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Brown vs. Board of Education
On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment (guaranteed equal rights for African-Americans) and so was unconstitutional. -
Calls to Action in Education Reform
During the 1960s and 1970s, many civil rights activist began calling for cultural representation in curriculum in schools and in hiring practices at educational institutions. It began with the African-American civil rights movement, but others would follow including women's rights and LGBTQ rights activists. -
Jacqueline Jordan Irvine (Charles Howard Candler Professor of Urban Education Emerita in the Division of Educational Studies at Emory University.
Irvine studies and publishes "Beyond Role Models: An Examination of Cultural Influences on the Pedagogical Perspectives of Black Teachers" which discusses the cultural disconnect between many teachers and African-American students. -
Gloria Ladson-Billings (former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and faculty affiliate in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison)
"...introduced the idea of culturally relevant teaching as critical pedagogy aimed at empowering students of color" (Harmon 2012). Ladson-Billings was also one of the leading education researchers who scholarship and context for culturally responsive teaching had embedded within it tenets of Critical Race Theory. -
James Banks and Multicultural Education
He is considered the father of multicultural education which strives to change the total school experience/environment so that is more representative of the diversity that exists in our world. -
Geneva Gay (Professor of Education and Associate of the Center for Multicultural Education, University of Washington-Seattle)
Coined the term "culturally responsive teaching" and while not excluding the importance of multicultural curriculum, she shifted the focus to teaching practice. -
A. Wade Boykin (Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in the Department of Psychology at Howard University. He is also the Executive Director of Capstone Institute at Howard University)
He developed the Talent Development Model and the Talent Quest Model (TQM) after observing and researching effective school reform practices in urban communities. "Boykin et al. (2005) assert that the cultural behaviors of African American (and other) students must not be viewed as deficits but as assets. Viewing cultural behaviors as assets leads teacher to culturally responsive teaching--teaching in ways that are more congruent to students' learning styles and needs" (Harmon 2012). -
Culturally Relevant Literacy Instruction
In 2010, Ladson-Billings publishes "Making the Book Talk: Literacy in Successful Urban Classrooms and Communities." The following year A.M. Lazar's article "Access to Excellence: Serving Today's Students Through Culturally Responsive Literacy Teaching" (2011). Much scholarship emerges and culturally responsive literacy teaching is recognized as one of the most essential things for all students.
