A Case Study for Culturally Responsive Teaching in Glodok, Jakarta, Indonesia: The Negotiation of Identity and Instruction for a Chinese-Indonesian Educator

Abstract

This paper documents what culturally responsive teaching means for a teacher who is a member of a minority community of ethnic Chinese in Glodok (Chinatown), Jakarta, Indonesia. Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) in Indonesia has traditionally meant implementing an indigenous, Javanese-centered curriculum where ethic Chinese identity was disparaged. The data collected in this study illustrates how an educator must negotiate identity and instruction of CRT to students of her own ethnic group with whom she does not share a cultural identity. The broader significance of this study is understanding how educators from marginalized or minority communities are vital to the creation of dialogue within the constructs of culturally responsive teaching. This study illustrates the necessity to not make assumptions that educators from culturally and linguistically diverse communities are naturally predisposed to engage in CRT; this reinforces the urgency that all teachers need proper training in order to effectively employ culturally responsive teaching regardless of ethnicity, race, or culture.