Thriving in the multicultural classroom : principles and practices for effective teaching / Mary Dilg ; foreword by Vivian Gussin Paley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dilg, Mary.

Series:

Multicultural education series (New York, N.Y.)

Multicultural education series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Multicultural education--United States.

Multicultural education.

Education, Secondary--Social aspects.

Education, Secondary.

United States.

Effective teaching--United States.

Effective teaching.

Education, Secondary--Social aspects--United States--Case studies.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xv, 223 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Teachers College Press, [2003]

Summary:

In this timely and practical resource, Mary Dilg helps teachers understand and enjoy working with students from different cultural backgrounds. Focusing on the special needs of adolescents, Dilg recommends ways of thinking about curriculum and pedagogy that will enable both teachers and students to thrive in the multicultural classroom. Drawing on over 25 years of experience teaching in urban schools across the country, the author: Provides many examples of student observations, conversations, and writings, both in and out of school. Details approaches to curriculum and pedagogy that are particularly effective in the multicultural classroom. Offers a much-needed exploration of racial identity formation among adolescents, including how teachers can recognize, understand, and respond to this process. Addresses critical issues that many educators avoid, such as the special challenges faced by racially- and culturally-mixed student bodies. Describes and analyzes the forces that emerge in the multicultural classroom and influence the way students respond to each other and to curriculum, pedagogy, and their teacher.

Contents:

Introduction: A Way of Seeing 1

Of Cultures and Confusion

On Milieu and Methods

Factors in Cross-Cultural Teaching and Learning

Serving Our Students

Part I. Understanding the Multicultural Classroom: Supporting Our Students

1. From Home to School and Home Again 13

Journeying Between Home and School

Home

School

Home Again

Bridging the Worlds of Home and School

Leaving

2. The Presence of History 38

Three Histories, A Host of Histories

My Histories, Myself

History and You and I

Our Histories and the Curriculum

History as We Talk

Pedagogy and the Power of History

3. The Role of Racial or Cultural Identity 58

My Name, Myself?

Who Am I?: Emerging Racial and Cultural Identities

Extensions of Myself: What Do Aspects of My Life Say About Me?

Who Are We in Relation to Each Other?

Where Do I Fit?

Must We Emphasize Racial or Cultural Identity?

What Does This Mean for the Teacher?

Our Classrooms as a Place for Who We Are

4. Multifaceted Discussions 90

Wanting to Know/Afraid to Talk

Conversations, Language, and Culture

The Richness and Challenges of Multiple Perspectives

The Emotional Life of Discussions

The Self at the Center: Journeying Toward a Multicultural Perspective

Supporting Cross-Cultural Conversations

5. Authority Shared and Shifting 109

Authority and Discussions

Authority and Voice in the Classroom

Challenges for Students

Challenges for Teachers

Savoring a Shared Authority

Sharing Authority in the Classroom

6. Anatomy of a Failure: The Impact of Curriculum/The Power of Pedagogy 127

Carl Sandburg and the Multicultural Classroom

Knowledge Construction in the Classroom

A Poet's Perspective

A Teacher's Perspective

The Students' Perspectives

Anatomy of a Lesson

Examining Difficult Material

Knowledge Construction, Cultural Contexts, and Power

Curriculum, Pedagogy, and the Students

Writers on Race

Readers in the Multicultural Classroom

The Impact of Raced Readings on the Multicultural Classroom

Lessons on Teaching Raced Readings

Part II. Principles and Practice(s): Thoughts on Curriculum and Pedagogy

7. A Breadth of Materials: Reading Within and Across Cultural Lines 159

Multicultural Reading Lists in the Classroom

How We Learn

Why We Read: The Self and the World

Critical Thinking in a Diverse World

Responding to the Critics of Multicultural Reading Lists

8. A Pedagogy of Belonging: Toward a Pedagogy of Multiculturalism 180

Understanding the Pressures and Choices that Divide Us

Planning in a Multicultural Environment

Drawing on the Power Among Us

The Course of the Course: What Can We Expect?

Creating a Supportive Environment

Conclusion: Where's It All Going?.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-215) and index.

ISBN:

0807743909

0807743895

OCLC:

52127615