TeacherGoals Podcast Episode 17
Implement Culturally Responsive Teaching in Math with Kwame Sarfo-Mensah
"The challenge with being a culturally responsive math teacher or just being a culture responsive teacher, in general, is the fact that we don't get that early training."
Educator & CEO, Identity Talk Consulting
Are you making sure to stay true to the teacher in you? In today's episode, Kwame Sarfo-Mensah shares his experiences as a culturally responsive educator and how he's incorporated culturally responsive teaching into math lessons. He discloses the challenges that come along with this type of teaching but emphasizes how engaged the students get in learning once they have a personal connection to the topic. Kwame touches on why books are essential to provide students with windows and mirrors into other fields. Let's dive in!
Kwame Sarfo-Mensah has served as a secondary-level mathematics teacher and educational consultant globally over the last 15 years. He currently serves as the founder & CEO of Identity Talk Consulting, an independent educational consulting firm that provides professional development and consulting services to K-12 school districts, teacher education programs, and educational non-profit organizations.
3 TeacherGoal Tips
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Tip 1:
It is important that you get a sense of the specific issues that directly impact not just your life but the communities in which you serve
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Tip 2:
Being a culturally responsive math teacher means moving beyond using diverse names in word problems
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Tip 3:
To be culturally responsive in math means that you incorporate issues that impact the lives of your students into lessons and instruction
This Episode Features...
Kwame Sarfo-Mensah
Kwame Sarfo-Mensah has served as a secondary level mathematics teacher and educational consultant globally over the last 15 years. He currently serves as the founder & CEO of Identity Talk Consulting, an independent educational consulting firm that provides professional development and consulting services to K-12 school districts, teacher education programs, and educational non-profit organizations.
Outside of teaching, he has authored two books: "Shaping the Teacher Identity: 8 Lessons That Will Help Define the Teacher in You" and "From Inaction to 'In Action': Creating a New Normal for Urban Educators". He is currently writing his third book for Heinemann Publishing, focused on helping K-12 educators develop antiracist teacher identities so that can effectively engaged in equity work within their respective school communities.
A proud graduate of Temple University, Kwame holds a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics and a Master's Degree in Elementary Education. His work has been featured in Teaching Channel, Edutopia, Education Post, Citizen Ed, WGBH News, The Educators' Room, and Medium.
Erica Terry, Host
Erica Terry is a 20-year educator and co-author of the Eva the Diva Girl rhyming picture book series written with her daughter, to empower young girls to build confidence and grow in self-love. She is also the founder of Healthy Wealthy Educators, where she equips teachers with actionable tools and resources to start a profitable online business and build generational wealth without stress.
You can find her hanging out on Instagram @ericanterry_