First Episode of iCRT Podcast!

Welcome to the first episode of iCRT! I'm so pleased you've at least made it this far!

This first episode of the podcast is really just an introduction one! I talk about who I am, why I'm doing this podcast in the first place, and what this podcast will revolve around: Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) and personalized learning. In the podcast, I mention some educators I'm reading who have inspired me and I'd like to take a minute to introduce them more fully here!

Gloria Ladson-Billings: I first stumbled across Gloria Ladson-Billings's name while I was trying to narrow down my thesis question. I read her name and a brief description of CRT and something just clicked into place-I knew this was what I wanted to study to not only complete my thesis but to better my teaching. I immediately ordered her book, "The Dream-Keepers" from Amazon and dove in! In this book, she dives deeper into her work in the San Francisco Bay area with 8 teachers who were singled out as being excellent teachers to African-American students in particular. Through her work with these teachers (interviews, questionnaires, and observations), she pinpoints several characteristics found in teachers who are good for diverse student populations. Since her name popped up on my screen at the very beginning of this whole crazy thing called my thesis, she's been my go-to CRT theorist. Read her book!

Zaretta Hammond: In a weird turn of events, I had actually bought Hammond's book "Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain" before even beginning my Master's classes but, as you may know, I had every intention of reading it and never got around to actually cracking the cover. After reading Ladson-Billings's book, though, I knew I needed to continue my research of CRT through this book. This book has changed my understanding of learning and has already become so integrated into how I think about teaching students, not to mention provided me with a better awareness of some hard truths about the school system and culturally and linguistically diverse students that will forever shape my educational advocacy. I love her ideas and research so much that this book is the topic of my second podcast episode coming out mid-March! Buy the book, listen along, and read it!

Geneva Gay: A final theorist whom I am currently reading more work from is Dr. Geneva Gay. Where Gloria Ladson-Billings focuses mainly on African-American students, Gay's work expands CRT to look at the intersections of culture, race, ethnicity, teaching, and learning. Again, I'm currently reading more from Gay as her inclusion of more underserved student populations like, for example, LGBTQIA students, students with physical and mental disabilities, and female students to name a few feels very relevant to our world today. I will keep you updated on what I'm reading of hers in a future blog post. Until then, look her up and read what sparks your interest!

Again, thanks for listening to the first podcast episode! I look forward to sharing this adventure with you in Episode 2.

Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.

-Paulo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed