Literature is a powerful vehicle for the transmission and interpretation of culture. Reading a variety of literature helps students to understand the principles underpinning values and traditions of their own culture and the cultures of others. Studying the myths, legends, and songs of traditional Native literature helps readers understand…

To prepare students to live in a diverse world, writing teachers must create a non-threatening environment in their classrooms and introduce the issues of race, ethnicity, and class in reading and writing assignments. One assignment that a writing teacher used successfully both in a writing workshop course for less proficient writers and in a…

A study examined attitudes toward women in nontraditional roles among high school students and staff and identified the training strategies most effective in increasing acceptance of women in these roles. Participants in the study were 759 students (48 percent), teachers (35 percent), and counselors and administrators (17 percent) in 9 school…

There is a burgeoning body of research on gender differences in computing attitudes and behaviors. After a decade of experience, researchers from both inside and outside the field of educational computing research are raising methodological and conceptual issues which suggest that perhaps researchers have shortchanged girls and women in…

Over the past 2 decades community colleges have developed an increasing reliance on the use of part-time faculty, generally rationalizing the practice as an important strategy for saving money and maintaining flexibility. Critics have seen the extensive use of part-timers as a disturbing trend, and several groups have attempted to set limits on…

To explore the complexities of communication with Asian and Pacific Islander (API) children and their families, this digest describes the overt and covert dimensions of the various API cultures, and discusses API's socioeconomic background and the life experiences that affect their communication behavior. The general ethnic groups in the API…

To live in a multicultural world, students need to deal with stereotyping, learn about other cultures, and understand multiple perspectives. Especially appropriate for use by social studies and foreign language teachers, this unit puts the multicultural society of the United States in the context of the multicultural world. The unit covers nine…

This study examined the applicability of a multicomponent model to understanding the bases of attitudes toward people with disabilities. The 108 students (65 females, 43 males) reported their attitudes toward three groups -- amputees, people with AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), and the chronically depressed. They also completed…

The losses that both girls and boys suffer because of sex bias in society and in education are summarized in this report. For both girls and boys, statements based on research in these fields are listed in the academic, psychological and physical realms, and career and family relationships. (53 endnotes) (DB)

This report examines experiences that Hispanic women have as college students, faculty members, and administrators. It is based on information from the Project on the Status and Education of Women, published materials, informal interviews with Hispanic women, and results of an informal questionnaire responded to by 37 Hispanic women students,…

A cross-cultural approach is used to foster an understanding of modern China in this 8-part handbook of supplementary social studies materials for grades 5 through 12. Part 1 focuses on students' perceptions of China. Following a pretest, in which students consider their own stereotypes, three exercises help students gain a sense of the Chinese…

To explore the portrayals of Americans in Japanese television commercials and Japanese in American television commercials, and how those portrayals are perceived by each nationality, a two-part study examined 745 American commercials and 956 Japanese commercials. Researchers first coded the number of American males and females who appeared in the…

This is a handbook for educators. It is intended to stimulate interest in career choices for young women in mathematics and science related areas. Main topics included are: (1) problems, i.e., the dearth of women in science professions; (2) solutions; (3) survey questions for measuring sex bias; (4) instructions for improving attitudes toward…

Current and possible future roles of feminist librarians in the academic community are explored in this paper. The discussion opens with a recounting of past accomplishments of feminist librarians in general--e.g., reversing the Library of Congress use of "women as exceptions" subject headings--and follows with descriptions of recent…

The initial purpose of this literature search on Third World women in agriculture was to locate materials in the New York and Washington areas. However, the location of source materials became a project in and of itself, and gaining access to various collections no small feat. Some of the best material is what is called fugitive literature. Word…