An exploratory study of instructors' perceptions on inclusion of culturally responsive pedagogy in online education

Abstract

The rapid growth of diverse learners in online learning has made it imperative for online instructors to incorporate multicultural resource curricula and instructional activities. This research aimed to explore online instructors' perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy in online education; examine how instructors integrate culturally responsive pedagogy strategies in the online learning environment; and explore the challenges in facilitating cross‐cultural collaborative learning for students from different cultural backgrounds. Data were collected following a qualitative multi‐site case study method with five academic disciplines (Education, Social Sciences, Engineering, Physical Sciences and Health Sciences) in 12 colleges and universities in the United States of America. In all, 60 in‐depth and semi‐structured interviews with instructors (26 females and 34 males) were obtained and analysed following a constant comparative analysis approach. Results reflected that the instructors used cross‐cultural interactions to facilitate students' engagement and incorporated culturally responsive teaching. Besides, the findings revealed that most of the instructors integrated diverse and internationalized learning content to support diverse students and addressed the impact of multicultural education in online learning. It was, however, noted, that instructors in the physical science disciplines struggled to incorporate culturally diverse contents in their online classes. The findings of this study foster discourse on how best instructors could be aided to engage diverse students online more meaningfully. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Since studies of this nature are mostly undertaken in teaching and learning environments that are diverse in terms of student populations, both students and instructors are exposed to cultural differences in teaching and learning in multicultural/diverse online learning environments. Studies on multicultural/diverse online learning environments abound and have been undertaken for several years but the emphasis has mainly been to explore issues from the perspectives of students. Most online instructors assume that online learning provides equal opportunities to all students regardless of their cultural backgrounds and cultural differences; hence, instructors have mostly not been able to recognize cultural implications for students' learning to design inclusive instructional strategies to meet the learning needs of diverse students in online education. What this paper adds This study, unlike earlier ones with a similar focus, explored online instructors' perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), specifically with regards to the design, preparation and integration of multicultural learning contents and resources in online education. This study employed Scott et al.'s (2015) culturally responsive computing theory as a lens to connect students' prior learning experiences, knowledge, interests, strengths and weaknesses as a way to draw instructors' attention to how best diverse students can be aided to be innovative and succeed in the face of cross‐cultural challenges they face studying online. The study also contributes to the instructors' understanding of culturally responsive pedagogical principles in online spaces that recognize global identities and cultural experiences to meet the needs of diverse students in an online learning environment. Implications for practice and/or policy Instructors must develop online courses with the focus to bridge students' geographical and cultural backgrounds so that students will have the opportunity to share and connect with peers in online classrooms for effective collaboration and communication. Institutions that offer online education must make concerted efforts to provide continuous professional development opportunities for instructors of online courses on impacts of culture/diversity in the online classroom, and strategies for creating conducive online learning environments that value cultural differences, and social/educational experiences in ways that support students' learning. Institutions and stakeholders, through policy initiatives, should make frantic efforts to afford instructors with comprehensive knowledge and understanding of CRP in online learning to avoid the assumption that students in online courses share similar learning characteristics and bring to the online learning the same experiences and cultural backgrounds.