New White Paper series provides guidance to teachers, policymakers, and scholars.
A growing body of research shows students learn best when they feel a sense of belonging and when teachers recognize and draw on cultural and community-aligned ways of thinking, doing, and learning. This research calls for new approaches to teaching and learning, centering the social and emotional needs of learners, and teaching in ways that incorporate communities and families. To help clarify what we know from this body of research, the Spencer Foundation commissioned a series of white papers summarizing the research on teaching and learning practices across content areas that have been referred to as culturally sustaining and/or culturally relevant.
Collectively they are designed to help educators and policymakers make sense of what we know from this growing, complex, and urgent field of research. The papers include:
- Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Pedagogies in English Language Arts Research, Instruction, and Policy: Directions from the Field, by Timothy San Pedro, Hui-Ling Malone, Joaquin Muñoz, & Jazmen Moore
- An Urgent Need for Transformation: Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Math and Science Education Towards Thriving Futures, by Carrie Tzou, Symone Gyles, Julia Aguirre, & Maria del Rosario Zavala
- Culturally Sustaining and Relevant Education for Latinx Students, by Nelson Flores & Guadalupe Del Rosario Barrientos
- Culturally Responsive School Leadership: Emerging Trends and Future Possibilities, by Muhammad Khalifa
- Measuring the Effectiveness of Culturally Sustaining Approaches to K-12 Education, by Jennifer Randall & Leon Mason, Jr.
We also offer an Executive Summary, which includes key insights from across the papers, with an eye towards the practices, policies, and future research that we need to support all young people in learning and thriving.
