Culturally Responsive Teaching Simply Explained

Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) has gained attention in recent years, largely thanks to Geneva Gay’s landmark book Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice. Gay made the concept accessible, practical, and deeply rooted in classroom realities.

But here’s where confusion sets in: CRT is often conflated with culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), a framework Gloria Ladson-Billings introduced in the early ’90s. They share a commitment to equity through culture but they’re not the same.

CRT is more instructional and practice-focused. CRP is more political, rooted in social justice and systemic critique.

And then there’s critical race theory; no, it’s not interchangeable with either. CRT (the educational kind) and CRP may share a commitment to confronting inequity, but they serve different purposes and operate in different spaces.

In this post, I unpack the distinctions between CRT and CRP, outline their theoretical roots, and highlight core integration strategies. I’ve also added something unique: ways to use AI to support culturally responsive teaching, something rarely discussed but urgently needed.

What is Culturally Responsive Teaching?

Here are some key definitions of culturally responsive teaching and leadership from leading scholars. Each highlights a different dimension of how culture, identity, and learning intersect in the classroom and school environment.

• “Culturally responsive teaching can be defined as the practice of using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant and effective. It involves teaching to and through students’ cultural strengths in order to promote academic success and personal development.” (Gay, 2000, p. 29)
• “Culturally responsive teaching is an approach particularly suited to urban schools where educating linguistically, culturally, and racially diverse students is a reality that some teachers find challenging and are ill-prepared to address. The underlying assumption of culturally responsive pedagogy is that diversity is an asset that enriches the learning of all students, not a deficit to overcome.” (Stairs, 2007, p. 37)
• “Culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) is defined as the ability of school leaders to recognize, understand, and utilize students’ cultural backgrounds to guide school practices and to promote inclusive school climates and academic achievement for historically marginalized students.” (Khalifa et al., 2016, p. 1274)
• “Culturally responsive teaching is rooted in the belief that students’ lived experiences, cultural backgrounds, and community contexts are central to their learning and should be reflected in instructional planning and delivery” (Milner, 2016, p. 419).

Taken together, these definitions frame culturally responsive teaching as an asset-based, equity-driven approach that centers students’ cultural identities in both instruction and school leadership to improve engagement, inclusion, and academic success.

What is Culturally Relevant Pedagogy?

Here are some influential definitions of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP). These highlight its emphasis on using students’ cultural identities as a foundation for meaningful, rigorous, and socially conscious teaching.

• – “Culturally relevant pedagogy is committed to collective, not merely individual, empowerment. It uses students’ culture to maintain and transcend the cultural capital they bring with them to school.” (Ladson-Billings, 1995, p. 160)
• “Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) and culturally responsive teaching (CRT) refer to pedagogical frameworks that emphasize the importance of including students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning” (Young & Roberts, 2022, p. 1).
• “Culturally relevant pedagogy is not about themed days, food festivals, or reading books by authors of color once a year. It’s about persistent, critical engagement with students’ cultures as assets and tools for rigorous learning.” (Parker, 2022, p. 3)
• “Culturally relevant pedagogy refers to teaching that uses the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning more appropriate and effective for them” (Krasnoff, 2016, p. 42).

Together, these definitions position CRP as a transformative approach that goes beyond inclusion, it seeks to empower students collectively, challenge systemic inequities, and embed culture as a central asset in learning, not a decorative add-on.

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy vs. Culturally Responsive Teaching: Same Goal, Different Roots

While often used interchangeably, these two frameworks have distinct origins and emphases:

• Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP): Coined by Gloria Ladson-Billings, CRP focuses on three core goals: academic success, cultural competence, and critical consciousness. It’s deeply rooted in social justice and centers student empowerment and systemic critique.
• Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT): Developed by Geneva Gay, CRT emphasizes using students’ cultural knowledge, experiences, and learning styles to shape instruction. It’s more practice-oriented, focusing on adapting curriculum and teaching methods to be culturally inclusive and effective.

