Immigrant students and their families sometimes experience conflict or alienation in U.S. schools owing to differences between the collectivistic values of home (focused on the well-being of the family and group) and the individualistic values of schools (focused on the well-being of individuals) that drive instructional practices and school…

Achievement motivation is something that all members of the school community want to support in students, however few may recognize that it is influenced by culture. The very meaning of "achievement" is culturally variable, and the motives that students have for achieving may be quite different, depending upon their cultural background.…

In this paper, we report the results of a longitudinal action research project in which elementary teachers used a cultural framework (individualism-collectivism) to understand differences between the culture of immigrant Latino families and the culture of U.S. schools. Making explicit the culture-based beliefs implicit in home and school…

This book is a resource designed to help pre-service and in-service early childhood educators, including infant-toddler caregivers, understand the role of culture in their programs. It is also intended for professionals who work with children and their families in a variety of other roles, such as social workers, special educators, and early…

This book will help you understand some of the most powerful cultural differences that can lead to classroom conflict for many students and how you can actually capitalize on these differences to make your classroom a harmonious, productive environment. Drawing from a seven-year action research study of elementary classrooms with high percentages…

Suggests the importance of new paradigms in research and practice on testing English language learners (ELLs) to effectively address the complexities of language and culture, identifying three key issues: test review, test development, and treatment of language as a source of measurement error. Research examples illustrate the importance and…

The Bridging Cultures Project is a collaboration among several researchers and teachers (n=8) to design professional development activities on the topic of cross-cultural understanding. During the fall of 1996, participating teachers will be given a pre-assessment and post-assessment. The assessments are designed to give some information on how…

This publication describes how teachers can begin to gain understanding of diverse students and families and their cultural values, behavioral standards, and social ideals. It presents specific examples of cross-cultural conflicts and illustrates strategies for resolving them. Data come from the Bridging Cultures action research project in…

This book focuses on how to meet the challenges of education in a pluralistic society, presenting the Bridging Cultures framework, which is designed for understanding differences and conflicts that arise in situations where school culture is more individualistic than the home value system. Six sections examine: (1) "The Bridging Cultures…

Collectivism, stressing family members' interdependence, is common to Latino cultures. In contrast, schools foster independence and individual achievement. To help teachers understand assumptions underlying these different values, the authors developed the "Bridging Cultures Project" as a research-based professional-development program.…

Describes the Bridging Cultures framework, a tool for understanding how the expectations for a student at school may conflict with the values of the student's family. The framework describes two contrasting value systems (individualism and collectivism) and helps teachers consider where differences may lie to head off potential conflict. (SM)

A longitudinal action-research project began with professional development to help elementary teachers understand differences between the collectivist values of most Latin Americans and the individualistic values of the dominant U.S. culture. Teachers could then capitalize on the collectivist values of helping others to support Latino student…