Sonia Nieto, Patty Bode - Affirming Diversity - The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education-Pearson (2018)

AffirmingDIVERSITY
Seventh Edition
NIETO
BODE •
AFFIRMING DIVERSITY
The
SOCIOPOLITICAL
The SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT of MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

CONTEXT of
MULTICULTURAL
EDUCATION
www.pearson.com
Seventh Edition
SONIA NIETO • PATTY BODE

Affirming Diversity
A01_NIET7232_07_SE_FM.indd 1 10/11/17 4:25 PM

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EDITION
Affirming Diversity
The Sociopolitical Context of
Multicultural Education
Sonia Nieto
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Patty Bode
Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools,
Amherst, Massachusetts
330 Hudson Street, NY NY 10013

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this textbook appear on the appropriate page within text.
The book’s front cover is made up of self-portraits from students at Springfield Conservatory of
the Arts public school in Springfield, Massachusetts in 2015 with art teachers, Patty Bode and
April Wesley. Student artists from top left in clockwise order: Teyonce Nunnally-Bess, Caleb
Rosario, Syonah Seabrooks, Kyarah Thomas-Archie, Cristian Matos, Savione Mohown, Kaseem
Walters, Joemar Burgos, Dynesty Peña
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ISBN-10: 0-13-404723-0
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This book is dedicated to all those teachers who teach, believe in,
and love their students, and to the students in our schools today,
with the gifts of curiosity, energy, resilience, determination, and
awe they bring to our world. They are, after all, our future.
—S. N. and P. B.

About the Authors
Photo credit Mark Moriarty
Sonia Nieto has dedicated her professional life to issues and social justice.
With experience teaching students at all levels grades through graduate school,
currently she is Professor Emerita Literacy, and Culture, University of Massachu-
setts, Amherst. The and numerous journal articles and book chapters, she is the
awards for her research, advocacy, and activism, including the Educator of the
Year Award from the National Association for Multicultural and the Social Justice
in Education Award from the American.
Patty Bode combines nearly 20 years in PK–12 classrooms, and a decade in

higher education, to inform social justice perspectives in her current work as the
principal of Amherst-Pelham Regional Middle School in Massachusetts Public
Schools. Patty’s research, teacher leadership, and community collaboration focus
on imaginative school structuring and curriculum reinvention. She has received
awards for efforts in antiracist and antibias curriculum reform and bridging theory
and practice in multicultural education—including the 2017 Art Educator of the
Year for Supervision and Administration of the Eastern Region by the National Art
Education Association; the Massachusetts 2017 Art Educator of the Year from the
Massachusetts Art Education Association; the 2016 Women’s Caucus Carrie Nord-
lund Award in PK–12 Feminist Pedagogy, also from NAEA; and 2005 Multicultural
Educator of the Year Award from the National Association for Multicultural
Education.
vii

Brief Contents
Foreword xiv
Preface xvii
I
Setting the Stage: Multicultural Education Within a Sociopolitical
Context 1
1 Understanding the Sociopolitical Context of Schooling 3
2 Defining Multicultural Education for School Reform

by Sonia Nieto 30
II
Developing a Conceptual Framework for Multicultural
Education 47
3 Racism, Discrimination, and Expectations of Students’
Achievement 49
4 Structural and Organizational Issues in Classrooms

and Schools 91
5 Culture, Identity, and Learning 135
6 Linguistic Diversity in U.S. Classrooms 184
7 Understanding Student Learning and School Achievement 215
III
Implications of Diversity for Teaching and Learning in a
Multicultural Society 247
8 Learning from Students 249
9 Adapting Curriculum for Multicultural Classrooms by Patty

Bode 289
10 Affirming Diversity: Implications for Teachers, Schools, Families,

and Communities 321
References 341
Index 355
viii

Contents
Foreword xiv
Preface xvii
Task 6: Examining Political Struggles—

I Multicultural Education, Backlash, and
Legislation 21
The Back-to-Basics Argument 21 • Eroding the Tradi-
Setting the Stage: Multicultural tional Educational Canon 22 • Political Struggles of
Legislation and Policy 23
Education Within a Sociopolitical
Conclusion 28
Context 1 To Think About 28
Activities for Personal, School, and Community Change 28
1 Understanding the Sociopolitical

Context of Schooling 3
Chapter 1 Notes 29
Assumptions Underlying this Text 3 2 Defining Multicultural Education for

School Reform by Sonia Nieto 30
Identity, Difference, Power, and Privilege Are All
Connected 4 • Multicultural Education Is Inclusive
Why School Reform? 31
of Many Differences: Lenses of Race, Ethnicity, and
Language 4 • Teachers Are Not the Villains 5 A Definition of Multicultural Education 31
• Quality Public Education Is a Cause Worth Multicultural Education Is Antiracist
Fighting For 5 Education 32 • Multicultural Education Is
Defining the Sociopolitical Context of Basic Education 35
Multicultural Education 6 About Terminology: The Conundrum of Race 36
Task 1: Clarifying Three Goals and Four Key Multicultural Education Is Important for All
Terms of Multicultural Education 6 Students 37 • Multicultural Education Is
Pervasive 38
Defining Key Terms in Multicultural Education 7
What You Can Do “Multiculturalize” Your
Task 2: Dissolving Myths About Immigration Lessons 39
and Difference 12
Multicultural Education Is Education for Social Justice 39
What You Can Do Your Story and the Stories of Others: • Multicultural Education Is a Process 40 • Multicultural
Immigrant Nation 14 Education Is Critical Pedagogy 41
Task 3: Naming the Underpinnings of Educational What You Can Do Learn About, and Practice,
Structures 14 Critical Pedagogy 42
School-Level Policies and Practices 15 Conclusion 45
Task 4: Studying the Demographic Mosaic of U.S. To Think About 45
Schools and Society 16 Activities for Personal, School, and Community
What You Can Do Explore Your Own Heritage Change 45
and the Heritage of Others 19 Chapter 2 Notes 46
Task 5: Using Qualitative Research to Understand
Students’ Sociopolitical Contexts 19
Choosing Methodology: What Are Case Studies? 19 •
Beyond Generalizations and Stereotypes 20 • Learning
from the Case Studies and Snapshots 21
ix

x CONTENTS
What You Can Do Detrack Extracurricular

II Activities 94
Retention 95
Developing a Conceptual Framework Standardized Testing 96
for Multicultural Education 47 What You Can Do Be Proactive About Tests 98
The Curriculum 99
What You Can Do Use the Curriculum Critically 102
3 Racism, Discrimination, and Expectations
of Students’ Achievement 49
Pedagogy 103
What You Can Do Punch Up Your Pedagogy! 105
Racism and Discrimination: Definitions School Climate 105
and Dimensions 49
School Climate: Social and Emotional
Critical Race Theory and Other Frameworks 50 Learning 106 • School Climate: Anti-Bullying Ini-
• Obstinacy of Conventional Norms 50 • Institutional tiatives 106 • School Climate: Physical Violence and
Practices 51 Safety 107 • School Climate: School Buildings, Physical
What You Can Do Directly Confront Racism and Environment, School and Class Size 109
Discrimination 53 What You Can Do Enliven Your Environment 110
The History and Persistence of Racism in U.S.
Disciplinary Policies 110
Schools 53 • Manifestations of Racism and
Discrimination in Schools 54 What You Can Do Create Inclusive Disciplinary
Practices 111
Racism, Discrimination, and Silence 56
The Limited Role of Students 112
Multicultural Teaching Story Immigration
Rights and Family Stories 57 The Limited Role of Teachers 113
Expectations of Students’ Achievement 61 Multicultural Teaching Story Boston
Teachers Union School: Teacher Leadership
SNAPSHOT Aiden and Daniel O’Carroll 62 and Student Achievement 114
About Terminology: White Privilege 63 Limited Family and Community Involvement 118
What You Can Do Start Early 64 What You Can Do Vigorously Promote Family
Outreach 118
Considerations About Research on Teacher
Expectations 65 Conclusion 119
To Think About 120
High Expectations as Antiracist Teaching 65
SNAPSHOT Kaval Sethi 66
Chapter 4 Notes 120
What You Can Do Promoting Racial Literacy in Your
Classroom and School 68 CASE STUDIES
Conclusion 69 Avi Abramson 121
To Think About 69 Jasper and Viena Alejandro-Quinn 128
Activities for Personal, School, and Community Change 69 About Terminology: American Indians, Native
Americans, Indigenous People 133
Chapter 3 Notes 70
CASE STUDIES
Delilah Rogers 71 5 Culture, Identity, and Learning 135
Linda Howard 77
Countering Color-Blind Classrooms 135
About Terminology: Whites, European Americans 85
Rashaud Kates 86
Defining Culture 137
Hybridity: Another Way of Understanding
Culture 138
4 Structural and Organizational Issues in
Classrooms and Schools 91
Beyond Race and Ethnicity 139
Influence of Culture on Learning 139
Tracking 92 Learning Styles, Preferences, Intelligences,
and Power 142

CONTENTS xi
Power Differences 143 • Multiple Intelligences Developing an Additive Bilingual Perspective 194
and Multicultural Education 143 What You Can Do Accept Students’ Identities 195
Communication and Pedagogy 144 Consciously Fostering Native-Language Literacy 195
What You Can Do Teach Through the
Transformational Inquiry Method 145 Program Models for Teaching Emergent
Bilinguals 196
What You Can Do Research Families’
Funds of Knowledge 147 Structured English Immersion (SEI) 196 • English as a
Second Language 196 • Bilingual Education 196
Cultural Discontinuities and School
Achievement 147 Problems and Challenges 198
Discontinuities in Language 147 • Discontinuities in What You Can Do Accept Students’
Perspectives on School Achievement 148 • Confronting Language 199
Myths to Address Discontinuities 148 • Historical Causes Conclusion 200
of Discontinuities 149
To Think About 200
Culturally Relevant, Responsive, and Sustaining Activities for Personal, School, and Community
Education 150 Change 200
Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy 150 Chapter 6 Notes 201
A Critical Appraisal of Culture-Specific
Accommodations 151
CASE STUDIES
Manuel Gomes 201
Conclusion 152
Alicia Montejo 208
To Think About 153
Activities for Personal, School, and
Community Change 153
Chapter 5 Notes 153 7 Understanding Student Learning and

School Achievement 215
CASE STUDIES
Caring Relationships, Hope and Healing 216
Yahaira León 154
Caring as Hopeful Power to Transform Trauma 217
About Terminology: Latinos, Hispanics, and
Others 162 Teacher Expectations and Asset-Based
James Karam 162
Pedagogy 218
Hoang Vinh 169
Asset-Based Perspectives in Policy and Systemic
Change 219
Rebecca Florentina 177
Out-of-School Factors 220
Economic and Social Reproduction and Out-of-School
6 Linguistic Diversity in U.S.

