Culture in the Sanctioned Classroom Practices of Elementary School Teachers Serving Low-Income African American Students

This study examined whether culture mediated teachers' reported classroom behaviors. Teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire with items that depicted a traditional classroom behavior or activity performed under specific cultural orientations. Reports of culture-based classroom behaviors were ascertained as a function of teacher cultural group and classroom cultural practice type. Classroom cultural practice was measured through a scale developed to assess typical classroom activities carried out in fundamental culture-specific manners. After teachers initially responded to how often they endorsed the culture-based classroom practices, an inference was made of the degree to which teachers maintained classroom behaviors specific to either individualistic, competitive, communal, or vervistic cultural orientations. Because teachers' practices are believed to be guided by mainstream European cultural values, it was predicted that they would report higher levels of such classroom practices. Patterns of relationships among the endorsement levels of the reported classroom behaviors were also examined.