by Laura L. Summers, March 2010

Students need culturally responsive teacher-librarians who focus on 21st-century skills for all students. Basic principles for culturally responsive leadership in school libraries are articulated by multicultural educators who know that social equity is more important than ever, as the number of diverse and underserved students increase each year. In Denver Public Schools (DPS), a district in which I am familiar, there are now over 73,018 students and 80% of the students represent minorities. By 2010, it is predicted that over 30 percent of all school-age children will be English Language Learners. Ethnicity, race, disability, gender, language, and socioeconomic status define diverse students who enter school libraries every day. Since teacher-librarians interact with all students within a school, it is a natural fit to look toward our school library personnel to model culturally responsive leadership for educators within their schools and communities. School librarians can be a primary voice in promoting the importance of social equity for all students. School librarians must focus on enhancing their professional competencies and promote positive intercultural interactions between students (Jackson) in order to create the best learning environment in the 21st century.

James Banks' has designed four levels of multicultural curriculum reform that teacher-librarians can use to measure their effectiveness in helping all students be more successful in a culturally diverse society. Teacher-librarians can use his four levels to evaluate if their research curriculum and information literacy skills are culturally responsive.

Level One: The Contribution Stage

At this first stage of curriculum reform a teacher-librarian focuses only on the superficial aspects of culture. This is where most teacher-librarians stop because it is the easiest level to incorporate. One example is when the school library puts up posters for Cinco de Mayo, Martin Luther King's birthday or African-American History Week. At this level no conversations occur among faculty and students about current issues like racism, poverty, and oppression. Students miss out on the opportunity to see the value their cultures bring to a multicultural society. At this level, stereotypes of ethnic groups remain central to one's ethnic identity, which can contribute to students limiting their ambitions based on the heroes they see. One black student explained in my class that he thought he could only succeed in sports based on the media coverage of other black men. It took a teacher who cared about his academic success to show him educational alternatives. I rarely hear about such conversations with teacher-librarians even though teacher-librarians have the ability to have many one-on-one conversations with students while they are lounging in the magazine section or working on class research.

Level Two: The Additive Stage

At this second stage a teacher-librarian makes more of an effort to integrate cultural content into curriculum, but when collaborating with other teachers, a teacher-librarian who is unaware of alternative resources may only introduce resources that are written from the viewpoints of mainstream writers and historians. A culturally responsive teacher-librarian will need to spend time investigating alternative resources and books. To advance to the next stage, a teacher-librarian must evaluate resources based on language, pictures, topics, and stereotypes. Through collaborative conversations, and teacher-librarian modeling, children and adults can be taught to notice cultural biases they may not have otherwise noticed. Teacher-librarians who want to be culturally responsive need to think about the following questions:

• Who wrote the book: male, female, dominant culture, non-dominant culture?
• What is the copyright?
• Is it a book about non-dominant culture written by a person from the dominant culture? (If so, the book may have a Eurocentric perspective.)
• How are women treated in the book?
• Are they strong or submissive, lead or supporting characters, do they need the men to approve the decisions or help them carry them out?
• What is the language style? (e.g. Does the book use "he" to talk about both genders?)
• Who are the main characters?
• Look for stereotypes in pictures and character descriptions.
• Does the book describe non-dominant culture characters as evil, crafty, lazy, shady, and so on…?
• How are the characters illustrated?
• Do the non-dominant culture characters have subservient roles; or do they get to make decisions, take part in or lead the action, and move the story forward?
• Do the non-dominant culture characters get to solve problems or are they shown as causing problems?
• Do they have to gain acceptance or acquiesce to dominant culture characters?
• Are lifestyle and cultures represented accurately and respectfully; is there negativity or judgment about lifestyle, language, socioeconomic status, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ability or color (black is bad, white is good)?
• Who are the heroes (men, women, dominant, or non-dominant)? If the hero is non-dominant who are they serving, the dominant culture group or their own?