Classrooms 184
Factors 220 • Communities Respond to Out-of-School
Factors 220 • Out-of-School Factors (OSFs) and Policy
Proposals 221
Definitions and Demographics 184 What You Can Do Build Collegial Relationships for
Solidarity Rooted in Research 222
Language Diversity in U.S. Schools:
A Brief History 186 Discipline Disparities and Restorative Justice 223
Resistance, Discipline Disparities, and the School-to-
Language Diversity, the Courts, and the Law 186 Prison Pipeline 223 • Restorative Justice Practices in
Linguistic Diversity and Learning 189 Schools 224
Understanding Language in a Sociopolitical What You Can Do Engage in Collaborative Research to

Promote Teaching as Intellectual Work 225
Context 190
SNAPSHOT Liane Chang 192 SNAPSHOT Nini Rostland 225

About Terminology: Mixed Race/Multiracial/
Approaches to Teaching Emergent Bilingual Multicultural/Multiethnic 227
Students 193
Student Identities Within School Structures 227
About Terminology: Asians/Pacific Islanders 193
Racial Opportunity Cost and a Re-Examination of “Acting
Understanding Language Development and Second- White” 228
Language Acquisition 194

xii CONTENTS
Conclusion 230
To Think About 230
9 Adapting Curriculum for Multicultural
Classrooms by Patty Bode 289
Curricular Adaptation 1: A Study of
Chapter 7 Notes 231 Cambodia and the Cambodian American
Experience 290
CASE STUDIES
What We Don’t Know 291 • Preparation 291 • Goal
Paul Chavez 232 Setting 291 • The Work of Learning 292
Latrell Elton III 241 What You Can Do Teach for Interreligious
Understanding in Your Multicultural Curriculum 297
Curricular Adaptation 2: Expanding Definitions of
III Family 298
Why the Topic of Family? 298 • Who Is Included? 299
• Avoiding Pitfalls 299 • First-Grade Curriculum
Implications of Diversity for Teaching Based on Big Ideas in Gina Simm’s and Susie Secco’s
and Learning in a Multicultural Classrooms 300
Middle School Interdisciplinary Curriculum on the Theme
Society 247 of Family 304
What You Can Do Make Your School a “Welcoming
School” 305
8 Learning from Students 249 What You Can Do Use Technology to Expand Multicul-
tural Curriculum 309
Redefining Success and Achievement 249 Curricular Adaptation 3: LGBTQ Literature:

Expanding Topics for Inclusive High School
Pride and Conflict in Culture and Language 250 Content 310
Conflict and Ambivalence 251 • Self-Identification and Imagining Possibilities 310 • Student Requests and
Conflict 253 Requirements 311 • Student Voices 312 • Evolution
of Curriculum 312
SNAPSHOT Gamini Padmaperuma 254
Multicultural Teaching Story Bill Blatner: Teaching
Creating New Cultures 255 • Identity and Learning 257 Math with Belief in Every Kid 313
What You Can Do Become Knowledgeable About Arab
and Arab American Students 258
SNAPSHOT Eugene Crocket 317
Beyond Academics 258 Conclusion 318

Keeping on Track 259 To Think About 318
What You Can Do Widen Horizons by Acknowledging Activities for Personal, School, and
What You Do Not Know 260 Community Change 319
Shields Against Peer Pressure 260 • Developing Critical Chapter 9 Notes 319
Thinking and Leadership Skills 260 • Belonging 261
Family, Community, and School Environments for
Success 262
The Crucial Role of Family 262
10 Affirming Diversity: Implications for
Teachers, Schools, Families, and
Multicultural Teaching Story Dr. Renee Spanos Klein Communities 321
and Teacher Caring 264
Lessons from Students: Maintaining and Affirming
Teachers, Schools, and Caring 267
Identity 322
Conclusion 268 Supporting Native-Language Approaches 322 • Develop-
To Think About 268 ing Comprehensive Multicultural Programs 323
SNAPSHOT David Weiss 324
Chapter 8 Notes 269
Support Beyond Academics 325
CASE STUDIES Creating Affirming Environments for Learning 325
Nadia Bara 270 Mutual Accommodation 326 • Teachers’ Relationships
Savoun Nouch 276 with Students 326 • Working with Families to Promote
Christina Kamau 282 Student Learning 328

CONTENTS xiii
Expanding Definitions: What It Means to Final Thoughts 338

Be American 329 To Think About 339
Challenging “Heartbreaking Dilemmas” 329 • Toward Activities for Personal, School, and Community Change 339
Additive Multiculturalism 330 • A More Expansive Defi-
nition of American 330 • Eliminating shame and culti- Chapter 10 Notes 340
vating pride 331
Levels of Multicultural Education 331 References 341
Starting Out 332 • Becoming a Multicultural Index 355
Person 332 • A Model of Multicultural Educa-
tion 333 • Balancing Hope and Despair 337

Foreword
I
t is a privilege to be associated with this seventh edition of Affirming Diversity,
a book that has exerted a profound impact on American schools and teacher
education programs since its first edition in 1992. This is a textbook like no
other. It refuses to “play it safe” by glossing over the historical and current realities
of discrimination and exclusion in American and other societies. Over 25 years, it
has drawn from the lives of teachers and students to illustrate the impact of overt
racism and more subtle forms of institutional racism on the educational experi-
ences of students of color. It has highlighted the challenges experienced by LGBTQ
students as they negotiate their evolving identities in the face of widespread soci-
etal rejection. And it has exposed the irrationality of educational policies that
encourage bilingual students to abandon their home languages despite extensive
research evidence that the continued development of bilingualism and biliteracy
promotes academic achievement (e.g., August & Shanahan, 2006).
Affirming Diversity provides educators with a powerful set of conceptual tools
to push back against these societal power relations that constrict the instructional
space experienced by minoritized students. A central message throughout the
book is that teachers have choices. Teacher agency is the key to implementing
instruction that connects with students’ lives and affirms their identities. In their
own classrooms, teachers can foster critical literacy and extend instruction to
“uncomfortable” topics and issues. Many teachers, particularly in relatively afflu-
ent suburban schools, may prefer to avoid discomfort for themselves and their
students. As one of the young people highlighted in this book, ninth grader Delilah
Rogers insightfully observes, “Talking about race is like a ticking time bomb.”
However, if we avoid talking about race, power, and multiple forms of diversity,
are we simply transmitting a sanitized curriculum, rather than educating our stu-
dents? Are we perpetuating and complicit with societal discourses that implicitly
but clearly state that black lives don’t matter, that demonize immigrants and refu-
gees, and that ignore the rapidly increasing gap between affluent and impover-
ished communities?
As these questions illustrate, teacher identity is central to effective instruction.
Despite many constraints imposed by federal and state policies, as teachers, we
always have at least some degrees of freedom in how we interact with students,
how we connect with their cultural experiences and language talents, how we
involve parents in their children’s learning, how we adapt content to link with
students’ background knowledge and experiences, and in the levels of cognitive
engagement we try to evoke through our instruction. Alternative modes of assess-
ment (such as portfolio assessment) can also present a counter-discourse to the
inaccurate and misleading account of student progress and effort often reflected in
standardized test scores. In articulating our choices, both individually and collec-
tively, we rediscover and shape our own identities as educators and we also
become aware of the identity options that our instruction helps construct for our
students.
Sonia Nieto and Patty Bode open up a dialogical sphere of both affirmation
and resistance: affirmation of student and teacher identity and resistance to coer-
cive and misguided top-down control. When we realize that we do have choices,
and when we articulate these choices explicitly, we take the first steps toward
empowerment, which can be defined as the collaborative creation of power. Dis-
empowered teachers are not in a position to create contexts of empowerment for
xiv

FOREWORD xv
their students. We need to understand, and rediscover, the power that we bring to
the classroom, not as instructional technicians who simply transmit the curricu-
lum, but as educators whose instructional choices exert a dramatic impact on the
lives of our students.
Affirming Diversity challenges us, as educators, to make explicit the image of
our students and of our society that is implied by our interactions in the school
context. What kind of people do we hope our students will grow up to be? What
kinds of abilities and knowledge are accessible to them in our classrooms? What
kind of society do we hope they will create? The answers to all these questions are
written in the daily record of our interactions with our students. Our interactions
with students and communities constitute a moral enterprise, whether we define it
explicitly as such or not.
Students’ and teachers’ voices occupy a central place in this book. They com-
plement and illustrate the theoretical analyses and remind us that the interactions
between educators and students dramatically affect not only the acquisition of
knowledge and skills but also the creation of both student and teacher identity.
Unfortunately, in many classrooms, the curriculum has been sanitized such that
opportunities for critical reflection on personal and collective identity and on
issues of social justice are minimized. The image of our students and society
implied by this pedagogical orientation is an image of compliant consumers who
will gratefully accept their place within the existing power structure and who can
easily be manipulated to exercise their democratic rights to preserve that power
structure.
A radically different image is implied by the pedagogical orientations articu-
lated in Affirming Diversity. Students are viewed as critical thinkers capable of,
and responsible for, creating change through action both in their own lives and in
the broader society. Their interactions in school provide opportunities to collabo-
rate across cultural and linguistic boundaries in the generation, interpretation, and
application of knowledge. The curriculum orients students toward critical reflec-
tion on issues of social justice and how personal and collective identities are inter-
twined with historical and current societal power relations.
The term “multicultural education” does not figure prominently in the educa-
tional prescriptions of what historian Diane Ravitch (2013) has called the “corpo-
rate reformers” whose focus is increasing test scores and privatizing as much of
education as possible. Multicultural education is frequently dismissed within this
perspective as, at best, an off-task frill or, at worst, a radical challenge to funda-
mental values of American society. However, the alternative to multicultural edu-
cation is monocultural education. The history of monocultural education is written
in the certainties of the Crusades and the Inquisition, the smug brutalities of slav-
ery, the casual eradication of the language, culture, and identity of generations of
Native American children “educated” in boarding schools, as well as in contempo-
rary claims of fundamentalist groups, from various religious persuasions, to have
exclusive access to ultimate truths. Surely, 9/11 should have brought home to us
the destructive power of monocultural fundamentalist belief systems and the need
to figure out ways of living together in a global context where cross-cultural con-
tact and population mobility are at an all-time high in human history.
Affirming Diversity not only constitutes an eloquent and forceful statement
about the importance of multicultural education to our society, it also affirms the
central role that individual educators play in nurturing and shaping the lives and
identities of our youth. To be a teacher is to be a visionary—as we interact with
our students, we envisage what contributions they will play in shaping a better
society and we orchestrate our classroom interactions to enable them to realize
these possibilities. The pages of this book resonate with the voices of educators
whose vision of education encompasses equal opportunity for all students and
whose instruction focuses on expanding minds as the primary means of attaining
curriculum goals.
xv

xvi FOREWORD
Affirming Diversity does not supply prescriptions or formulaic solutions, but it

does present extensive empirical research and invites us to think and talk about
our own identities as educators and the potential and consequences of the choices
we make on a daily basis. As such, it represents a powerful source of inspiration,
ideas, and solidarity for all of us who see social justice and equity as important
core values within our educational systems. Affirming Diversity also highlights the
fact that our global society can use all of the multilingual and multicultural intelli-
gence it can get. The consequences of squandering the intellectual, linguistic, and
cultural resources that our students bring to school can be seen in our domestic
prisons, in our battlefields abroad, and in the spiritual malaise that afflicts our
society. This book does not provide a map, but it is a powerful source of
inspiration—it breathes new life into those of us who believe that education is fun-
damentally an ethical imperative, rather than just an economic or bureaucratic
exercise.
Jim Cummins
University of Toronto
References
August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Developing literacy in second-language learners. Report of
the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
Ravitch, D. (2013). Reign of error: The hoax of the privatization movement and the danger to America’s
public schools. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Preface
M
uch has changed in our society and in the world since the sixth edition of
Affirming Diversity was published. The United States is still engaged in two
long-running wars (in Iraq and Afghanistan), and most recently, the conflict
in Syria, while the threat of violence and terrorism still looms large on the world
stage. Interethnic, interracial, and interreligious hostility around the world, a leading
cause of ever more conflicts and wars, remains rampant. As a result, the number of
immigrants and refugees fleeing such conflicts is at an all-time high, and although
they have been welcomed in some nations, they have been roundly rejected in others.
The range of cultural and social differences in our communities, schools, and class-
rooms has increased tremendously over the past several decades. All of these issues
have considerable consequences for our nation’s classrooms. Moreover, with the elec-
tion of a president in 2016 with seemingly little knowledge, or appreciation, of public
education, the federal government’s growing commitment to privatization, vouchers,
and charter schools places public schools in a precarious position. These changes sig-
nal a dramatic shift in our nation’s historic commitment to public education.
The changing landscape of our world, our nation, and our schools confirms
the pressing need for interethnic understanding and cooperation, a need that is
more evident than ever before. At the same time, while multicultural and social
justice education are recognized by many as essential for living in today’s world,
many teachers and other educators are woefully unprepared to deal with the tre-
mendous diversity they will face in their classrooms—diversity not only of race,
ethnicity, and gender, but also of religion, ability, social class, life opportunities,
and more. In addition, the growing inequality in our schools and society, an
inequality leading to ever more alienation and anger among segments of the popu-
lation who have been overlooked and underappreciated, is leading to more con-
flict in our streets, legislatures, courts, and, of course, our schools.
This leads us to the need for this book. It is not only about cultural diversity but
also, and just as significantly, about why students succeed or fail in school. The
subject of much research and debate, this topic has particular salience for students
whose racial, ethnic, linguistic, or social identities differ from those of the dominant
group. In this book, we consider these matters in relation to a comprehensive
understanding of the current sociopolitical context. That is, rather than focus only
on individual experiences or psychological responses to schooling, we explore how
societal and educational structures, policies, and practices affect student learning,
and we suggest some ways that teachers as well as other educators, individually
and collectively, can provide high-quality education in spite of obstacles that may
get in the way. For us, multicultural education needs to consider not just schooling
but also the social, economic, and political context of the world in which we live.
In this seventh edition of Affirming Diversity, we continue to explore such
matters as diversity, equity, and equality, bringing our discussion up to date by
considering issues of current policy, practice, and legislation. For example, high-
stakes testing, the growing standardization of the curriculum, vouchers, “choice,”
charter schools, and a marketization of schooling have had a tremendous impact
on public schools in the past several decades. Increasingly, education is being
defined by policies far removed from daily classroom life but nevertheless having
enormous consequences for teachers, students, families, and communities. The
growing diversity in our nation and debates over immigration, the U.S. invasion of
Iraq and subsequent wars in which the United States is engaged, the economic
xvii

xviii PREFACE
recession and slow recovery, and its impact on many segments of the population,
inter-ethnic and interracial strife here and abroad, regional wars around the world,
global warming, the devastation of the environment—all of these call for a differ-
ent way to interact in the world. Not coincidentally, burgeoning awareness and
militancy have developed among educators who have tired of the unjustified
blame they receive for many of the problems in education. Their growing mili-
tancy is evident in numerous organizations focused on calls for social justice in
education and teacher empowerment, sometimes through teacher unions and
many times separate from them. This, too, is a significant situation that must be
considered in writing a book on education in today’s world.
Given the situation briefly sketched above, we believe teachers and prospec-
tive teachers need, more than ever, to understand how the larger societal context
affects students, particularly those most marginalized in schools, and in society in
general. Why do some students succeed academically, while others fail? What do
race/ethnicity, social class, language, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and other
differences have to do with learning? What is the real significance of the “achieve-
ment gap”? How does the societal context influence what happens in your school?
Do your school’s and your school system’s policies and practices exacerbate and
perpetuate inequality? Can teachers and other educators turn this situation around?
What is your role and how can you face these challenges with hope and joy?
Affirming Diversity is an attempt to answer these questions—and more—that both
new and veteran teachers face every day in increasingly diverse classrooms and in
schools that are becoming more bureaucratic and standardized.
About This Book

