Due to changing demographics in the K-12 student population contrasted with the homogeneous population of prospective teachers, the uncertainty about teacher preparedness to meet the needs of diverse student populations remains a controversial educational issue. Teacher educators have continued to question whether preservice teachers presently in schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) have the requisite skills and the necessary sensitivity toward racial and cultural diversity...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cultural Pluralism, Elementary Secondary Education, Teacher Educators, Preservice...
Historically, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM) gave little attention to cultural variations in mental disorder. DSM-IV includes a cultural case formulation outline. The current paper presents a case formulation of an American Indian client who presented with depressive symptoms and a history of substance dependence. (Contains 1 footnote.)
Topics: ERIC Archive, American Indians, Mental Disorders, Cultural Differences, Depression (Psychology),...
This article provides an explanation for why the Critical Thinking (CT) movement has failed to make significant inroads into the Korean education system, notwithstanding the fact that it addresses and seeks to rectify a widely acknowledged weakness of that system, namely, its over-reliance on teacher-centered instructional methodologies involving rote-memorization. The explanation provided in this article goes beyond standard accounts that focus primarily or exclusively on the role of the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Critical Thinking, Values, Korean Culture, Teaching Methods,...
The primary purpose of this exploratory study is to identify variations in the ways in which individual teachers in different educational contexts interpret their curriculum and plan their lessons and in particular to explore the possibility that cultural differences as identified by Hofstede (1991) may be a contributing factor to understanding how teachers understand their work. "Educational reform" has become a catchphrase in the Anglo-American world, including the United States,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Geography, Cultural Differences, Cultural Traits, Curriculum...
This study explores the following question: How do teacher candidates reflect on their learning about issues of diversity? As a novice teacher educator teaching a foundations course that foregrounds issues of diversity, power, and opportunity in schools and other social institutions, the author of this study set out to analyze how the students from her course who are pursuing teacher certification reflect upon their learning about diversity after completing this course. In this paper, she...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Preservice Teacher Education, Teacher Educators, Teacher Certification, Preservice...
Most of the students at Milpera State High School are in Australia because of wars, famine, or economic devastation in their homelands. Many have suffered the additional loss of parents and other family members. Some have low (or nonexistent) literacy in their native languages, and many have had few opportunities for formal education. Such students enter high school well behind the grade level that their ages would indicate, and when they learn to read and write in English, they are learning to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Literacy Education, Educational Quality, Refugees, Multiple...
The purpose of this article is two-fold: first, to explore the role played by linguistic and cultural factors in the mathematics classroom, particularly in relation to diverse learners; and, second, to provide insight into teaching, learning, and professional development that takes into account current mathematics education reform recommendations. In this article, the authors explore and discuss four selected cultural and linguistic factors to consider when teaching mathematics to diverse...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Mathematics Instruction, Educational Change, Cultural Influences,...
Canadian counsellors are increasingly called upon to work with diverse client populations whose needs may not be met through traditional counselling models. The question for many is how to develop the attitudes, knowledge, and skills for competent and ethical practice. This article introduces core competencies designed to assist counsellors to effectively infuse culture into all aspects of the counselling process. It then describes how these competencies are combined to enhance the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Competence, Cultural Pluralism, Counselor Client Relationship, Counseling Techniques,...
The authors examined manifest anxiety and perceptions of English and French language competence among Anglophone (n = 35), Francophone (n = 29), and Mixed-heritage (n = 34) elementary education (60%) and secondary education (40%) students (80% female) in their second, third, or fourth year of study at the Faculte Saint Jean (University of Alberta). Participants assessed their language competence differently in English and French. Francophone and Mixed-heritage students felt equally competent in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Elementary School Teachers, Preservice Teacher Education,...
A critical race analysis could provide both Aboriginal students and their university student advisors with knowledge to understand and potentially challenge the effects and processes of racialization that have historically, legally, and politically divided Aboriginal communities and families. Coalition and alliances can be made within and across the diversity within Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples' lives through a common understanding and commitment to anti-racist education. A critical...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Race, Multicultural Education, Racial Identification, Social Justice, Indigenous...
