A Culturally Responsive Disposition: How Professional Learning and Teachers’ Beliefs About and Self-Efficacy for Culturally Responsive Teaching Relate to Instruction

Abstract
Persistent social inequities in the United States demand attention to culturally responsive (CR) teaching, which requires a specific disposition toward students and teaching. Using survey data of secondary teachers (N = 417) in seven urban districts across the country engaging in equity-oriented professional learning (PL) initiatives, we examine the relationship between teachers’ beliefs about, self-efficacy for, and engagement in PL around CR teaching and their self-reported CR teaching practices. We find correlational evidence that teacher-reported self-efficacy with CR teaching and engagement in PL focused on CR teaching are associated with higher self-reported frequency of CR teaching. We also find that teachers who have beliefs aligned with CR teaching have a stronger relationship between their CR teaching self-efficacy and self-reported CR teaching practices. Finally, we find evidence that changes in CR teaching self-efficacy are associated with changes in self-reported CR teaching—suggesting that CR teaching self-efficacy may drive changes in CR teaching.
Description
This article was originally published in AERA Open. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584221140092
Keywords
correlational analysis, culturally responsive teaching, descriptive analysis, equity, fixed-effects models, instructional practices, longitudinal studies, multicultural education, professional development, regression analyses, self-efficacy, survey research, teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics
Citation
Comstock, Meghan, Erica Litke, Kirsten Lee Hill, and Laura M. Desimone. “A Culturally Responsive Disposition: How Professional Learning and Teachers’ Beliefs About and Self-Efficacy for Culturally Responsive Teaching Relate to Instruction.” AERA Open 9 (2023): 23328584221140092. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584221140092.