How can teachers create a classroom where students' cultural identities and experiences are valued every day?

by Diellza Mehmeti

Culturally responsive teaching is so important because every student should feel seen, respected, and comfortable in a classroom. Every child comes from a different background and has different experiences, cultures, languages, and traditions that shape who they are as a person. When a teacher creates lessons and classroom environments connected to a student’s life and identity, students are more engaged, excited to participate, and confident. Making children feel included every day is the point of a culturally responsive classroom. It is not just about celebrating holidays or cultures during specific times. Some ways culturally responsive classrooms are shown are by building relationships with students, knowing about their backgrounds, using texts, and designing lessons that relate to students’ everyday lives. By implementing this, classrooms can become friendly and encouraging environments where all students receive emotional and academic support.

One important part of culturally responsive teaching is building strong relationships with your students. With that relationship, you can create a classroom where students feel comfortable being confident and their best selves. Gloria Ladson- Billings explains that, “Culturally relevant pedagogy rests on three criteria or propositions: (a) students must experience academic success; (b) students must develop and/or maintain cultural competence; and (c) students must develop a critical consciousness...” Students should feel confident with their culture and self-identity while being in school. They should express the places they come from. When teachers take time to learn about students' cultures and traditions, languages, and home life, students feel more confident, important, and loved. In my experience as a student and a classroom teacher, I see how engaged and how much more participation happens when students can relate. When lessons can connect to a child's life, they feel like their voice is important. Teachers can build their relationships with students just by having simple conversations with their students. This leads to allowing students to have an open voice in the room, which creates a safe learning environment. In an article, McDonald states, “Teachers build connections with students when they demonstrate respect and trust, and have empathy for their needs.” When students know their teacher cares about them and respects who they are, they are more engaged, confident, and comfortable being themselves. Building strong relationships creates a community where everyone is supported academically and emotionally.

Another important part of culturally responsive teaching is students being able to see themselves in what they are learning. The National Equity Project states that culturally responsive teaching is “a bridge between home and school life”(National Equity Project). This means teachers should not separate students' identities from what they learn in school. When students learn lessons and read books, they are more likely to stay focused if they feel included. Instead of focusing on only one culture or point of view, teachers should include different types of texts, examples and discussions in class. In my experience, I see students become so eager to participate when they personally relate to what they are learning. Even when talking about a holiday, they love to express and share their traditions, experiences, and opinions. This is a small way to show how much their identities matter. Creating lessons that reflect students' lives helps them feel respected and it creates a strong bond within the classroom.

Another way teachers can create a culturally responsive classroom is by allowing multilingual students to use all their languages while learning. Garcia and Wei explain that, “Translanguaging is the act performed by bilinguals of accessing different linguistic features...in order to maximize communicative potential.” This means students should express their home language and not hide away from it in school. Allowing students to express, think and speak in their home language, they feel more comfortable with participating and more included. In my experience, I’ve had morning meeting greetings in a different language, my multilingual students smile and then say what it means. They love it when something is familiar. It makes the learning environment comfortable. Multilingual students participate more when they know their language and culture are accepted rather than judged. Teachers are able to support this by making connections to languages, having students who speak the same language work together, and sharing their experiences during the lessons. When the classroom feels comfortable, they are confident learners who are willing to participate and enjoy learning.

In conclusion, culturally responsive teaching helps students feel seen, respected, and valued every day in the classroom. Teachers can do this by building real relationships with students and making lessons that students connect to and understand. When students feel comfortable and included in the classroom, they usually participate more and feel better about learning. A child's classroom should feel like a second family to them. By including some things they are familiar with, they will strive to become the greatest learners they can be.

References

• Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But That's Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. Theory Into Practice, 34(3), 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543675
• McDonald, T. (2023, December 5). Positive teacher–student relationships: Their role in classroom management. Australian Education Research Organisation. https://www.edresearch.edu.au/summaries-explainers/explainers/positive-teacher-student-relationships-their-role-classroom-management
• National Equity Project. (2025). Culturally Responsive Teaching.
• Wei, L., & Garcia, O. (2013). Translanguaging to Teach. In Translanguaging (pp. 90–118). Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385765_7