Student-designed community walks that flip teacher and learner roles to build cultural humility¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

As part of staff development, teachers become learners during community walks: student-designed and student-led visits to the neighborhoods where students live, often ending with a meal in a family home or community gathering place. The report explains that "community walks flip the script on who is teaching and who is learning—teachers become the students, and students and families become the teachers, sharing their expertise, resources, and assets." Walks have built productive staff-community relationships and closed the distance between staff and students' lives beyond school.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Willingness of staff to participate in the school's staff development program
• Student and family willingness to lead walks and share their communities

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• Newcomer students and their families; school staff as learners

Target Learning Goals¶

• Staff understanding of students' passions, cultures, and interests
• Culturally responsive teaching practice

Related Strategies¶

• Building Cultural Competency Skills for School Staff
• Culturally Competent Family Engagement
• Learning Walks
• Address Stereotypical Beliefs About Parents and Poverty
• Leveraging Family Knowledge
• Home Visits

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Charlie Thompson. (2023). Oakland International High School: A Thriving Community School for Oakland's Newcomer Students. Learning Policy Institute. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED642542