Reshaping the CurriculumCulturally relevant pedagogy requires teachers to reflect on and reshape the curriculum to meet the needs of the students in their classroom. This student-centered educational focus encourages academic improvement as all students gain cultural knowledge; and therefore learns through cultural diversity. Even though there is a mandatory curriculum, adaptations can be made to learning outcomes to meet student needs while still achieving these outcomes. Adaptations to the program can be integrated to improve the academic success of culturally diverse students. Integrating culture into the curriculum is an important component of culturally relevant teaching. Teachers can use culture to rethink existing learning outcomes to have a positive, meaningful, and engaging influence on all students' learning. Research on culturally relevant teaching shows that students learn by building on their prior experiences and knowledge by connecting that context to current classroom content and activities (Morrison et al., 2008, p. 438). Researchers argue that learning is only relevant to students if it is linked to their identity (p. 437). This connection arises from the personal relationship that teachers establish with each student (Parhar & Sensoy, 2011, p. 195). When teachers learn about their students' culture, they can use this knowledge to integrate their students' cultural perspectives into the curriculum (p. 199). Integrating student culture can be “achieved as a means of validating students who are culturally diverse, helping to instill in them a positive sense of cultural identity” (pp. 199-200). Culturally relevant teachers must use students’ cultural knowledge to help them teach the curriculum. U...... middle of paper ......sharing personal stories creates acceptance among students and strengthens relationships (p. 111). Stories bridge the cultural gap between students from different cultures, increase listening skills, enhance introspection, and improve interactions between students. Storytelling also improves connections and relationships so that students stop separating themselves within their cultural group. Storytelling promotes student engagement, creates new ways to communicate, helps students consider ideas in a different way, and changes their attitudes toward others. Storytelling provides an appreciation of culture as students learn and understand other cultures in the classroom. This teaching strategy has proven to be a successful and culturally relevant teaching practice. Teachers need professional development and support to effectively implement culturally relevant teaching..