Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

INTRODUCTION

Reading Check

1. Where did Hammond attend elementary school?

2. What branch of biological science does Hammond use to support her arguments?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How did Hammond end up attending a school outside of her own school district?

2. What inequality did Hammond become aware of after attending a school outside of her district?

3. What does Hammond say is the main focus of the book?

PART 1, CHAPTERS 1-4

Reading Check

1. What does Hammond call her framework for promoting intellective capacity?

2. What two categories does Hammond use as examples of a cultural archetype?

3. What contexts does Hammond suggest teachers need to be conscious of?

4. What common pedagogical term does Hammond define as “a state of relaxed alertness…[a] combination of excitement and anticipation” (50)?

5. What emotion does Hammond say teachers may experience as they venture outside of their own cultural comfort zones?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What connection does Hammond propose between culturally responsive teaching and independent learning?

2. What are the four key areas of Hammond’s framework for promoting intellective capacity?

3. What are the three levels of culture that Hammond discusses, and which level must teachers understand in order to be culturally responsive?

4. Why is an “amygdala hijack” a threat to learning, and what can teachers do to reduce it?

5. What kind of “personal inventory” does Hammond suggest teachers engage in? Why?

Paired Resource

Code of Ethics for Educators

• This policy statement from the National Education Association (NEA) enumerates the ethical responsibilities of educators.
• This resource relates to the theme of The Responsibility of Consciousness.
• Which of Hammond’s ideas are reflected in the NEA’s Code of Ethics? Do you think that most educators currently live up to this code? What factors might prevent some teachers from living up to it?

“Building Trust with Students—Even Before Class Starts”

• This Harvard University resource on classroom management offers concrete ideas for creating an environment of trust in the classroom.
• This resource relates to the themes of The Responsibility of Consciousness and Disparities in Public Education.
• What is this resource’s primary focus? What issues of trust does it seem to minimize or ignore? How might Hammond respond to these suggestions? What would she approve of or critique?

PART 2, CHAPTERS 5-7

Reading Check

1. What does Hammond call the “cornerstone of culturally responsive teaching” (87)?

2. What is the first step in the process Hammond outlines for better understanding current student-teacher relationships and assessing rapport in the classroom?

3. What does Hammond call teachers who strike the right balance between caring for students and pushing them to achieve?

4. What does Hammond say can happen when teacher demands are too high or when students experience microaggressions?

5. What student factor influences the efficacy of learning partnerships?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What three foundational elements does Hammond argue learning partnerships are based on, and how do they relate to one another?

2. What three components of the teacher-student alliance does Hammond outline?

3. What are the necessary components of feedback, according to Hammond?

4. What two mindsets does Hammond say students have, and where do these mindsets come from?

5. What role do mistakes play in shaping a student’s mindset?

Paired Resource

“Excerpt: The Social Neuroscience of Education”

• This excerpt from Louis Cozolino’s book discusses how social relationships and emotions factor into student learning.
• This resource relates to the theme of The Intersection of Science and Social Justice.
• What strengths and weaknesses does Cozolino see in the attempt to apply neuroscience to the classroom? Which arguments does he offer that would also support some of Hammond’s ideas?

“Warm Demander”

• This 3-minute video features practicing teachers discussing their strategies for being warm demanders in their classrooms.
• This resource relates to the theme of The Responsibility of Consciousness.
• How do these teachers exhibit the kind of awareness that Hammond calls teachers to in her book? Which elements of their pedagogies illustrate Hammond’s ideas? Are there any incongruous elements?

PART 3, CHAPTER 8-EPILOGUE

Reading Check

1. What are the three stages of information processing, according to Hammond?

2. What attribute of information influences how the brain initially filters it?

3. What does Hammond say functions like a second teacher in the classroom?

4. What term from bilingual literacy educator Kris Gutierrez describes a classroom where students of all linguistic backgrounds can explore identity and express themselves authentically?

5. What contextual element must be in place in order for teachers to take risks as they develop as culturally responsive educators?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What instructional macro-strategies does Hammond advocate for in her discussion of culturally responsive techniques?

2. Which two factors does Hammond cite as necessary to effective cognitive routines in the classroom?

3. Why does Hammond advocate for the use of classroom routines and rituals, such as a call-and-response routine?

4. What advice does Hammond offer about understanding the influence of culture on classroom discussion?

5. What are the three primary ways Hammond calls for teachers to reframe paradigms as she summarizes the next steps for her audience in the Epilogue?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Poverty Problem: How Education Can Promote Resilience and Counter Poverty’s Impact on Brain Development and Functioning by Horatio Sanchez

• In this text, Sanchez offers teachers neuroscience-based insights into how poverty and other structural inequities impact brain development and how educators can play a key role in promoting growth and achievement in students impacted by these forces.
• Shared themes include Disparities in Public Education, The Intersection of Science and Social Justice, and The Responsibility of Consciousness.
• Shared topics include neuroscience, educational inequity, social justice, teacher development, classroom strategies, and student growth.

Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks

• Renowned philosopher and educator Bell Hooks tackles the impact of structural disparity on classrooms, suggesting that radical love and liberation are needed.
• Shared themes include Disparities in Public Education and The Responsibility of Consciousness.
• Shared topics include educational equity, social justice, teacher development, classroom strategies, teacher-student relationships, and student growth.      
• Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom on SuperSummary