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This book is fantastic, a triumph; a truly ground-breaking work that may forever change the way teachers in America face the challenges of their profession. I’ve been a teacher for over thirty years and always felt I was pretty damn good at it, as good as anybody. But about halfway through my reading of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, I was suddenly stuck by the horrific realization that if I had known when I started teaching what Zaretta Hammond writes in this book, I would have been not just a good teacher, but perhaps a great one. I have always been focused on getting my students--whatever ethnic or socio-economic background they might have sprung from--to be interested in their studies and to give it their all. I tried my damnedest to motivate them to want to excel, not just in school, but in life. I sometimes succeeded, sometimes didn’t. I always smugly thought nobody (well, almost nobody) could do a better job than I was doing. But Ms. Hammond’s book destroyed that glib notion quickly. Reading her book was like being repeatedly, page by page, hit in the head with a brick. Soon I could see with absolute clarity that I could and should overhaul my thinking and my methods. By following the techniques suggested in Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain I could make quantum strides in my individual approach to each of my students and be confident that every last one of them could reach for and achieve their best.
Before reading the book I’d thought of cultural responsive teaching as academic eduspeak sort of stuff, a fancy label for what good teachers have been doing all along--pumping up an underachieving kid’s self esteem, blah, blah, blah. But I now know I was dead wrong. When the teacher really gets tuned into a student’s culture and ethnic identity as described in Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, the teacher forms a partnership of learning with the student that does more than just jack them up; it actually facilitates the growth of the student’s neuroplasticity (brain cell connections). How cool is that? Properly intellectually stimulated, a student will grow millions, if not hundreds of millions, new brain cells; brain cells with trillions of synaptic connections that will enable the student to think in more intellectually sophisticated ways, as a bulked-up muscle will enable an athlete to pump more iron. A pumped-up dependent learner is soon transformed into an independent learner. What is called the “achievement gap” between high functioning independent learners and low functioning dependent learners disappears.
Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain goes on to show how culture is the way that the brain makes sense of the world and forms our world view. We all adhere to two basic cultural archetypes, collective and individual. It tells you how to use these archetypes to create the environment to help the student to transcend the achievement gap in a step-by-step process that is complex, yet easy to follow. Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain is therefore a rich resource of techniques for transforming the lives of students. I’m sorry that I can only give it five stars: that’s the maximum that Amazon allows. It deserves ten. It’s readable, profound, and empowering. Using neuroscience, it brilliantly takes learning theory to a deeper level without being esoteric or pedantic. No teacher should get in front of a classroom until she or he has read and digested every paragraph of this book.
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Customers say
Customers find this book to be a great read for book studies, with one mentioning it takes about 2 days to complete. Moreover, the content is highly relevant to today's classrooms, with one customer noting how it encourages reflection on teaching practices. Additionally, the book provides excellent scientific information and is easy to understand. However, the writing style receives mixed reactions from customers.
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105 customers mention content, 101 positive, 4 negative
Great read!!!This book provides the reader with a clear understanding of how the brain relates to culturally responsive teaching....Read more
this is a great book and I feel that everybody should be reading this right now especially because of the situation we're all going throughRead more
Excellent book with research based information that is helpful to any teacher. I also thought the ideas were easily applied at any point in the year.Read more
...Overall, it was a good read, and could benefit teachers (and their students), but if you're buying it for the neuroscience, shop elsewhere.Read more
98 customers mention informative, 91 positive, 7 negative
Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain offers sound guidance about how to equip students of color for success in school....Read more
I am using it for my school PD book study. Very helpful and informative. Highly recommend.Read more
Was used as a textbook for a Cultural Diversity Class. Great insight...I was able to immediately put to use things mentioned in the book!Read more
...This is a great guide with key research on how the brain functions and how we can use this knowledge with an intersection of culture to reach all...Read more
22 customers mention readability, 18 positive, 4 negative
It's an easy read. Definetly widens your perspective on culturally and linguistically diverse students. I would check it out if I were you.Read more
Informative .. helpful .. easy to read .. important to shareRead more
Such a readable book and solidly based in research!Read more
A great & practical read! All educators should read this!Read more
17 customers mention scientific information, 15 positive, 2 negative
Zaretta does an amazing job incorporating science and cultural competency into our practice....Read more
...Amazing insight that makes you rethink instructional approaches in the classroom.Read more
...Hammond states a strong case backed with sound research and shares what this should/can look like in the classroom....Read more
Great information!Read more
9 customers mention writing style, 5 positive, 4 negative
Amazingly thoughtful and well written. Breaks down the culture connection to the brain so well. Buy the book!Read more
Just a jumble of theory lite. The author is clearly overly-impressed with their own fairly average intellect and there are few practical takeaways....Read more
...Hammond would release more and more books because her writing style is so easy to understand and so convicting as a teacher....Read more
...to print these books so it is full of spelling errors/script errors throughout the entire book....Read more
Knowing the brain response to and with God
This was a great read for me as I approach the homeschooling environment for two of my daughters. I am a mother of 3 with a recent High School Graduate (Thank God, we are surviving through the pandemic). This book is a helper to all aspects of understanding the involvement and life as a student in various moments and placements in life. Though the context references statements from the early 20th century, it acts as a guide to the educators as a reference. It is known the culture divide hides in random and undiscovered places. Common struggles of the students are addressing the school pipeline, of public, private, charter, and enlighten the homeschooling parent. Knowing the position of the teacher and their inquiry to help the student all while conveying their analysis to the parents. This book helps! It softens the exchange, creating a community framework for all parties to engage through social types. After experiencing the elements of the Department of Education and it's need to help students seek the highest values in life, we all have things to learn during any class of life.
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- Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2025
Top reviews from other countries
- EllieReviewed in India on February 24, 2020
It seems like this book is second hand?
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase - Zuri K. Adili EducationReviewed in the United Arab Emirates on June 15, 2021
Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain is a MUST READ for all Education professionals.
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase - tessReviewed in Canada on July 29, 2018
All classroom staff should read this book!
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
