Teacher agency in culturally responsive teaching: learning to teach ethnic minority students in the Central Highlands of Vietnam

Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) is a schooling practice catering to students of diverse backgrounds rather than the majority group in mainstream society. Thus, it has been acknowledged as a contribution to lessening educational disparities. In Vietnam, despite the ethnic diversity of students in the school system, teachers tend to be educated to teach in response to mainstream education established by the majority group. Based on the framework of teacher agency in combination with CRT, the current study aimed to explore how teachers learned to teach ethnic minority students appropriately. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with teachers in combination with supplementary sources, including interviews with educational leaders, documents, field notes, and lesson plans. The findings demonstrated that the teachers had neither prior experience nor initial teacher education for teaching ethnically diverse students. However, by autonomously engaging in ethnic minority communities, the teachers explored indigenous cultures and local life as well as raised their awareness of language barriers that impacted on students' schooling. Based on their perceptions and field experiences, the teachers constructed pedagogical practices inclusive of ethnic minority students' characteristics and learning cultures. The study discusses implications for teacher preparation for CRT in Vietnam and other similar contexts.