Pulling Back the Curtain: Dr. Quince on Teaching that Feels Real
She rounds the corner moments after I send her a text to let her know I’m outside her office. Tea in hand she sees me and smiles widely -- “Oh, hi Jes. Come on in!”
I greet her and smile in return. As I follow her inside the office, it becomes clear to me what she means by making teaching feel ‘real.’
Dr. Christine Quince, Assistant Professor at Santa Clara University’s School of Education and Counseling Psychology, is preparing future educators to do more than deliver content. She’s teaching them how to think, how to make decisions in real time, how to adapt, and how to build classrooms that are engaging and responsive to the students in front of them.
Talking the Talk: Understanding Culturally Relevant Teaching
Her work centers on culturally relevant teaching, with a focus on improving Black students’ experiences in the classroom. But as she explains, that concept is often misunderstood.
“Oftentimes folks use the lingo,” she says. “They’ll say they’re culturally responsive or culturally relevant, but they don’t always have the theoretical backing behind it.”
It’s not just about checking a box or looking the part.
“Some teachers focus on celebrating culture with food, flags, or festivals, but culturally relevant teaching is really about using students’ lived experiences to help them learn. It’s not about putting culture on display.”
Walking the Walk
Dr. Quince’s classroom is built around practice.
She tells me how she walks her students through real scenarios they’ll face as teachers, asking them to think through decisions in the moment, and she demonstrates her own thinking out loud.
“If I make a decision in class, I explain it. I tell them what I’m considering and why we’re switching gears,” she says.
It’s a way of pulling back the curtain and showing that teaching is about decision-making, both in planning and in real time.
And she’s intentional about how her students learn.
Dr. Quince laughs when I ask her about having a “pocket full of bangers.” She explains these are her go-to activities that keep the classroom feeling fresh and engaging. Sometimes that looks like building a classroom playlist together so the space feels shared. Other times, it’s structured, rapid-fire discussion rounds where students rotate and exchange ideas, questions, and quotes from the readings.
“It’s a different way to engage,” she says. “And students get the chance to talk to and learn from everyone in the room. We all have different funds of knowledge.”
Her belief that students are active contributors to the learning environment shapes her approach.
Dr. Quince’s advice to future educators is to start with what students already bring into the space which includes their knowledge, their lived experiences, and then build from there.
“Rely on your students,” she says. “If you come in thinking you’re the only one who knows everything, that’s not going to create an engaging classroom.”
A Personal Approach
Growing up, she attended a predominantly Black school where learning felt fun and engaging. That experience stayed with her.
“I remember thinking, if I had a good time, why can’t other students have that too?” she says. “Because that’s not always the reality, especially for students of color.”
So, she set out to create classrooms where students feel seen, where learning is both meaningful and enjoyable.
As she wraps her first year at Santa Clara University, one theme is clear: teaching is not just about delivering content, it’s about the decisions that shape how students experience learning.
And ultimately, it comes back to one simple idea: “Be the change you want to see.”