Season 7 Episode # 7: Addressing Cultural Stereotypes Through Thoughtful Curriculum

Send us a text

Ready to transform how cultural narratives appear in your classroom? Cultural stereotypes lurk in teaching materials everywhere—from textbooks portraying African nations solely through poverty to history lessons reducing Black heritage to just five famous figures. These oversimplifications don't just affect lesson plans; they shape how our students understand the world.

Drawing from my own experience as an educator who once challenged a problematic reading passage only to be dismissed by district leadership, this episode tackles the uncomfortable reality that many curriculum materials perpetuate harmful stereotypes. When Indigenous communities appear only as historical entities rather than vibrant contemporary cultures, or when the achievements of marginalized groups get condensed to token representation, we're not just teaching incomplete history—we're reinforcing biases that students carry into adulthood.

But there's hope in thoughtful curriculum evaluation. By asking critical questions about whose voices are included (and excluded), seeking counter-narratives that highlight innovation and joy alongside struggle, and diversifying our teaching resources, we can create classrooms where authentic cultural understanding flourishes. This episode provides practical strategies for implementing change, from inviting community members to share cultural perspectives to advocating for curriculum audits even when faced with resistance.

The power to dismantle stereotypes lies with educators willing to step beyond comfort zones and outdated materials. Your students deserve teaching that helps them become critical thinkers capable of recognizing and challenging cultural stereotypes. Whether you're just starting this journey or looking to deepen your approach, you'll find actionable steps to create learning environments that celebrate authentic cultural narratives rather than reinforcing harmful generalizations.

Ready to make positive change? Subscribe, leave a review, and visit jebedmonds.com for inclusive teaching resources that will transform your classroom into a space where every student's cultural identity is valued and understood.

Episode Mentioned in show: 

Episode #22. My 3 Cs of Cultural Competency

COME SAY Hey!!

Instagram: @cultrallyjebeh_

Facebook: @JebehCulturalConsulting

Pinterest: @Jebeh Cultural Consulting

LinkedIn: @Jebeh Cultural Consulting

Leave a Review on our Podcast! We value your feedback!

Follow our Blog

Enroll In Our Mini Courses
Buy My eBook: Empowering Your BIPOC Students

Enroll In My Digital Course: How To Be A Culturally Competent Leader

Buy My K-12 Lesson Plans

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Enjoy the Cultural Curriculum Chat podcast? Share the love! Refer a friend to Buzzsprout and both you and your friend will enjoy exclusive benefits. Click the link...

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, welcome back to the Cultural Curriculum Chat
Podcast.
I am your host, jebe Edmonds,and I am thrilled to have you
with me here today.
We're gonna dive into a veryimportant and often overlooked
topic addressing culturalstereotypes through thoughtful

(00:20):
curriculum.
As educators and parents andlifelong learners give it up
lifelong learners whoop, whoop,do that, raise the roof we have
a responsibility to ensure thatour teaching materials and
discussions foster inclusivityand cultural awareness.

(00:41):
Now, first and foremost, let'sstart with the basics.
What exactly are culturalstereotypes when it comes to
education?
Now, we know culturalstereotypes are oversimplified,
generalized beliefs about aparticular group of people,
often reinforced through ourmedia that we consume, the

(01:03):
literature that we're readingand even educational materials.
So, with some of thesestereotypes, they may seem
harmless, but they do contributeto bias, marginalization and
the erasure of authenticcultural narratives.
Now, educators, you can feel meon this, especially if you've

(01:24):
been in the educational systemfor a long time Our districts
and our state boards they pilotnew curricula from these massive
big corporations that are youknow, I'm not going to name
those names, but they areresponsible for creating those
teaching materials for ourstudents, and I've been in those

(01:47):
situations and spaces wherewe're piloting a new curriculum
that's going to be rolled outthe next year and you know
you're always getting the shortstraw if you're the newer
teacher or the seasoned teacheror the teacher that's one year
away from retiring and we're inthese meetings and we're looking
through and we're thumbingthrough all these materials and