Affirming Diversity explores the meaning, necessity, and benefits of multicul-
tural education for students from all backgrounds through an extensive review of
research that explores:
• Influences on schooling and learning, such as:
• The sociopolitical context of schools and society
• Racism and other biases and expectations of students’ achievement
• School organization and educational policies and practices
• Cultural and other differences, including ethnicity, race, gender, language,
sexual orientation, religion, and social class
• A conceptual framework for multicultural education based on that investigation
• Case studies and snapshots—in the words of a selected group of students from a
variety of backgrounds—about home, school, and community experiences and
how these have influenced their school experiences
• Teaching stories that highlight specific teachers and the inspiring work they do
in their classrooms to address issues of equity and diversity in a variety of set-
tings, course content, and grade levels
The book presents data on the multicultural nature of schools and society,
including information about different sociocultural groups, their experiences in
schools, and the issues and challenges they face.
Affirming Diversity consists of 10 chapters organized in three parts. Part I sets
the stage for understanding the sociopolitical context of multicultural education.
Part II develops the conceptual framework for multicultural education, emphasiz-
ing institutional and cultural factors in schooling and individual and group
responses to diversity. This section explores the multiple forces that may affect the
school achievement of students from a variety of backgrounds.
To provide insights into the interrelated roles that discrimination, school poli-
cies and practices, and culture play in the education of students in the classroom,

PREFACE xix
we present 16 case studies and 7 snapshots. Incorporated throughout Parts II and

III, the case studies and snapshots highlight salient issues discussed in particular
chapters, and they provide a concrete means for addressing issues of diversity and
success or failure in schools. We hope that the case studies and snapshots will
help you more fully understand the lives and school experiences of a variety of
young people who reflect our nation’s growing diversity. Parts II and III also con-
tain a number of multicultural teaching stories that epitomize what teachers can
do, individually and in collaboration with one another, to put into practice some
of the theories developed throughout the text.
Part III focuses on the implications of the case studies, snapshots, and teach-
ing stories for teaching and learning in a multicultural society such as ours. We
use themes that emerged from interviews with students and teachers to emphasize
conditions that may affect learning for different students. In Chapter 9, three spe-
cific curriculum ideas for elementary, middle, and high schools are comprehen-
sively described. These examples embody what the previous chapters have defined
as multicultural education, that is, education that affirms diversity, encourages
critical thinking, and leads to social justice and action. Chapter 10 offers sugges-
tions for developing environments that foster high-quality education, concentrat-
ing on multicultural education as a process. In addition, in Chapter 10, we propose
a model of multicultural education that affirms all students.
Each chapter concludes with (1) a series of problems or situations for you to
contemplate and (2) suggestions for classroom activities and community actions.
By including these, we are not implying that there are immediate or easy answers
to the dilemmas you face in schools every day. The purpose of posing particular
problems and proposing activities to address them is to suggest that careful atten-
tion needs to be paid to the many manifestations of inequality in our schools and
that productive resolutions can be achieved when teachers, students, families, and
communities reflect critically on these problems and work together to solve them.
New to This Edition

Previous readers may notice a broad range of changes in this new edition.
About Terminology
In the sixth edition, we took each section of the chapter that in previous editions
was titled “About Terminology” and incorporated those sections throughout the
book. In this seventh edition, we continue to include the same feature, one that
clarifies what terms to use when referring to specific kinds of people, and how to
identify respectful language that describes group affiliations. You will see these
terms highlighted in boxes nearby case studies and snapshots when relevant to the
identities of the students discussed in those features. One About Terminology box
is new to this edition; titled “White Privilege,” it appears in Chapter 3.
Multicultural Teaching Stories

In the sixth edition, we introduced a new feature, multicultural teaching stories,
to highlight the important role of teachers in changing classrooms and schools. In
this edition, we include two new stories and update two familiar stories. The first
new story, “Immigration Rights and Family Stories” in Chapter 3, focuses on the
actions of a teacher, principal, and superintendent in one school district to address
the needs of immigrant families within the atmosphere of anti-immigrant vitriol
that has become more prevalent since the 2016 presidential campaign and elec-
tion. The second new story in Chapter 8 highlights the teaching of Renee Spanos
Klein, who embodies the ethic of care through what she calls “culturally relevant
writing pedagogy.” In Chapter 4, we revisit the Boston Teachers Union School,
a teacher-run school, five years later. In Chapter 9, we hear updates from Bill

xx PREFACE
Blatner and learn about the transformation of the math curriculum at his school
that was built upon his introduction of more inclusive math classes with a “belief
in every kid” to succeed.
A New Case Study

Delilah Rogers is the focus of a new case study in Chapter 3; she reflects on how
schools either silence or support student voices and talks about race in school
against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement.
A New Snapshot
Chapter 3 also features a new snapshot of two brothers: one a seventh grader and
the other a high school senior who identify as straight White males, and they both
discuss White privilege.
Thoroughly Updated References

We have gone to great lengths to thoroughly update the vast majority of the refer-
ences and studies cited throughout the text.
Student Art
The updated artwork appearing on the cover as well as in all the chapter openers
and part openers are portraits and self-portraits created by school students from
middle and high school.
Chapter by Chapter
Chapter 1, “Understanding the Sociopolitical Context of Schooling,” has expanded
its emphasis on the foundational concepts of the text. Updates include the most
recent research illustrating the six significant tasks of understanding the sociopo-
litical context of multicultural education: (1) clarifying the goals and key terms of
multicultural education; (2) dissolving myths about immigration and difference;
(3) naming the social, economic, political, and ideological underpinnings that
influence educational structures; (4) studying the current demographic “mosaic”
of our nation; (5) using qualitative research to understand students; and (6) exam-
ining the political struggles of legislation and policy in public education.
Chapter 2, “Defining Multicultural Education for School Reform,” remains the
anchor of the text, describing in detail Sonia Nieto’s definition of multicultural
education, which she offered in the first edition of this book in 1992. The defini-
tion remains rooted in the seven characteristics originally named while continu-
ing to evolve to address current conditions. Since Sonia developed this conceptual
framework in the first edition, she is listed as the sole author of this chapter.
Chapter 3, “Racism, Discrimination, and Expectations of Students’ Achieve-
ment,” has been thoroughly updated with new research and insights on these topics:
• Implicit bias, discussed under the section on critical race theory
• The history of housing segregation that influences school in a contemporary
context, discussed under the section on the systemic nature of discrimination
• The manifestation of racism and discrimination in statistics
• Statistics and research on teacher expectations
In addition, a new multicultural teaching story on immigration rights, a new
case study, a new snapshot, and a new About Terminology box have been added
to the chapter, along with a new What You Can Do: “Promoting Racial Literacy in
Your Classroom and School.”
In Chapter 4, “Structural and Organizational Issues in Classrooms and
Schools,” many of the topics covered have remained the same as in the sixth edi-
tion, although a great deal of new research on those issues has been included.

PREFACE xxi
• The section on discipline policies has been updated with resources about
restorative justice practices in schools.
• There is a new section on school climate with four subsections to reflect
the multifaceted issues that schools must address with a multicultural
perspective:
• social and emotional learning;
• anti-bullying initiatives;
• physical violence and safety; and
• school buildings, physical environment, school and class size.
• The chapter also includes an updated report about the Boston Teachers Union
School in its multicultural teaching story.
• There are many updated resources listed in several of the What You Can Do
boxes providing the most recent research to inform practice:
• being proactive about tests;
• using the curriculum critically;
• creating inclusive disciplinary practices; and
• vigorously promoting family outreach.
Chapter 5, “Culture, Identity, and Learning,” includes further explanation of
theories about culture and learning than in the previous edition. Recent research is
presented on culturally sustaining practices, as well as the relationship between
power, poverty, and learning.
Chapter 6, “Linguistic Diversity in U.S. Classrooms,” has been updated with
new definitions and cutting-edge research in the field.
Chapter 7, “Understanding Student Learning and School Achievement,” has
been completely revised in this edition, reflecting new research on:
• caring relationships, hope and healing;
• teacher expectations and asset-based pedagogy;
• out-of-school factors;
• discipline disparities and restorative justice; and
• youth identities within school structures.
Chapter 8, “Learning from Students,” includes a new multicultural teaching
story about a first-grade teacher’s efforts to affirm students funds of knowledge
through culturally responsive writing.
Chapter 9, “Adapting Curriculum for Multicultural Classrooms,” includes an
updated multicultural teaching story about Bill Blatner’s Interactive Mathematics
Program (IMP). We revisit the teaching story of the sixth edition and see how
Bill’s Math Department transformed the entire school math curriculum.
• Its language has been updated to include transgender identities more explic-
itly, especially in the discussion of LGBTQ curriculum.
• The coverage of Sara Barber-Just’s LGBTQ literature course has been updated,
reflecting the new literature she has added and the change in the course’s actual
title so it is more inclusive of transgender identities.
• A section has been added at the end of the unit on Cambodia, suggesting how
the same approach and activities might be applied to other refugee or immigrant
groups, depending on school population and location.
• The What You Can Do boxes feature the updated recommendations of recently
published resources under themes such as:
• Using technology to expand multicultural curriculum
• Making your school a “welcoming school”

xxii PREFACE
This chapter was single-authored by Patty Bode, so it bears Patty’s name.

