(1995). Principles and Models of Early Childhood Development in Thai Cultural Ways: Selected Research Findings Relating to Social Context and Child's Transition from Home to School. To develop innovative, developmentally appropriate models of child rearing in Thailand, several studies examined Thai child-rearing practices, principles which should be used in early child rearing, and models and strategies which could be used in child rearing in this cultural setting. Six different studies were conducted, using a variety of methods, including documentation, surveys, ethnography, and continuing education. These studies indicated the following patterns of child rearing: (1) freedom with some restrictions; (2) control with some negligence; (3) implicit acceptance; (4) parental modeling; (5) natural learning through interaction and participation; (6) inconsistent parenting behavior which is dependent on mood; (7) verbal behavior without explanation of reasons; and (8) shared responsibility in child rearing. These patterns were found to be inconsistent between home and school. Patterns which were consistent between home and school were: (1) authoritative practices; and… [PDF]
(1996). The Failure of Bilingual Education. This monograph is based on a conference on bilingual education held by the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) in September, 1995 in Washington, D.C. CEO made repeated attempts to secure speakers representing the pro-bilingual education viewpoint; the paper by Portes and Schauffler represents this view. Papers presented include: "Introduction: One Nation, One Common Language" (Linda Chavez); "Bilingual Education and the Role of Government in Preserving Our Common Language" (Toby Roth); "Is Bilingual Education an Effective Educational Tool? (Christine Rossell); "What Bilingual Education Research Tells Us" (Keith Baker); "The Politics of Bilingual Education Revisited" (Rosalie Pedalino Porter); "Realizing Democratic Ideals with Bilingual Education" (Irma N. Guadarrama); "Language and the Second Generation: Bilingualism Yesterday and Today" (Alejandro Portes and Richard Schauffler); "Educating California's Immigrant… [PDF]
(1995). Design Elements for Teacher Professional Development Workstation: Application of Technology To Develop Expert Teachers of Diverse Student Populations. The multimedia workstation described here serves as an information resource center for teachers and others who are responsible for the education of children from ethnically and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The changing nature of student populations requires that all teachers become knowledgeable about the diverse cultural backgrounds of their students and develop the necessary instructional skills and knowledge that promote students' continuing academic progress at the same time they are acquiring English as a new language. Using a technology-based workstation to accomplish this goal is promising because it allows individual teachers to structure their inquiries and training to fit their existing levels of instructional expertness. In addition, information and training about linguistically and culturally diverse student populations can be made accessible throughout wide geographic areas. The purpose of this paper is to delineate potential professional development areas that… [PDF]
(1996). A Student's Guide to Irish American Genealogy. Oryx American Family Tree Series. This book provides a step-by-step guide to genealogical research in the United States and Ireland for Irish Americans. The book also contains information on the history of Ireland and Irish immigration. Chapters include: (1) "Your Irish American Heritage"; (2) "Your Irish Immigrant Ancestors"; (3) "Getting Started"; (4) "Researching in Ireland"; (5) "Interviewing Your Relatives"; and (6) "Putting It All Together." Contains a 32-term glossary and an index. (EH)…
(1997). Building Bridges with Multicultural Picture Books for Children 3-5. Focusing on the common bonds of all children everywhere while honoring their differences, this book shows teachers how to choose appropriate picture books, how to lead children into book extension activities featuring multicultural characters, and how to develop an entire multicultural curriculum with these books. Each chapter in the book concludes with learning activities, references, additional reading, and (in most chapters) lists of children's books and software programs. Chapters in the book are (1) Discovering Common Bonds; (2) Choosing Appropriate Picture Books; (3) Developing Self-Esteem; (4) Relating to Family Members; (5) Getting Along with Other Children; (6) Engaging in Physical Expression; (7) Speaking Other Language; (8) Eating Fine Foods; (9) Creating Arts and Crafts; (10) Making Music and Dance; (11) Caring about the Earth; and (12) Creating a Multicultural Curriculum. An approximately 750-item topical children's book list is attached. (RS)…
