Franita Ware, Ph.D. is a member of the Culture, Equity, & Leadership Team of Denver Public Schools. She serves as the Manager of Culturally Responsive Education. Through her experiences in education, she has experienced school communities from the multiple perspectives of teacher, school leader, and administrator.
Prior to her tenure with Denver Public Schools, Dr. Ware was a consultant/researcher with a successful charter school in Atlanta, Georgia. She also served as a professional developer for numerous teachers for the purpose of enhancing their teaching strategies for students of color. Additionally, she participated in the preparation of pre-service teachers in her role as an assistant professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Ware received her doctorate at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia with a research emphasis on Culturally Responsive Teaching and Cultural Diversity in Urban Schools. While a graduate student at Emory University she was a research assistant with CULTURES, a professional development program for teachers in the Atlanta area. This initiative was funded by the Ford Foundation and led by Dr. Jacqueline Jordan Irvine.
Dr. Ware is committed to the successful education of children in urban schools and is a skilled professional developer who has enhanced the equity and culturally responsive practices in a variety of school environments. Her research suggests that a focus on academics without addressing the cultural context of education limits a students’ ability to experience a culture of achievement.
Most recently, her scholarship was reviewed by Lisa Delpit in her 2012 book, Multiplication is for white people: Raising expectations for other people’s children.
Her publications include:
Ware, F. (2008). Culturally Responsive Constructivism: Creating a
culture of achievement. The National Journal of Urban Education
and Practice. 1(4)
Ware, F. (2006). Warm Demander Pedagogy: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
that supports a culture of achievement. Urban Education 41(4).
Ware, F. (2002). Black Teacher’s perceptions of their professional roles and
practices. In J.J. Irvine, ed., In search of wholeness: African American teachers
and their culturally specific classroom practices (pp.33-45) New York: Palgrave.
