Teaching for Equity: The CLEAR Paradigm

WCER Working Paper No. 2020-4

Diep Nguyen and Nancy Commins

ntnguyen8@wisc.edu

May 2020, 18 pp.

ABSTRACT: This working paper provides insights into how all teachers can provide linguistically and culturally responsive and equitable education for all students by orchestrating instruction to meet their varying socioemotional, cultural, linguistic and academic needs. Grounded in social justice, the Cultural, Linguistic, Equity, and Responsiveness (CLEAR) paradigm presented in this paper describes a guiding framework for educators who wish to integrate sociocultural and sociolinguistic responsiveness and critical pedagogical practices to achieve quality, equitable education for their students. This paradigm includes a set of key understandings, commitments, habits, and actions to answer the question: What do all educators need to know and be able to do to provide quality, equitable education for multilingual learners?

Full Paper

keywords: Culture, Equity, Language, Multilingual Learners, Responsiveness, Teacher Professional Development