This book tells the story of immigrant students as they learn about the United States and being American in school. It also tells the stories of the teachers who teach them, the educators who have shaped their educational program, and their English-speaking, U.S.-born schoolmates. These stories are told in the context of an urban high school in…

This monograph presents information from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)-MetLife Institute on Culturally Responsive Practice. The Institute brought together 34 practicing P-12 teachers from 21 states and U.S. territories to read, reflect on, and share their ideas about what it means to teach in diverse classrooms…

This study assessed the influence of reflective thinking on the early field experiences of preservice teachers who later taught in urban settings that were radically different from those they experienced as students. Reflective thinking refers to consciously identifying and defining schooling and classroom problems, generating reasonable…

Education, like experience in general, is not static but evolutionary. The writing classroom of the two-year college must and does function as a multicultural environment which replaces the traditional melting pot metaphor with images of mosaic and tapestry. Today, over 50% of college freshmen are enrolled in two-year colleges, and these include…

This paper describes a multi-faceted approach to improving student retention at an urban public university. It is noted that the students at this institution are older, working people; few live on campus and participate in what would be considered traditional student experiences. The paper examines the physical setting and external environment;…

Western European forms of discourse have been foisted upon the world as the universal value-neutral reference point. External standards have been used to assess aboriginal discourse, particularly in public contexts such as schools and courtrooms. These standards assume that there is one single correct way to proceed (to talk, write, argue, teach),…

Documenting the 1991 fall session, this report provides resolutions adopted by the Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges. The resolutions are divided into the following 13 categories and topics: (1) the Academic Senate, including research, rules and procedures, and attendance at meetings; (2) accreditation, including self-study…

This paper discusses teaching with a multicultural perspective in early childhood education. It is emphasized that a major goal of multicultural education is to help children become accustomed to the idea that there are many lifestyles, languages, cultures, and points of view. Other topics include negative stereotypes and the influence that early…

The Education Division of Maryville University (Missouri) believes in preparing teachers for student diversity. It encourages teachers to be reflective practitioners and suggests that the quality of a teacher's reflections and actions depends on a developmental ability to integrate concrete teaching experiences, models and strategies of others,…

Teachers who have classes with many Southeast Asian American students face the dual challenge of their own lack of knowledge about the cultural backgrounds of their students and of the students' often fragmentary understandings of their own war-torn cultures. This overview briefly describes the history and culture of Indochina to provide knowledge…

This paper provides some activities that can be used to acquaint business students with the cultural differences that might be encountered in international business situations. Activities described involve: (1) exposing students to cultural differences through the use of foreign art and literature; (2) requiring students to prepare a cultural…

This journal issue focuses on the theme of the education of gifted female students. This document consists of the five articles devoted to this subject. The lead article by Carolyn M. Callahan, titled "How Schools Shortchange Girls: Implications for Parents and Educators of Gifted Girls," discusses the development of gender roles, the experiences…

This paper describes an effort to find ways to respond to the challenges of supporting student and faculty diversity by providing data about the experiences of Latino undergraduates at the University of Michigan. Data were collected from a random sample of 73 Latino undergraduates and a comparison group of 24 non-Latinos. The Latino group…

At least four values, or families of values, should be taught in schools and families to respond to the increasingly multiracial and multicultural society of the United States. These are: (1) antiracism or opposition to racism; (2) multiculturalism; (3) a sense of community; and (4) treating persons as individuals. The first three categories are…

Instructional conversations (ICs) represent an alternative approach to the instruction of culturally and linguistically diverse populations. It has instructional intent, but appears to be a spontaneous conversation with natural language interactions. Successful ICs depend on identification of a text-specific theme that is significant and tied to…