Key Difference:
CRP is more explicitly political and transformative in intent. CRT is more pragmatic and instructional. Both aim to honor students’ cultures and disrupt deficit thinking but CRP pushes harder on critical consciousness and structural equity

Theoretical Roots of Culturally Responsive Teaching

The theoretical foundations of Culturally Responsive Teaching, as outlined by Gay (2000), draw from multiple disciplines and educational movements. Here are five key roots that inform and shape CRT:

• Multicultural Education: Emerged in the 1970s to address racial and ethnic inequities in schools. CRT builds on its goal of educational equity through cultural inclusion.
• Cultural Anthropology & Sociology: Emphasizes the role of culture in shaping identity, cognition, and social interaction. CRT treats culture as central—not peripheral—to learning.
• Constructivist Learning Theory: Draws from Vygotsky and others, asserting that learning is socially and culturally mediated. CRT aligns with the idea that students build knowledge through cultural frames.
• Critical Pedagogy: Inspired by thinkers like Paulo Freire, CRT is not neutral; it aims to empower students and challenge systemic oppression through education.
• Educational Equity Movements: Responds to deficit thinking by framing cultural difference as a strength, not a liability, and demands systemic change in curriculum and pedagogy.

These roots establish CRT as both a pedagogical and ideological stance grounded in equity, social context, and cultural affirmation. CRT is not just about better teaching; it’s about rethinking whose knowledge counts and how power operates in the classroom.

Why Culturally Responsive Teaching Matters

Culturally Responsive Teaching isn’t just a strategy, it’s a powerful lever for equity and transformation. Here’s why it matters, not only for student achievement, but for reshaping the purpose and practice of education itself.

1. Closes Achievement Gaps
   When students see themselves reflected in the curriculum, they engage more deeply and perform better.
2. Counters Deficit Thinking
   It reframes cultural difference as strength, not a problem to fix.
3. Builds Student Identity and Confidence
   Affirming who students are—culturally, linguistically, socially—fosters belonging and self-worth.
4. Enhances Relevance and Rigor
   Learning becomes meaningful when tied to students’ real lives, not abstract or detached from their world.
5. Develops Critical Thinkers
   It helps students understand and challenge inequity, not just memorize facts.
6. Strengthens Relationships
   Students thrive when teachers know them, respect them, and teach with empathy.
7. Prepares Students for a Diverse World
   It equips all learners to live, work, and lead in multicultural societies.
8. Disrupts Inequitable Systems
   CRT isn’t just classroom practice—it’s part of a broader push for justice in education.

Key Characteristics of Culturally Responsive Teaching

According to Gay, (2000), culturally responsive teaching has the following characteristics:

1. Cultural Legitimacy
   Affirms the value of students’ cultural heritages—recognizing them as both influential to learning and worthy of inclusion in the curriculum.
2. Home–School Connection
   Builds bridges between students’ home lives and school experiences, linking academic concepts to real-world cultural contexts.
3. Instructional Flexibility
   Employs diverse teaching strategies aligned with varied cultural learning styles and preferences.
4. Cultural Empowerment
   Teaches students to appreciate, affirm, and celebrate their own and others’ cultural backgrounds.
5. Curricular Integration
   Infuses multicultural content and perspectives across all subjects and skill areas—not as add-ons, but as core components of instruction.

Strategies for Integrating CRT/CRP

Here are some concrete, research-informed strategies to help teachers put CRT into action across curriculum, pedagogy, relationships, and assessment.