Chapter 10, “Affirming Diversity: Implications for Teachers, Schools, Families,
and Communities,” continues to focus on communities. It highlights the impor-
tance of working with families to promote student learning.
Supplements and Learning Aids
Instructor’s Manual
The Instructor’s Manual includes a wealth of thoughtful ideas and activities
designed to help instructors teach the course. The IM contains a sample syllabus
and course suggestions. Each chapter includes the following elements: overview,
problem posing, response journal prompts, whole class/group work assignments,
student as teacher assignments, a critical pedagogy in action assignment, instruc-
tions for projects to be included in student portfolios and used as assessments,
handouts to accompany all assignments, and essay questions. (Available for
download from the Instructor’s Resource Center at http://www.pearsonhighered
.com/irc.)
PowerPoint™ Presentation
Created by Patty Bode, these PowerPoint slides outline the key points of each
chapter, and are customizable so that professors may add or delete material as
they see fit. Instructors may also download book-specific PowerPoint slides from
the Instructor Resource Center at http://www.pearsonhighered.com/irc. Your
local representative can provide a password and instructions for using the IRC.
We end this preface with a personal reflection from each of us.
Sonia
The first edition of Affirming Diversity, published over 25 years ago, helped define
my professional career. It also had an enormous impact on my personal and pro-
fessional life because it put into words the ideas and values about education, diver-
sity, and social justice I had been thinking about since I was a child, and especially
since I stepped into my first classroom at Junior High School 278 in Brooklyn, New
York, many years ago. Just a few years ago, the Museum of Education recognized
the first edition of Affirming Diversity as one of the 100 books in the twentieth cen-
tury to help define the field of education, something for which I am both humbled
and incredibly proud. I have been equally gratified by the enormous and generous
response of readers to the text through its first four editions when I was the sole
author, and since the fifth edition when Patty Bode accepted my invitation to
become my co-author. She has helped to make subsequent editions of Affirming
Diversity fresh, timely, and relevant to our times. Given the challenging times in
which we are living—particularly with relationship to public education—it is my
hope that the book will challenge you to think boldly and creatively about your
role in making schools inspiring and joyful for all students. In the process, I hope
that education becomes not only your profession but also a rewarding odyssey.
Patty
The first four editions of Affirming Diversity played a transformative role in my
research, teaching, and worldview. I was honored to become co-author on the fifth,
sixth, and now seventh edition and am eternally grateful to Sonia for inviting me to
participate in the continual metamorphosis of this important book. The work on the
text reflects the urgent calls I have heard through 18 years as a public school teacher,
a decade in higher education as a teacher educator, and now in my work as a school
principal to make our schools thrive as socially just places of joy and rigor. I strive
to bring those voices together with educational research that combines the most

PREFACE xxiii
current scholarship with foundational and landmark studies in the field to point
teachers toward creating meaningful, high-achieving, transformative learning com-
munities. As a teacher, I recognize the struggle that arises from competing messages
from academic, political, and popular culture about what counts as knowledge and
what defines teaching. The vision we assert in this book hopes to activate antiracist
critical pedagogy in classrooms. For all students and their families and teachers, I
hope that this new edition of Affirming Diversity contributes to creating change.
Acknowledgments
We are deeply appreciative of the many individuals who helped us create the sev-
enth edition of Affirming Diversity. We are particularly indebted to the students
who agreed to be interviewed: Delilah Rogers for the new case study, and brothers
Aiden and Daniel O’Carroll for the new snapshot. We owe thanks to Vera Sten-
house, who interviewed Daniel and Aiden. Also, we are most grateful to Renee
Spanos Klein, Alicia Lopez, and Mike Morris for participating in our new multi-
cultural teaching stories, as well as Bill Blatner, Laura Davila, and Eric Berg for
their time and effort in helping us update their teaching stories. For their dedicated
research assistance and overall commitment to the mission of the book, we thank
Nicole Singer and Bob Moriarty. Dr. Norm Gold, bilingual educator extraordi-
naire, reviewed and made suggestions for the revision of Chapter 6. We also thank
those who interviewed students for the case studies and snapshots throughout
all the editions: Keonilrath Bun, Paula Elliott, Kristen French, Maya Gillingham,
Jason Irizarry, John Raible, Stephanie Schmidt, Vera Stenhouse, Diane Sweet, and
Carlie Tartakov. We are also grateful to Kristen French, the author of the Instruc-
tor’s Resource Manual, a guide characterized by both a critical edge and helpful
pedagogical suggestions. We are tremendously grateful to the art teachers who
submitted their students’ artwork that appears on the cover and within the part
and chapter openers: Amanda Davis, Lily Friedling, Hannah Hartl, Ben Sears, Jeff
Stouder, and April Wesley. We deeply appreciate the talent and generosity of the
students who allowed us to reproduce their art. These art images inform each sec-
tion and emphasize the role of visual culture in multicultural education.
Professional colleagues who have read and commented on the various itera-
tions of this text have helped to strengthen it, and we are thankful to all of them.
For this seventh edition, we thank the following reviewers: Jennifer L. Brown,
Columbus State University; Michael Lee McDonald, NE Wesleyan University; Dr.
Christopher Weiler, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania; Celeste Williams, Ten-
nessee State University. Their detailed comments and suggestions for improving
the book were enormously helpful. At Pearson Education, we are grateful for the
tremendous support and encouragement we received from our editor, Julie Peters.
Once again, we owe a heartfelt thank you to Jim Cummins, a scholar of rare
genius and a wonderful friend, for writing the inspiring foreword to this seventh
edition. Jim has been a steadfast and enthusiastic supporter of this book since the
very first edition. His continuing willingness to write the foreword means a great
deal to us. And, of course, we would not be where we are without our families.
Sonia particularly wants to acknowledge Angel, her partner of 50 years, for his
unconditional love and support; Celso, her son-in-law; her daughters Alicia and
Marisa; and her granddaughter Jazmyne, who we raised, for teaching her how to
be a mother. Her other grandchildren—Corissa, Terrance, Monique, Tatiana,
Celsito, Aliya, Clarita, Lucia, Mariya, Kalil, and Angela—are another source of joy
and inspiration. Patty wants to thank Mark, her life partner, for his love, humor,
and encouragement, and her sons, Bob, Ryan, and Keo, for revealing the adven-
tures of life’s ongoing journey with special appreciation to her daughter-in-law
Maya and granddaughter, Anju for adding joyful meaning to it all.
Sonia Nieto
Patty Bode

PART
I
Setting the Stage
Multicultural Education Within
a Sociopolitical Context
"At its best, multiculturalism is an ongoing process of questioning, revising, and
struggling to create greater equity in every nook and cranny of school life. . . .
It is a fight for economic and social justice. . . . Such a perspective is not simply
about explaining society; it is about changing it."
—Rethinking Schools
15, no. 1 (Fall 2000)
T
o set the stage for understanding multicultural education within a broad
societal context and to help you think about the implications of this context
for students of diverse backgrounds, the two chapters in Part I introduce
a number of foundational concepts. In Chapter 1, we describe key assumptions
that undergird this text and define what we mean by the sociopolitical context of
Charlotte Price in Jeff Stauder’s art class,
Amherst-Pelham Regional High School, education by illustratinging six significant tasks of understanding. Chapter 1 also
Amherst Massachusetts. Charcoal drawing,
2014. introduces other fundamental definitions and parameters of multicultural educa-
tion and then presents demographic data about both the general population and
the population in U.S. schools, with implications of these data for education. We
briefly describe a key approach we have employed in this text, namely, the use of
case studies and snapshots that reflect some of the tremendous diversity that cur-
rently exists in our schools.
Using the discussion in Chapter 1 as a foundation, Chapter 2 defines multicul-
tural education and describes its essential components. Because we view multi-
cultural education as far more than simply altering the curriculum to reflect more
Brown and Black faces or adding assembly programs on diversity, Chapter 2 pro-
vides examples of what we mean by a critical multicultural perspective.
M01A_NIET7232_07_SE_P01.indd 1 09/11/17 5:14 PM

1 Understanding the
Sociopolitical Context
of Schooling
D
ecisions made about education are often viewed as if
they were politically neutral. Yet as we hope to make
clear in this chapter and throughout the text, such deci-
sions are never politically neutral. Rather, they are tied to the
social, political, and economic structures that frame and define
our society. The sociopolitical context of society includes laws,
regulations, policies, practices, traditions, and ideologies.
To put it another way, multicultural education, or any kind
of education for that matter, cannot be understood in a vacuum.
Yet in many schools, multicultural education is approached as
if it were divorced from the policies and practices of schools
and from the structures and ideologies of society. This kind of
thinking often results in misguided practices such as a singu-
lar focus on cultural artifacts like food and dress or on ethnic
celebrations that exaggerate attributes of groups and exoti-
cize them. It can become fictional multicultural education or
a tourist curriculum, disassociated from the lives of teachers,
students, and communities. This is multicultural education
without a sociopolitical context. In this book, however, we are
interested in how the sociopolitical context of the United States,
and indeed of our global society, shapes schools and therefore
also shapes the experiences of the children and adults who
inhabit schools.
Lexie Ephraim in Lily Friedling’s art class,
Amherst-Pelham Regional Middle School,
Amherst, Massachusetts. Graphite self portrait.
2017. Assumptions Underlying This Text
It is important that we begin by clarifying four major assumptions underlying the
concepts described in this book. These assumptions advance our goals to (1) con-
nect identity, difference, power, and privilege; (2) include many differences in
multicultural education; (3) counter the argument of “teachers as villains”; and (4)
defend quality public education.
“Desegregated schools . . . offer the single most powerful way to reach and prepare the coming genera-
tion, which will be the first to live in an America that is truly multiracial and has no racial majority
group. It is imperative that we take feasible steps to foster and sustain integration and to deal with the
deeply rooted harms of segregation.”
Gary Orfield,
Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge, 2009
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 3 10/11/17 8:57 PM

4 PART I Setting the Stage
Identity, Difference, Power, and Privilege Are All Connected

Race, ethnicity, social class, language use, gender, sexual orientation, religion,
ability, and other social and human differences are major aspects of the socio-
political context that we will address in this book—that is, one’s identity frames
(although it does not necessarily determine) how one experiences the world. Iden-
tities always carry some baggage; they are perceived in particular ways by a soci-
ety and by individuals within that society. Language identity as interpreted by a
spoken accent, for instance, may invoke positive or negative images, depending
on one’s social class, race, country of origin, and variety of language. As a con-
sequence, in the context of U.S. society, someone who is French and speaks with
a Parisian accent, for example, is generally viewed more positively than someone
from Senegal who also speaks French.
Yet multicultural education does not simply involve the affirmation of lan-
guage, culture, and broader aspects of identity, but also assertively confronts issues
of power and privilege in society. This means challenging racism and other biases
as well as the inequitable structures, policies, and practices of schools and, ulti-
mately, of society itself. Affirming language and culture can help students become
successful and well-adjusted learners, but unless language and cultural issues are
viewed critically through the lens of equity and the power structures that impede
the goals of social justice, these perspectives are unlikely to have a lasting impact
in promoting real change. Making explicit connections among identity, difference,
power, and privilege can move education toward such transformation.
Multicultural Education Is Inclusive of Many Differences: Lenses

of Race, Ethnicity, and Language
Keeping the connections among identity, difference, power, and privilege in mind,
this book’s framework and approach to multicultural education are broadly inclu-
sive: They are based on the belief that multicultural education is for everyone
regardless of ethnicity, race, language, social class, religion, gender, sexual orienta-
tion, ability, or other differences. Multicultural education as a field and in practice
is not directed at only one group or certain kinds of students. One book, however,
cannot possibly give all of these topics the central importance they deserve. For
that reason, this book uses race, ethnicity, and language as the major lenses to
view and understand multicultural education. While we address other differences
in one way or another, we give special emphasis to these. The inceptions of both
multicultural and bilingual education were direct outgrowths of the civil rights
movement, and they developed in response to racism (discrimination based on
race), ethnocentrism (discrimination based on ethnicity and national origin), and
linguicism (language discrimination) in education. These inequities continue to
exist, especially for American Indian, Latino, African American, Asian, and mul-
tiracial youngsters, and they are central to this book’s perspective and approach.
Nevertheless, we believe that multicultural education includes everyone, and we
have made an attempt in this text to be inclusive of many differences.
Having a broad definition of multicultural education raises another dilemma.
One reason that multicultural education is such a challenging topic for some edu-
cators is that they have a hard time facing and discussing the issues of race and
racism. For example, whenever we bring up racism with a group of predominantly
White teachers, we find that, too often, they want to move on immediately to,
say, sexism or classism without spending much time on racism. Sexism and clas-
sism are certainly worthy of study and attention—in fact, they must be part of
a multicultural agenda, and many books are dedicated to those topics—but the
discomfort of many White teachers in talking about race and racism is very evi-
dent and reason enough to confront it directly. Racism is an excruciatingly dif-
ficult issue for many White people. Given our nation’s history of exclusion and
discrimination, this is not surprising, but it is only through a thorough exploration
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 4 26/09/17 12:02 PM

CHAPTER 1 Understanding the Sociopolitical Context of Schooling 5
of discrimination based on race that we can understand the genesis as well as the
rationale for a broader framework for multicultural education that includes lan-
guage, social class, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, religion, and other differ-
ences. For these reasons, this book aims to include all students and all teachers in
such challenging yet hopeful discussions with a deliberate focus on race, ethnicity,
and language.
Teachers Are Not the Villains

