Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Kinesiology Schools: Impact on College Success

This study addresses higher education in kinesiology’s need for application of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP), specifically through the importance of student and professor relationships. The aim of this study is to explore how student and professor relationships can influence students’ success, engagement, and sense of belonging in college. To discover these findings, researchers investigated if kinesiology students perceived their professors as promoting CRP and if their perceptions correlate with academic success. CRP has three foundational aspects which are: academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical consciousness. The research methodology involved using a Qualtrics survey distributed to undergraduate kinesiology students. The Qualtrics survey incorporated Likert scale and open-ended questions to apprehend students’ perspectives on CRP within their program and their feelings towards professors’ willingness to form relationships. Qualitative data analysis, employing both deductive and inductive coding, was used to identify themes and sub-themes. Results indicate that most participants perceive their professors as culturally relevant with positive behavior such as: inclusive-ness, respect, and understanding.