Culturally Responsive African-American Teachers

Irvine and Fraser (1998) list the following characteristics of culturally responsive African-American teachers who teach African-American students:

• "They perceive themselves as parental surrogates and advocates for their African- American students.

• They employ a teaching style filled with rhythmic language and rapid intonation with many instances of repetition, call and response, high emotional involvement, creative analogies, figurative language, gestures and body movements, symbolism, aphorisms, and lively and often spontaneous discussions.

• They use students' everyday cultural and historical experiences in an effort to link new concepts to prior knowledge.

• They spend classroom and nonclassroom time developing a personal relationship with their children, and often tease and joke with their students using dialect or slang to establish this personal relationship.

• They teach with authority."

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