Abstract
ABSTRACT This article explores undergraduate students’ perceptions of culturally relevant pedagogies, specifically, students that are enrolled in kinesiology, exercise science, or similarly related majors. Cultural relevance has been called to attention and a focal point of pedagogy for decades in primary education. More recently, this focus has been integrated into higher education. In order to research undergraduates’ perceptions of their educators’ successful integration of culturally relevant pedagogies, we first suggest that exploration of undergraduates’ grasp of this content is necessary. The aim of this research was to gain an understanding as to what cultural relevance means to undergraduate students in comparison to how it is defined by Gloria Ladson-Billings, which is a popular framework used to define culturally relevant pedagogies. To analyze this question, anonymous qualitative responses were collected and underwent three rounds of deductive coding. Three themes were identified from the data relating to the three pillars of culturally relevant pedagogies with seven subthemes. More specifically, students exhibited a thorough comprehension of the term cultural competence, noting this includes awareness, knowledge, and understanding of their own and other cultures. However, their interpretation of academic development was superficial. When asked about critical consciousness, students emphasized curiosity and critical thinking as key components, but did not identify the sociopolitical aspect of this term. As such, when students are surveyed about the tenets of CRP, definitions should be included. Additionally, educators are encouraged to transparently implement CRP in the classroom to help students gain a deeper understanding of each of the tenets.
Published Version
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