Building Academic Mindsets and Thinking Dispositions: The Heart of Culturally Responsive & Sustaining Pedagogy

Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Pedagogy (CRSP) is an approach that works to disrupt current systems of educational disequity. By sustaining cultural pluralism and by teaching to and through individual and cultural strengths of students, leaveraging CRSP strategies makes learning experiences more relevant and effective (Gay 2000, Paris 2012), restoring a sense of competence and confidence to historically marginalized student populations. Highlander Institute’s Culturally Responsive Framework, which leans heavily on the work of Zaretta Hammond in her book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students, establishes a process for incorporating elements of CRSP in classrooms of all grade levels and environments. Through hands-on activities, active discussions, and thoughtful explorations, this session will guide participants through the framework with a deep focus on how to build academic mindsets and thinking dispositions that support rigorous cognitive demands in classrooms. Participants will learn how to scaffold instruction to build grit and motivation, experience strategies for tackling new tasks, methods for getting unstuck, routines that allow students to make meaning of new content, and activities that require students to engage in deep cognitive processing – all in the service of building active, confident, self-directed, independent learners.