(2005). The Impact of Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, Language, and Training Program on Teaching Choice among New Teachers in California. Bilingual Research Journal, v29 n3 p583-598 Fall. The cultural disparity between teachers and students has been a concern among educators for quite some time. While the student body grows more ethnically heterogeneous, non-Hispanic Whites, especially women, continue to dominate the teaching profession. Ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic status (SES) all play a critical role in the education of our students. Starting in 1994, California has required teachers who provide instruction for English language development to have the Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development or Bilingual Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development certificate. The purpose of this study was to compare beginning teachers from these two certification programs regarding their cultural backgrounds and initial employment placements. More specifically, the study investigated the linguistic, ethnic, and SES makeup of schools where they found initial employment. Secondly, this study investigated whether the two programs differentially attracted… [Direct]
(2006). Classroom Interactions as Cross-Cultural Encounters: Native Speakers in EFL Lessons. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (Bks) This book is about native English speakers teaching English as a global language in non-English speaking countries. Through analysis of naturally occurring dialogic encounters, the authors examine the multifaceted ways in which teachers and students utilize diverse communicative resources to construct, display, and negotiate their identities as teachers, learners, and language users, with different pedagogic, institutional, social, and political implications. A range of issues in applied linguistics is addressed, including linguistic imperialism, post-colonial theories, micropolitics of classroom interaction, language and identity, and bilingual classroom practices. Intended to help TESOL professionals of different cultural backgrounds, working in different sociocultural contexts, to critically understand how non-assimilationist, dialogic intercultultural communication with students can be achieved and built on for mutual cultural and linguistic enrichment and empowerment, this… [Direct]
(1995). Montana Indian Law-Related Education Model Curriculum Guide. This curriculum guide, it is hoped, will become an integral part of the social studies curriculum for all Montana students. Focusing on law-related education themes and concepts, six broad-based themes are covered: responsibility, authority, privacy, justice, spirituality, and environment. These six themes are found in the sample lessons under the heading "ILRE [Indian Law-Related Education] Themes." Teachers will also find within each model unit or lesson under the heading "ILRE Concepts," a list of more specific law-related concepts and topics such as sovereignty, jurisdiction, case study, and appellate court. Related documents included with the curriculum guide are: "Indian Law-Related Education Lessons," divided into ILRE lessons for K-2, grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12; "Many Nations in One: A History of Federal Indian Policy"; "From Boarding School to Self-Determination," a unit written to supplement the curriculum of intermediate… [PDF]
(1998). What Is Good Teaching? Lessons from Maori Pedagogy. A postcolonial analysis suggests the need for a new theory of education that supports a model of genuinely bicultural education in New Zealand. Ways in which mainstream education might be enhanced by Maori pedagogies are explored through interviews with a preservice primary school teacher of Maori descent. In the area of rules of practice, Maori views of good teaching, such as the belief that people come before paperwork and that the child's ahua (aura or presence) should be nourished, may involve encouraging rules of practice less familiar to mainstream educators, resisting rules of mainstream education, and looking holistically at the implications of poor rules of practice. Concerning practical principles, Maori pedagogy holds that a safe learning environment is fundamental to good teaching, and that in the discussion of a single principle, one should hear all principles. Maori images of good teaching include the use of culturally relevant values to ensure consistency in delivery… [PDF]
(1991). Solidifying International Bridges through Communication Teaching. This paper discusses an ongoing study being conducted at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah concerning ways of improving communication teaching to graduate students, especially those in the business administration program. The paper also discusses some current research on language and management and some preliminary results of fourth year data. The research involves the MBA (Master of Business Administration) classroom in which bilingual (foreign national) students (abundant at BYU) are divided into study groups formed around languages, and periodically give 3-minute presentations, one in English and the second in their native language. Listeners fill out evaluation forms and presenters complete presenter forms. The purpose of the program is two-fold: (1) the North Americans can help foreigh nationals with the English language, and (2) the foreign nationals can supply business terms in the foreign language. The program is centered around the concept of the Competing Values… [PDF]
