Lesson-1: Best Practices

Start and Start Small.  Sometimes we start with a bang, and then things go by the wayside.  To that end, start small.  Think about what you have read. 

• Discuss it with a peer or colleague. 
• Try a culturally responsive discussion question (Tier 1).
• Reflect on your resistance to cultural responsiveness if need be.  Has it changed or been modified by what you have learned by reading this book?

Work collaboratively. 

• Find culturally responsive practitioners with which to work. 
• Reach out to experts online. 
• Work with trained practitioners. Take the guessing out of cultural responsiveness.
• Meet with student service professionals.  Find out about culturally responsive initiatives on campus.
• Include colleges from all departments and subject matter. 

Take your time. 

• Cultural responsiveness is not intuitive.  It takes new time, information, practice, and intentionality to become a strong cultural practitioner.
• Don’t get overwhelmed.  If you do, take a break, and come back to work. The work will wait for you. 
• Practice creating tiered learning in a sandbox before implementation. 
• Have a peer reflect on it with you.  A second, third, or fourth set of eyes does not hurt either.

Everything is best in 3, but 5 will also do. 

• Focus on three culture responses at the Tier 1 level, per course.  But if you need or want to do more, and it is your first time, five cultural responses are acceptable. No more than five. Keep it simple.

Learn more. 

• Read, research, reflect, and repeat.
• Become a certified Learning and Online Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (LODEI).
• Because a certified culturally responsive instructor.
• Become a CASEPS trainer.