(1993). Overview: Diversity and Education Reform. As an introduction to a 1992 symposium of educators, administrators, researchers, and legislators concerned with the education of minority students, this paper reviews the overriding issues related to diversity and American education reform in the context of Goal 3 of the National Education Goals. Framed in a context of economic uncertainty, social fragmentation, and political unrest, diversity in society worldwide has emerged as a prime focus for concern. The rapidly changing demography of the U.S. population is described. The number of language minority youth and young adults continues to grow dramatically, but their level of academic achievement lags significantly behind that of their language majority counterparts and appears to be rapidly worsening. It is suggested that although the impetus for educational reform comes at least in part from a response to the conditions created by increasing diversity, the leaders of the movement have largely failed to involve language… [PDF]
(1995). Multicultural Literacy: Mirroring the Reality of the Classroom. Reflecting four years of work with teachers and students in culturally and linguistically diverse classroom settings, this book discusses theoretical and practical issues surrounding the development of literacy in multicultural K-8 classrooms. Emerging from a longitudinal study implemented in three school districts, the book integrates the research and experience with the multicultural literacy program and its effect on learning. The book includes specific teaching strategies, vignettes that demonstrate how to implement the strategies, samples of students' work, comments and quotations from teachers and students, questions teachers frequently ask, and reviews and summaries that help readers follow the text. Chapters in the book are: (1) Multicultural Literacy for Today's Schools; (2) Sociocultural Issues in Multicultural Literacy; (3) Evaluating and Selecting Multicultural Literature for Children; (4) Creating Meaning through Reading Experiences with Multicultural Literature; (5)…
(1993). Fact and Fiction: Literature across the Curriculum. Designed to inspire teachers to explore trade books in new ways, this book presents chapters dealing with historical fiction, diversity education, informational books in the social studies, literature in the math class, and supplementary reading materials for the science instruction. Although each chapter in the book focuses on a specific content area, all show how the areas complement and support one another and how literature helps in the process. Chapters in the book are: (1) "Making the Past Come to Life" (Linda S. Levstik); (2) "Diversity Education" (Adela Artola Allen); (3) "Factual History: Nonfiction in the Social Studies Program" (Betty Carter and Richard F. Abrahamson); and (5) "Literature in the Science Program" (Dianne Lapp and James Flood). An author index, a children's book author index, and a children's book title index are attached. (RS)…
(1997). A Semiotic Framework for Linking Cultural Practice and Classroom Mathematics. With the increasing recognition that connections are an important component in the pedagogy of school mathematics (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989), there is a need for a theoretical framework that addresses the ways in which the real experiences and cultural practices of students may be connected with mathematics classroom pedagogy. In this paper, the objective is to construct such a theoretical framework, drawing on literature from semiotics and ethnomathematics. Examples and evidence that suggest the efficacy of this framework in connecting school mathematics and mathematical ideas constructed from cultural practice are drawn from the literature and from data collected in a research project in a multicultural high school mathematics class. Seven high school students from African American, Caucasian, Asian American, and Hispanic American cultural backgrounds described their lives and cultural heritages as bases for the development of culturally responsive… [PDF]
(1998). A Semiotic Analysis of Students' Own Cultural Mathematics. An ongoing research project that investigates how mathematics educators can prepare prospective and practicing teachers to cope with cultural diversity is presented. The first component of this project is investigation of the ways that students can use their cultural identities and practices in constructing mathematical ideas that belong uniquely to them through a graduate course called "Ethnomathematics." The second is the investigation of ways teachers can facilitate students' construction of such uniquely personal cultural mathematics ideas in a high school classroom. The third component is the development of a grounded theoretical framework in which to situate the two previous components using semiosic chaining. The semiotic framework developed is being applied to the work from the graduate course and to the high school project, which took place in the 1995-96 school year. Data from the graduate project consisted of student journal entries, field notes, and more than… [PDF]
