ABSTRACT
A large part of the practice of science is the development of models to explain observed phenomena. The quality of a model is judged by how well it explains the data, makes predictions, and fits other accepted explanations about the way the world works. Ladson-Billings’ model of culturally relevant pedagogy states that African American students of teachers who have high academic expectations of their students, regularly offer opportunities for students to sustain themselves as cultural beings, and work on developing their students’ sociopolitical consciousness, can reasonably expect to experience success as measured by both their schools and their families. For many teachers, the first step toward sustaining culture is just getting out of the way, and resisting the urge to prevent students from using familiar patterns of communication and engagement, and then leveraging those student resources for deeper learning.
