This is Jennifer Gonzalez welcoming you to episode 78 of the Cult of Pedagogy podcast.

In this episode, we're going to unpack four common misconceptions about culturally responsive teaching.

The term culturally responsive teaching has been around for decades, but it seems to have gotten more attention in recent years.

That's good news. With our classrooms growing more diverse every year, teachers should be more interested in how they can best teach students who come from different backgrounds.

The not-so-good news is that in some cases teachers think they're practicing culturally responsive teaching, when in fact they're kind of not, or at least they're not quite there.

And that means students who might really thrive under different conditions are surviving at best.

We all want to do better for these students, but how to do it still hasn't become common knowledge.

To move the needle forward a bit more, I invited Zoretta Hammond onto the podcast.

I have admired Zoretta's work for a few years now. She's the author of the 2015 book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain.

In the book she provides a neuroscience-based teaching framework that goes beyond surface changes to really build cognitive capacity in our students from diverse backgrounds.

When I read it, I realized that true culturally responsive teaching definitely isn't as simple as I thought it was. It's much more holistic.

In fact, in most cases it wouldn't even look culturally responsive to an outside observer. And that tendency to oversimplify is part of the problem.

In this episode Zoretta and I look carefully at four common misconceptions some educators have about culturally responsive teaching.

Regardless of where you are in your own understanding of the subject, this conversation should help you refine it a bit more.

When you're done, I would encourage you to come over to the site, share your thoughts in the comments, and explore some of Zoretta's other resources.

Because although this episode will help you understand what culturally responsive teaching is not, there's plenty more to learn about what it is.

So come over to Cult of Pedagogy, click on podcast, then go to episode 78, and you'll find a summary of our conversation, a full transcript, and links to other resources.

Before we get started, I'd like to thank Raymond Getty's for sponsoring this episode.

For over 90 years, this third generation family-owned business has been making fun and affordable school supplies, stationary, and toys that students love.

Whether you're looking for merchandise for your student-run store, new fundraising ideas, or awesome rewards for your classroom treasure chest, Raymond Getty's has what you need from school supplies, fidgets, scented pens, non-candy Halloween treats, and much more.

Visit Cult of Pedagogy.com slash Getty's, G-E-D-D-E-S, and use code COP20 when you check out to get free shipping and 20% off your first order.

I also want to thank you for the reviews you've given this podcast on iTunes.

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