Another belief that informs this book’s perspective and approach is that teachers
cannot be singled out as the villains responsible for students’ academic failure.
Although some teachers bear responsibility for having low expectations because
they are racist and elitist in their interactions with students and parents and thus
provide educational environments that discourage students of some backgrounds
from learning, most do not do this consciously. Most teachers are sincerely con-
cerned about their students and want very much to provide them with the best
education possible. Nonetheless, because of their own limited experiences and
education, some teachers may know very little about the students they teach. As a
result, their beliefs about students of diverse backgrounds may be based on spuri-
ous assumptions and stereotypes. These things are true of all teachers, not just
White teachers. In fact, being from a non-White ethnic group or background does
not guarantee that a teacher will be effective with students of diverse backgrounds
or even with students of his or her own background.
Teachers usually have little power in their schools. They are often at the
mercy of decisions made by others far removed from the classroom; they generally
have little involvement in developing the policies and practices of their schools
and frequently do not even question them. Teachers also are the products of edu-
cational systems that have a history of racism, exclusion, and debilitating peda-
gogy. As a consequence, their practices may reflect their experiences, and they
may unwittingly perpetuate policies and approaches that are harmful to many of
their students. We cannot separate schools from the communities they serve or
from the context of society in general. Oppressive forces that limit opportunities in
the schools reflect such forces in the society at large. The purpose of this book is
not to point a finger, but to provide a forum for reflection and discussion so that
teachers take responsibility for their own actions. The book aims to respect and
support teachers in their efforts to assert their intellectual and creative prowess in
challenging the actions of schools and society that affect their students’ education
in negative ways, and in helping bring about positive change.
Quality Public Education Is a Cause Worth Fighting For

Another key assumption of this book is that public education that ensures all stu-
dents full participation in a democratic society is worth defending and fighting for.
In spite of all its shortcomings, and although it has never lived up to its potential,
public education remains a noble ideal because it is one of the few institutions that
at least articulates the common good, even if it does not always deliver it. Public
education remains the last and best hope for many young people for a better life.
Yet the public schools have often been a target of scorn and disrespect in the press
and among politicians. In spite of this, the public still believes in the promise of
public education.
This was evident in the 45th annual poll of the public’s attitudes toward pub-
lic schools—the quantitative survey that Gallup conducted on behalf of Phi Delta
Kappa International on the opinions of the American public about key issues fac-
ing K–12 education in this country. The findings revealed that a majority of Ameri-
cans give the public schools in their community an A or B—the highest rating
ever recorded by this poll. Moreover, Americans trust public school teachers and
principals.1 The National Education Association (NEA) noted that despite suffering
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 5 26/09/17 12:02 PM

widespread repercussions of the economic downturn, voters across the country

endorsed candidates who supported public education.2 Moreover, research by
Christopher A. Lubienski and Sarah Theule Lubienski compared some public
schools to private and charter schools, specifically on the teaching of math. Their
studies reveal the advantages and success of public schools.3 Given this unam-
biguous and overwhelming support for public education, it is clear that public
schools can provide all children with a good education and it is within the ability
of teachers, administrators, and the public at large to ensure that they do so.
Defining the Sociopolitical Context

of Multicultural Education
Now that we have explained some of the assumptions underlying this text, we
want to define what we mean by the sociopolitical context of education. As you
will see in the remainder of this chapter, understanding this terminology and the
research that undergirds it is crucial to the critical view of multicultural education
asserted throughout our book. In what follows, we illustrate six significant tasks
of understanding the sociopolitical context: (1) clarifying three goals and four key
terms of multicultural education; (2) dissolving myths about immigration and
difference; (3) naming the social, economic, political, and ideological underpin-
nings that influence educational structures; (4) studying the current demographic
“mosaic” of our nation; (5) using qualitative research to understand students; and
(6) examining the political struggles of legislation and policy in public education.
Task 1: Clarifying Three Goals and Four Key Terms

of Multicultural Education
Depending on one’s conceptualization of multicultural education, different goals
may be emphasized. In this book, we want to make clear from the outset how we
define the goals and key terms of multicultural education, the first task of under-
standing the sociopolitical context. Given this text’s four major assumptions outlined
above, the major premise of this book is the following: No educational philosophy or
program is worthwhile unless it focuses on the following three primary goals:
1. Tackling inequality and promoting access to an equal education
2. Raising the achievement of all students through meaningful learning that pro-
vides them with an equitable and high-quality education
3. Providing students with an apprenticeship in the opportunity to become criti-
cal and productive members of a democratic society
Tackling Inequality and Promoting Access to an Equal Education

We believe that multicultural education must confront inequality and stratification in
schools and in society. Helping students get along, teaching them to feel better about
themselves, and sensitizing them to one another are worthy goals of good educa-
tional practice, including multicultural education. But if multicultural education does
not tackle the far more thorny questions of stratification and inequity, and if viewed
in isolation from the reality of students’ lives, these goals can turn into superficial
strategies that only scratch the surface of educational failure. Simply wanting our
students to get along with, and be respectful of, one another makes little difference in
the life options they will have as a result of their schooling. Students’ lives are inexo-
rably affected by economic, social, and political conditions in schools and society—
that is, by the sociopolitical context in which they live and learn—and this means
that we need to consider these conditions in our conceptualization and implementa-
tion of multicultural education. (Further elaboration on the terms equality and equity
is provided in this section under “Defining Key Terms in Multicultural Education.”)
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 6 26/09/17 12:02 PM

Raising Achievement of All Students

Learning is an equally central goal of multicultural education. Meaningful learn-
ing through academically fertile and aesthetically rich engagement in which students
make sense of their worlds and their place in it is at the very core of a multicul-
tural perspective. Having “feel-good” assemblies or self-concept–building classroom
activities will do little to create equitable school environments for students without
meaningful teaching and learning. Considering the vastly unequal learning outcomes
among students of different backgrounds, it is absolutely essential that achievement
of all students through an equitable and high-quality education be placed at the
center of multicultural education. (See the subsequent discussion of the “achieve-
ment gap” under “Defining Key Terms in Multicultural Education.”) Otherwise, if
they are not receiving a high-quality, rigorous education, too many young people
will continue to face harrowing life choices.
Providing Apprenticeships as Critical and Productive Members

of a Democratic Society
Learning to take tests or getting into a good university cannot be the be-all and
end-all of an excellent education. A third and equally crucial goal of multicultural
education is to promote democracy by preparing students to contribute to the general
well-being of society, not only to their own self-interests. Multicultural educator Will
Kymlicka has asserted that not only is multiculturalism about expanding individual
horizons, and increasing personal intercultural skills, but also it is essential that it
be part of the larger goals of justice and equality.4 (This is further discussed in the
section on “Social Justice” under “Defining Key Terms in Multicultural Education.”)
Defining Key Terms in Multicultural Education

In addition to asserting these three goals, the first task of understanding the socio-
political context also includes defining key terms. These definitions help explain
the approach we use in this book and support the three primary goals listed above.
These four key terms include: (1) equal and equitable, (2) social justice, (3) the
“achievement gap,” and (4) deficit theories.
Defining Equal Education and Equitable Education:

What’s the Difference?
Two terms often associated with multicultural education are equality and equity,
which are sometimes erroneously used interchangeably. Both equal education and
educational equity are fundamental to multicultural education, yet they are quite dif-
ferent. Educator Enid Lee has explained equity as the process while asserting equality
as the result of multicultural education.5 That is, for many educators, equal educa-
tion may mean simply providing the same resources and opportunities for all stu-
dents. While this alone would afford a better education for a wider range of students
than is currently the case, it is not enough. Actually achieving educational equality
involves providing an equitable education. Equity goes beyond equality: It means
that all students must be given the real possibility of an equality of outcomes. A
high-quality education is impossible without a focus on equity. Robert Moses, who
began the highly successful Algebra Project that promotes high-level math courses
for urban Black and Latino middle school and high school students, has advanced
the idea that quality education for all students is a civil rights issue.6 The work of
Moses exemplifies what James Banks calls “equity pedagogy,” which he includes
in his description of five dimensions of multicultural education. Banks explains that
an equity pedagogy exists when teachers modify their teaching to include a variety
of teaching styles and approaches that are consistent with the wide range of learn-
ing styles and cultural groups.7 In summary, equal education implies we are giving
every student the same resources and opportunities and an equitable education pro-
vides students with the resources and opportunities they need to achieve equality.
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Defining Social Justice

Frequently invoked but rarely defined, social justice is another term associated with
an equitable education. In this book, we define it as a philosophy, an approach, and
actions that embody treating all people with fairness, respect, dignity, and generosity.
On a societal scale, this means affording each person the real—not simply a stated
or codified—opportunity to achieve to her or his potential and full participation in
a democratic society by giving each person access to the goods, services, and social
and cultural capital of a society, while also affirming the culture and talents of each
individual and the group or groups with which she or he identifies.
In terms of education, in particular, social justice education is not just about
being nice to students, or about giving them a pat on the back. Nor does a social
justice curriculum merely ask students to make posters about their “favorite social
issue.” Social justice education includes four components:
1. It challenges, confronts, and disrupts misconceptions, untruths, and ste-
reotypes that lead to structural inequality and discrimination based on race,
ethnicity, social class, language use, gender and gender identity, sexual orien-
tation, religion, ability, and other social and human differences. This means
that teachers with a social justice perspective consciously include topics that
focus on inequality in the curriculum, and they encourage their students to
work for equality and fairness both in and outside the classroom.
2. A social justice perspective means providing all students with the resources
necessary to learn to their full potential. This includes material resources such
as books, curriculum, financial support, and so on. Equally vital, but often
overlooked, are emotional resources such as a belief in all students’ ability and
worth, care for them as individuals and learners, high expectations of and rig-
orous demands placed on them, and the necessary social and cultural capital
to negotiate the world. Providing all students with resources also includes a
school environment safe from discrimination. These are not just the respon-
sibilities of individual teachers and schools, however. Beyond the classroom
level, achieving social justice requires reforming school policies and practices
so that all students are provided with an equal chance to learn. This entails
critically evaluating policies such as high-stakes testing, tracking, student
retention, segregation, and parent and family outreach, among others.
3. Social justice in education is not just about giving students resources, how-
ever. A third component of a social justice perspective is drawing on the
talents and strengths that students bring to their education. This requires
embracing critical pedagogy and a rejection of the deficit perspective that has
characterized much of the education of marginalized students to a shift that
views all students—not just those from privileged backgrounds—as having
resources that can be a foundation for their learning. These resources include
their languages, cultures, and experiences.
4. A fourth essential component of social justice is creating a learning environ-
ment that promotes critical thinking and supports agency for social change.
Creating such environments can provide students with an apprenticeship
in democracy, a vital part of preparing them for the future. Much more will
be said throughout the text about how to create such a meaningful learning
environment.
These four components of social justice in education are woven throughout
the remaining chapters of the book.
Defining the “Achievement Gap”

Another term that needs defining is achievement gap. This term has evolved over
the past several decades to describe the circumstances in which some students,
primarily those from racially, culturally, and linguistically marginalized and low-
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 8 26/09/17 12:02 PM

