Abstract:
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) has become a topic of concern in the
field of English Language Teaching at present. This concern has risen due
to the seemingly less incorporation of culture within the field. In Sri Lanka,
English is taught as a second language and English is taught from a young
age. Moreover, Sri Lanka’s diverse cultural landscape makes CRP important
for English language teaching in the country. Based on this diversity, it is
essential that educational materials and teaching methods reflect the cultural
contexts of learners to enhance engagement and learning outcomes. In such a
setting, the limited research done in this field calls this research to address the
questions to what extent is CRP followed in Sri Lankan national curriculum
and what culturally responsive aspects are observed in it. Therefore, the
study follows purposive sampling as the materials employed were ten text
books prescribed by the government for the local English language syllabi
from grades three to thirteen. In doing so, the prevalence given towards
CRP and the extent to which CRP is adapted was analysed. A qualitative
stance was taken by analysing the content of the materials thematically by
following a combined theoretical framework of the Culturally Responsive
Curriculum Scorecard (CRCS) (2018) developed by Bryan-Gooden, Hester
and Peoples and the Fairness, Bias, and Cultural-Responsiveness (FBCR)
checklist (2017) developed by the Center for Collaborative Education
(CCE), Indiana Department of Education. Thereby, yielding results that CRP
is adopted to a certain extent with further improvements. Accordingly, it
is recommended that the three factors; organization of the school, school
policies and procedures and community involvement is followed. Thus, this
study implicates further studies on the incorporation of CRP in classroom
teaching and learning for more in depth matter.
