Culturally responsive teaching in art education: A case study

Abstract

Providing all students with equitable educational opportunities is a challenge that all schools face in the 21st century due to diverse student populations. Research indicates that the arts provide an effective means for motivating student learning. Unfortunately, in many schools, the arts are often eliminated due to budget pitfalls and testing requirements, leading to increased marginalization of diverse student bodies. As schools grow in diversity, multicultural education fails to meet the needs of a diverse student bodies. Instead, culturally responsive teaching proposes a more effective approach to addressing the varied needs of a diverse student bodies. This study examines art education through the lens of Geneva Gay's culturally responsive teaching. According to Gay, there are four basic that components that help define culturally responsive teaching, which are "caring, communication, curriculum, and caring" (Gay, 2010). The study reveals how these four components are used by teachers to address the varied learning needs of diverse art students in two different large urban high schools located in the same district.