This project includes a mini-lesson to be used at the end of the unit on Latin America. The lesson introduces a service learning project to help Maryland students to address the service learning component needed for graduation. The specific lessons have students identify the changing role of Latin American countries in the world community. Ways in…

This paper considers how teachers can deal with stereotypes in the classroom as they relate to foreign language learning goals, specifically the negative ethnic and cultural stereotypes held by Mexican university students about Americans and Canadians. It presents data concerning the emergence of stereotypes from various studies carried out in…

There are a number of reasons for the increasing interest of American educators in educational progress in Mexico. From a more definitely educational standpoint they are concerned because of the large number of Mexican children enrolling in schools, especially in Southwestern States. Educators are beginning to realize that a wider knowledge of…

Reports on a study of second-generation high school students who were children of Cuban and Vietnamese immigrants (relatively advantaged groups) and of Haitian and Mexican immigrants (relatively disadvantaged). Discovers that parents' socioeconomic status, length of stay in the United States, and hours spent on homework affected academic…

In a small Mexican town with a sizeable English-speaking population and bilingual schools, some native Spanish speakers develop native-like proficiency in English. Interviews found that the only Spanish speakers acquiring much English attended bilingual schools and frequently had close friendships with native English speakers and favorable…

Three studies examined the effects of parent educational level on parental attitudes toward the importance of education for their children, Mexican parents' and teachers' attitudes toward the importance of computer training in Mexican schools, and the effects of a parent literacy/computer literacy program on low-income, low-literacy parents and…

Studies teacher-community relations in a community where teachers are becoming more involved in indigenous community issues. Argues that formal teacher education tends to emphasize modernity and consumer culture at the expense of distinct local customs. Draws connections between the case study and low-income minority communities in the United…

The first in a series of three books designed to aid teachers of grades 4-12 in the presentation of key aspects of the culture and history of Mexico addresses Mexico's Indian period, from the beginning of human life in Mexico to the final conquest of Mexico by the Spanish in 1521. The bilingual English and Spanish book, which lends itself to the…

"The Mexican Experience" is a two-volume cultural resource for use at the secondary level. It may also be used at college and adult levels for introductory cultural awareness. It offers an instructional package on Mexican culture, stressing an art-architecture perspective with content ideas applicable to classes in Spanish, English as a…

Results are given of six experiments made to test the hypothesis that urban Anglo-Americans are alloplastic, i.e., try to adjust the environment to fit their own needs, and rural Mexicans are autoplastic, i.e., adjust themselves to meet the presses of the environment. A seventh experiment is proposed. It was predicted that urban Anglo-American…

This unit examines why the numbers of Mexican immigrants in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes are increasing. In addition, the unit seeks to use cultural information gathered from the Fulbright experience to enrich ESL U.S. history classes with units on Mexico. As students learn about U.S. history, they also gain a basis for comparing the…

The bulk of this theme issue of Cultural Survival Quarterly consists of a 41-page "focus" section on indigenous peoples' efforts to regain control of their children's education and on the role of indigenous educators as agents of change. Following an introduction by Nimachia Hernandez and Nicole Thornton, the articles in this section are:…

Since the 1950s, ethnic relations in Tenejapa (Chiapas, Mexico) have shifted toward greater equality and less antagonism between formerly dominant mestizos and formerly dominated "indigenas" (Maya Indians). An important cause is the long-term promotion of indigenous education by a national agency, Instituto Nacional Indigenista,…

Highlights the history of Californian (Luiseno), the native language of Baja California, including how the language was recorded by a young Mexican student at the Vatican's missionary school, the Collegium Urbanum in Rome. Discusses the political impact of the grammatical recording and subsequent translation of the language during the mid-19th…

This article examines the implementation of educational policy in a religious education program at a Los Angeles Catholic parish. It charts the elimination of Spanish-based classes ("doctrina") for Mexican immigrant children in favor of "English-only" instruction. The article offers insights into the politics of language use in everyday practice…