ADDRESSING CULTURAL DIVERSITY THROUGH RESPONSIVE TEACHING AT THE HIGHER SECONDARY LEVEL

This paper aims to study the perceptions of teachers regarding Cultural Mosaic and Culturally Responsive Teaching. Culturally responsive teaching is an umbrella term which consists of a variety of methodologies. In all approaches of culturally responsive teaching, an equity-centered approach stresses learners’ ethnicity at the core of the learning process and uses the “cultural knowledge, previous experiences, frames of reference, and learning styles of culturally diverse scholars”. In an environment where a cultural Mosaic situation prevails, culturally responsive teaching shall be promulgated as it reduces the stress level of learners which results in a better teaching-learning process. According to different studies, students come with a lot of potential and a good teacher must explore those potential. Such type of attitudes and conditions accommodating diverse cultural students pave the way for Culturally Responsive teaching. A case study design was adopted due to the nature and characteristics of the concerned study. A systematic sampling technique was used. The researcher held Interviews of 36 teachers on 10 open-ended structured questions in the session 2021-22. Thematic Analysis was used for the collected data. As a teacher, we may build on those potentials that are already brought by students in the classroom. Parents may also be involved in that regard as their role can’t be ignored in the teaching-learning Process. Teachers may be encouraged by the head of the institution to learn about students’ cultures that have representation in the classroom. Provisions of internet in Libraries, Computer Labs through Multi-Media or may be provided by the administration in a type of downloaded videos for watching at home. All such type of activities and provisions of facilities may be provided to the staff and students for their grooming to tackle the Cultural Mosaic classrooms’ students in a way that promote and enhance the performance of students.