(1996). Investigating Artifacts: Making Masks, Creating Myths, Exploring Middens. Teacher's Guide: Grades Kindergarten-6. LHS GEMS. This guide interweaves activities with major themes in science and the humanities. Drawing respectfully upon the deep, diverse, and living folkways of Native American cultures, these activities help provide students with a wider understanding of their world and a greater appreciation for cultural diversity. The unit integrates science, mathematics, art, language arts, and social science. Students use masks and myths as the subject areas in their study of cultures. Middens are introduced as a way to study archaeological findings and the process of discovery. The six sessions in the unit are entitled: (1) "Natural Collecting and Sorting"; (2) "Making Masks and Inferences"; (3) "Creating Myths"; (4) "Sharing Myths"; (5) "Uncovering the Past or What's Hidden in the Midden"; and (6)"Putting Together Clues from the Past." Resource pages accompany each session with a complete bibliography, resources listing, and literature…
(1990). A Rainforest Child. An Active Learning Pack for 8-13 Year Olds [Second Edition.]. This resource packet includes a teacher's guide, reproducible student worksheets, posters, activity cards, and a music audiotape: "Song of the Forest," with a booklet of lyrics. The teacher's guide suggests interdisciplinary activities which meet the United Kingdom's National Curriculum requirements and encourage active learning as students explore ideas and discuss issues related to tropical rainforests. Activities will take about 10 half days to complete or may be used as a basis for a half term's theme work on tropical rainforests. Students are invited to consider the different lifestyles of indigenous Kelabit and Yanomamo peoples; explore different aspects of ecological, cultural, and economic interdependence; investigate the relative meanings of the terms wealth and poverty; analyze the power people have and how they use it; and raise questions about the long term effects of actions taken today. Students are involved in developing a range of skills, engaged in…
(1994). Database of Teaching Materials on Japan: An Annotated Guide. This booklet is a selective guide to a larger computer-searchable database of teaching materials on Japan. The materials in the guide consist mainly of lesson plans, teaching guides, resource guides, and units on Japan. Each part contains bibliographic information on resources for teaching about Japan at specific grade levels or subject areas. "Elementary School Materials" include: (1) "The Arts"; (2) "Artifacts"; (3) "Multicultural/Global"; (4) "Multimedia Units"; and (5) "Varied Topics and General Overviews.""Secondary School Materials" contains: (1) "The Arts/Religion"; (2) "Artifacts"; (3) "Economy/Government"; (4) "Geography"; (5) "Multicultural/Global"; (6) "Multimedia Units"; (7) "Varied Topics and General Overviews"; and (8) "War.""Elementary to Secondary Materials" includes: (1) "The Arts/Religion"; (2)… [PDF]
(1997). More Than Singing: Discovering Music in Preschool and Kindergarten. This book contains over 100 music activities to help teachers, child care providers, and parents bring the joy, theory, and practice of music to young children. An introductory chapter is followed by chapters on songs, rhythm, instruments, music centers, movement, music throughout the day, and group times. Chapters 2 through 8 each contain two sections–answers to questions that teachers frequently ask and activities that help children construct knowledge about sound and music. Photographs of instruments and whole-language extensions accompany guidelines on how to construct the materials. The cassette tape that accompanies the book contains all of the songs and rhythms described in the activities. The book suggests ways that music can be used for exploring multicultural dimensions in curriculum. Suggestions are also given for modifying music activities for children with disabilities. A \Resource Information\ section lists the books and recordings mentioned in each chapter. (LPP)…
(1992). Reformulating Educational Reform: Toward the Proactive Schooling of African American Children. Educational reform efforts to date in the United States have not been germane or responsive to the social problems of African American children. The reform efforts advanced to date have only been exercises in tinkering around the educational edges. Our educational focus, the origin of which is outlined, must shift in at least two major ways. First, we must turn from preoccupation with talent assessment and its trappings to a commitment to talent development. Second, we must as a nation move away from an obsession with social homogenization and social control to a system based on racial and cultural diversity. This paper discusses the traditional assumptions for psychological and pedagogical processes that underlie the present focus on talent assessment and compares them with alternative assumptions that underlie a focus on talent development. A second section makes a case for deep cultural structure and the incorporation of Afrocultural ethos into the pedagogical process at the… [PDF]
