Have you heard the term culturally responsive teaching (CRT) but don’t know what it is? Have you wanted to incorporate CRT into your ELA instruction but don’t know where to begin, or have you experienced some challenges in this area? Maybe you have used CRT in your classroom and noticed how it changed your classroom’s climate and the engagement level of your adult students and want to share these strategies with your colleagues.

Many adult educators need support in incorporating CRT into their English language arts instruction. In this CoP series, we will discuss the foundational concepts behind CRT, explore practical strategies for implementing them into ELA instruction, and work as a community to identify best practices and solutions to some of its challenges. Participants will leave this series equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to feel confident incorporating CRT into their ELA instruction.  

• Session 1: Foundations of Culturally Responsive Teaching: In this session, participants will be introduced to the core principles behind culturally responsive teaching (Student Learning, Cultural Competence, and Critical Consciousness, Ladson-Billings,1995). They will explore and discuss connections to adult learning theory, themselves, and their adult students and self-assess where they are in their CRT journey. 

• Session 2: Practical Approaches for Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching: In this session, participants will discuss and explore strategies for incorporating culturally responsive teaching into their ELA instruction. They will select and implement a CRT strategy into their ELA instruction before the next CoP session.

• Session 3: Action Planning for Culturally Responsive Teaching: In this session, participants will review a current lesson plan and begin revising it through a culturally responsive lens. They will identify at least two areas to further develop in the lesson and create an action plan for completing the revisions.

Participants must come prepared to share and engage with their adult education ELA colleagues. The sessions will include some expert input. However, all participants will be expected to be engaged via group discussions, breakout room activities, and participant sharing (strategies, lessons, materials/resources, etc.) In between sessions, participants are expected to do approximately one hour of independent work to ensure that they get the most out of the CRT CoP. Activities may include any of the following: readings, lesson planning and/or revision, resource gathering, reflective journaling, strategy implementation, etc. 

Upon completion of all sessions and interim activities, participants will receive six PD hours in LACES.

Professional Standards Addressed: P1, C1