Seven Principles for Training a Culturally Responsive Faculty: A Three Part Series

Written by: Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail and Dr. Kelley L. Costner (2004)

Many community colleges are struggling to find ways to train faculty to work with their diverse student populations. However, many institutions continue to employ traditional modes of faculty development and may be inadvertently creating potentially harmful learning environments for all students, and particularly for African-American learners.

While many community colleges offer a session on diversity and culture during faculty-development days or promote African-American scholars and literature during Black History Month, some community colleges have not integrated culture into the curriculum at a meaningful level. To include all learners, community colleges must do much more to assist faculty in recognizing the importance and the connection between culture, teaching, and learning. A one- or two-day workshop is not enough to put new structures and attitudes in place.

The Seven Principles for Training a Culturally Responsive Faculty were designed to shift from the student-deficit model to exploring the need for the institutions to change the way they facilitate learning. These principles were carefully developed based on the responses of community college faculty noted on the modified Teaching African-American Students Survey (Costner, 2003). Culturally responsive professional development principles promote the inclusion of culture into faculty's pedagogical methods and curriculum, a step that has been proven to help African-American students succeed.

Principle 1: Structure Professional Development Activities That Focus on Cultural Responsiveness

In conducting presentations and training sessions, one of the first questions we ask of participants is, “Do you notice the race of your students when they walk into the classroom?” The response is consistent: Ninety to 95 percent of the participants proudly exclaim, “No!”. Before moving on, we ask you, the reader, “Do you notice the race of your students when they walk into the classroom?”

Professional development activities should train educators to place students and their cultures at the center of learning, and to acknowledge, respect, and build on the knowledge, beliefs, and experiences that students bring with them to the classroom (McPhail & McPhail, 1999).

Community colleges can offer professional development to help faculty place culture at the center of learning; and to identify their concerns about working with diverse learning, creating an environment where all stakeholders feel comfortable dealing with diversity, and institutionalizing a commitment to inclusion of diversity at all levels within the institution.

Questions to Ponder

1. Do the professional development initiatives at your institution train faculty members to place the students' culture at the center of learning? How?
2. Do the professional development initiatives at your institution allow for an open and honest discussion about race? How?
3. Are professional development initiatives at your institution an ongoing and continuous effort?
4. Do the professional development initiatives at your institution train faculty members how to effectively teach African-American learners?

Principle 2: Ensure That All Faculty Respect the Culture of Their Students

Once faculty members become comfortable acknowledging the race of their students and accept their cultural differences, faculty members are better equipped to teach African-American learners. Community colleges can use professional development to provide an avenue that allows faculty members to assess their attitudes and beliefs toward teaching African-American learners. Institutions may administer instruments or hire a consultant to facilitate the administration of this type of assessment. Once this assessment is complete, strategies can be developed to train faculty to become more culturally responsive. Colleges can also provide professional development initiatives that educate faculty about the culture of the African American, including, for example, learning styles, cultural heritage, norms, beliefs, and practices. Providing meaningful professional development programs to help faculty deal with their beliefs and attitudes about teaching diverse learners will help to ensure that the learning needs of all learners are addressed.

Questions to Ponder

1. Do your professional development activities provide faculty with a means to evaluate their own attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about African Americans? How?
2. Do you acknowledge your students' racial identities? Are you comfortable doing so?
3. Do you think that acknowledging the race of your students makes you racist or prejudice you in some way? Why?

Part two of this three part series will be posted on July 13, 2009.