Empowering Student Educators’ Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Classroom Practices

By Julie M. Milner, Helena Fisher, Joe Melendez, and Teeyana Thomas

Abstract

To close the equity gap in our urban students’ academic achievement, educators must be well-versed in critical values. KEEPS, an acronym for knowledge, enquiry, empathy, pluralism, and social commitment, is utilized in the Teaching and Learning Department on the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University to empower educators of urban students to implement culturally responsive and sustaining education (CR-SE) practices in their classrooms. The KEEPS values provide student educators with the tools they need to work to the KEEPS claims, which are designed to be universal so that any educator who chooses to embrace them can become more culturally responsive in a manner that values and celebrates their students’ cultural identities and backgrounds. The KEEPS framework provides a solid foundation in CR-SE pedagogical practices and assists educators in reflecting on their teaching identities and work in the classroom. When educators integrate and implement the KEEPS framework, it helps them to remove the systemic barriers faced by their struggling learners. The KEEPS claims, which are designed to operationalize the domains of knowledge, enquiry, empathy, pluralism, and social commitment, are universal so that any educator who chooses to embrace them can become more culturally responsive in their own practice.

Keywords: culturally responsive and sustaining education (CR-SE), teacher education, positive student-teacher relationships, positive academic outcome