(02:07):
we're getting the big, you know,trunks full of things and
textbooks and I remember goingto a couple meetings where you
know the educators that arepiloting a reading program or
you know a new math curriculum.
You're looking through andyou're reading the problem
solving questions.
You're looking through thesocial studies bins and the

(02:30):
articles and I remember therewas one in particular and I
believe it was for socialstudies.
No, it was for reading becauseit was nonfiction text and it
was a text that was really.
It had nothing to do with thehow you say, the standard and

(02:53):
benchmark strand that we neededto fulfill.
It was just kind of like a ifyour kids are a little fast of a
standard that they needed to do.
This was a part of theirremedial texts, you know, for
the kids that are just belowgrade level.
And I'm reading this passage andI remember teaching first grade

(03:14):
at the time and I'm like thisstory.
It was about a little Africanboy and I'm like this story just
it's just re-perpetuatingnegative stereotypes when it
comes to children that live inAfrica.
It always had that you knowprimitive feel behind it.
It had the you know child thatwas impoverished and it always

(03:38):
was that narrative.
And I had a concern if we weregoing to adopt this particular
reading curricula.
And I remember theinstructional specialist for the
district, who's no longer there, but I, you know, voiced my
concern and she goes we're notgoing to let a little passage

(03:59):
like that make or break our newcurriculum that we're going to
purchase, that make or break ournew curriculum that we're going
to purchase.
And it just reinforced to methat even if you do have a
concern, they will shy away fromthose particular stories.
But how are we going to trustthat the teacher that has that

(04:24):
material is going to do the samething?
Are they going to skip thatstory or are they going to
continue to reinforce thosestereotypical narratives?
Thinking about context of ourindigenous communities, a lot of
our materials still showcaseour Native American brothers and

(04:44):
sisters as people of the past.
That's an example of erasure ofauthentic cultural groups and
of that we are ignoring thevibrancy of our contemporary
Indigenous communities, Even ourhistory lessons.
They might reduce thecontributions of our Black

(05:05):
leaders to just a few figures.
I always used to say when I wasteaching that we always come to
the Fabulous Five, that I callour Fabulous Five contributors.
Only, you know, when it comesto Black history, we all know
about Martin Luther King Jr,rosa Parks, then we have Harriet

(05:26):
Tubman, then we have FrederickDouglass and then we have Barack
Obama.
Not negating and saying thattheir contributions were not
supposed to be amplified, I wantto just address that there's so
many more contributors to oursociety that tend to be put on

(05:47):
the back burner, that tend tonot have that focus, and there's
more to us, you know, in thiscommunity.
So we need to highlight thebroader spectrum of other
achievers.
So these limited portrayals,like I said, of that fab five.
It shapes our studentsperceptions and it can reinforce

(06:12):
those unconscious biases.
You and I all know you seeevery pattern the same movie,
the same book, the same project.
It's heartbreaking to know,especially us teachers we're
naturally creative folks that wecan look out in search for more

(06:32):
authentic narratives that ourstudents are so craving.
My big question for you how dowe challenge these stereotypes.
Well, first and foremost, wemust actively evaluate our
curriculum.
Even if your voice shakes,speak up, even with the

(06:52):
instructional person dismissingyour concerns, bring it up the
ladder, bring it up to theirboss and keep speaking out.
I want you to also think aboutare there multiple perspectives
represented in our history,literature and social studies?
What is missing there?

(07:13):
What group is being amplifiedand what group is being ignored?
Do the materials reflect thoseauthentic voices from the
communities that we'rediscussing, and are diverse
experiences included?
Beyond oppressive narratives,do they highlight joy as well,

(07:34):
resilience and innovation?
One powerful tool is usingcounter narratives.
One powerful tool is usingcounter narratives, and this
means integrating stories andlessons that challenge dominant
stereotypes.
Instead of always portrayingAfrica through the lens of

(08:05):
poverty, like I said before,educators can introduce students
to its rich artistic,scientific and technological
contributions.
Instead of reducing Latinxhistory to immigration stories,
we can also include narrativesof leadership, activism and
innovation.
We are all innovative humanbeings, so why not highlight
that?
So why not highlight that?
Now that we know what to lookfor, I want us to talk about

(08:26):
actionable strategies forimplementing thoughtful
curriculum practices.
Okay, first and foremost, youhave to, my darling, diversify
your resources.
You can't just use that oneteaching material to be your
only source of resources.
You know how we do, you knowhow we are.