(1993). Eating on the Street: Teaching Literacy in a Multicultural Society. This book examines, via a case study involving fifth, sixth, and seventh graders: (1) the struggle of teaching literacy in a racially divided society, (2) the importance of story and storytelling in the educational process, and (3) how storytelling is an interactive experience for both the teller and listener. In addition, the book reveals how cultural values and cultural differences affect education in today's American schools. The book describes the history of the Dewey Center Community Writing Project in Detroit's (Michigan) inner city and offers samples of the students' writing about their lives in a troubled neighborhood, as well as the teachers' versions of events and their personal histories and work as educators. These stories illustrate how talking across multiple perspectives can enrich the student's learning process as well as the community-building process outside the classroom. (Contains over 175 references.) (GLR)…
(1990). A Collection of Teaching Units in American Indian Education. This collection of 11 teaching units was developed by elementary school teachers who attended the Montana Institute for Effective Teaching of American Indian Children, held at Eastern Montana College in June 1990. The first unit teaches the alphabet to kindergarten students using cultural activities related to English or Salish words that begin with the appropriate letter. The second unit teaches kindergarten students and first graders about American Indian clothing and how it was made. Intended for Grades 4-8, the other units: (1) explain symbols and images from the Lakota and White cultures; (2) build student self-esteem through varied activities that allow the children to experience success through cooperative learning; (3) introduce students to pre-contact Native American history and culture, using cooperative learning and whole language approaches; (4) allow each student to explore the culture of a particular tribe in depth; (5) examine the cultural origins of holidays; (6)…
(2003). Broadening and Deepening the Definition of Outreach Scholarship: Linking Popular Education and Community-Based Participatory Action Research. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, v8 n1 p113-126. This paper outlines a Community-based Participatory Action Research model designed and implemented by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education with two community-based agencies in Milwaukee. In two participatory action learning seminars, research was combined with action to improve the educational experience of community residents. Linking education and community life made it possible to address specific community-identified problems. Our experience emphasizes the need to create a learning environment by bringing together the theory and practice of popular education and community development. The paper then gives a broader and deeper definition of scholarship that: (1) recognizes the development of new knowledge through collaboration with community partners, (2) promotes mutual learning to address significant issues in the community, and (3) strengthens an effective partnership that links the university with the community…. [PDF]
(1987). Maori and Pakeha School Performance: The Challenge for Educational Policy and Research. It is suggested that significant differences remain between ethnic groups in New Zealand, specifically the Maori and the non-Maori, or "Pakeha" (a term used by the Maori for New Zealanders of European descent), in terms of educational achievement. This gap exists despite emphasis placed on education as a means of reducing social inequality. These differences, when combined with similar disparities in other social indicators such as life expectancy, employment, and composition of prison populations, pose a significant challenge to the belief in equality, social justice, and the potential attainment and maintenance of social harmony. Statistics reveal that over one-half of Maori students who took School Certificate examinations received grades below that required to proceed, whereas only 26.5 percent of non-Maori received a similar grade. Access to and progress through schools has been changed significantly due to curriculum modifications, and greater attention is being paid… [PDF]
(1983). Navajo Changes–A History of the Navajo People = Dinetahgi Lahgo Ahoodzaa–Dine Bahane. Teacher's Guide. Fifth-Eighth Grade Navajo Bilingual-Bicultural Social Studies Curriculum. As an accompaniment to the grade 5-8 bilingual-bicultural social studies text focusing on Navajo history, the guide helps the teacher assist students through learning experiences designed to develop inquiry and social studies skills; reinforce Navajo and English literacy, communication, and math skills; and enhance appreciation and respect for Navajos. The guide contains general information on how to use the text and the guide itself, how to use language in the classroom, and how to evaluate student progress. It also contains detailed information on how to use the inquiry approach and on the role of questioning in the classroom. The teacher's guide is organized around chapters in the student text. For each chapter, the guide notes the purpose, the concepts, and the main ideas to be covered; lists the skills to be developed, the objectives to be achieved, the materials needed, and the suggested time for each activity; and describes numerous related teacher strategies and activities…. [PDF]
