Theses and Dissertations
!!!! PRESERVE (AUTHOR REQUESTED THIS ONE TO BE TAKEN DOWN) Elementary Teachers’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions About a Culturally Relevant ELAR Curriculum: A Multiple Case Study
Copyright 2023 Armandina Thomas. All Rights Reserved.
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Abstract
The Rio Grande Valley, situated at the southernmost point of the United States, has grown to comprise a constellation of communities with shifting racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic demographics. While Rio Grande Valley communities have changed, the K-12 educational system where diverse students form the student body, does not always change to meet this need. Curriculum development within school districts drive the educational equity that creates opportunities to include the histories, beliefs, and perspectives of all students that make up the student body. Little research has focused on teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions about a culturally relevant curriculum in an English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) curriculum and how this drives the culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms. The purpose of this research study is to explore teachers’ attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions about culturally relevant curriculum and how this contributes to the ways they navigate the current English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) curriculum to include culturally relevant text and practices in their classroom activities. Five certified elementary teachers from three elementary schools within a southern border school district participated in semi-structured interviews and observations. This qualitative multiple-case study found a disconnect between the knowledge teachers have about culturally relevant text and the practices they use in their diverse classrooms.