(1990). Rethinking the Curriculum To Meet the Needs of Underprepared, Underrepresented, and Economically Disadvantaged Students: Majors and Courses for the 21st Century. Attracting and assuring the success of students of color requires the rethinking of curricula to meet the needs of underrepresented, underprepared, and economically disadvantaged students. General education offerings should be restructured to give students the skills and resources needed to make sense out of their particular gender and ethnicity, while emphasizing not the old world or new world, but the one world shared by students and teachers. The resulting core curriculum would be: (1) socially cohesive, providing common reference points to all members of society; (2) culturally inclusive, drawing upon diverse human cultures and affirming the contributions of all social classes; (3) ethically selective, supporting values necessary to environmental and species survival and human fulfillment; (4) conceptually generative, providing skills and general principles which allow for the synthesis and critical assessment of information; and (5) personally significant, creating options for… [PDF]
(1989). Teaching Diversity through Pluralism: A Model for Teaching about Racism. Based on 134 undergraduate student responses to two dilemmas, one concerning Affirmative Action programs and the second concerning minority student admission to college, it was discerned that these students largely held viewpoints that were consistent with conceptions of a \uniform\ culture as opposed to conceptions of diversity and pluralism. In addition, there was a note of pessimism throughout many of the responses, suggesting that little could ultimately be done about racial prejudice and discrimination. The problem, then, was to attempt to develop a learning program adaptable in the college classroom that could address issues of diversity and pluralism phrased in the \language of possibility.\ A three-step learning cycle is described that used recent research and writing in narrative and critical thinking processes. The steps involved: (1) narrative development of students' personal \dilemmas;\ (2) facilitating structural connections between individual experience, structures of… [PDF]
(1987). Evaluating a Culture-General Assimilator through the Orientation of AFS Students to New Zealand. Designed to assess the impact of an approach to aid assimilation of exchange students from a number of different countries into a wide variety of cultures, this study looked at the adjustment of adolescent exchange students who lived in New Zealand for a year. A culture-general assimilator in the form of a programmed textbook was used to introduce concepts relevant to intercultural interaction and adjustment. Unlike other assimilators that have typically been culture-specific, the culture-general format used in this study was designed to introduce individuals to relevant issues in intercultural interaction and adjustment regardless of the cultural groups involved. It was found that students trained with the culture-general assimilator were better able to identify dynamics that mediated cross-cultural interaction and the process of adjustment, and to apply concepts of cross-cultural interaction and adjustment to their own descriptions of intercultural misunderstandings they had…
(1989). Valued Youth Anthology: Articles [from the IDRA Newsletter] on Dropout Prevention. The 33 articles on dropout prevention in this compendium were published in the "IDRA Newsletter"–the newsletter of the Intercultural Development Research Association–between April 1986 and September 1989. They can serve as resources for individuals and organizations addressing the needs of at-risk minority group students and their families and providing the necessary support services for the students to complete their schooling. Each article summarizes dropout research and emphasizes valuing students, parents, and school as the key to dropout prevention. Dropout prevention strategies are analyzed in terms of providing "VSP," valuing students, providing support, and involving parents. Five successful dropout prevention programs are evaluated and a four-part typology of high school dropout prevention programs is reviewed. The importance of forming partnerships among schools, parents, students, and local businesses is stressed. School reform and actively involving…
(1987). Teaching about Thanksgiving. Second Edition. Intended to help teachers for grades K-6 accurately present the events surrounding the first Thanksgiving, this guide features an historically accurate story for children, historical background for teachers, and activities for expanding and enriching instruction. The introduction discusses the need for teachers to be honest and informative about Thanksgiving without passing on historical distortions and racial and cultural stereotypes. A six-page story for children presents the first Thanksgiving story stressing historic and cultural accuracy. Topics include the critical assistance given by the Indians to the Pilgrims and the fact that the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians who celebrated Thanksgiving together did not remain friendly. Resource materials include a map of Plymouth Colony and vicinity, a Thanksgiving prayer translated from the Iroquois (Seneca) People, recipes for succotash and other dishes with corn, instructions for making and clothing Iroquois corn husk dolls, and…