Examines a family literacy program based in a disadvantaged area of Scotland, to show how deficit views of children and their parents (feeling that one's own ways of speaking and writing are "wrong") might be challenged and overcome so that real learning can take place, learning that focuses on people's strengths and different types of…

This article describes teachers' perceptions of African American students' achievement and aggression based on their walking style. Suggestions are provided for teaching practices and student interactions that promote high student achievement in the classroom and beyond, including: grapple with beliefs, build functional cultural knowledge, and…

Reports a study of listening problems encountered in the English-as-a-foreign-language classroom in the English for Specific Purposes Centre at Damascus University in Syria. Looks particularly at learner strategies, features of the listening text, characteristics of the speaker, attitudes of the listener, the task to be completed as a result of…

Examines the issue of teacher preparation in light of changing demographics directly related to increased immigration, describing the current context in which many new teachers will find themselves, reviewing the teacher education literature to ascertain how the profession conceptualizes immigrant children and the education of those who will teach…

Investigates how accurately learners can assess their understanding of words and whether this accuracy is influenced by the learners' culture, gender, and lexical knowledge. Subjects were university students of English in China, Israel, and Japan. A mismatch between the objective and perceived understanding of a reading task was related to the…

This article discusses the outcomes of a project that used a community development framework to implement change in early care and intervention services in two culturally diverse communities. It describes how community forums and parent leadership training assisted in change efforts and lessons learned from implementation and evaluating reforms.…

This article argues that multicultural education is a powerful and necessary tool for preparing future general and special educators to provide services to students with disabilities from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It presents ideas for educators willing to assist multicultural learners in maximizing their fullest potential…

Identifies 13 administrative issues that arise when teaching distance education courses with students enrolled through other higher education institutions. Highlights include administrative models; academic cultures; academic calendars; registration processes; text books and additional readings; library resources; course materials; copyright…

We argue that attempts to superimpose park regulatory regimes on existing land uses in the tropics represent conflicts between alternative cultural models of natural resource management. The results of such conflicts are unique regulatory regimes emerging from distinctive processes that redefine the terms and limits of natural resource use. In…

As adult Latina/Latino students advanced from a community college to a four-year college, a transition course and mentoring program engaged students and educators in a reciprocal process of change. (Contains 1 figure.)

The present study examined whether teacher ratings of student disruptive, impulsive, and inattentive behaviors vary according to teacher-student ethnic differences. A total of 129 Hispanic and 89 White teachers observed standardized videotapes of a Hispanic and a White child and assessed each child for hyperactive-inattentive behaviors, using a…

Cultural difference is an important topic of discussion in second language education. Yet cultural difference is often conceptualized as fixed, objective, and apolitical based on an essentialist and normative understanding of culture. This article challenges such conceptualizations by examining and politicizing multiple and conflicting meanings of…

Culturally sensitive interventions in early childhood education are needed in societies in which immigrants have joined indigenous populations and where people with different national, ethnic or religious identities have created new communities. Although a theoretical framework for culturally sensitive research into child development exists, the…

The author has been teaching Introduction to Sociology for several years, and each semester new students bring their own perspectives to the study of sociology, making the content fresh and new. In order to help students understand sociological concepts in more experiential ways and to give them a glimpse into a culture that may be different from…

There is a tendency in academic literature concerning children from diverse social and linguistic background to concentrate on failure within the school system. It is only in recent years that this is beginning to change. In this article the author argues that if we are to motivate children towards success we need to have a clear picture of the…