Becoming Culturally Responsive in Phoenix

Allie Roush, Lorenzo Garza, and Liza Roesch teach together at Morris K. Udall School in Phoenix, and are committed to offering their students a rigorous, relevant and responsive education. In these materials, you will hear students' reflections on their education, the teachers' thoughts on culturally responsive teaching, and see the impact they hope it leaves on their students. As you hear their story, you will also understand see that becoming responsive is a constant challenge that requires a continual cycle of action and reflection. 

"The Absolutely True Diary of a 
Part-Time Indian"

One of the most significant things Allie and Liza tried to do to make their classroom more responsive was to read the novel, "The Absolutely Diary of a Part-Time Indian" with their students. As they read, the students used the narrator's story to reflect on their own identity formation, as well as the choices they would be making as they transitioned from middle school to high school.

Liza's Reflections on Becoming Responsive

• How do these students' reflections fit with the outcomes of culturally responsive teaching: academic achievement  cultural competence, and critical consciousness? How do they not fit with these outcomes?  
• Where do you see these teachers embodying a culturally responsive perspective in her work? 
• In what ways do these reflections show an attempt at cultural responsive teaching, yet still do not fully align with this perspective?
• In what ways does the story of the teachers in this school show the complexity and complication in becoming a culturally responsive teacher?

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