What is Culturally Relevant Pedagogy for Neurodiversity?
Pedagogy in the US has traditionally been based on middle-class, European cultural frames of reference. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP), sometimes referred to as Culturally Responsive Teaching, develops teaching strategies to respond to increasingly diverse classrooms by "using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them" (Gay, p. 36).
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy for Neurodiversity views neurodivergence as diversity as natural variations on the human condition, just like other forms of diversity. Culturally responsive pedagogical approaches can be applied to teaching neurodivergent students in the same ways it is applied to other identities. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, including the following:
- Demonstrating acceptance for neurodiversity in the classroom
- Diversifying content to include neurodivergent authors and creators
- Maintaining high standards and teaching for student success
- Exploring Universal Design in Learning
- Encouraging critical consciousness
To learn more, visit Culturally Relevant Pedagogy for Neurodiversity, The Center for Universal Design in Education, and What do "neurodiverse" and "neurodivergent" mean? Additional resources are available at the Neuroscience for Neurodiverse Learners website.