Students, faculty, administration, and community members of three Iowa rural school districts were interviewed to identify educational issues in their communities. The results of the Iowa investigation are compared with the results of the Claremont Graduate School investigation published in "Voices from the inside: A report on schooling from inside the classroom" (1992). The Claremont study investigated large urban schools. The Iowa study provides insight into small, rural school...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Urban Schools, Rural Schools, School Districts, Teacher Student Relationship, School...
In the last 20 years, more and more Chinese high school graduates have applied to American colleges. They want to study in this country because the Chinese higher education system cannot meet the needs of China's huge population. This article talks about a seven-month, pre-college program hosted by the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania between 2001-2002. The purpose of the program was to train a group of Chinese high school graduates, who were seeking opportunities...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cultural Differences, Foreign Countries, College Preparation, Admissions Counseling,...
In the last two decades the proportion of children of color in public schools in the U.S. has increased to about 40%. However, this has not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in teachers of color. Many college and university teaching institutions have attempted to deal with the increase in the number of students of color in the public schools and the lack of minority teaching candidates by increasing the number of courses offered on diversity as part of their teaching programs....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Preservice Teacher Education, College Students, Public Schools, Multicultural...
This article, written as a memo to the author's friend in response to an earlier conversation, compares the American education system with that of Japan. First, the author examines cultural differences between Japan and America as a lens through which to look at these two countries. Then, Japanese and American schooling are compared in terms of four suggestions that the author's friend had proposed to improve American students' academic achievement. The four suggestions were: (1) more testing;...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academic Achievement, Cultural Differences, Foreign Countries, Cross Cultural...
Preparing European-American preservice teachers for diverse urban school settings pose multiple challenges. Of primary concern are the differences in race, culture, and community between teachers and students. Because new teachers prefer to work where they grew up, most preservice teachers want to teach students who are like themselves in familiar settings, and they are often uncomfortable interacting with families from ethnic and language minorities. Despite these challenges, preservice...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Language Minorities, Preservice Teachers, Urban Schools, Teacher Student...
Many non-Aboriginal practitioners are interested in working effectively with Aboriginal youth, families, and communities. Honouring Indigenous ways of knowing and being informed by a critical consciousness regarding the influence of history, politics, and social forces in the emergence of suicidal behaviour among Aboriginal youth are central to this work. By uncovering assumptions and locating suicide prevention practice within specific discourses, this article demonstrates the relevance and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Prevention, Suicide, Cultural Differences, Indigenous Populations, Counselor Client...
This study investigated the ability of teachers to accurately rate the cognitive and academic functioning of 1,375 students in kindergarten through the third grade on the Clinical Assessment of Behavior (CAB), as compared to two objective cognitive ability tests. CAB teacher ratings were compared for high-ability students who were currently functioning with ability test scores greater than or equal to 120; comparisons also were made across the students' full ability range and according to their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Gifted, Identification, Measures (Individuals), Primary Education, Nonverbal Ability,...
Canadian universities and colleges are becoming increasingly ethnoculturally diverse. Two major social forces have contributed to this change: immigration and increasing enrolment of international students. Minority and international students bring their values, language, culture and educational background to our campuses, to add to and enrich our educational environments. To build an inclusive education, we have the ethical and educational responsibility to embrace such difference and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Multicultural Education, Inclusive Schools, Universities, Cultural...
Although video has long been used as a teaching aid in adult literacy and basic education, literacy researchers seem to have ignored the potential benefits of using video as a tool that could add rigour to research. Reporting on their field experiences of an adult literacy learning study in Canada, the authors provide a narrative account of their use of video as a data collection tool. The article describes the methodological challenges associated with the use of video data and the procedures...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Adult Literacy, Videotape Recordings, Classroom Research, Visual...
Although all modalities of therapy work equally well, some models are better suited to work with specific populations. This article outlines a rationale for a counselling model used for female college students in the United Arab Emirates where the concept of counselling is not well known, and where the social and cultural organizations demand a more flexible and informal approach to helping. Two cases are presented using a systemic and solution-focused approach that accommodates culture,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Arabs, Gender Differences, Females, College Students, Case Studies, Models,...
