Do you consider yourself a culturally responsive educator? You’re needed now more than ever.

To say that 2020 has been quite a year would be an understatement. We can try to deny it but in every home and virtual space across America, people have intense feelings about the socio-political context that we live in with the pandemic, politics, and virtual education. Many are asking what will it take to get through this current season? Individuals who desire to be culturally responsive educators recognize this and know they must find ways to allow for constructive discourse around these topics.

But, what is a culturally responsive educator? Some folks might cite the work of authors they have read while others simplify being a culturally responsive educator to having “good relationships” with students. In fact, it seems that’s the most overused statement around culturally responsive practice, that it’s about relationships. Relationships are crucial but I see them as the end result of other elements of human engagement. Conditions have to be consistently established before relationships will exist. Here’s what I mean.

Being culturally responsive is first about trust. Students don’t engage or give their best to people that they don’t trust. In order to develop trust it takes an educator to be authentic, honest and even display levels of disclosure, or vulnerability, that they are a human just like you. For me, as a Black man, when I hear a white colleague say, “Hey, I’m a white guy / woman, and this is my perspective…”, this is a very telling moment in our relationship. This introduction tells me that they are open and honest enough to recognize that we are racial and cultural beings, they do not subscribe to the myths of color blindness, and how their personal lens impacts how they see the world. They are bringing their true selves into the space. I’ve always tried my best to be equally honest. This is key for our students as they want to be accepted for who they are and trust that you will treat them as a full human no matter what race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc. Some spaces just don’t feel safe thus trust has no fertile soil for growth. We must be consistent and fair in our actions if we want relationships to bloom.