(1993). Encouraging Preservice Teachers To Understand Student Diversity: Pedagogical and Methodological Conditions. Studies have shown that preservice teachers do modify their knowledge and value dispositions for teaching culturally diverse student populations. Continuing this line of research, this study focuses on pedagogical and methodological conditions in the education of preservice teachers. A class of preservice teachers was assigned to various public schools to observe how issues of cultural diversity were handled. They were asked to reflect on their observations, write an analysis for presentation and discussion, and determine how these observations would influence their future teaching behavior. The written observations of 10 students were randomly selected for analysis. In general, all 10 students exhibited a basic understanding of cultural diversity. Most indicated an understanding that: (1) in the classroom, more than academics must occur; (2) in order to teach a child, one must understand the realities that students bring to class; (3) the classroom is a training center for how… [PDF]
(1986). Intercultural Education and Migrant Women. The CDCC's Project No. 7: "The Education and Cultural Development of Migrants.". The paper reports issues and outcomes of a seminar on intercultural education and migrant women organized by Italy as part of the Council of Europe's 1981 Council for Cultural Co-operation (CDCC) Project No. 7. Sub-themes of the seminar were the migratory situation at the local level (departures and returns, particularly in the context of the situation of women), school and out-of-school experiments in the light of relations between school and family, and education in human rights and the situation of migrants. Work in the plenary session focused on migrant women and children as the "weak link" in the chain of emigration, the March 1984 Regional Act No. 10 covering returning emigrants, returning migrant women as a "mediating resource," intercultural education as a means to combat discrimination, features of intercultural education, and implementation of human rights education. Proposals of four working parties included formation of a permanent team of teachers,…
(1981). Handbook on Human Rights and Citizenship: Perspectives of Five Nations. This handbook was designed to help students learn the cultural contexts in which human rights are variously defined. It provides a comparative study of five nations, selected for their geographic and cultural scope, as a unique way to study human rights. Chapter 1 sets the stage for the study by presenting activities for establishing class objectives and examining the definition of human rights. Chapter 2 contains 90 readings from the five countries. These materials were selected for their value in illustrating the human rights situation in the five countries. International documents are included in chapter 2 which broaden the knowledge and understanding of human rights, such as "The Helsinki Agreement." Chapter 3 presents different activities and instructional strategies for presentation of the materials. Activities are included for different grade levels. Chapter 4 is the evaluation component in which an attitudinal questionnaire is administered to students to assess the… [PDF]
(1981). Indian Education: Guidelines for Evaluating Textbooks from an American Indian Perspective. Since most textbooks and instructional materials are designed to appeal to the majority market, they often are written from an ethnocentric viewpoint. American Indian viewpoints are either stereotyped, distorted, or omitted. To assist educators and publishers in developing awareness of American Indian heritage and culture and contemporary issues facing American Indians, general guidelines and a rating scale have been compiled by the Ethnic Heritage Project Advisory Council, to be used when evaluating textbooks and instructional materials. The guidelines may be applied at all grade levels and concentrate on content, language, and illustrations. Content considerations include awareness of American Indians' perspective; contemporary as well as historical activities, contributions, and concerns; and avoidance of inferences that American Indians are \all the same\ or that different lifestyles or customs are undesirable. Textbook language must: explain that the term \Indian\ is a… [PDF]
(1981). Developing Culture Curriculum for Native American Children: The Rough Rock Experience. The booklet uses both narrative and line drawings to outline Rough Rock Demonstration School's process of developing a K-12 Navajo language and culture curriculum for Navajo children at Rough Rock and other schools on and off the reservation. There are suggestions for writing the proposal, getting community support, and recruiting staff. The next sections discuss finding out what the community perceives to be its needs and problems (including a sample needs assessment survey), and assessing available native-based curriculum materials. The booklet next discusses developing a philosophy of education, setting up a curriculum model, and translating the needs assessment survey into ideas for curriculum. The sections on developing curriculum content, scope and sequence, and writing teacher objectives are followed by a sample fourth grade social studies program. The booklet ends with suggestions for implementation of the curriculum, evaluation, and working with others. A summary of the…
