Culturally Relevant Pedagogy as a Teaching Strategy: A Case Study of Historically Black Colleges and Universities First-Year Seminar Pedagogical Practices

Utilizing culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to acculturate first-time-in-college students attending minority-serving institutions into the postsecondary setting is a higher educational imperative. The current study utilizes Ladson-Billings' (1995b) CRP as a theoretical frame to explore the teaching practices in the first-year seminars (FYSs) at three historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the southeastern part of the United States. A qualitative case study provided six HBCU FYS professionals with the opportunity to discuss perspectives that situate CRP as a tool to engage students in learning. The researchers argue that application of CRP practices in FYS encourages engaged student learning. Implications and recommendations from the findings are provided for college faculty to employ pedagogic practices to facilitate student support in the first year.