What is an example of culturally sustaining pedagogy within EMC Literacy Standard 1?

• A. Selecting texts that reflect students' diverse cultures and home languages, inviting students to share experiences, building on students' funds of knowledge, and acknowledging linguistic diversity in instruction.
• B. Selecting texts that reflect only one culture.
• C. Ignoring students' funds of knowledge.
• D. Denying linguistic diversity in instruction.

Answer: (A)

Culturally sustaining pedagogy in literacy means valuing and using students' cultural and linguistic backgrounds to drive reading and writing instruction. This approach centers students' identities, experiences, and languages as assets that enrich learning rather than obstacles to be managed.

The best choice embodies this by choosing texts that reflect the diverse cultures and home languages of students, inviting them to share experiences, building on what students already know from their communities (funds of knowledge), and acknowledging linguistic diversity in how literacy is taught. When students see themselves in what they read and hear from their classmates, they feel connected to the learning, which supports engagement, comprehension, and the ability to transfer literacy skills to real-life contexts.

In contrast, selecting texts from only one culture, ignoring students' funds of knowledge, or denying linguistic diversity does not support students’ identities or realities. Those approaches can marginalize learners and limit opportunities to leverage students' lived experiences as central to literacy development.