(1987). Educacion y Pueblos Indigenas en Centroamerica: Un Balance Critico (Education and Indigenous People in Central America: A Critical Balance). Global society is polarized between the modern capitalist sector and the marginal sector, which is composed of indigenous, poor, and ethnic, tribal people. The problems of education for groups in Latin America, key issues in planning to meet their needs, and strategies to resolve them, are the focus of this publication. Nine papers provide a general analysis of the quality and efficiency of current educational programs, socio-economic conditions, and political influences affecting educational planning. The goals of this United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization conference project are to assure education before 1999 for all children of school age, to offer a minimum of general education of eight to ten years, to eliminate illiteracy before the year 2000, and to upgrade the quality and efficiency of the educational systems through needed reforms. The document is divided into three parts that include: (1) some suggestive theoretical pointers and a series of…
(1995). Ethos, Ethnicity, and the Electronic Classroom: A Study in Contrasting Educational Environments. To maximize the level of comfort that will facilitate an equal exchange of ideas instructors need to tailor their pedagogy to fit their audience. That means they must consider the extent to which their students have been exposed to computers. The University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) has a high percentage of "non-traditional" students. Students in composition classes taught there bring a great deal of real world experience, but that real world experience does not necessarily include computer exposure. Consequently, a computer-centered pedagogy requires special attention to factors such as different degrees of experience, technophobia, and outside-of-the-classroom access to computers, in order to understand the ways they impinge on academic performance and self-image of students in the classroom. An informal survey of students in a composition course showed that of the minority students, only 25% owned a computer and all of these considered themselves to be middle-class. Of… [PDF]
(1999). Cultural Resources for Mexican American Education. ERIC Digest. Even though Mexican Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, their history and literature receive limited attention in schools. Incorporating Mexican American culture and history into the curriculum should help minimize the cultural myopia characteristic of many students and the cultural alienation that may contribute to school failure by Mexican American students. This digest summarizes the contents of various helpful resources, most of which have Web sites providing extensive information or full-text documents. Five research-related resources include on-line library collections, a multimedia encyclopedia, a virtual reference desk, and a national guide to rural Latino resources. Seven curriculum items include a public television series on Mexican American history, on-line collections of Mexican American art and culture, on-line teacher resources, a book chapter, and a Spanish-language Web site on Mexican cultural resources. Three publishers focus on… [PDF]
(1999). Literacy in Multilingual/Intercultural Settings. Ensuring Universal Rights to Literacy and Basic Education. A Series of 29 Booklets Documenting Workshops Held at the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education (Hamburg, Germany, July 14-18, 1997). Because of the significant political implications of first and second language policy, many decision-makers have been reluctant to review language policy in the context of literacy work. Issues that must be considered include the following: whether mother tongue literacy should be a precondition for introduction of a second language in school-based and nonformal settings; conditions under which mother tongue literacy should precede second language literacy; and effects of policies regarding language of instruction on literacy after schooling. In Latin America, the value of native languages and cultures is recognized; the value of culture in bilingual literacy is promoted; and local languages and cultures are being integrated into the educational process. In Africa, on the other hand, African languages are in grave danger, and extra support for them is needed in the schools. Among the issues that must be addressed when imparting language skills in a global language of communication… [PDF]
(1994). Pedagogies of Dissent and Transformation: A Dialogue about Post Modernity, Social Context, and the Politics of Literacy. International Journal of Educational Reform, v3 n3 p327-37 Jul. Two activist teacher educators discuss the ravages of global capitalism, abandonment of American cities, breakdown of Keynesian economics, dismantling of the welfare state, and resulting dissolution of identities and entire lives. Schools must fight social injustice and racism. Teachers should pursue classroom-based research that investigates the social construction of knowledge and classroom culture. (28 references) (MLH)…