, analysis of pertinent documents and observations of 10 culturally diverse teachers who teach the same class consisting of culturally diverse learners, as well as of the Discipline Officer and two additional teachers that were identified through snowball sampling. The findings revealed that learner behaviour management practices of most teachers are not culturally responsive. This is a result of factors such as lack of recognition of their own ethnocentrism and biases, as demonstrated mainly by their unrealistic expectations, pessimistic attitudes and stereotyping perceptions; ignorance of learners‟ cultural backgrounds, as demonstrated mainly by teachers‟ denial and minimisation of the importance of understanding learners‟ cultural backgrounds (leading to misinterpretation of the behaviours of culturally different learners); lack of commitment to building a caring classroom community; lack of consciousness of the broader social, economic and political context of the South African education system; and lack of ability to apply culturally responsive classroom management strategies, which is exacerbated by lack of teacher education and development in this regard. The implication of these findings is that teachers need to possess an ethnorelative mindset, and to be interculturally competent. A key recommendation is that teachers should endeavour to move away from ethnocentrism towards being ethnorelative by developing an inclusive outlook, accepting cultural differences and adapting their perspective to take the cultural differences that influence learner behaviour into account. The study also recommends that teacher education programmes should prioritise teacher development on intercultural issues and the acquisition of intercultural competencies, as these aspects are crucial for teachers to appropriately manage the behaviours of learners whose cultural backgrounds are different from their own. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Education Management and Policy Studies / PhD / Unrestricted

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Many Americans espouse “post-racial” conceptions of race and its role in children’s access to equitable learning opportunities; however, recent studies have illuminated the need to examine the ways in which “new” forms of institutionalized and interpersonal racism continue to hinder the schooling experiences of students in urban schools. Despite that students in urban schools are predominantly African American (27%) and Latinx (41%), the teaching force remains predominantly white (71%). Within these schools, white teachers’ lack of cultural competence and racial literacy marginalize students’ opportunities for social, emotional, and academic development and, thereby, foster racially hostile learning environments. However, cases of teachers in urban schools who create and sustain learning environments in which their students thrive socially, emotionally, and academically exist and need to be studied. This case study investigated the pedagogical beliefs and practices enacted by two highly regarded African American educators who created racially safe learning environments in two racially hostile urban elementary students. Ethnographic data was collected over a five-month period. Using constant comparative analysis within and across both cases, several significant findings emerged. Findings revealed how “new racism” manifested in the discourses, policies, and practices at both schools and, thus, illuminated the ways in which race marginalized not only the schooling experiences of African American and Latinx students, but their African American educators as well. Findings examined how each teachers’ pedagogical enactments aligned with the ideologies, beliefs, and practices associated with African American pedagogy and revealed how they fostered cultures of community, love, and achievement within their classrooms. Findings suggest that their culturally specific pedagogical beliefs and practices have the potential to create racially safe learning environments within, otherwise, racially hostile schools. Although African American pedagogical excellence is often relegated to discussions of practices needed to reach African American students, this study expands the knowledge base needed to center AAPE in discussions of best practices for teachers in urban schools. This study adds critical insights to discussions of race and its role in the schooling experiences and opportunities to learn in racially hostile urban schools.

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In recent years psychologists have increased awareness and concern regarding the quality of mental health services provided to people of color. For several reasons clients of color often find traditional mental health services foreign or unhelpful. To help diminish obstacles faced by clients of color, several authors have advocated traditional mental health treatments be modified to better match clients' cultural contexts. Researchers have also begun investigating outcomes associated with culturally modified mental health treatments, often contrasting them with traditional mental health services. Recently numerous studies containing empirical data have been published. To date there has been no attempt to review this rapidly growing body of literature. Due to the sheer number of studies analyzing the efficacy of culturally modified treatment, the literature has become large and unwieldy. The present study used meta-analytic methodology to gather and organize quantitative data obtained from such studies. Across 80 studies that met criteria to be included in this meta-analysis, the resulting random effects weighted average effect size was d = .44, indicating a moderately strong benefit of culturally adapted treatments relative to traditional treatments. To further examine whether the association of treatment outcome and culturally modified treatments varied as a function of various sociodemographic variables, a series of categorical (and where appropriate, continuous) moderator analyses were conducted. Moderation effects were ascertained only for participant age and for Hispanic populations, with studies consisting of participants of higher chronological age and higher percentages of Hispanic participants having effect sizes of greater magnitude than studies with participants of younger ages or with few Hispanic participants. These results may indirectly provide evidence for the importance of client acculturation, given that older populations tend to be less acculturated (and therefore more in need of cultural modifications) than younger populations and that Hispanic populations are more likely to speak Spanish, necessitating adaptation of therapy to be conducted in their native language. Other variables, such as participant gender, did not moderate the results. Overall, the findings provide evidence for the benefit of modifying psychotherapy to match the cultural context of the client. Recommendations for future research on the topic are provided.

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceived impact of critical reflection on my cultural competence and practice of culturally responsive caring as a high school choral director. Caring educators establish trusting relationships with students that support them as teachers in identifying their strengths and interests, then employ that knowledge to develop student-centric curricula that generate opportunities for student success (Gay, 2018; Hendricks, 2018; Noddings, 2012). This practice is what Geneva Gay (2018) termed culturally responsive teaching. Gay (2018) also asserted, however, that a teacher cannot not claim to nurture caring relationships without accompanying cultural awareness. Considering ongoing and increasing social and political tensions that lead to societal divides in the United States, educators could benefit from practicing awareness so they can facilitate learning environments in which students are challenged, courageous, and inspired to explore their identities in caring environments. The pursuit of such cultural awareness, competence, and humility demands ongoing, authentic critical reflection—a vulnerable and arduous practice (Howard, 2003). This autoethnographic study considers literature positing that caring relationships in education demand profound and intentional cultural competence. It explores critical reflection as a means for developing such competence. This is an in-depth investigation into my pursuit of a culturally responsive caring practice as a high school choral director and product of the community in which I teach. The implications of this study describe my “cultural experience as it is particularly—not generally—lived” (Adams, et al., 2015, p. 41). The resulting narrative may encourage further research and empower educators and teacher educators to commit to a similar critically reflective practice that can lead to an authentic practice of culturally responsive caring.

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