“Boots on the Ground” Teacher Zaretta Hammond Discusses Culturally Responsive Teaching

January 18, 2024—Since Zaretta Hammond’s book, “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain” was first published in 2014, it has become required reading for many teachers and others who care about closing the achievement gap for culturally and linguistically diverse students. After starting her career as a secondary school expository writing teacher, Hammond has become a nationally sought-after speaker and teacher trainer. However, she never strays too far from the classroom.

This month, Hammond was the featured speaker in Critical Conversations, an online series created by the New Roads School in partnership with participating public, private, charter, and parochial schools. The Winsor School is a participating sponsor.

The conversation, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, was moderated by two leaders at the New Roads School, Mario Johonson, Director of Student Well-Being and Human Development, and Daniela Pennise, Upper School Director and Assistant Head of School for Program.

The session also included a live, “graphic recording” created by artist Jessamy Gee of Think in Color. As the speakers discussed complex issues, Gee captured highlights and themes in real-time on screen using a combination of words, shapes, symbols, and imagery. 

Hammond quickly pointed out that she’s not the first to explore and set “culturally responsive teaching” as a goal. However, through her research and her book, she has added to a more holistic and nuanced understanding of what the term can encompass, and how schools and teachers can achieve better outcomes by taking a more circumspect approach. 

 

In her view, culturally responsive teaching has four essential elements that include:

“Nowadays, when people are talking about culturally responsive teaching, they're leaning very heavily into the belonging and relational elements. We'll put some social justice themes in, you know, things that students are interested in to make it relevant, but the responsive piece, the instructional decision-making to grow students' brain power, is the piece that I have tried to contribute,” says Hammond.

Culturally responsive teaching benefits the entire classroom. Hammond, who calls herself “an equity-minded educator,” is focused on increasing student engagement among low-performing students of color, poor (low-income) students, and English learners. Statistics show that they face systemic obstacles and everyday challenges that white, middle-class peers might not even notice.

To learn, you need to be willing to stretch, even to the point of discomfort. Especially for students who are learning English as a second language or who face racial discrimination or microaggressions, having a teacher who is a “warm demander—someone who can give just the right amount of ‘care’ and ‘push,’” can make all the difference. 

“Cultural responsiveness is about having a different outcome. [Some students are] underperforming not through any fault of their own, but because the system is designed to underdevelop their capacities. So a culturally responsive educator…helps the students reclaim that agency, not out of compliance, but out of liberatory education.” 

However, being culturally competent is key for every learner of all backgrounds and races.

“This is really important for white students, too,” insists Hammond. “The majority of the world, two-thirds or more, are brown people. White students are going to go out into that world, they should be comfortable with…doing things that are not their family of origin’s practices, right? Because this is what most people of color do all the time whether in their workspace or when they're out and about. They have to learn how to move across those ways of being and doing.” 

All of this takes practice and time. And while Hammond dreams big, she’s also a realist who has been a teacher herself and knows how hard it is to get this balance right. She advises schools to “figure out what your starting point is, and know that you can't do it all…You have to move from conscious incompetence to conscious competence. And part of that is getting comfortable with making mistakes.”

Many schools are trying to tackle historic, systemic inequities and the generational impact of racism, problems that defy easy fixes.

“Despite all the equity and diversity and belonging rhetoric, students are still talking about racial bullying, and still feeling ‘othered,’” says Hammond. “I work with enough independent schools,  charter schools, and public schools to know that this is what's still happening… So there's still a lot of work to be done to close that knowing/doing gap between what we aspire to and what we're willing to do to make that true.”

The important part is to keep trying and making progress toward the goal of a truly culturally responsive learning environment. Hammond knows the journey is filled with “dips” and “gaps,” but the outcomes will be worth the effort.