Leadership magazine Sept/Oct 2015 V45 No 1 | Page 15

builds on the assets that students bring to
school may be our best hope for increasing
the percentage of students who are proficient
on the new standards and reducing performance disparities among ethnic groups.
Such instruction is known as “culturally responsive teaching.”
Geneva Gay (2000) defines this as using
the cultural characteristics, experiences and
perspectives of ethnically diverse students
as conduits for teaching more effectively.
The concept is based on the assumption
that when academic knowledge and skills
are situated within the lived experiences
and frames of reference of students, they are
more personally meaningful and are learned
more easily and thoroughly. Research
shows that culturally responsive instruction
prompts student involvement, while instruction that ignores student norms of behavior
and communication provokes student resistance in the classroom (Olneck, 1995).
In California, where two-thirds of teachers are white and 60 percent of students are
Hispanic or black, culturally responsive
teaching takes on special importance. Providing such instruction requires cultural
proficiency on the part of teachers and principals. Through modeling cultural competence and helping shape teachers’ professional development, school leaders play a
critical role in ensuring that their schools are
culturally proficient. This article suggests
some specific ways for principals to fulfill
that role in the Common Core era.

How principals can make their schools
more culturally responsive
Culturally proficient leaders guide their
colleagues to examine personal values and
behaviors in such a way that the staff members see that it is they who must adapt their
practices to meet the needs of the students
and the community they serve (Lindsey,
Roberts, & Campbell Jones, 2005). Below
are descriptions of three steps that principals
can take to be that kind of leader.

1. Develop their own cultural proficiency
and create conditions for teachers to do
the same.
The first step is to build one’s own cultural
proficiency. This requires understanding

one’s history and culture and how they affect ferences. Principals might consider having
interactions with colleagues and students. teachers facilitate such discussions to lessen
Such self-knowledge helps a leader come to inhibitions that staff members may feel.
value the stories that teachers and students
School leaders can also foster teachers’
bring to school, and not just their own. understandi