In this paper the authors describe efforts to help students take a stand for social justice in the College of Education at one predominantly White institution in the western Rocky Mountain region. The authors outline the theoretical frameworks that inform this work and the context of our work. The focus is on specific pedagogical strategies used with teacher education students who primarily were from monocultural (Euro-American) communities in their preparation for diversity and equity in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Social Justice, Cultural Pluralism, Schools of Education, Teaching Methods,...
Emiliana Vegas surveys strategies used by the world's developing countries to fill their classrooms with qualified teachers. With their low quality of education and wide gaps in student outcomes, schools in developing countries strongly resemble hard-to-staff urban U.S. schools. Their experience with reform may thus provide insights for U.S. policymakers. Severe budget constraints and a lack of teacher training capacity have pushed developing nations to try a wide variety of reforms, including...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Education Programs, Educational Quality, Teacher Salaries, Teacher Shortage,...
Helen Ladd takes a comparative look at policies that the world's industrialized countries are using to assure a supply of high-quality teachers. Her survey puts U.S. educational policies and practices into international perspective. Ladd begins by examining teacher salaries--an obvious, but costly, policy tool. She finds, perhaps surprisingly, that students in countries with high teacher salaries do not in general perform better on international tests than those in countries with lower...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Salaries, Mentors, Special Programs, Teacher Shortage, Foreign Countries,...
The authors introduce readers to the research documenting racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness. They describe the key tests, including the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), and several intelligence tests, and describe how they have been administered to several important national samples of children. Next, the authors review the different estimates of the gaps and discuss how to interpret these differences. In interpreting test results,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, School Readiness, Intelligence Tests, Test Results, Test Theory, Family Income,...
During middle childhood, children begin to navigate their own ways through societal structures, forming ideas about their individual talents and aspirations for the future. The ability to forge a positive pathway can have major implications for their success as adults. The pathways to success, however, may differ for children of diverse cultural, racial, ethnic, and national backgrounds. This article provides a conceptual model of child development that incorporates the contextual, racial, and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Racial Segregation, Social Stratification, Cultural Influences, Immigrants, Child...
According to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, childhood obesity rates are highest among ethnic minorities. It is very helpful to consider the role of culture when attempting to analyze and explain obesity rates in ethnic minority populations. Culture influences the attitudes and beliefs toward exercise, food and nutrition, and body image. It is important for professionals such as teachers, doctors, counselors, and health and fitness educators to be culturally informed, or...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Obesity, Minority Group Children, Ethnic Groups, Cultural Influences, Cultural...
Educating preservice teachers for culturally responsive teaching in increasingly diverse contexts remains a substantive challenge. Research findings have suggested that courses in multicultural education have not had much impact on instructional practices of preservice teachers as they enter schools and classrooms. Other scholars have argued that student preservice teachers and teacher educators must reconsider their own assumptions and work towards a better understanding of values and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Preservice Teacher Education, Preservice Teachers, Multicultural Education, Cultural...
This article is representative of a larger body of work on reflective narratives and narrative reflection that has been ongoing for a number of years. The authors have pursued various iterations of the research topic in various classes at various institutions. They have documented that students focus on skills and attitudes that place them in favorable positions for working with diverse students and that such positions allow them to begin to understand the sociocultural contexts of the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Preservice Teacher Education, Preservice Teachers, Class Activities, Teacher...
The study reported in this article was focused on the first field experience in a teacher education program developed around themes of equity and social justice within a larger framework of inclusive education. The community-based field experience entails one-on-one mentoring in which elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) work with African American children in local public housing neighborhoods. This field experience challenges PSTs to work with and get to know children, families, and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Preservice Teacher Education, African American Children, Preservice Teachers,...
The divergence between a predominately White teacher education population and a diverse public school system poses this question: how do universities best prepare teacher candidates to teach children of racially and linguistically different backgrounds than their own? Teacher education programs have addressed this issue in a variety of ways, such as requiring multicultural coursework and/or requiring placements in urban schools. States, too, vary with respect to their requirements for...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Urban Schools, Public Schools, Education Courses, Multicultural Education, Teacher...
Schooling in general, and teacher education in particular, continues to address culture learning primarily from a cognitive orientation. That is, students read, watch films, listen to speakers, observe in classrooms and hold discussions around issues of cultural difference. This continues in spite of the growing body of research that demonstrates the critical role that experience plays in enhancing intercultural development. The preparation of internationally-minded teachers who ultimately...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Teaching, Foreign Students, Cultural Differences, Teaching Experience, Study...