(1979). How to Have a Successful Fulbright. The Fulbright-Hays Teaching Exchange with Germany is a one-for-one exchanqe for approximately twenty pairs of American and German teachers. American elementary and secondary school teachers as well as college instructors and assistant professors replace their German counterparts for an academic year at either a "Hauptschule" (a non-college track school with qrades one through nine), a "Realschule" (a step up from the Hauptschule with grades one through ten), or a "Gymnasium" (a college preparatory school). This exchange provides the Fulbrighter with the opportunity to: (1) promote international understanding; (2) present American views on problems in the Unites States; (3) improve one's knowledge of the German language and school system; (4) increase one's awareness of German life and customs; (5) make German friends; and (6) explore many countries in Europe. This article focuses on three aspects of the Fulbright Teachers Exchange: (1) the teaching…
(1978). Cultural Arts Handbook. The handbook presents activities to aid elementary school classroom teachers as they develop and implement cultural arts lessons. A cultural arts program is interpreted as a way to help students develop perceptual awareness, build a basic vocabulary in some art cultural form, evaluate their own works of art, appreciate creative expressions, and think divergently through experiences in creative expression. Activities are presented in seven categories–visual art, arts and crafts, ethnic crafts, sculpture and modeling, collage, textures, and photography. Activities include finger printing, relief printing, making geometric designs, mosaics, creating string and box sculptures, tracing rubbings, cutting out paper silhouettes, and designing wooden jewelry. Many activities direct students to produce ethnic art forms including early American Shaker rugs, Czechoslovakian dolls, French puppets, Greek straw scenes, Irish felt painting, Spanish fishnets, and Ukrainian glass paintings. For each…
(1978). Curriculum and Instruction: Cultural Issues in Education. A Book of Readings. The 1976 Claremont, California, symposium to exchange and clarify ideas regarding the study and implementation of new alternatives to quality cultural education focused on two main concepts. The first was the concept of transcultural education design; the second, that cultural uniqueness in our society results from the capability to be responsive and responsible to opportunities of having cultural options with more than one defined culture. Fifteen presentations from the symposium have been collected in this book of readings intended for teachers, counselors, curriculum planners, resource specialists, teacher trainers, and administrators. The articles address the rationale, design, and instructional process of transcultural education; bilingual transcultural education; teacher preparation for a pluralistic society and for bilingual teachers; materials evaluation and selection; curriculum development; testing and cultural diversity; and social studies and transcultural education…. [PDF]
(1992). Topics in Hawaii's History: Resources and Lesson Plans for Secondary School Teachers. Twenty-nine teachers participated in a 4-week National Endowment for the Humanities institute which covered topics from pre-contact Hawaiian population estimates to formation of plantation workforces to contemporary sovereignty issues. The lessons the participants developed are divided into nine sections. Section 1, "Geography," contains articles on the origins of the Hawaiian Islands and the geography of the Pacific. Section 2, "Religion and Mythology," covers Hawaiian legends, myths, and creation stories. Section 3, "Voyages, Migration, and Contact," covers the origins, migrations, and early settlements of the Hawaiian population. Section 4, "Monarchy," includes histories of the Hawaiian monarchy and its effect on the politics and economics of Hawaii. Section 5, "Plantation Life," contains articles about the influx of Japanese and Chinese workers and how this influenced the racial makeup of the islands. Section 6, "Labor and… [PDF]
(1995). Effective Schools Research. Research studies that have focused on identifying the characteristics or correlates of elementary and secondary schools that are unusually effective are reviewed, concentrating on the \effective schools\ movement. Research on effective schools supports the conclusion that they rank high on certain characteristics frequently referred to as \effective schools correlates,\ here reviewed for elementary schools in the general groupings of: (1) productive school climate and culture reflecting shared values; (2) a focus on student acquisition of central learning skills; (3) appropriate monitoring of student progress; (4) practice-oriented staff development at the school site; (5) outstanding leadership; (6) salient parent involvement; (7) effective instructional and organizational arrangements; (8) high operational expectations and requirements for all students; and (9) multicultural instruction and sensitivity. Research has concentrated on the elementary grades; the applicability of these…