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Books > Social sciences > Education > Teaching of specific groups > Teaching of ethnic minorities
This book, authored by K-4 elementary educators, working at a
publicly funded non-profit charter school, illustrates the power of
culturally responsive teaching and learning as it becomes embedded
in the New York State Education Curriculum. Educators, families,
and community members contributed to this unique program with the
goal of enhancing learning environments by applying the languages
and cultures of their students in their classrooms. Strong,
carefully attentive, school leadership encouraged culturally
responsive teaching and learning with the belief that children in
this urban, economically stressed area could demonstrate
significant academic and social/emotional gains. Readers of this
book will witness culturally responsive lessons, family interviews,
and whole school events that honor languages and cultures
represented in the school. Sample classrooms' culturally responsive
lessons tied to the curriculum, are presented. Additionally,
qualitative and quantitative student academic and affective gains
are analyzed. Moreover, this book clearly demonstrates the talents,
vision, and compassionate care given to children and their families
by exceptional educators. A CRTL Montage was created for this book.
It includes classrooms, children, teachers, family, and community
members. Teachers collected CRTL experiences and presented them to
Producer, Dean Meghan Miller and Director, Designer, Dean Pamela
Smith. They also received support for the montage from Instructor
Allen Lauricella, and Graduate Assistant Elizabeth Kenny, Syracuse
University, Newhouse School.
The perspective espoused by this volume is that collaboration among
universities, schools, and communities is a crucial element in
ensuring the provision of optimal learning environment for both
im/migrant children and their parents. Chapter authors share their
practice and theorizing regarding the many questions that arise
when schools and universities collaborate with communities and
build supportive structures to nurture literacy among im/migrant
students. Enlightened teaching and culturally aware approaches from
teachers engender support and cooperation from parents. Enlightened
leadership is a constant thread through all the endeavors that are
chronicled by contributors, as are the implications for socially
just outcomes of successful implementation of inclusive pedagogies.
Writing about the Children Crossing Borders study which began in
2003, Tobin (2019) asserted that "the social and political
upheavals surrounding migration has (sic) put increasing pressure
on the ECEC [early childhood education and care] sector to build
bridges between the host and newly arrived communities" (p. 2).
Tobin recalled that the original grant proposal for the Children
Crossing Borders described young migrant children as "the true
transnationals, shuttling back and forth daily between the cultures
of their home and the ECEC [programs]" (p. 1)-programs staffed by
well-intentioned individuals who nevertheless may "lack awareness
of im/migrant parents' preferences for what will happen in their
children's ECEC program" (p. 2). To extrapolate from Tobin's
summary of the findings of Children Crossing Borders, for both the
true transnationals (the children) and their parents, "the first
and most profound engagement they have with the culture and
language of their new host country" (p. 1) may well be mediated by
a teacher who is unaware of the intricacies of the community.
Given the increasing diversity of the United States and students
entering schools, the value of teacher learning in clinical
contexts, and the need to elevate the profession, national
organizations have been calling for a re-envisioning of teacher
preparation that turns teacher education upside down. This change
will require PK-12 schools and universities to partner in robust
ways to create strong professional learning experiences for
aspiring teachers. University faculty, in particular, will not only
need to work in schools, but they will need to work with schools in
the preparation of future teachers. This collaboration should
promote greater equity and justice for our nation's students. The
purpose of this book is to support individuals in designing
clinically based teacher preparation programs that place equity at
the core. Drawing from the literature as well as our experiences in
designing and coordinating award-winning teacher education
programs, we offer a vision for equity-centered, clinically based
preparation that promotes powerful teacher professional learning
and develops high-quality, equity-centered teachers for schools.
The chapter topics include policy guidelines, partnerships,
intentional clinical experiences, coherence, curriculum and
coursework, university-based teacher educators, school-based
teacher educators, teacher candidate supervision and evaluation,
the role of research, and instructional leadership in teacher
preparation. While the concepts we share are research-based and
grounded in the empirical literature, our primary intention is for
this book to be of practical use. We hope that by the time you
finish reading, you will feel inspired and equipped to make change
within your own program, your institution, and your local context.
We begin each chapter with a "Before You Read" section that
includes introductory activities or self-assessment questions to
prompt reflection about the current state of your teacher
preparation program. We also weave examples, a "Spotlight from
Practice," in the form of vignettes designed to spark your thinking
for program improvement. Finally, we conclude each chapter with a
section called "Exercises for Action," which are questions or
activities to help you (re)imagine and move toward action in the
(re)design of your teacher preparation program. We hope that you
will use the exercises by yourself, but perhaps more importantly,
with others to stimulate conversations about how you can build upon
what you are already doing well to make your program even better.
This book presents different practices and strategies for the
English as an additional language classroom as well as units that
could be adapted to various grade levels, English language
proficiency levels, and linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The
research, lessons, and concepts included in the book present
innovative ideas in EAL education. The chapters are the result of a
professional learning program for 30 English as a Foreign Language
(EFL) teachers from Brazil, held at the University of Miami's
School of Education and Human Development in the Spring semester of
2018. The program, entitled "Six-Week English Language Certificate
Program for High School English Teachers from Brazil (PDPI),"
contained several components related to language development and
methodology, including orality, reading, writing, linguistic and
grammatical knowledge, and interculturality. The program was guided
by the principle of multiliteracies, with a focus on English
language development through new possibilities to participate in
meaning making that incorporates verbal, visual, body language,
gestures, and audiovisual resources.
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