Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction: An investigation of primary grade teachers' attitudes, beliefs and practices with African American students

The purpose of this study was to investigate primary grade teachers' attitudes, beliefs and practices concerning Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction (CRLI) with African American students. Through a mixed methods research design, quantitative and qualitative data sources were collected and analyzed sequentially. The participant school district, located on the fringe of the City of Philadelphia, included eight elementary schools as the target population. A total of 51 first through third grade teachers providing literacy instruction in this urban-like, suburban school district served as the preliminary participant group.Quantitative data was collected first through an anonymous, voluntary survey. The survey was distributed electronically through email, with 30 of the 51 teachers completing and submitting survey responses. Survey results suggested that although teachers' general beliefs were consistent with the educational research supporting CRLI, formal professional development and a true understanding of the role of culture in literacy learning was deficient. Qualitative data was then collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations to expound upon survey results. All survey participants (n = 30) were invited to partake in the qualitative phase, with 5 teachers volunteering to participate. A content analysis of qualitative data indicated that interviewees generally align literacy instruction with students' needs, with classroom observations revealing the differences in how they implement these instructional practices. Pedagogical differences included modes for differentiating instruction, role of home language, instructional methods and classroom management techniques. A mixed data analysis integrating all three data sources provided a more holistic view of participants' cultural knowledge base and culturally sensitive practices. A lack of cultural knowledge concerning culturally sensitive practices in the literacy learning environment and the application of cultural knowledge to instructional methods was noted. Results from this also study yielded pedagogical implications and directed future research considerations.