International Journal of Multicultural Education
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Critical Multicultural Analysis of Award-winning Texts Representing Latina/o/e Experiences
No full textABSTRACT: The Pura Belpré Award honors Latina/o/e writers and illustrators whose works are acknowledged as best portraying, affirming, and celebrating Latina/o/e cultural experiences for children and youth. Using a critical content analysis of 14 chapter books that received the award, we share findings that reveal the texts consistently portrayed Latina/o/e central characters through asset-based frameworks. The critical content analysis indicated that the central characters demonstrated the asset-based strengths of interdependence and resourcefulness. Interdependence was demonstrated with families and communities, and remarkable resourcefulness was evidenced by pooling physical, internal, and social resources to creatively solve challenges. Implications for practice, especially in relation to supporting culturally sustaining pedagogy in classrooms, are discussed
Exposing White Fragility and White Emotionalities in Hello Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea
No full text In a society steeped in media, teacher educators receive an education inside and outside the classroom. Thus, we aim to engage in critical race media literacy through an analysis of Hello Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea. We do so through a frame of white fragility (DiAngelo, 2011) and white emotionalities (Matias, 2016). In this article, we argue that it is vital to disrupt and challenge notions of white supremacy and whiteness by highlighting examples of white fragility and white emotionalities in the media to make visible what often operates as invisible in society
Preparing Linguistically and Culturally Conscious Pre-service Teachers with a Community-based Service-learning Project
No full textTeacher preparation for culturally and linguistically diverse communities is crucial as classrooms become increasingly diverse. This study reports on the interaction between 20 pre-service teachers (PSTs) and adult emergent bilinguals during a community-based service-learning (CBSL) project. The project was part of a course offered at a state university in the northeastern USA. The qualitative data demonstrated that the PSTs gained sociolinguistic consciousness, learned about language learners’ prior experiences and linguistic proficiencies, and identified the linguistic demands of the interaction. The study also revealed that CBSL projects can possibly be an effective means of teacher preparation for emergent bilinguals worldwide.
Assessing Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices to Differentiate Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in Secondary Classrooms
No full textThis study examined self-reports and instructional videos provided by 25 preservice teachers to demonstrate differentiated instruction in meeting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students (CLDS) in the United States. Self-reported journals were thematically analyzed and compared with corresponding instructional videos. The results revealed a mismatch between perceptions and practices of differentiation. Clearly, additional efforts must be taken to prepare preservice teachers to differentiate their instruction for CLDS in the areas of content, process, product, and environment. Teacher preparation programs must invest time and resources to adequately prepare preservice teachers for the challenge of differentiating instruction for CLDS
“We Wanna Feel Like We Are America”: Examining the Inclusive and Exclusionary High School Experiences of New Americans in a Small City
No full textThis transcendental phenomenology centers on the perceptions and experiences of New Americans from Africa and Asia who attended high schools in a smaller urban area located in North Dakota. Using Anderson et al.’s (2014) ecology of inclusive education (EIE), we identify environmental factors that promoted or undermined inclusive education experiences for the New Americans in our study. Themes include: collaborative and welcoming EL teachers, differences between mainstream and EL classes and teachers, problematic experiences with school administrators, valued connections with American peers, and balancing family responsibilities with school. Implications for policy and practice that support the inclusion of New Americans in all schools are provided, including ways to disrupt bias in schools and approaches to providing supports for New Americans and their families
Challenges for Teachers Working in Mainstream Schools with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in Chile: Two Case Studies
No full textRecently, Chile has experienced a significant increase in linguistically and culturally diverse immigrants from Haiti. However, little is known about how Chilean teachers cope with this issue. Using Haworth’s (2009) model of contextual layers of teachers’ work as a conceptual lens, this article reports the findings from two case studies. Findings show that participants often struggled to teach their culturally and linguistically diverse students. These difficulties were attributed to teachers’ low levels of professional preparedness to work with these students and limited in-school support. The article offers several implications for different stakeholders
Just Singing and Dancing: Official Representations of Ethnic Minority Cultures in China
No full textThis paper uses a critical multicultural, constructivist approach to examine how the Chinese government represents minority cultures in its official discourse. Although at an abstract level the government acknowledges the contributions of minority cultures to society, our findings show a mismatched picture in terms of minority representation. Government documents and discourse recorded and obtained on the government website only highlight traditional and stereotypical cultural aspects related to minorities. These representations essentialise minority cultures, obscure their dynamism and their contributions, reinforce power hierarchies, and discourage critical reflexivity. In this context, we recommend addressing fundamental challenges undergirding this pattern in representation to develop more balanced and comprehensive understandings of minority cultures
“All Children Matter”: A Preservice Teacher’s Understanding and Practice of Culturally Responsive Teaching in a Third-Grade Mathematics Classroom
No full textAs public schools in the United States become increasingly diverse, the need to prepare competent preservice teachers who can teach in culturally diverse contexts is imperative. There is dire need to prepare mathematics teachers who understand the importance of aligning classroom experiences with students’ home cultures to enhance their academic, social, and cultural wellbeing. This study, therefore, was designed to examine how one preservice teacher understood the concept of culturally responsive teaching, and how she later implemented culturally responsive practices in a third-grade mathematics classroom during her student teaching assignment
“I’m Brazilian, Not Brazilian American”: The Experiences of Second-Generation Brazilian Adolescents Preserving Their Heritage Language and Resisting Assimilation
No full textCulture and heritage language (HL) preservation are crucial to developing children of immigrants’ ethnic and social identity, creating a sense of belonging, and fostering family and ethnic community support. However, numerous challenges permeate the experiences of underrepresented ethnolinguistic groups like Brazilian immigrants who are largely invisible in the United States. Therefore, this study investigated the lived experiences of second-generation Brazilian adolescents with culture and HL preservation. In-depth interviews and a focus group were conducted with 13 participants. The findings highlighted the participants’ embrace of their Brazilian ethnic identity and rejection of their American citizenship, and emphasized HL in affirming their identities and confronting discrimination
The Creation of National Cultures through Education, the Inequities They Produce, and the Challenges for Multicultural Education
No full textThis essay compares and contrasts the educational movements of three nations—the United States, Mexico, and the Soviet Union—established according to Eurocentric cultural values. In each country, mass education was undertaken to help produce an assimilative national culture during formative periods characterized by instability. In two of these nations, the U.S. and Mexico, this foundation eventually required an accommodation to address multiculturalism. This latter-day perspective is designed to recognize, respect, and appreciate a variety of cultures. This essay examines the ways in which these two oppositional goals—monoculturalism and multiculturalism—have intersected in schools.