Culturally relevant teaching, is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning.
Culture is a condition for educational success. Without it, education does not fully meet its objectives. Lack of cultural content reduces the effectiveness of educational action and, on the contrary, a culturally relevant content allows a better use of resources and pedagogical methods.
The importance of culture in education lies in the fact that it can become a powerful tool to reach the maximum potential of children.
Heritage is one of the elements of identity construction in early childhood. Country of birth, family customs, social dynamics and practices of the region in which they live form the encyclopedia of knowledge from which children construct their thoughts, character and expectations.
Thus, education, while providing the tools to introduce students to global knowledge, must develop and maintain local knowledge.
Educating globally, but also nationally and locally, is relevant when we speak of the meaning of education and when we affirm that we must guide our education towards cultural development.
Literacy programs have a challenge in providing global content for children in remote areas without losing the essence of their native culture. Likewise, the educational process is more fluid when students have material within their reach that allows them to feel identified.
At Sun Books we understand the importance of maintaining customs and generating identity from the content that children consume in our digital library. That’s why we work hand in hand with volunteers, teachers, and students to generate culturally relevant content in both mother tongue and english.
Each of the countries where we are present has its own local content library, so children can find material that allows them to learn how to read and write while strengthening and maintaining their cultural heritage.