Browsing by Author "Pursiainen, Janika"

Objectives. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the concept of culturally relevant pedagogy and its importance for teaching and learning. The child's cultural backgrounds, different backgrounds and life experiences have a strong impact on school and education. They can not only enhance learning but also motivate the student to engage in school work and engagement. The goal of culturally meaningful pedagogy is to support the development of each student by utilizing their previous knowledge and skills in teaching and enabling the learner to play an active role in knowledge creation. Previous research has shown that culturally meaningful pedagogy promotes learning and creates favourable environments for it. The concept originated in the United States in the 1990s at the initiative of researcher Gloria Ladson-Billings but continues to live strongly in the field of education. The aim of the thesis is also to examine the historical change and significance of culturally relevant pedagogy in education and training. Methods. This study is a descriptive literature review. The material consists of seven articles in English dealing with the change and significance of culturally relevant pedagogy. The research questions are: In what way does the material justify the change in multicultural education to culturally relevant pedagogy? and In what ways do culturally meaningful pedagogical approaches promote learning and student engagement on the basis of the material? The analysis of the material proceeds according to the research questions. For the second research question, the material is broken down to answer the research question by theme. Results and conclusions. According the data, culturally relevant pedagogy seems to have a strong influence on the field of education. Its significance for learning is positive. According to the material, culturally relevant pedagogy can not only improve school enjoyment and engagement, but also develop a sense of community and increase motivation and academic skills. Culturally relevant pedagogy requires the skill of the teacher to organize the teaching so that the learner is in the centre and can actively influence their own learning. The pupil's previous experiences strongly influence the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy.