Interviews prominent educator and researcher Gloria Ladson-Billings, whose research focuses on preparing preservice educators to successfully teach in a diverse society and on improving the achievement of culturally diverse students. Explores what it means to develop a culturally relevant pedagogy and how teachers might think about community in…

This paper's findings advocate looking beyond cultural discontinuity for an explanation of communication failure between American Indian parents and school personnel. Through "gatekeeping," American Indian parents mediate the communications dilemma wrought by conditions of distrust, racial tension, maintenance of tribal identity,…

A task force of the Council for Children with Behavior Disorders identified seven goals for educators and mental health professionals providing services to culturally diverse students. The goals address such topics as: misidentification of culturally based behavior as a behavior disorder, culturally and linguistically competent assessment,…

The teacher education program at the College of Education of Wichita State University (Kansas) connects the theoretical framework for multicultural education to participatory experience in which the teacher candidates consider the interaction of a child's home culture and school culture. (SLD)

Discusses the school library media specialist's responsibility to address students' cultural differences, including those related to religious practice and spiritual beliefs. Topics include the separation of church and state; resources that address spirituality and religion; and additional resources from ERIC. (LRW)

Cultural differences in maternal evaluations of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) related child behaviors were studied among 320 Mexican, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican mothers. Mothers from different Latino cultures assessed ADHD symptoms differently. Acculturation played a role in perceptions of ADHD-related behaviors in…

Self-esteem variations were studied among 2,600 Spanish-speaking adolescents who were immigrants or children of immigrants and attended grade 8 or 9 in 42 Florida and San Diego (California) schools. Five Spanish-speaking subgroups had different acculturation patterns. Depression, parent-child conflict, discrimination, and school achievement and…

Explores differences in the academic library use of Asian American, African American, Latino, Native American and White undergraduates. Results indicate that students of color reported more academic library use while all undergraduates who engaged in writing activities and read more non-assigned books reported greater library use. (Author/LRW)

Interviews with 33 students who are deaf of Asian American, Hispanic American, and African American background were analyzed for themes regarding self-reported identities. Results indicate people are constellations of many parts and that four factors are central to this intraindividual model: individual characteristics; situational conditions;…

Discusses the need for early childhood professionals to depart from a narrow framing of early childhood science experiences based on Western perspectives and to seek out a spectrum of cultural views that influence children's scientific thinking. Describes differences between Western and Aboriginal science and promotes broadened understandings of…

Introduces an eight-step process for training social workers to become more effective multicultural practitioners. The first three steps--acknowledge cultural differences, know yourself, and know other cultures--are discussed and accompanied by experiential exercises to help practitioners recognize their own culture-bound beliefs, identify…

Focuses on the persistent problems of prejudice in multicultural societies. Various theories of prejudice and other psychological, social, and political factors that contribute to prejudice are discussed. Demonstrates several counseling theories and techniques as applied to case vignettes dealing with prejudice and racism. (Author/KW)

This paper defines concepts of diversity, culture, cultural competence, and cultural sensitivity as part of a discussion of the third strategic target of the National Agenda for Achieving Better Results for Children and Youth with Serious Emotional Disturbance. Outlines a holistic model of multicultural education, including applications, best…

Shows that audience recall of AIDS public service announcements (PSAs) is related to message appeal types, cultural identity, and gender. Finds that strong emotional appeals are better remembered than rational ones; U.S. viewers recalled more than international participants; and college women recalled more than college men in general, and…

This article describes Skilled Dialogue, an approach to cultural competency developed in response to the challenges posed by cultural linguistic diversity. Skilled Dialogue focuses on cultural competency as the ability to craft respectful, reciprocal, and responsive interactions across diverse cultural parameters. Characteristics, component…