Back to Basics: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Special Education

Overview & Synopsis

While the student population in public education is becoming more diverse, the representation of teachers of color remains low. With over half the student population in the United States considered as non-white, and only 20% of teachers identifying as teachers of color, it is imperative to examine the ways in which education professionals are addressing teaching and learning in a way that is inclusive of culturally diverse populations. Gloria Ladson-Billings (1994) developed her culturally relevant pedagogy framework nearly 30 years ago, and though rarely discussed in special education, her approach is critically important to the field. This article calls on teacher educators to engage future special education teachers in ways that support their implementation of CRP as an ongoing framework. In order to achieve this, we focus on the effective characteristics of culturally relevant special education teachers, and on creating culturally relevant special education teacher programs in higher education.