This article unravels the political, public, and private discourse shadowing Mexican immigrants in the Southwestern U.S. The author illustrates how the dominant discourse with regard to immigration in the U.S. has led to the dehumanization of migrant people significantly impacting what occurs in their daily lives and directly influencing the perceptions of both policymakers and educators. Negative connotations are ascribed to the movement of people of color the moment they cross the border. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mexican Americans, Cultural Differences, Immigrants, Mexicans, Public Opinion,...
This study investigated the perceptions of African American adult family members, their children, and teachers regarding how family members viewed their roles in assisting their elementary-aged children to become better readers. The study compared each of the subgroups' perceptions respectively regarding: (a) the child's reading level; (b) family reading practice; and (c) the perceived barriers and opportunities in families' decisions to help the child become a better reader. Survey...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Reading, Academic Achievement, Questionnaires, African American Students, Teacher...
Culture differences within parent communities provide challenges for schools trying to develop a successful parental involvement policy. In this study, we explore schools' practices and policies with respect to parental involvement. This study was carried out at four elementary schools in the Netherlands. Interviews were conducted with the schools' principals concerning the schools' experiences with the parental involvement of diverse groups of parents. The results of this study indicate that...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Parent Participation, Cultural Differences, Parent School Relationship, Foreign...
At both state and federal levels, partnerships of schools, parents, and communities have become an educational priority. Are teacher education programs adequately preparing preservice teachers for these partnerships? Focus groups of College of Education (COE) faculty from five Illinois Professional Learner's Partnership universities were conducted to answer this question. This study is organized around key themes that emerged from the discussions: importance of including the topic in teacher...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Teaching, Preservice Teachers, Teacher Education Programs, Focus Groups,...
Increasing diversity in the student population intensifies the need for and the difficulties of establishing culturally sensitive and meaningful communication between teachers and parents. This study examined the practices of early childhood and elementary teachers concerning culturally sensitive home-school communication. As a second phase of a multi-phase research design, focus group discussions were conducted with 21 participants. Discussions centered on the teachers' understanding of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Research Design, Focus Groups, Disabilities, Student Diversity, Cultural Differences,...
Working with Romanian colleagues from the Institute of Public Health, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, researchers set out to discover what health promotion strategies and interventions were being used by Romanian health professionals, to find out who Romanian citizens learn healthy behaviors from, and to discover the perceived needs regarding health promotion which include; strengths, weaknesses, barriers, and enablers of healthy behavior. A quantitative survey examining health promotion activities,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Health Education, Health Promotion, Community Action, Health Personnel, Public...
Teachers beliefs about their ability to affect students' performance is an important part of professionalism. This study compared 725 Hong Kong and 575 Shanghai primary in-service teachers on their teacher efficacy. Two Chinese versions of the 12-item Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale were used in this study since some wordings of the Hong Kong version of the Scale (HK-TSE) were different from the Shanghai version (S-TSE) as a result of cultural differences. Basically, the Shanghai teachers...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Effectiveness, Measures (Individuals), Cultural Differences, Foreign...
Invitational theory uses many elements to define, describe, and delineate its beliefs and practices. For example, the Five Ps of people, places, policies, programs, and processes are consistently cited in the literature and research as the framework for assessing inviting practices. Another example is the presentation of four areas of inviting: (1) Inviting Oneself Personally; (2) Inviting Oneself Professionally; (3) Inviting Others Personally; and (4) Inviting Others Professionally. Such...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Theories, Human Relations, Researchers, Cultural Differences, Theory...
Diversity and multicultural education is fast becoming the norm. Race, gender, ethnicity, ability, language, culture, socioeconomic class, family configurations, interests, or combinations of these produce enormous diversity issues. The refection of this huge sociocultural diversity--children coming from different ethnic backgrounds--has significantly increased in the United States in recent years. The purpose of this study is to understand the dynamics of three preservice teachers' beliefs and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Preservice Teacher Education, Constructivism (Learning), Preservice Teachers,...
