Culturally Responsive Teaching with Adult Learners

Abstract

In recent decades, educational research has strongly supported the incorporation of culture and cultural identities into adult learning environments. However, much of the literature about culturally responsive teaching, a well-established framework in multicultural education research, has been conducted in the K-12 setting, leaving one to question how adult education researchers and practitioners utilize these approaches. This article describes research conducted from a culturally responsive framework in various adult learning environments. In general, many studies eschewed the complete culturally responsive framework, choosing selected aspects commonly identified with sociocultural theory. The most commonly used tenets were: the importance of learners' cultural identities, the need for adult educators to explore their own cultural identities, and the role that diverse curriculum and materials play in establishing an inclusive learning environment.