When Students Ask "Where's My Story?"

A conversation between me and a classmate exploring principles of culturally responsive teaching and how diverse texts help students see themselves and others in the classroom. Join us as we share insights, challenges, and the impact of CRT on student engagement and learning.

Why Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Matters in Classrooms

As an educator with a background in journalism I have learned that everyone has a story. I have learned that teaching is never just about content, it’s about connection. Students carry their lived experiences, cultural identities, and personal stories into the classroom every day. As teachers, we do the same thing. However, when these stories are ignored or erased from the curriculum, we lose the chance to affirm who they are and help students see themselves as agents in their own learning.

Geneva Gay’s research on culturally responsive teaching reminds us that culture is not an “add-on” to education, rather it is the foundation on which effective teaching must be built. Gay says that connecting curriculum to the cultural frames of our students makes learning more meaningful, more relevant, and more transformative. Similarly, Gloria Ladson-Billings describes culturally relevant pedagogy not only affirms students’ cultural identities but also develops academic success and critical consciousness.

Culturally Responsive Teaching means curating literature from diverse authors so Hispanic, Asian, Black, Indigenous, and other underrepresented students can encounter protagonists who look and live like them. It also means creating space for students to share their own narratives and connect them to academic content and discussing economic inequality, race, and identity openly and authentically.

These theories aren’t just abstract or a “woke” agenda, it’s what our students need to thrive beyond the classroom. The ideas of Geneva Gay and Gloria Ladson-Billings have shaped my perspective on teaching especially around language and ESL, literacy as a way to empower students, the danger of only hearing one story about people, and the real thoughts my students have shared about seeing themselves in what we learn.

Student Voices That Changed My Perspective

One Black female student once told me something to the effect of, “I don’t care how whitewashed my kids are. I don't want them to not be able to afford anything.” Her comment, heavy with history and aspiration, shows how deeply intertwined race, economic opportunity, and cultural identity are for many students of color.

On another occasion, a Hispanic student asked, “When are we going to learn about our culture?” She had noticed that none of the literature we studied reflected her heritage or experiences. Her question was not just about what we were studying, it was about visibility. It was about the countless times students look at their textbooks and fail to see themselves.

In another classroom, an Asian student posed this question to his teacher, “What do I look like to you?” His question was not just about the categorization of his race, it had to do with the desire to be recognized fully, not as a stereotype or a single label, but as a complex, multidimensional individual.

The Danger of a Single Story

These moments in my classroom bring to mind Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk, The Danger of a Single Story. Adichie warns that when we tell only one version of a people’s history or identity, we flatten their humanity and perpetuate stereotypes. When our classrooms rely solely on Eurocentric narratives, we offer only a fragmented view of our collective story and it leaves many of our students unseen.

My students’ questions and comments made me confront how often our school materials and lessons fail to reflect the plurality of our classroom. It made me reflect on how I can do better. Did I fail? 

Dallas ISD is a diverse district where about 70% of students identify as Hispanic or Latino, 21% African American, 6% White, and 1% Asian or other groups. Nearly half of the students are English language learners, and many face economic challenges. These statistics make cultural awareness and responsive teaching essential to their success.

Language, Culture, and Identity in Dallas

A recent Dallas Morning News article about Hispanic parents preserving Spanish while their children adapt to American life captures this complex cultural negotiation beautifully. In many Latino households, parents continue to speak Spanish, keep cultural traditions, and value their heritage deeply, even as their children navigate schools and social spaces dominated by English and American norms.

In my classroom, I see this tension play out daily. Students move fluidly between two worlds translating, code-switching, and balancing family expectations. As I’ve come to realize, language is more than just  communication, it’s an identity, heritage, and belonging. When we look at language from this angle, we can see that when schools dismiss a student’s native language, they inadvertently silence part of who they are.

Gay discusses the concept of "English Plus" instruction, which supports bilingualism and English language development simultaneously instead of viewing ESL students’ home languages as deficits to be eliminated. This strategy aligns with CRT’s core idea of valuing students' cultural backgrounds as strengths that enhance learning. Gay argues that teachers need to be aware of linguistic diversity and ethnic communication styles in order to create classrooms where multiple languages and communication patterns are seen as assets rather than barriers.

Literacy is Liberation

Gloria Ladson-Billings’ literacy is liberation reminds me of the old saying, reading is knowledge and knowledge is power. Literacy means more than just reading words. A culturally responsive classroom will help students read about the world, question systems, and become empowered to change them. Reading is fundamental and when students engage with diverse texts that reflect and challenge their lived experiences, literacy transforms into a tool for change and empowerment.

Within Ladson-Billings’ framework, this phrase takes on an urgency that when our students, especially those from marginalized communities, gain access to books, ideas, and histories that affirm their identities, they are not only acquiring vocabulary or fluency, they are gaining voice and the confidence to participate in shaping their world. In that way, culturally relevant pedagogy is not just good teaching, it’s an act of justice.