It's about more than 'just be consistent' or 'out-tough them': Culturally responsive classroom management

Until recently, research on the relationship between classroom management and culturally responsive teaching has remained distinctly separated. Researchers in each field of study have focused on issues pertinent to their respective areas of study. Missing is research that explores how teachers make sense of and come to understand issues of cultural diversity in their classroom management approaches. This qualitative research is based on case studies of the perceptions and interpretations of three White, female, middle school teachers. The participants were nominated as successful teachers of African American students and effective classroom managers by their principal and other teachers in the building. The purpose of the study was to examine and describe the influence of diversity on the teachers' classroom management practices.;The increase in African American students in urban middle schools together with the low number of African American teachers means that the majority of students will be taught by White, middle-class, teachers. Although these teachers may have good intentions, they may not have the cultural background and dispositions to deliver the most appropriate classroom management approach to this group. Research indicates that teachers may lack cultural self-efficacy, cultural information, and cultural experience that may result in subjecting African American students to ethnocentric attitudes, damaging communication, and culturally insensitive discipline and interventions. The cumulative effects of poverty, racial segregation, low expectations, and misinformation about the cultural background of African American students have placed them in an exceptionally high-risk category for school disciplinary consequences. While many reasons can be attributed to the high suspension and expulsion rates experienced by this population, the fact that African American students infrequently share the cultural framework of their teachers may be a factor in the creation of the racialized discipline gap in public schools.;There is a critical need to identify reform initiatives that can reduce disciplinary inequity and increase educational opportunities for African American students. This research examines teachers' sense-making about classroom management and culturally responsive pedagogy and the relation between them in their practice. Data was analyzed using constructivists, sociocultural, and critical race theory. The following themes emerged: (a) developing personal relationships based on respect, trust, and caring; (b) teacher confidence and cultural efficacy; and (c) intervention as guiding, mediating, and scaffolding.