Identity Affirming Classrooms

Send us a text

All instruction is culturally responsive. The question is: to whose culture is it responsive? The idea that public schools should focus on nothing but "the basics" of reading, writing, and arithmetic is not only wrong morally, but it's wrong scientifically too, because the research is crystal-clear: feeling seen, safe, and affirmed in the classroom is literally a prerequisite for learning anything else. In this episode, Bria Wright joins as co-host and we dive into identity and how we can tap into our own as well as those of our students to become more culturally and community-responsive in our practice. Special guest Dr. Erica Buchanan-Rivera, author of the book Identity Affirming Classrooms: Spaces That Center Humanity joins to ground our conversation in the research and also her personal experience as an educator and director of equity for Washington Township Schools, a district on the outskirts of Indianapolis, Indiana. Thanks also to Dr. Jeff Duncan Andrade and Dr. Fabienne Ducet for contributing as well.
Music provided by Blue Dot Sessions, the theme song Mirrors is by Joseph McDade.