Diversity in the Classroom

This new edition builds on the theories presented in the first and includes the views of Howard Gardner and Lev Vygotsky, amongst others. It addresses many aspects of anti-bias education, promotes teachers' self awareness, and provides guidelines for setting up multicultural environments. The first edition of this book was introduced more than a decade ago. In those ten years, the complexion of the United States has begun to change with the arrival of many immigrants, and as a country, we have continued to struggle over the issues of racism, sexism, and so on. This new edition of Diversity in the Classroom builds on the theories presented in the first edition, now incorporating the perspectives of Michael Cole, Howard Gardner, Lev Vygotsky, Sonia Nieto, Lisa Delpit, and Jamie Wurzel. Frances Kendall addresses many aspects of antibias education—from the stages of child development to strategies for educating parents—focusing particularly on the teacher's role as an agent of change. Kendall promotes teachers' self-awareness and provides guidelines for setting up multicultural environments and curricula. Two appendixes provide bibliographies of books to increase awareness in both adults and children.

This casebook is part of a nationwide effort to capture and use practitioner knowledge to better prepare teachers for the reality of today's classrooms, given a student population vastly different from that of even a decade ago. Consciously designed to provoke engaging and demanding discussion, the cases presented here are candid, dramatic, highly readable accounts of teaching events or series of events. Set in three of the nation's most diverse cities -- San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix -- the cases offer problem-based snapshots of on-the-job dilemmas. The teacher-authors discuss topics that generate heated interchange and run the risk of polarizing opinions and creating defensive assumptions, particularly those dealing with bias, race, and class. These issues, plus cultural behaviors and socioeconomic circumstances have important implications for classroom practices. By examining such issues, the editors hope that educators will see -- and act on -- the need for a greater variety of teaching styles, distribution of opportunities, and educational access for all students.