Culturally Sustaining Practice

 From Culturally Responsive to Culturally Sustaining Practices 

In "Characteristics of Culturally Sustaining and Academically Rigorous Classrooms", Nancy Frey compares the principles of culturally sustaining classrooms to a mirror, a window, and a door (2017). She explains that effective classrooms "provide all students with a mirror in which they can see themselves, a window to understand the perspectives of others, and a doorway for students to enter new realms of possibility". These metaphors elaborate on the main idea of transforming and evolving culturally responsive pedagogies into culturally sustaining pedagogies. But what exactly is a Culturally Sustaining Practice? As Dr. Django Paris, the professor who developed the concept explains, "this approach involves an understanding of culture that includes aspects such as popular, youth, and local culture, and those associated with ethnicity". 

Culturally sustaining practices sustain culturally diverse communities, build on Asset-Based Pedagogies, promote teaching strategies that reflect the diverse population of students, affirm and sustain student experiences, and also sustain minority communities. These practices affirm students as members of their own cultural communities while helping them achieve high academic standards at school. 

For more information on Culturally Sustaining Practices, listen to the following Podcast: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice

Providing Supports While Challenging ELL Students

Snyder & Fenner (2021), explain that "students' academic identities should be developed and nurtured while being inclusive of students' home cultures and backgrounds". In their book, "Culturally Responsive Teaching for Multilingual Learners: Tools for Equity", they provide a list of strategies for challenging ELL students, but also supporting them to ensure access to grade level content. Some of these strategies include: 

• Providing visual and oral instructions and modelling new activities.
• Scaffolding instruction and materials.
• Using visual supports like word walls and translated language.
• Providing opportunities for small-group and pair work.
• Fostering critical thinking and reflection.
• Including interdisciplinary and project-based learning.
• Connecting to student's prior learning

With all of these teaching strategies, the main goal is to include and engage all learners in challenging and meaningful content that will push them to reach learning goals, while also developing an academic mindset. While similar to a growth mindset, an academic mindset nurtures four student beliefs: 

1. I belong here.
2. I can succeed at this.
3. My ability and competence grow with my effort.
4. This work has value for me. 

Using Cognitive Routines to Foster Deep Learning 

Project Zero's Thinking Routine Toolbox [found here: PZ's Thinking Routines Toolbox | Project Zero (harvard.edu)] provides a variety of strategies and learning activities that extend student's understanding and thinking during content instruction. There are 10 thinking categories, each with a list of routines that encourage and support a deeper understanding of topics. Some of these thinking categories include Core Thinking Routines, Digging Deeper into Ideas, Perspective-Taking, Generating Possibilities, and more. Adding one or two routines to a class lesson can enrich a student's learning experience by scaffolding and supporting student's thinking, while making it 'visible'. 

An example of a lesson plan using Cognitive Routines:

 

Connecting Schools and Families

An important consideration in implementing Culturally Sustaining Practices is connecting with student's parents and families. Learning about their backgrounds, experiences, traditions, stories, family dynamic, and cultural practices is key to encouraging engagement in the school community and their child's learning. However, connecting with ELL's families can often pose challenges. Some of the barriers to family engagement include: 

• The parents and family members of English Language Learners may speak very little or no English at all. They might not understand regular correspondence that is sent home in student planners, notices, permission forms, or other important information.
• They may practice different cultural beliefs and not feel as connected to the school or greater community.
• Some families don't have access to computers at home. They may not have internet connections, email addresses, cell phones, or other technology that could assist with communication. This makes online permission forms, registrations, or regular correspondence difficult.
• Some families who have just immigrated to Canada may be transitioning to new homes, new jobs, or new family arrangements. They might be living in temporary settings or with extended family members, or their parents may not have found work yet. Access to food, clothing, and basic necessities might be limited.  In these situations, communicating with the school might not be top priority.

To overcome some of these challenges, teachers can utilize a number of resources, personnel, and community services to keep families connected and engaged in their child's education. These include: 

• Use translated information when possible. 
• Reach out to SWIS (Support Workers in Schools) to connect with a translator and arrange a meeting with parents/family.
• If families have access to a computer and the internet, direct them to the district website where they can translate important info in multiple languages. 
• Connect parents/families to adult English classes in the community if they would like to develop their language skills. 
• Learn more about student's backgrounds, experiences, cultures, and belief systems to build connections. 
• Acknowledge student's individual identities and cultures and celebrate diversity in the classroom. 
• Highlight and learn about different celebrations, holidays, and traditions from multicultural learners through a variety of lessons and activities with the whole class. 
• Invite parents and family members to visit the classroom, attend special events (concerts, assemblies, sports games, etc.) and become involved in the school community. 
• Display a variety of cultural stories, celebrations, traditions, and languages throughout the school on bulletin boards, classroom walls, and more. 
• ELL teachers can reach out to families (whether it's connecting at school drop-off/pick-up, through a student/sibling who can translate, or some other way) and arrange a meeting for parents to come in and discuss important info/issues that may arise. 
• Connect with SWIS workers to see if they can be of any assistance in communicating with families. 
• Find alternate means of communication (whether providing translated information to go home with a student or reaching out to a family member who does have access to technology). 
• Connect with SWIS workers, CCWs, and other staff that might be able to provide connections with community supports, food programs, counselling services, and other resources. 
• Reach out to Admin to see if the school or the PAC can contribute clothing, gift cards, or other resources we have access to. 
• Reach out to the teaching staff and school community to inquire about possible donations of basic necessities.

Image: A Concept Map outlining Culturally Responsive to Culturally Sustaining Practices