Changing the Narrative: Developing Learner Profiles for Culturally Sustaining Instruction

Presenter Information

Rachael L. Smith, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
Kathi Maxwell, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
Kyle Farmer, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow

Location

Room 3153

Start Date

27-2-2026 10:00 AM

End Date

27-2-2026 10:40 AM

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Dr. Rachael L. Smith is a dedicated educator, researcher, and leader with a rich background in advancing equity and inclusion in education. Dr. Smith is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Middle Grades & Secondary Education at Georgia Southern University and currently serving as the Program Director in the MAT Middle Grades and Secondary program. She specializes in preparing future educators through courses such as Curriculum & Instruction, Cultural Diversity and ESOL, Literacy, and Educational Leadership. Her approach to teaching is informed by her extensive experience as an educator, curriculum designer, and instructional coach. Dr. Smith earned her EdD in Curriculum and Instruction from Kansas State University in 2021. Her dissertation, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy and the Development of Student Efficacy as a Pathway to Equity: A Qualitative Case Study, reflects her commitment to fostering culturally and linguistically inclusive classrooms. She also holds an MS in Secondary Education from the University of Kansas and a BS in Secondary Education: English Language Arts from Kansas State University, graduating with honors. Over the years, Dr. Smith has cultivated expertise in areas such as culturally sustaining pedagogy, literacy, co-teaching models, and dismantling deficit ideologies in education. Her professional journey includes roles as a district curriculum and instructional coach, educational technology integration specialist, and English Language Arts teacher. She has led initiatives to transform curriculum design, integrating inclusive and equity-driven practices across subject areas. At Lawrence Public Schools, for example, she guided the district in dismantling ability-leveled courses and rebuilding equitable, standards-based curricula that uplifted all students in a co-teaching model.

yes

Presentation Type

Concurrent Session

Make and Take

Abstract

This session explores how asset-based Learner Profiles can reframe data collection and instructional planning toward culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogy. Drawing from Moll’s (1992) funds of knowledge, Yosso’s (2005; 2016) community cultural wealth, and educational neuroscience (Hammond, 2015), the project documents how teacher candidates designed and implemented Learner Profiles that center students’ strengths, identities, and community assets. Participants will gain strategies for using Learner Profiles as living documents to humanize instruction, disrupt deficit perspectives, and make responsive, data-informed decisions. Early findings suggest that this approach supports both teacher reflection and more equitable student learning outcomes.

Conference Strands

Inclusive Pedagogy for Diverse Classrooms

Description

Educational systems are increasingly driven by data, yet much of that data reflects compliance and deficits rather than student strengths or cultural wealth. This presentation introduces Learner Profiles as a tool for reimagining data use in teacher education and classroom practice. Rooted in the theme of Best Practice in Delivering Effective Teaching Instruction, this presentation demonstrates how educators can center assets, identity, and equity in instructional design.

The project responds to the question: What practices must we shift to make data meaningful, humanizing, and equity-centered? Learner Profiles were implemented in graduate-level teacher education courses as a structured, relational way for teacher candidates to learn about their students. Rather than quantifying learners, the profiles positioned students as whole beings situated within families, communities, histories, and aspirations.

Theoretical Framework The session is grounded in three intersecting frameworks:

• Funds of Knowledge (Moll et al., 1992; Esteban-Guitart & Moll, 2014): Students’ cultural and community knowledge is recognized as a resource for identity formation and instruction.

• Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005; Yosso & Burciaga, 2016): Profiles highlight six forms of capital—aspirational, familial, linguistic, navigational, social, resistant—often ignored in traditional data systems.

• Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2012, 2017): Instruction sustains, rather than erases, students’ linguistic and cultural practices.

• Educational Neuroscience (Hammond, 2015; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000), emphasizing how culture, relationships, and identity are tied to memory and learning.

References

Esteban-Guitart, M. and Moll, L. (2014). Funds of Identity: A new concept based on the funds of knowledge approach. Culture & Psychology, 20(1). 31–48.

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain. Corwin.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). It’s not the culture of poverty, It’s the poverty of culture: The problem with teacher education. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 37.

Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, D., and Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 31(2), 132-141.

National Research Council (US) and Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development. Shonkoff JP & Phillips D. (Eds). (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. National Academies Press.

Paris, J. (2012) Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93-97.

Paris, J. and Alim, S. (2017). Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. Teachers College Press.

Yosso, T. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education 8(1), pp. 69-91.

Yosso, T. & Burciaga, R. (2016). Reclaiming our histories, recovering community cultural wealth. Center for critical race studies @ UCLA. 5.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.