income families, achieve less than other students. The U.S. Department of Educa-
tion’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) states: “Achievement
gaps occur when one group of students outperforms another group and the dif-
ference in average scores for the two groups is statistically significant.”8 Although
research has largely focused on Black and White students, the “achievement gap” is
also evident among students of other ethnic and racial backgrounds, such as Latino
and American Indian students.9
The problem with the term achievement gap is that it suggests that students
alone are responsible for their learning, as if school and societal conditions and
contexts did not exist. The result is that the problem is often defined as a “minor-
ity” problem rather than as a problem of unequal schooling. For all these reasons,
we use the term “achievement gap” with caution and always in quotation marks.
Yet there is no denying that the “achievement gap” is real: In 2015, the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that White students had
higher scores than Black students, on average, on all assessments. The NAEP data
show that from 1971 to 2012, the White-Black and White-Hispanic score gaps in
reading and mathematics narrowed as a result of Black and Hispanic students mak-
ing larger gains in achievement during that period than White students. However,
in reading, White students had average scores at least 21 points higher than those
of Black students and 25 points higher, on average, in math, on a 0 to 500 scale.10
Reports on Hispanic student achievement are also dispiriting overall. The data
from NAEP reveal that the gaps in math test scores between whites and Hispan-
ics remained at 21 points in fourth grade and 26 points in eighth grade. Read-
ing test gaps persisted at 25 points.11 Patricia Gándara’s research reveals that by
fourth grade, 16 percent of Latino students are proficient in reading, compared to
41 percent of White students, with a notably similar pattern at the eighth-grade
level, where only 15 percent of Latinos are proficient in reading compared to 39
percent of Whites.12 Clearly, the gap between African American, American Indian,
Hispanic, and some Asian (particularly Laotian and Cambodian) students com-
pared to White students remains very large. Specifically, the gap is the equivalent
of two grade levels or more, almost what it was in 1992. For example, while 41
percent of Whites are reading at grade level, only 15 percent of Hispanics and 13
percent of African Americans are at grade level. The gap worsens through the
years: Black and Hispanic twelfth graders perform at the same level in reading and
math as White eighth graders.13 The gap is not only deplorable, it is also an indict-
ment of our public education system.
In spite of the fact that the “achievement gap” is a reality, sometimes this
term is a misnomer because it places undue responsibility on students alone. As a
result, we believe that what has become known as the achievement gap can also
appropriately be called the resource gap, the opportunity gap, or the expectations
gap because student achievement does not come out of the blue but is influenced
by many other factors—that is, student achievement is related directly to the con-
ditions and contexts in which students learn. For instance, because some schools
are well endowed in terms of materials and resources, the students in these schools
have multiple means to help them learn. On the other hand, schools that serve
students living in poverty tend to have fewer resources and frequently employ
more inexperienced teachers, and thus they provide fewer opportunities for robust
student learning. School-related factors include low expectations, particularly in
schools that serve students who are both economically disadvantaged and from
ethnic and racial minority backgrounds, as well as other practices and policies that
jeopardize student learning.14 Thomas B. Timar’s research concurs. He reviewed
the efforts to close both the Black–White and Hispanic–White achievement gap.
The data pointed to some progress, but he found that the overall discouraging situ-
ation was an indicator of larger social, economic, and political difficulties. Timar
underscores that schools must be held accountable for their responsibility, but
the wider social conditions must be addressed as well.15 As Gloria Ladson-Billings
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points out: The historical, economic, political, and moral decisions that our society
has made over time have created these achievement disparities.16 She has argued
that the focus on school performance gaps is misplaced and that what must be
considered are the historical, economic, sociopolitical, and moral components of
racial stratification that have accumulated over time, amounting to what she has
dubbed the “education debt.”17
Keeping these realities in mind, it is also important to note that a common
response among educators and the public has been to focus on so-called sociocul-
tural “problems” and “deficits” more than on school-related factors. Turning this
thinking around would be a better policy because educators can do little to change
the life circumstances of students but can do a great deal to change the context of
schools. For example, some schools are successful with students of color, students
living in poverty, and students who live in difficult circumstances. What makes
the difference? Karin Chenoweth’s book How It’s Being Done: Urgent Lessons from
Unexpected Schools (2009) provides examples from eight schools throughout the
nation that were selected for the Education Trust’s Dispelling the Myth Award,
which is given to high-achieving, high-poverty, and high-minority schools. Che-
noweth’s research shines a light on successful school practices, such as teachers’
and administrators’ collaborative work to set standards and goals, as well as their
notable, palpable belief in their students’ capacity to achieve. She describes how
schools organize on one goal, that is, helping students learn a great deal. These
schools also focus on eliminating teacher isolation by providing time for teacher
learning through research-based discussions, which in turn spawns teacher col-
laboration that expands successful practices to create a collective culture of high
achievement for teachers and students alike.18
Chris Zurawsky also examined several school models and programs that have
proven consistently successful for most students of color. These programs share
two common traits: a demanding curriculum and a strong social support system
that values and promotes academic achievement. Zurawsky’s research under-
scores that a rigorous curriculum is not enough. Attention also must be given to
the social environment. Significant people in students’ lives who communicate the
value of academic success and effort made a difference in the successful programs
cited in his study. For elementary students, this translates into committed paren-
tal involvement. For older students, the support network expands to include peer
groups and mentors.19
Clearly, addressing school-related issues alone will not completely do away
with the “achievement gap” because life experiences and conditions such as pov-
erty play a large part in the differential learning of students. Paul E. Barton and
Richard J. Coley synthesized many research studies and reported on 16 “correlates
of achievement” that fall into three categories: school factors, factors related to
the homeschool connection, and factors that are present both before and beyond
school.20 A similar argument has been made convincingly by several noted schol-
ars, including Jean Anyon, who cites a wealth of research and other data to arrive
at the chilling conclusion that the primary cause of failed urban public schools
is not educational policy or urban family dynamics. Anyon’s analysis found that
these problems are a logical consequence of the structural inequities in federal
and regional policies and practices that support the U.S. macroeconomy.21 Despite
these outside factors, researcher Paul C. Gorski advances several practices in his
book Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Oppor-
tunity Gap, in which he provides what he calls the Equitable Learning framework
for youth and families in poverty. He also reviews myths and examines biases
faced by low-income families and furnishes research-based, effective strategies for
teachers working with students and families in poverty, with a strong emphasis on
the importance of collaborating with families.22
In summary, educator’s efforts cannot be underestimated, despite vast evi-
dence of the detriments of poverty.
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In spite of teachers’ best efforts, the effects of poverty can be devastating. In

a comprehensively researched article on the effects of poverty on learning and
achievement, David Berliner makes the argument that out-of-school factors (OSFs)
caused by poverty alone place severe limits on what can be accomplished through
educational reform efforts. He points out that too many OSFs are strongly cor-
related with class, race, and ethnicity, and schools are segregated by those very
same characteristics.23 His conclusion is that, to improve our nation’s school
achievement, a reduction in family and youth poverty is essential. Berliner’s rec-
ommendation to address the impact of poverty on schooling reflects the complex-
ity and urgency of the problem. He includes the following 11 efforts:
1. Reduce the rate of low-birth-weight children among African Americans
2. Reduce drug and alcohol abuse
3. Reduce pollutants in our cites and move people away from toxic sites
4. Provide universal and free medical care for all citizens
5. Ensure that no one suffers from food insecurity
6. Reduce the rates of family violence in low-income households
7. Improve mental health services among the poor
8. More equitably distribute low-income housing throughout communities
9. Reduce both the mobility and absenteeism rates of children
10. Provide high-quality preschools for all children
11. Provide summer programs for the poor to reduce summer losses in their aca-
demic achievement24
The suggestion that poverty and other social ills negatively affect learning
is unsettling and a reminder that schools alone cannot tackle the inequality and
stratification that exist in society. Richard Rothstein, an economist who has stud-
ied this issue extensively, has also suggested that school reform efforts alone will
not turn things around.25 He advocates three social program approaches that must
be pursued if progress is to be made in narrowing the “achievement gap”: (1)
promoting school improvement efforts that raise the quality of instruction; (2) giv-
ing more attention to out-of-school hours by implementing early childhood, after-
school, and summer programs; and (3) implementing policies that would provide
appropriate health services and stable housing and narrow the growing income
inequalities in our society. He contends that the harmful effects of concentrated
poverty are essential to address: Only by implementing all these measures would
poor children be better prepared for school.26
Perhaps the most dramatic example of the “achievement gap” can be found in
high school dropout rates. Researcher Gary Orfield has cited a few hundred high
schools in the nation—all overwhelmingly “minority,” low income, and located
in urban centers—where the dropout rate has reached catastrophic proportions.
He calls these high schools “dropout factories.”27 According to Orfield, the drop-
out rate of African American and Latino students is a civil rights crisis because it
affects these communities disproportionately. Less money per student is spent in
these “dropout factories” than in schools in other areas, sometimes representing
a difference of over $2,000 less per student.28 In other research, Orfield points to
failed policies of the recent past that have dismantled civil rights policies and he
calls for “reviving the goal of an integrated society.”29 The fact that these resegre-
gated “dropout factories” are, for the most part, located in economically strapped
communities that serve African American and Latino students, that they employ
more inexperienced teachers than those in wealthier districts, and that less money
is spent in them cannot be dismissed as coincidence. Furthermore, Gary Orfield’s
research with Erica Frankenberg calls attention to the racial demographic changes
in suburban schools, widening the lens on the conventional view of resegregation
issues in schools. They assert that racial changes in these suburbs have not been
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 11 26/09/17 12:02 PM

addressed, and that policies for in-school integration are needed. Their study high-
lights possibilities for constructive actions to be taken by federal and state agen-
cies.30 This is also a significant part of the sociopolitical context of education.
Deficit Theories and Their Stubborn Durability

Why schools fail to meet their mission to provide all students with an equitable
and high-quality education has been the subject of educational research for some
time. Deficit theories assume that some children, because of genetic, cultural, or
experiential differences, are inferior to other children—that is, that they have deficits
that must be overcome if they are to learn. As the “achievement gap” grows, theo-
ries about cultural deprivation and genetic inferiority are once again being used to
explain differences in intelligence and achievement, and the implications of these
deficit theories continue to influence educational policies and practices. There are
many obvious problems with such hypotheses, one being that they place complete
responsibility for children’s failure on their homes and families, effectively absolv-
ing schools and society from responsibility. Whether the focus is on the individual
or the community, the result remains largely the same: blaming the victims of poor
schooling rather than looking in a more systematic way at the role played by the
schools in which they learn (or fail to learn) and by the society at large. All these
factors need to be explored together.
Another problem with deficit theories is their focus on conditions that are
outside the control of most teachers, schools, and students. Deficit theories foster
despair in educators because they suggest that students’ problems are predeter-
mined and thus there is no hope for changing the circumstances that produced
them in the first place. Teachers and schools alone cannot alleviate the poverty and
other oppressive conditions in which students may live. It is far more realistic and
promising to tackle the problems that teachers and schools can do something about
by providing educational environments that encourage all students to learn. This
is why school policies and practices and teachers’ attitudes and behaviors, rather
than the supposed shortcomings of students and their families, are the basis for the
kinds of transformations suggested in this book. This is explored in more depth in
Chapter 7 in the section called “Teacher Expectations and Asset-Based Pedagogy.”
Task 2: Dissolving Myths About Immigration

and Difference
The second major task of understanding the sociopolitical context of multicultural
education emphasizes that immigration is not a phenomenon of the past. It remains
one of today’s most contentious issues and offers a particularly vivid example of
the sociopolitical context, despite its mythological influence on many assumptions
about U.S. identity and its society. In the past decade, these contentions have been
graphically illustrated by proposals at both the state and federal level. For exam-
ple legislation such as S.B. 1070, Arizona’s law of 2010, proposed several strict
measures that were widely viewed as anti-immigration.31 In the federal lawsuit that
challenged its constitutional integrity, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down three
provisions of the law in 2012, but it upheld the provision requiring immigration
status checks during law enforcement stops. Another indicator of social percep-
tions about immigration played out when tens of thousands of unaccompanied chil-
dren crossed the U.S. border from Central America without parents, and without
documentation in 2014 and 2015.32 The national outcry about the plight of these
children ranged from calling for immediate deportation to housing, embracing, car-
ing for, and educating the youngsters with the hope of reuniting them with their
families. As of this writing, legislators have failed to pass protections such as the
Dream Act and Senate bill S. 744.33 Debates about immigration legislation remained
a contentious issue during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and have become
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even more pronounced since the 2017 presidential inauguration, when unfounded
allegations accused immigrants of bringing crime and disease to the United States.
These were propagated by candidates in speeches and debates, and continue long
after the election to send chilling ripples of fear throughout some communities.
These constructed myths push up against real life humanitarian dilemmas and legal
struggles, which illustrate the contentious nature of differing attitudes concerning
immigration sentiment across the nation, and in turn impact our schools.
Furthermore, many families entering the United States as refugees—who argu-
ably deserve the greatest amount of support and most sincere welcome—may find
their children in schools where they endure mockery and intimidation regarding
many aspects of their lives, including clothing, food, language, religious observance,
and family structure. These oppressive acts and attitudes stem from social amnesia
surrounding the protected legal status of refugees, which was defined in 1951 by the
United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. According to the formal
definition of a refugee in Article 1A of that convention, a refugee enters a country
legally for protection from persecution “for reasons of race, religion, nationality, mem-
bership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his
nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the
protection of that country.”34 While refugee status was initially limited to protecting
European refugees after World War II, the concept of a refugee was expanded by the
convention’s 1967 protocol and by regional conventions in Africa and Latin America
to include persons who had fled war or other violence in their home country. It is
worth noting that while European refugees after World War II were not universally
welcomed on U.S. soil, the experiences of more recent groups of people of color enter-
ing the United States, such as El Salvadorans, Cambodians, Somalians, Sudanese,
Syrians, and many others, have been more negative, punctuated by racially moti-
vated atrocities. A review of research on refugee education by Sarah Dryden-Peterson
demonstrates that from World War II through the present conditions, the dilemma of
refugees residing between nation-states has had perilous consequences for the educa-
tion of refugee children. Gains have been made since the 1950s, but universal access
has not yet been achieved. This quandary plays out amidst high numbers of refugees
seeking asylum from global violence, such as the current crisis in Syria.35
Regardless of refugee status or documentation status, negative individual per-
spectives and social ideologies about many immigrants, especially those from Latin
America, Asia, and Africa, also often influence school policies and practices. It is
critical for school curriculum and teacher education programs to underscore that
the United States is not just a nation of past immigrants (who are often romanti-
cally portrayed), but also a nation of new immigrants who daily disembark on our
shores, cross our borders, or fly into our metropolitan areas and are deserving of
full participation in a democratic society.
Yet romantic myths about U.S. immigration die hard, and these myths influ-
ence some teachers’ views of students and their families. For example, the widely
accepted notion that immigrants came to North America and “made it,” never to
return to their countries of origin, is not entirely true. According to Irving Howe,
one-third of European immigrants who came to the United States between 1908
and 1924 eventually made their way back home, thus shattering a popular myth.36
In addition, and in spite of common assumptions to the contrary, most European
immigrants did not succeed academically. In his research, Richard Rothstein
found that, during the immigration period from 1880 to 1915, few Americans suc-
ceeded in school, least of all immigrants; in fact immigrants of all backgrounds did
poorly.37 Instead, it was the children and grandchildren of European immigrants
who fared well in school, but the myth that first-generation immigrants “made it,”
at least in terms of academics, is firmly established in the public psyche. Because
schools have traditionally perceived their role as that of an assimilating agent,
the isolation, rejection, and failure that have frequently accompanied immigration
have simply been left at the schoolhouse door.
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What You Can Do

