Back to Basics: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Special Education

While the student population in public education is becoming more diverse, the representation of teachers of color remains low. With over half the student population in the United States considered as non-white, and only 20% of teachers identifying as teachers of color, it is imperative to examine the ways in which education professionals are addressing teaching and learning in a way that is inclusive of culturally diverse populations. Gloria Ladson-Billings (1994) developed her culturally relevant pedagogy framework nearly 30 years ago, and though rarely discussed in special education, her approach is critically important to the field. This article calls on teacher educators to engage future special education teachers in ways that support their implementation of CRP as an ongoing framework. In order to achieve this, we focus on the effective characteristics of culturally relevant special education teachers, and on creating culturally relevant special education teacher programs in higher education.

School Nurse Perceptions of Continuing Education: Identifying the Process of Engagement.

BACKGROUND: School nurses serve a critical role in academic settings, but evidence indicates that nurses may need help transitioning their generalist nursing training to the school environment (Camp). Continuing education (CE) can be an effective way for school nurses to develop the specialty skills needed for this practice environment (Gormley; Quinn & Smolinski), but a better understanding of how nurses engage in CE is needed to guide course development. The goal of this study is to describe how South Carolina school nurses engage with CE to guide future CE development efforts. METHOD: A qualitative descriptive design was used to describe engagement in CE for 24 participating South Carolina school nurses. RESULTS: School nurses experienced CE as a process that included deciding to attend, experiencing the course, and implementing practice change. Subthemes relevant to these steps also emerged. CONCLUSION: For school nurses, CE is a process and is not perceived as a one-time event. Design recommendations and strategies are presented. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2022;53(1):35-41.].