Culturally Responsive Teaching and UDL
By Gwen Bass, PhD, and Michael Lawrence-Riddell
Published in Faculty Focus
Creating educational experiences for our students that integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), a philosophy of education that centers students’ cultural backgrounds as essential to their learning (Ladson-Billings,1994), is a powerful tool for preparing them for today’s professional environment, which increasingly acknowledges diversity as integral to success. As Chita-Tegmark, et al. wrote, “…If both the increasingly global society made possible by modern technology and the culturally diverse societies in which we live are considered, success in the twenty-first century requires individuals to incorporate more than a single culture’s system of thought.”