Your Story and the Stories of Others: Immigrant Nation
Cultivating solidarity with, and empathy for, a wide range The Immigrant Nation website invites you to “watch a
of immigration stories has the potential to shift the national story. Discover how it’s connected to other stories, and share
and international conversation about who belongs where, your own”38 and provides an interactive storytelling platform
and what it means to become educated in a democracy. where teachers, students, and families can tell the story of
Engaging students and teachers in documentation of their their heritage, search for a wide range of other stories, and
own stories, and directly connecting with the stories of watch award-winning short films about immigrant experiences
others, are now possible through “Immigrant Nation” (also in the U.S. This dynamic resource holds promise for teach-
known as iNation), an online storytelling project created by ers in various content areas, especially social studies and
filmmaker Theo Rigby. Immigrant Nation has three compo- English Language Arts, in classrooms with many grade levels,
nents that will prove inspiring and resourceful for teachers and helps students reveal the sociopolitical context of their
and students: (1) its website; (2) a series of short documen- own education. Teachers do not need expensive technology
tary films; and (3) live events at schools, museums, libraries, equipment or highly technical training to log on and add sto-
film festivals, and other public spaces designed to engage ries to this worldwide resource, and watch the powerful short
diverse communities in sharing their immigrant stories. films. Visit the website of Immigrant Nation to get started in
your classroom.
Facing the ugly fact that U.S. history is also steeped in conquest and slav-
ery, or forced immigration, is essential in developing a multicultural perspective
and understanding its sociopolitical context. Millions of descendants of Africans,
American Indians, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and others colonized within and
beyond U.S. borders have experienced political and economic oppression and, in
schools, disparagement of their native cultures and languages. But the history of
racism and exploitation experienced by so many of our people is rarely taught.
Instead, conventional curricula and pedagogy have been based on the myth of a
painless and smooth assimilation of immigrants, thereby contributing to the stub-
born infrastructure ideology that perpetuates institutionalized racism.
The research reported in our book argues that we need to make the history
of all groups visible by making it part of the curriculum, instruction, and school-
ing in general. By highlighting the complexities of struggle and survival, we do
not aim to cast a negative pall on all of U.S. history. Rather, multiple perspec-
tives about the immigrant experience highlight the frailty as well as the heroism
in current and historic events. The words of the students in the case studies and
snapshots included in this book provide eloquent testimony about the complexity
of the immigrant experience.
These student examples provide a critical understanding of immigration and
colonization experiences, which are significant points of departure for our jour-
ney into multicultural education. This journey needs to begin with teachers, who
themselves are frequently uninformed about or uncomfortable with their own
ethnicity. By reconnecting with their own backgrounds and with the suffering as
well as the triumphs of their families, teachers can lay the groundwork for their
students to reclaim their histories and voices. This book invites you to cultivate a
critical perspective on these issues unencumbered by mythology and romanticism.
Task 3: Naming the Underpinnings

of Educational Structures
The third task of defining the sociopolitical context of multicultural education is
to name the ideologies underlying educational structures. These exemplify how
the sociopolitical context is operational at the school level. Schools’ and the larger
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 14 26/09/17 12:02 PM

society’s assumptions about people form a belief system that helps create and per-
petuate structures that reproduce those assumptions. For example, if we believe that
intelligence is primarily inherited, we will design schools that support this belief.
On the other hand, if we believe that intelligence is largely created by particular
social and economic conditions, our schools will look quite different. Likewise, if
we believe that some cultures are inherently superior to others, our schools will
replicate the cultural values that are assumed to be superior while dismissing others.
At a personal level, we take in the ideologies and beliefs in our society and we
act on them—whether we actively believe them or not. In the case of the ideology
of racism, for example, Beverly Daniel Tatum has aptly described racism as “smog
in the air”:
Sometimes it is so thick it is visible, other times it is less apparent, but always, day
in and day out, we are breathing it in. None of us would introduce ourselves as
“smog-breathers” (and most of us don’t want to be described as prejudiced), but if
we live in a smoggy place, how can we avoid breathing the air?39
The “smog” is part of the sociopolitical context in which we live and in which
schools exist. This context includes not only racism but also other biases based
on human and social differences, including social class, language, religion, sexual
orientation, gender, and other factors. Pretending that the smog doesn’t exist, or
that it doesn’t influence us, is to negate reality. A good example may be found in
school funding: In their yearly report on the funding of public schools, the Educa-
tion Trust has consistently shown that low-income students and students of color
are badly shortchanged by most states, proving once again that race and social
class still matter a great deal in our nation. In its 2010 report, the Education Trust
argued that Congress could promote funding equity within school district budgets
if the political will was demonstrated by closing loopholes in the comparability
provisions of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.40 Another
investigation by the Center for Reinventing Public Education reveals how school
funding policies have consistently given more resources to students who already
have more, and less to those who have less.41 A report to the U.S. Secretary of
Education by the Equity and Excellence Commission (a federal advisory commit-
tee chartered by the U.S. Congress) revealed that state funding disparities per pupil
spending in 2010 ranged from $6,454 in Utah to $18,167 in New York. Funding
discrepancies are also glaring across districts within states. Typically, the highest-
spending districts spend about twice as much per pupil than the lowest-spending
districts. In some states such as California, the ratio is closer to 3-1.42 Surely, no
one can pretend that this difference does not matter.
School-Level Policies and Practices

School funding is generally a state- and district-level issue. How does the socio-
political context affect policies and practices at the school level? Let’s take a very
concrete example: States that mandate that their schools enforce an “English-
only” policy are, wittingly or not, sending students a message about the status and
importance of languages other than English. In some of these schools, students are
forbidden to speak their native language not only in classrooms, but even in halls,
the cafeteria, and the playground. To students who speak a language other than
English, the message is clear: Your language is not welcome here; it is less impor-
tant than English. From a multicultural perspective, it goes without saying that if
your language is not welcome, your affiliation with your family and culture is also
not welcome. While the policy may have been well intentioned and created out of
a sincere effort to help students learn English, the result is deprecation of students’
identities. In some instances, these kinds of policies are not innocent at all, but
instead reflect a xenophobic reaction to hearing languages other than English in
our midst. In either case, the result is negative and an example of how ideologies
help create structures that benefit some students over others.
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Another obvious example is the curriculum: If the content of school knowledge

excludes the history, science, art, culture, and ways of knowing of entire groups
of people, these groups themselves are dismissed as having little significance in
creating history, science, art, culture, and so on. The sociopolitical context also
undergirds other school policies and practices, including pedagogy, ability group-
ing, testing, parent outreach, disciplinary policies, and the hiring of teachers and
other school personnel. This issue will be discussed in greater depth in Chapter 4.
To correct the educational shortchanging of diverse student populations, the
curriculum and pedagogy need to be changed in individual classrooms. But on a
broader level, changes must go beyond the classroom: Schools’ policies and prac-
tices and the societal ideologies that support them must also be confronted and
transformed. That is, we need to create not only affirming classrooms but also an
affirming society in which racism; sexism (discriminatory beliefs and behaviors
based on gender); social class discrimination; religious oppression; heterosexism
(discriminatory beliefs and behaviors directed against gay men, lesbians, bisexual
people, transgender people, queer, and those who identify as non-gendered indi-
viduals); ableism (discriminatory beliefs and behaviors directed against people
with disabilities); and other biases are no longer acceptable. This is a tall order,
but if multicultural education is to make a real difference, working to change soci-
ety so it is more socially equitable and just must go hand in hand with changes in
curricula and classroom practices.
Task 4: Studying the Demographic Mosaic

of U.S. Schools and Society
In the fourth task of understanding the sociopolitical context of multicultural edu-
cation, we need to study the changes in the United States in the recent past and
how these changes have transformed our schools. In what follows, we present a
mosaic of the rich diversity of the population in the nation as well as in our public
schools as a framework for understanding such a context. We focus on population
statistics, immigration, language diversity, and other differences that characterize
U.S. schools and society in the second decade of the twenty-first century.
We begin with an overview of the U.S. population in terms of race and eth-
nicity. The U.S. total population from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2016 was
323,148,587. The 2015 data explained that the nation’s Hispanic population con-
stitutes 17.6 percent of the nation’s total population, at 56.6 million, making it
both the largest and fastest-growing “minority” group. The next largest “minor-
ity group” is Blacks or African Americans, at 46.3 million. The current national
census was held in 2010; the next census is scheduled for 2020, so some of the
comparative data are from 2010, such as data illustrating growth in racial groups.
Growth among different segments of the population has not been proportionate:
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2000 to 2008, the number of Whites
increased by 6.4 percent and the African American population increased by 9.4
percent. By far, the largest increases were in the Latino population, which grew by
33 percent, and the Asian population, which grew by 28 percent.43
Even more dramatic than current population statistics are projections for the
coming years: The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that from 2000 to 2050, the total
population will have grown from 282.1 million to 419.9 million. Again, however,
the growth will not be even: The White population is expected to grow to 210.3
million, representing an increase of 7 percent, although it is expected to decrease in
the decades from 2024 to 2060. People of color, now roughly one-third of the U.S.
population, are expected to become the majority in 2043, and projected to be 57
percent in 2060. By 2023, people of color will comprise more than half of all chil-
dren. Whites are thus expected to comprise only 46 percent of the total U.S. popula-
tion by 2050, compared with 66 percent in 2008, becoming the new minority.44
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The African American population is expected to grow to 61.8 million, increas-

ing from 13.1 percent in 2012 to 14.7 percent of the total population in 2060. In
contrast, the Latino population is projected to more than double, from 53.3 million
in 2012 to 128.8 million during the 2008–2060 period. Its proportion of the nation’s
total population is projected to double, from 15 percent to 30 percent. If these pro-
jections bear out, nearly 1 in 3 U.S. residents would be Hispanic. Asians are also
expected to increase substantially by doubling in number, from 15.9 million in
2012 to 34.4 million in 2060, an increase from 5.1 percent to 8.2 percent of the
total U.S. population. While American Indians and Alaska Natives are projected to
climb from 3.9 million to 6.3 million (or from 1.2 to 1.5 percent of the total popu-
lation), the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population is also expected
to double: from 706,000 in 2012 to 1.4 million by 2060. While a substantial jump
has already occurred in the number of people who identify themselves as being
of two or more races, it is projected that this number will more than triple from
7.5 million to 26.7 million.45 (These statistics are available from the U.S. Census
Bureau. A great deal of analysis is exhibited in multiple charts and tables at its
website, which is a rich resource for teachers.)
Another noteworthy indication of the growing diversity in the United States is
the current number of foreign-born or first-generation U.S. residents, which in the
year 2000 reached the highest level in U.S. history—56 million, or triple the num-
ber in 1970. And unlike previous immigrants, who were primarily from Europe,
more than half of the new immigrants are from Latin America, and 25 percent are
from Asia. In 2013, the following five countries accounted for 35 percent of all
new legal permanent residents or LPRs (in ascending order): Mexico, China, the
Philippines, India, and the Dominican Republic.46
The growth in immigration has been accompanied by an increase in linguis-
tic diversity. Currently, 20 percent of the total U.S. population speaks a language
other than English at home. As of 2008, 10.9 million school-age children (ages 5
to 17) spoke a language other than English (LOTE) at home; 7.8 million of these
children spoke Spanish at home.47 While Spanish is clearly the language spoken
by well over half of linguistically diverse students, there are also many other lan-
guages spoken in U.S. homes. (More information on linguistic diversity is given in
Chapter 6.)
The impact of the growing cultural, racial, national origin, and linguistic
diversity is clearly visible in our nation’s public schools in several ways. First,
the enrollment of students of color will continue to increase. According to the
U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
in 2016, about 54.5 million students were enrolled in public elementary and
secondary schools in the United States. Approximately 5.2 million others will
be enrolled in private schools. The data point to the continued decline in the
percentage of the White student population standing at 24.6 million of the 50.4
million public school students entering prekindergarten through grade 12 in the
fall of 2016. The statistics account for the remaining 25.9 million students of
color as follows: approximately 7.8 million Black students, 13.3 million His-
panic students, 2.7 million Asian/Pacific Islander students, 0.5 million American
Indian/Alaska Native students, and 1.5 million students of two or more races.
The Census Bureau’s population projections indicate that the student population
will continue to diversify in the coming years. The projected decline in the per-
centage of public school students who are White is expected to continue through
2025, as the enrollment of Latino students and Asian/Pacific Islander students
increases.48
Second, and closely related to that increase: Our public schools’ growing
diversity is clearly evidenced by the number of students who are foreign-born or
have foreign-born parents. As of 2009, over 49 million students, or 31 percent of
those enrolled in U.S. elementary and secondary schools, were foreign-born or had
at least one parent who was foreign-born.49
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FIGURE 1.1 Percentage Distribution of Students Enrolled in Public Elementary and

