A Validation Study of the Culturally Responsive Teaching Survey

Christy M Rhodes

doi:10.13189/ujer.2017.050106

Abstract

Amidst the ethnic and linguistic diversity in adult English language classes, there is heightened importance to using culturally responsive teaching practices. However, there are limited quantitative examinations of this approach in adult learning environments. The purpose of this investigation was to describe patterns of culturally responsive teaching practices of adult ESOL teachers and to establish the psychometric properties of the Culturally Responsive Teaching Survey (CRTS), a newly-developed self-assessment survey. Based on Ginsberg and Wlodkowski's Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching [1], this 17-item online survey establishes patterns of teaching praxis appropriate for adult English language classrooms. Findings revealed a trend of regular to frequent use of the majority of the culturally responsive teaching practices indicated in the CRTS. In addition, analyses demonstrated that the CRTS is a reliable, uni-dimensional scale which yielded positive correlations with multi-cultural knowledge and teaching skills. Thus, the CRTS provides a useful tool for examining the praxis of culturally responsive teaching in adult, second-language classrooms. These findings will lead to improved understanding of how adult educators incorporate culturally responsive teaching practices in ethnically and linguistically diverse learning environments, in addition to supporting the use of this instrument in future research studies.

Highlights

Given the ethnic and linguistic diversity of adult English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students, the incorporation of culture and student cultural identities into the learning environment has heightened importance [2,3,4]
I examined: (a) the self-reported frequency of use of 17 teaching practices, (b) the factorial structure of the Culturally Responsive Teaching Survey (CRTS), and (c) the construct validity of the CRTS in studies conducted with English language teachers of adults. These findings will lead to improved understanding of how adult educators incorporate culturally responsive teaching practices in ethnically and linguistically diverse learning environments, in addition to supporting the use of this instrument by researchers and practitioners
These significant correlations in the expected positive direction provide support for the convergent validity of the CRTS, by indicating that those who use or desire to use more culturally responsive teaching practices are more skillful at teaching students of diverse backgrounds. The purpose of this investigation was to describe the culturally responsive teaching practices of adult ESOL teachers and to establish the psychometric properties of the Culturally Responsive Teaching Survey

Summary

Introduction

Given the ethnic and linguistic diversity of adult English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students, the incorporation of culture and student cultural identities into the learning environment has heightened importance [2,3,4]. Responsive teaching is an umbrella term which encompasses a variety of approaches, such as culturally relevant, culturally sensitive, culturally congruent, and culturally contextualized pedagogies [7]. This equity-based approach places students’ cultures at the core of the learning process and utilizes the “cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students” [7 p. Responsive teaching is distinguished by its emphasis on validating, facilitating, liberating, and empowering minority students by “cultivating their cultural integrity, individual abilities, and academic success” [7 p. 44] and is based on the four pillars of “teacher attitude and expectations, cultural communication in the classroom, culturally diverse context in the curriculum, and culturally congruent instructional strategies” [7, p. 44]

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Conclusion