EP150: Creating Culturally Responsive Classrooms, with Dr. Marlee Bunch

In this episode we feature author and creator of the un/HUSH Framework, Dr. Marlee Bunch, to discuss the development of her framework for dealing with the challenges of implementing diverse narratives in today’s educational settings.

 

Bunch shares how her experiences as an educator in diverse, low-income schools led her to pursue a doctorate focused on the oral histories of Black female educators in Mississippi during the civil rights era. She also explains how their stories informed the un/HUSH Framework, which emphasizes the following principles: uniting, naming, history, unlearning, stories, and healing as  means of addressing systemic racism and inequities in education. 

 

In conversation with Diverse host David Pluviose, Bunch also delves into the challenges of implementing DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives in the current political climate, stressing the importance of community engagement, voting, and continuing to uplift underrepresented narratives, as well as her culturally responsive teaching standards and her upcoming books.

 

Tune in for an insightful discussion on the development of her groundbreaking framework, centering historically marginalized voices and perspectives in secondary and post-secondary education. This is the final episode in our two-part Black History Month Series. In case you missed it, check out part one: From Protest to President: A Social Justice Journey with Dr. George A. Pruitt | Diverse: Issues In Higher Education

 

KEY POINTS:

 

- Bunch’s education, and career journey in teaching 

- Bunch’s experience teaching primarily in diverse, low-income schools

- The history of Black and brown educators

- The importance of Mississippi historically and its indicator of broader issues in the U.S.

- Development of the un/HUSH Framework and its five principles

- Challenges of implementing DEI in schools, discussions on systemic racism and oppression

- The significance of community immersion in culturally responsive teaching, extending beyond the classrooms 

- Bunch’s upcoming publications, Unlearning the Hush: Oral Histories of Black Female Educators in Mississippi in the Civil Rights Era and Leveraging AI for Human-Centered Learning: Culturally Responsive and Social-Emotional Classroom Practice in Grades 6-12

- Words of encouragement for educators experiencing racial battle fatigue 

- The critical need to document and share the historical stories of Black educators for future generations

QUOTES:

 

“My goal in listening to those oral histories was to discover how we can use the lessons of the past and these incredible educators to guide how we navigate 21st century classrooms.” – Dr. Marlee Bunch

 

“If we can do this work together and find a way to support one another, we will get through it. We've done it all throughout history, and here we are.” – Dr. Marlee Bunch

 

“If there's so much work being done to suppress and silence our history, I'm going to keep illuminating it, and hope that in doing so and in sharing this incredible history and our stories that it inspires other people to carry forward that work that was done before us.” – Dr. Marlee Bunch

 

RESOURCES: 

 

Dr. Marlee Bunch, author and creator of un/HUSH Framework

 

The Magnitude of Us: An Educator’s Guide to Creating Culturally Responsive Classrooms | Teachers Press

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Closed captioning and live show transcription are available in the video for this episode.

 

In The Margins is produced by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education and edited by EPYC Media Network (visit at https://www.epyc.co/).