Which statement best distinguishes culturally sustaining pedagogy from culturally responsive pedagogy?

• A. CSP sustains and honors students' cultural identities and knowledge
• B. CSP focuses on adjusting instruction to student cultures only
• C. CSP sustains and honors students' identities and proactively evolves cultural practices in the curriculum
• D. CSP treats culture as a fixed backdrop to learning

Answer: (C)

Culturally sustaining pedagogy goes beyond simply recognizing students’ cultures; it actively sustains and honors who students are while also transforming the curriculum to reflect and evolve those cultural practices. It treats culture as dynamic, using students’ identities, languages, and knowledge as essential resources that shape what and how we teach, rather than as a fixed backdrop.

This is why the best statement is the one that says CSP sustains and honors students' identities and proactively evolves cultural practices in the curriculum. It captures both preserving students’ cultural identities and actively integrating, reworking, and expanding curricular practices to reflect and empower those cultures.

Why the other ideas don’t fit as well: one option emphasizes sustaining identities but doesn’t mention evolving the curriculum; another focuses only on adjusting instruction to fit student cultures and misses the broader curricular transformation; and treating culture as a fixed backdrop contradicts CSP’s view of culture as dynamic and central to learning.