1. Learn Students’ Cultural Backgrounds
   • Conduct interest inventories and community walks.
   • Invite students to share family histories, traditions, and values.
   • Build relational trust through informal conversation and observation.
2. Embed Culture in Curriculum Content
   • Use texts, examples, and case studies from diverse voices—not just during “heritage months.”
   • Reframe lessons to include cultural perspectives and historical counter-narratives.
   • Teach mainstream concepts using culturally relevant analogies and metaphors.
3. Use Responsive Pedagogical Methods
   • Adapt instruction to varied learning styles (e.g., oral storytelling, collaborative projects, rhythmic/kinesthetic approaches).
   • Incorporate student choice and voice into assignments and assessments.
   • Design tasks that connect to students’ lived experiences and social realities.
4. Foster Critical Consciousness
   • Create space for students to examine issues of power, race, language, and identity.
   • Use literature, art, and current events to provoke discussion on justice and equity.
   • Encourage students to ask “why” and to connect classroom learning to real-world challenges.
5. Affirm Cultural Identity and Peer Recognition
   • Celebrate multilingualism and cultural practices without exoticizing them.
   • Structure peer-to-peer learning that honors diverse knowledge systems.
   • Provide regular opportunities for students to reflect on and share their perspectives.
6. Connect School to Home and Community
   • Build two-way relationships with families through home visits, cultural events, and community liaisons.
   • Integrate community issues, leaders, and resources into the curriculum.
   • Use community knowledge as a source of academic content.
7. Challenge Deficit Thinking
   • Avoid blaming students or families for underachievement.
   • Focus on students’ strengths, capabilities, and potential.
   • Treat culture as a resource, not a barrier.
8. Develop Teacher Self-Awareness
   • Engage in ongoing reflection about your biases, assumptions, and positionality.
   • Examine how your cultural background influences your teaching.
   • Pursue professional learning around race, identity, and equity.
9. Design Inclusive Assessments
   • Go beyond standardized tests: use portfolios, performances, exhibitions, and culturally grounded rubrics.
   • Allow students to demonstrate understanding in multiple formats.
   • Include assessment tasks that are socially and culturally meaningful.
10. Center Relationships

• Prioritize connection before correction.
• Recognize that culturally responsive teaching is rooted in care, respect, and high expectations.
• Make classrooms places of belonging, safety, and identity affirmation.

AI for Culturally Responsive Teaching

AI isn’t a replacement for culturally responsive teaching but it can be a powerful ally when used with care and intention. Here are practical ways AI tools can support the core principles of CRT, from curriculum design to assessment, all grounded in the work of leading scholars.

1. Culturally Diverse Curriculum Design
   Use AI to help locate and generate texts, historical examples, and case studies from marginalized voices.
2. Context-Aware Lesson Adaptation
   Use AI to reframe mainstream content through culturally relevant analogies and metaphors.
3. Multilingual Access and Translation
   Use AI translation tools (e.g., DeepL, Google Translate) to make content and communication accessible to families and students in their home languages.
4. Student Voice Amplification
   Use AI writing tools to scaffold student storytelling, personal essays, or community inquiry projects that affirm identity and cultural heritage.
5. Bias Detection in Curriculum and Assessment
   Use AI to scan teaching materials for exclusionary language, stereotypes, or cultural blind spots.
6. Critical Thinking Prompts
   Prompt AI to generate discussion questions that push students to explore systemic issues (e.g., inequality, power, representation) through their own cultural lens.
7. Adaptive Learning with Cultural Relevance
   Use AI-driven platforms that allow customization of reading levels and topics to reflect students’ cultural contexts.
8. Teacher Self-Reflection and Bias Checks
   Use AI to simulate diverse classroom scenarios or analyze teacher language for unconscious bias.
9. Community-Rooted Project Ideas
   Ask AI to generate project-based learning activities that incorporate local histories, student cultures, and community issues.
10. Equitable Assessment Design
    Use AI to help design performance-based tasks (e.g., digital storytelling, exhibitions) rather than defaulting to standardized tests.

Here is the download link for the whole visual guide!

References

• Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press.
• Krasnoff, B. (2016). Students’ perceptions of culturally relevant teaching practices: A mixed methods study. Multicultural Education, 23(3–4), 42–50.
• Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory Into Practice, 34(3), 159–165.
• Milner, H. R. (2016). A Black male teacher’s culturally responsive practices. The Journal of Negro Education, 85(4), 417–432.
• Parker, K. N. (2022). Starting with: Literacy is liberation. In J. Allen (Ed.), Literacy is liberation: Working toward justice through culturally relevant teaching (pp. 1–15). ASCD.
• Stairs, A. J. (2007). Culturally responsive teaching: The Harlem Renaissance in an urban English class. The English Journal, 96(6), 37–42.
• Young, E., & Roberts, J. (2022). A qualitative metasynthesis of culturally relevant pedagogy and culturally responsive teaching: Unpacking equity in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 117, 103812.

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