Join the authors of this book in starting a movement of hope and possibility for an antiracist child care and early childhood education system. This volume disrupts mental models regarding where the work of early care and education began--with enslaved African women--and how the stigma of that beginning relegates present-day child care workers to…

"What is a fandom, and why do fandoms matter for school?" Fandoms are passionate communities dedicated to appreciating and engaging with texts of interest (movies, TV shows, books, bands, brands, sports teams, etc.) via personally and communally meaningful literacy practices. It is increasingly obvious that scripted literacy curricula…

Courses: Intercultural Communication, Communication and Identity, Interpersonal Communication. Objectives: After completing this semester-long activity, students should be able to (1) discuss and apply the concepts of social identities; (2) analyze the influence of self-identities on online communication practices of self to others and others to…

The story of Abraham Lincoln's reaction to meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe is well known. Supposedly, the president greeted the formidable author with, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!" Although the two did meet in November 1862, there is no evidence that Lincoln said anything of the kind.…

Discrimination based on gradations of skin color can occur within and between racial or ethnic groups, including blacks, Latinos, and Asians. Lighter skin and Caucasian features tend to be viewed more positively than darker-skin qualities. Where a person of color falls along the "color line" may affect his or her social status, employment…

This book presents the evidence gathered from original interviews to show how the aspirations of young people develop in light of their social circumstances. Those who attend independent schools will find that the relationship between what goes on at home and at school makes it socially almost impossible not to have achievable aspirations for a…

In this article, the authors describe a class activity that uses a combination of strategies to overcome obstacles students face when learning about the reproduction of inequality in everyday life. Based on Schwalbe et al.'s (2000) piece on "generic social processes," and following the idea of "making the strange familiar and the familiar…

This article discusses urban educators' views of their teaching experiences. The article is based upon survey research conducted with teachers in two poor, urban districts during the 2005-2006 academic year. The teachers reported a variety of positive and negative views regarding their classrooms, their students, and the students' social worlds.…

Erving Goffman is one of the most important sociologists of the 20th century. Popular textbooks in sociology (e.g., Giddens, Duneier, and Appelbaum 2005; Macionis 2007) and social psychology (e.g., Aronson, Wilson, and Akert 2006; Cahill 2007; DeLamater and Myers 2007) devote large sections and entire chapters to Goffman's ideas concerning the…

Background: This paper develops an analysis of how "educability" and "physical ability" are socially configured through the practices of physical education (PE) in schools. We pursue this interest as part of a broader project, shared by many in the wider community of social science researchers in PE, to better understand how…

This cross-cultural study examines early childhood professionals' perceptions of their social status, working conditions, and public appreciation in seven countries/territories: Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Mexico, Peru, and the United States of America. One hundred eighteen participants, consisting of preschool and elementary school…

Research supports several factors related to student success. Darling-Hammond (2000) indicated that the quality of teachers, as measured by whether the teachers were fully certified and had a major in their teaching field, was related to student performance. Measures of teacher preparation and certification were the strongest predictors of student…

Discusses the development of the thinking function and factors influencing that development, and presents strategies for teaching thinking. (MD)

Noting that picture books can invite students to engage in critical discussion of complex issues of race, class, and gender, this lesson plan helps students to confront the injustice of barriers that separate human beings from one another and to examine the role of prejudice and stereotypes in sustaining these barriers. During the five 45-minute…

"Taiguu hyoogen," which refers to expressions chosen to express levels of politeness and formality in Japanese, is described as a requirement for socialization and a key component in language teaching. Pedagogical implications are discussed. (Contains 17 references.) (LB)