The study described in this article took place in an international consortium type model program. The International Teacher Education Program (ITEP) is a California State University System (CSUS) credential program for elementary teacher candidates who are pursuing teacher certification as bilingual teachers (Spanish). Besides San Diego State University (SDSU), the program's spearhead campus, there are nine other California State University (CSU) campuses that participate, including...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Teaching, Foreign Students, Student Teachers, Teacher Education Programs,...
In today's increasingly polyglot classrooms, interpersonal and inter-group conflicts often arise out of mutual misunderstandings between different collections of students, some based on language or status differences but many more generated by emotionally charged misconceptions. As such, peer mediation and peaceful solutions to student arguments and fights are needed. To assess whether cultural connection represents a viable alternative to conflict resolution in helping ameliorate strained...
Topics: ERIC Archive, African American Students, Conflict, Slavery, Peer Mediation, Misconceptions,...
The Ontario Ministry of Education has made a recent commitment to address the achievement gap between Aboriginal and non-aboriginal students with the release of various policy documents. Yet, there appears to be a disconnect between the policy principles and the standardized means of reconciling these differences in achievement, teacher education, and parental involvement. The dualities between the expressed intent presented in the policy documents and the reality of Aboriginal epistemologies...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Canada Natives, Parent Participation, Parent School Relationship, Foreign Countries,...
This essay uses the concept of the constellation to characterize the relations among interdisciplinarity, cultural memory, and comparative literature. To do so entails: (a) reviewing the paradoxical interdisciplinarity of comparative literature, (b) tracing its establishment at a liberal arts college (Bryn Mawr College, USA), and (c) describing a course on "The Cultural Politics of Memory" that tested the limits of scholarship and testimony. The discussion includes an account of an...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Pantomime, Preservation, Archives, Foreign Countries, Liberal Arts, Ethnicity,...
Guided by both Coleman and Bourdieu's theories on social capital, I interviewed Chinese immigrant parents to understand their experiences in weaving social connections with the school and teachers to benefit their children's education. This study confirms Coleman's argument that human capital in parents will not transfer to the children automatically. The intergenerational transmission process is interrupted because the parents, although well educated, are not familiar with norms and practices...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Human Capital, Parent Attitudes, Parent Participation, Parent School Relationship,...
This article describes a case study constructed by the authors based on the journal entry of Jackie, a white, upper-middle class student teacher in secondary social studies, to examine how candidates in two teacher education courses were inclined to think through a specific teaching situation. Specifically, the authors examined how candidates drew from three domains of dispositions--intellectual, cultural, and moral (ICM)--as they analyzed the case twice over the course of one semester. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Strategies, Preservice Teacher Education, Preservice Teachers, Education...
Twenty-one in-service early childhood students participated in a teaching practicum in Australia as part of the final year of a Bachelor of Arts in Hong Kong. Students spent two weeks visiting a university and early childhood settings in Australia. The university based component of the program included workshops and discussions with lecturing staff located in both the Australian and Hong Kong universities. Students were asked to complete written statements about "What is children's...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Preservice Teacher Education, Student Teachers, Practicums, Teacher Education...
The development of a humor measure was described in a brief report in this journal. In that report, a series of suitable congruous and incongruous pictures were developed with a community sample of children. The findings of that study were consistent with those reported by others (Chik, 2001; Masten, 1989; Schultz, 1972), indicating that incongruity is an essential component of humor appreciation. With a larger (n = 140) and more representative sample, we embarked on a follow-up validation...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Humor, Foreign Countries, Grade 3, Grade 6, Pictorial Stimuli, Age Differences,...
After the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the University of Michigan admission cases, which struck down racial preferences and quotas in Michigan's undergraduate and law school admission, several groups have challenged race-conscious admission, school placement policies and academic support programs. Even the federal government has challenged race-conscious scholarship and support programs at various institutions. Race-conscious affirmative action policies in higher education have been in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Race, Law Schools, Computer Software, Affirmative Action, Federal Government,...
Institutions of higher learning serve as a portal, through which opportunities for life, and potential for social evolution are intrinsically bound. The decision of who is allowed to pass through this portal is not only a defining moment for the individual student, but also a significant portent towards the fulfillment of social justice on which this nation was founded. At the front lines of this issue are admission officers, who through their leadership have the power to advocate for equal...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Social Justice, Equal Education, Higher Education, Construct Validity, Cultural...