Engaging Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Youth through Performance Poetry

The author said as a former English teacher now working with preservice teachers in Arizona, he has faced many challenges in supporting the language and literacy development of secondary culturally linguistically diverse youth. He is candid with preservice teachers about how the implementation of a standardized curriculum in many secondary schools may make it difficult to engage youth in literacy. Culturally responsive teaching focuses on teaching through students' strengths. This teaching philosophy acknowledges strengths such as students' cultural heritage and lived experiences as key factors necessary for learning. As part of culturally responsive teaching, critical literacy is essential in guiding instruction in urban classroom settings. Critical literacy fosters an awareness of issues associated with equity and social justice in literacy contexts. Many of the students who found reading and writing challenging were excited about this process because they had a lot to say and, more specifically, they felt their stories needed to be shared through performance.