Level Three: The Transformational Stage

Finally at Level 3, a transformation of curriculum begins to occur as the teacher-librarian introduces colleagues and students to resources that offer multiple cultural perspectives and viewpoint, and teaches students to know and praise their own and each other's cultural heritages. For example, a language arts unit on poetry should not just focus on the works of Robert Frost or Donald Hall, but include African-American poets such as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, or Paul Laurence Dunbar to gain a different perspective of society and culture. In history, students studying the significant events should be introduced to the perspectives of African Americans, Native Americans, Japanese Americans as well as other ethnic groups affected by the same historical events that have been reported on by mainstream, white men in the past. As Banks explains, "One irony of conquest is that those who are conquered often deeply influence the cultures of the conquerors" (63).

Level Four: The Social Action Stage

The decision-making and social action approach is the highest and most complex level. Banks explains that in this approach students study a social problem based on their own community or school's issues. The purpose at Level 4 is to teach students critical-thinking skills; empower them as cultural individuals; and create more self-efficacy (63). At this stage, teacher-librarians team with colleagues and administrators to encourage parental and community participation in discussing issues that are critical to the community to build meaningfulness between home and school experiences. Culturally responsive teaching is comprehensive and teaches the whole child. Being a culturally responsive instructional leader as a teacher-librarian means caring about students; having high expectations of all students; communicating with students; and being sensitive to diverse learning styles.

As a role model for other colleagues, students, parents, and community members, a culturally responsive teacher-librarian can foster student achievement through the following proactive actions:

1. Build trust

All students bring their culture into school. Trust is built when students feel valued and cared about just as they are. If students feel valued, student achievement will increase. Geneva Gay writes about this notion of the power of caring and encourages all educators to send the message to students that "I have faith in your ability to learn. I care about the quality of your learning, and I commit myself to making sure you will learn" (45). One simple strategy for building trust is to learn students' names when students visit the library. Acknowledge the students with a smile and let them know that you are glad they came into your classroom—the school library. Promote a higher level of cultural awareness within your school community by having students conduct research and share stories about their own family's ethnic background. All students have a culture and should be aware of their own ethnic roots (Jackson).

2. Value cultural awareness

First as instructional leaders, school librarians need to be aware that "culture determines how we think, believe, and behave, and these, in turn affect how we teach and learn" (Gay 9). To be a leader in cultural responsiveness and model appropriate attitudes and behaviors with other colleagues, one much first be aware of one's own culture. Take time to think about cultural norms of home, school, district, and community to better assess one's own influence on the level of cultural acceptance within a community. A teacher-librarian needs to be aware of how she treats others who are different. Be aware of misjudgment based on stereotypes. Research shows that white, middle-class people see themselves as cultureless, which can unintentionally become a measure of white racial superiority (Perry). School librarians are often left out of the professional development that other educators in their district receive so a culturally responsive school librarian will seek out opportunities to learn more about the students within their learning community. Often referred to as "color-blind" or "cultural blindness," white educators believe they are being non-discriminating when in reality, more subtle forms of negative experiences exist due to lower expectations of students of color (Gay; Irvine). A school librarian may have good intentions but is not aware of how current instructional practices reflect European American cultural values. Also, there may be a subconscious intent to assimilate students of color into mainstream society. Instead, celebrate differences and know that it is okay to notice differences among each other while assuming positive intent. Accept that each culture finds different values and behaviors as important (Lindsey, Robins, & Terrell).

"Culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of society use to interact with their world and one another" (Zion & Kozleski). Culture does not have to be defined in terms of race, ethnicity, or national boundary. Diverse and underserved populations in K-12 schools include the following characteristics: ethnicity, race, neurological (e.g. autism, Asperger's Syndrome), religion, physical differences (e.g. visual or hearing-impaired), sexual orientation, gender, and age. Even working-class, single-parent, and low-socially economic families represent cultures that are more than likely different from the mainstream (Dean). A school librarian can be a stakeholder in dispelling any myths and prejudices that may exist in a school by learning more about the students' language, learning styles, and values. In addition, "ethnically different students will deliberately sabotage or camouflage their intellectual abilities to avoid being alienated from their ethnic friends who are not as adept at school" (Gay 19). For example, African-American females and Chinese Americans operate in "intentional silence." They may purposefully not speak up in class, or answer questions tersely or without elaboration in order to avoid bringing attention to themselves. They are more comfortable with their anonymity. In addition to some ethnic groups who avoid eye contact, students with autism may also avoid eye contact. If a teacher-librarian is not aware of this difference, she may expect a different behavior from the student then what is possible.