(08:48):
We always say check multipleresources.
I want to see your sites works.
I want to see more than one.
Right, we have a rubric to that.
We need to rubric ourselves andmake sure we've got multiple
sources of articles, media thatprovide a broad and accurate
representation of differentcultures.

(09:09):
We need to seek out literaturewritten by the authors from the
communities that are beingstudied.
We have talked about this.
If you are new to the show,honey, I've got lots of diverse
communities are there to showyou their works so you can share
it with your students.
What can we do to make sure wehave multiple voices with that

(09:32):
subject at hand?
Use culturally responsiveteaching methods.
I have lots of subjects on thatand a previous episode that
talks more about how you cantalk about the three C's of
cultural competency in yourclassroom.
I will also have that in theshow notes as well.

(09:54):
But incorporate students'cultural backgrounds into your
lessons.
A lot of our identities wecan't just see with the naked
eye.
So when they are comfortable toshare with you their different
identities, showcase that andshare that.
So we all know the holisticstudent Partnering with our
communities.
We need to invite our guestspeakers from different cultural

(10:18):
groups.
We need to collaborate with ourlocal organizations and create
opportunities for our studentsto engage in authentic cultural
learning experiences.
A lot of the times, if you askour families, you send that
weekly newsletter.
Put a little blurb in there toask families to come in, sign up

(10:38):
.
With your sign-up genius, theylike to spend 10-15 minutes to
talk about their culturalbackground and think about
culture, not just of ethnicityand race, but also a way of life
.
What could they do toculturally share with your
students?
And I want you to address thesestereotypes and, like I said, my

(11:00):
dear, it is not always easy.
There may be resistance fromyour administrators, parents or
even colleagues, but changestarts with that conversation
and advocacy.
If you can show the purpose ofwhy you want to do this, you
will get more buy-in from yourfamilies and your administrators

(11:23):
.
So show and share the researchand the data of the benefits of
diverse representation ineducation.
I want you to advocate forcurriculum audits in your school
district.
Starting small by integratingyour inclusive resources into
your lessons will be soessential, and also it helps by

(11:48):
modeling best practices for yourpeers.
If your teacher teammates areseeing you doing something
innovative and new and different, go for it.
You don't need to take out yourbin from 1999 that worked your
first year of teaching, or youdon't need to, you know, copy

(12:09):
something from a retired teacherbecause they did that at this
point in your curriculum map.
You can step out of the box.
Trust me, growth comes out ofsomething uncomfortable, and new
changes and that I know you areequipped to do.
It is up to you, as an educator, a caregiver, lifelong learner

(12:34):
and an advocate, to createlearning environments that break
down those stereotypes ratherthan reinforcing them.
We are the windows to societalchange and by being intentional
with our curriculum choices, wehelp our students develop a

(12:56):
deeper understanding of theworld and encourage them to
become critical thinkers andcompassionate individuals.
I want you to know, no matterwhere you are in this space of
learning, I believe in you and Iknow you're motivated to make
that positive change.
Don't let outside influenceshinder you from doing what is

(13:22):
right.
Your students depend on you toshow them the right way of
learning, the right way of beingtheir full, authentic selves.
Thank you so very much fortuning in to our podcast today
for tuning in to our podcasttoday.
If you've enjoyed today'spodcast episode, be sure to

(13:43):
subscribe, leave a review andshare with a fellow educator.
Also check out my resources atmy website at jebedmondscom that
is J-E-B-E-H-E-D-M-U-N-D-S dotcom.
You're going to see a lot oflesson plans and tools to bring

(14:07):
more inclusivity into yourclassroom.
Until next time, keep learning,keep growing and keep making a
difference.
Bye-bye.