Now that we have some ideas around how to define culture, let’s talk about culturally sustaining pedagogy. Since language is an essential element of culture, culturally sustaining pedagogy is one lens educators can use to inform their teaching for children who are multilingual learners, and all children.

“Culturally sustaining pedagogy seeks to perpetuate and foster—to sustain—linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism as part of the democratic project of schooling” (Paris, 2012, p. 93). It takes a strengths-based approach by viewing culture as an asset that contributes to students’ learning and developing sense of self.

In addition, “Culturally sustaining pedagogy exists wherever education sustains the lifeways of communities who have been and continue to be damaged and erased through schooling” (Paris & Alim, 2017).

In other words, parent, family, and community voice is essential. Learn the ways in which a child’s family and community sustains their various identities.

Cultural Translation

Considering culture in curriculum is important because each culture teaches a lot, especially when we consider that many terms don’t have direct translations.

For example, in Japanese, the term Shinrin-yoku can be translated to “forest bathing” in English. However, it means to soak in the forest through all your senses.

Another example can be seen with finger counting, as various cultures use fingers to count in different ways (e.g. starting with your thumb, starting with your pinky, lifting each finger up, folding fingers down towards the palm, etc.)

Considerations when implementing Culturally sustaining pedagogy

If educators are going to implement culturally sustaining pedagogy, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Culture continually shifts, especially when it comes to language.

In the words of Dr. Samy Alim and Dr. Django Paris in their book, Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world, “What is crucial is that we work to sustain Black, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous languages and cultures in our pedagogies; we must be open to sustaining them in ways that attend to the emerging, intersectional, and dynamic ways in which they are lived and used by young people” (Alim & Paris, 2017, pp. 9).

Educators must take deliberate actions to seek out resources to better understand the culture of young multilingual learners today. Even if you identify as a multilingual learner yourself, you are an adult now, and culture surrounding young multilingual learners has shifted.

Dominant identities have culture, and they are often sustained as the norm.

Sometimes it is difficult to identify what cultural aspects are present within a context because those aspects may function as the norm. For instance, often in the United States and abroad, English is seen as the norm and takes on linguistic supremacy.

By accepting that speaking in English is the norm, what cultures are sustained? What cultures may be discouraged?

In what ways can you challenge the dominant cultural norms in your program?

Young people have a culture.

What music do children who are multilingual learners in your program listen to? Favorite snacks? Toys and books? Outdoor activities?

How might youth culture intersect with other identities held by children in your program? (e.g. Young multilingual learner may enjoy different snacks from young monolingual English speakers).

References

Alim, S. & Paris, D., Eds. (2017). Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. Teachers College Press.

Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93–97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12441244