To get to know students better, Jackson, a multicultural educator, recommends that educators should observe students in non-school settings, visit community churches, talk to community leaders, and make home visits with other teachers to show that they care and to encourage parents to become more involved in the school community, which leads to a higher investment in education. One of Jackson's principles for culturally responsive educators is to establish positive relationships between home and school. The library is a perfect place to hold evening meetings to discuss important issues in the community. Welcome families into the library to learn more about college opportunities as well as to discuss issues like Internet safety to further build upon the relationship between school and home.

3. Foster motivation

"Engagement is the visible outcome of motivation" (Wlodkowski & Ginsberg). Teacher librarians can foster motivation by engaging students in what they are learning and making it relevant to their real-world experiences (Wlodkowski & Ginsberg). This is more possible when the teacher-librarian has taken time to get to know her students and to develop trust among the learners. A culturally responsive teacher-librarian develops a library connection that appeals to different cultures as personal relevance creates a more positive attitude towards school; a place that has not always been welcoming to the underserved populations because of their differences. She also finds ways to create performance assessments that are based on students' strengths and ask students to offer feedback on how they would like to be evaluated. A culturally responsive leader is not afraid to empower learners with learning choices, knowing there are often multiple ways to teach to state standards. As Wlodkowski and Ginsberg explain, "Rather than trying to know what to do to students, we must work with students to interpret and deepen their existing knowledge and enthusiasm for learning."

4. Establish inclusion

Through the process of inclusion, a culturally responsive teacher-librarian creates a learning community in which learners and educators feel respected by and connected to one another. A culturally responsive teacher-librarian emphasizes the purpose for what is being learned and its relationship to students through collaboration and cooperation. For example, when learning how to conduct research, the culturally responsive teacher-librarian assigns students to small groups where they discuss previous experiences about conducting research. Then, the teacher-librarian has each group share their perspectives in order to understand their concerns and connect with them. The teacher-librarian is also aware that some cultures are more comfortable than others revealing their personal feelings and must feel safe to do so; she then explains that most people are researchers and shares examples. The last step is when she asks students what they would like to research. After a lively discussion, the class decides to investigate a common interest. This example portrays a learning opportunity that connects students with each other and promotes a personal connection between the learners and what they are being asked to learn.

Works Cited

Banks, James. Cultural Diversity and Education: Foundations, Curriculum, and Teaching. 4th ed. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. Print.

Dean, Patricia K. "Working Toward Cultural Responsiveness in the New Millennium." National Association for the Education of Young Children's Annual National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development. Albuquerque, NM. 2002. Print.

Gay, Geneva. Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory Research & Practice. In J.A. Banks' (Ed) Multicultural Education Series. Columbia University, New York: Teachers College Press, 2000. Print.

Irvine, Jacqueline J. Educating Teachers for Diversity: Seeing with a Cultural Eye. New York: Teachers College Press, 2003. Print.

Jackson, Francesina. "Seven Strategies to Support a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy." Journal of Reading, Volume 37. Issue 4 (1993): 298-303. Print.

Lindsey, Randall B., Robins, Kikanza N., and Raymond Terrell. Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 1999. Print.

Perry, Pamela. "White Means Never Having to Say You're Ethnic: White Youth and the Construction of "Culturelessness" Identities." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Volume 30. Issue 1 (2001): 56-91. Print.

Wlodkowski, Raymond and Margery B. Ginsberg. A Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. Print.

Zion, Shelley and Elizabeth Kozleski. Understanding Culture. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University, National Institute for Urban School Improvement, 2005. Print.