Behind the Scenes of Writing Culturally Relevant Curriculum

By Tara Nkrumah, PhD

In the early 2000s, I taught predominantly African American and Latinx high school students the subject of science. With the mindset that science should be taught to help students see the application of it in their everyday activities (e.g. listening to music, brushing teeth, playing sports), I made sure lessons centered on the students’ lived experiences. As a science teacher for a large school district in the southern region, the things that challenged me most was the Eurocentric culture of science curriculum and pedagogy to prepare future African American and Latinx scientists. I knew as an African American woman scientist, what cultivated my science identity were culturally relevant practices in teaching science, particularly when indigenous scientific knowledge is omitted or worse misrepresented. So early on in my career as a science educator, I developed the art of (re)writing science lessons to be culturally relevant to encourage the underserved and under-anticipated students to become engaged in science/STEM education.

We all write curriculum. That might not seem true to some because we are not taught to view the daily routines of conducting interviews or a workout routine as curriculum writing but it is. On December 14 and 28, 2020, the CGEST graduate research assistants (GRAs) participated in a two-part series on how to write a culturally relevant curriculum. This initiative hosted by Dr. Tara Nkrumah is part of the centers focus on offering culturally responsive programs for girls of color (e.g. African American, Latina, Native American, and Asian American) by ensuring that CGEST leadership mentor and build capacity through our GRAs on how to use a culturally responsive framework in research. The two, two-hour workshops included readings on culturally responsive curriculum (Bergeon, 2008; Curtis, 1998; Smith-Maddox, 1998), and an application component where the GRA’s were given an Astronomy curriculum prepared by Dr. Christine O’Donnell to critique and identify the strengths and areas of improvement as a culturally responsive curriculum. While the expectation was to expose the GRA’s to the behind the scenes work of preparing a curriculum that reflects the tenets of cultural responsiveness, it also demonstrated the practical ways to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. In 2021, CGEST’s GRAs will continue attending monthly writing sessions focused on skill-building in the practices of cultural responsiveness.

Image source: WOCintechchat.com