Secondary Schools, by Race/Ethnicity: Fall 2004, Fall 2014, and Fall 2026
100
90 Fall 2004 Fall 2014 Fall 20261
80
70
60 58
Percent
50
50 45
40
29
30 25
17 16 15 19
20
10 4 5 6
1 1 1 3 4
†
0
White Black Hispanic Asian/Pacific American Indian/ Two or
Islander Alaska Native more races
Race/ethnicity
Source: https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372
At the same time that diversity in schools around the country is growing, racial
and ethnic segregation has been on the rise. That is, students in U.S. schools are
now more likely to be segregated from students of other races and backgrounds than
at any time in the recent past. Indeed, according to Gary Orfield, much of the pro-
gress made in integrating the nation’s schools during previous decades was eradi-
cated by the end of the 1990s. For Blacks, the 1990s witnessed the largest backward
movement toward segregation since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v.
Board of Education, and the trend is continuing. For Latinos, the situation has been
equally dramatic: Latinos are now the most segregated of all ethnic groups in terms
of race, ethnicity, and poverty.50 Despite this trend, there is growing evidence that
schools with diverse student populations are good for students of all backgrounds.51
Race and ethnicity have a strong link to poverty due to the history of institu-
tionalized racism. The percentage of all people in the United States living below the
poverty level is currently 12.5 percent. The number of children living in poverty
increased by 21 percent from 2000 to 2008, which means there are at least 2.5 mil-
lion more children living in poverty now than a decade ago. Research shows that
compared to White families with children, Black and Latino families with children
are more than twice as likely to experience economic hardships. About 11 percent
of White children live in poverty, while 35 percent of African American, 31 percent
of American Indian, 31 percent of Hispanic, and 15 percent of Asian children live in
poverty. The poverty rate does not tell the whole story because the equations for the
federal poverty level have not been adjusted for inflation since the 1960s. In terms
of the school-age population, 41 percent of all U.S. children live in low-income fami-
lies, and over 20 percent live in poor families, which translates into the sobering
reality that more than half of all children in the United States live in some degree of
poverty. It is well documented that food insecurity, lack of affordable housing, and
other hardships affect millions of American children, not just those who are offi-
cially poor. Even more disturbing, although the number of children living in poverty
had declined from 1990 to 2000, it has been rising steadily since then.52
At the same time that the number of students of color, those who speak lan-
guages other than English, and those who live in poverty has increased to almost
50 percent of all school students, the diversity among the nation’s teachers has
not kept pace. For example, a 2014 report from the Center for American Progress
revealed that 82 percent of public school teachers were White, with just 18 percent
being people of color.53
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What You Can Do

Explore Your Own Heritage and the Heritage of Others
N o matter what subject matter you teach in schools, your

perspectives on American history and of your own herit-
age influence the ways in which you view your students’ herit-
and students. Pay particular attention to the ways in which
common assumptions or previously held beliefs are chal-
lenged by these well-researched texts. Suggested books and
ages and cultural identities. Reading books and viewing videos videos: A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America
that offer points of view often overlooked or covered up in tra- by Ronald Takaki (New York: Back Bay Books, 2008), with a
ditional American history books can expand your understand- video on C-SPAN’s Book TV; A People’s History of the United
ing of your ancestors’ experiences and the experiences of States: 1492 to Present by Howard Zinn (New York: Harper,
others. You can approach this as a personal goal for summer 2010); Voices of a People’s History of the United States, Sec-
reading or by pacing these books throughout the school year. ond Edition, edited by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove (New
Allow yourself some introspective time by keeping a jour- York: Seven Stories Press, 2009). For film resources, see a
nal, a sketchbook, or a blog about thoughts and questions documentary The People Speak, produced by the History
that bubble up in your journey into rethinking historical under- Channel from the texts edited by Howard Zinn, that weaves
standings. Another approach is to create a teachers’ reading archival footage and re-enactments of speeches performed
group with a cluster of colleagues. Recruit your teacher- by many popular celebrities. Also, for inspiration, resources,
friends to develop a book club to discuss your reflections and guidance for teachers using these ideas in the classroom,
about your own histories and the histories of your colleagues visit the website for the Zinn Education Project. 54
One implication of the tremendous diversity previously described is that all

teachers, regardless of their own identities and experiences, need to be prepared
to effectively teach students of all backgrounds. One way to do so is to heighten
awareness of the sociopolitical context of students’ lives by learning about the
social, cultural, and political circumstances of real students in real schools. In the
next section, we briefly discuss the case study approach used in this book to help
readers consider how they can best translate the information into their classroom
practices.
Task 5: Using Qualitative Research to Understand

Students’ Sociopolitical Contexts
The fifth task of understanding the sociopolitical context of multicultural educa-
tion concerns students—who they are, how they identify themselves, what their
families are like, how they live, the values they hold dear, what helps them learn,
and their desires and hopes for the future. Because of the importance of student
voices in understanding the sociopolitical context of education, our research in
this book includes case studies and snapshots that provide descriptions and stories
of students of diverse backgrounds.
Choosing Methodology: What Are Case Studies?

The case study approach fits within the social sciences general framework of
qualitative research. Sharan Merriam describes the essential characteristics of a
qualitative case study as an intensive, holistic description and analysis. She further
explains case studies as particularistic (focusing on one person or social unit),
descriptive (because the result is a rich, thick portrait), and heuristic (because it
sharpens the reader’s understanding, leading to discovering new meanings).55 A
case study is also inductive because generalizations and hypotheses emerge from
examination of the data. In this book, we use ethnographic case studies, which
include a sociocultural analysis of each of the students, all of whom are presented
contextually, that is, within their cultural and social environment.
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The case studies and snapshots differ in terms of length and treatment: Snap-
shots are short and written mostly in the words of the young people, with a brief
analysis, while case studies are longer and offer more in-depth analysis. Case stud-
ies are placed at the end of Chapters 3 through 8, and snapshots are located within
various chapters to highlight particular issues discussed in the chapters.
The young people in the case studies and snapshots are actual students who
were interviewed about their experiences in school; the importance of ethnicity,
race, culture, and language in their lives; what they like and dislike about school;
teachers who made a difference in their lives; and what they expect to get out of
their education. The students are described within a variety of settings—home,
school, community, and city or town in which they live—because, by looking at
each of these settings, we gain a clearer, more complete picture of their lives.
The students represent multiple communities and identities. As young men
and women from a number of racial, ethnic, linguistic, social class, and cultural
groups, they have had many different life experiences. They live in various geo-
graphic locations, from large cities to small rural areas and native reservations.
They are first-, second-, or third-generation Americans, or their ancestors may
have been here for many hundreds of years or even since the first humans popu-
lated this continent. Some are from families in economic difficulty, while others
are from struggling working-class, middle-class, or well-to-do families. Most are
heterosexual, and others are gay or lesbian. They range in age from 13 to 19.
When first interviewed, some of them were almost ready to graduate from high
school, a few were in middle or junior high school, and the others were at various
levels of high school. They range from monolingual English-speaking youths to
English-language learners, to fluent bilinguals. Their families vary from very large
(11 children) to very small (one child) in both one- and two-parent households.
Their parents’ educational backgrounds vary as well: from no high school educa-
tion to postgraduate degrees.
In spite of the vast differences in their experiences and backgrounds, most
(although not all) of the students in these case studies share one characteristic:
They are successful in school. Although there may be disagreements about what
it means to be successful (research by Michelle Fine, e.g., suggests that, in some
ways, the most “successful” students are those who drop out of school56), most of
the students have been able to develop both academic skills and positive attitudes
about themselves and about the value of education. They generally have good
grades, most have hopes (but not always plans) of attending college, and they
have fairly positive perceptions of school.
Beyond Generalizations and Stereotypes

We did not include these case studies and snapshots for the purpose of generali-
zation to all students in U.S. schools. No educational research, whether qualita-
tive or quantitative, can do so. The students in the case studies and snapshots in
this book are not samples, as might be the case with quantitative research, but
examples of a wide range of students. Case studies can help us look at specific
examples so that solutions for more general situations can be hypothesized and
developed. For example, James Karam, the Lebanese Christian student whose case
study follows Chapter 5, does not reflect the experiences of all Lebanese students
in U.S. schools. However, describing James’s experience within its sociocultural
framework can help us understand many experiences of other Lebanese students.
Whereas quantitative methods can yield some important data about Lebanese stu-
dents in general (e.g., their numbers in the United States or their relative levels of
achievement), it is only through a qualitative approach that we can explore more
deeply, for example, the impact on James of “invisible minority” status.
No case study of a single individual can adequately or legitimately portray the
complexity of an entire group of people. (Neither, of course, can any quantitative
approach claim to do this.) Although some Mexican Americans prefer to learn
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collaboratively, and some African American students may perceive school success
as “acting White” (these issues are discussed further in Chapters 7 and 8), many
do not. To reach such conclusions contradicts one of the very purposes of case
studies, which is to challenge stereotypes.
The case studies and snapshots are meant to encourage you to ask questions
rather than to make assumptions about what it means to be from a large family, to
be raised by two dads, to be Vietnamese, middle class, lesbian, African American,
Cape Verdean, or anything else. It is far easier to pigeonhole people according
to our preconceptions and biases, but the deeper struggle is to try to understand
people on their own terms. Some of the experiences, feelings, and statements of
the young people described in the case studies and snapshots may surprise you
and shake some deep-seated beliefs. So much the better if they do. On the other
hand, they may reflect some of your own experiences or your knowledge of young
people of diverse racial and sociocultural backgrounds. In either case, what these
students say should be understood within the context of their particular school,
family, and community experiences.
Learning from the Case Studies and Snapshots

We hope that you will read each of these stories critically and with the goal of
understanding how the experiences and thoughts of young people can influence
classroom discourse and strategies as well as school policies and practices in gen-
eral. These young people challenge us to believe that all students in our nation’s
classrooms are capable of learning. Although their stories demonstrate the indomi-
table strength of youth, they also reveal the tremendous fragility of academic suc-
cess, which is so easily disrupted by a poor teacher, misguided policies, a negative
comment, or an environment that denies the importance of one’s experiences. In
the end, all their voices challenge us as teachers and as a society to do the very best
we can to ensure that educational equity is not an illusion but an achievable goal.
Task 6: Examining Political Struggles—Multicultural

Education, Backlash, and Legislation
The sixth and final task of this chapter, to understand the sociopolitical context
of multicultural education, requires examining historic and current political strug-
gles. Since its beginnings in the 1970s, multicultural education has been criticized
for many reasons. While some of the criticisms have been warranted and have,
in fact, helped the field develop a more solid foundation, many of the arguments
against multicultural education have been deeply ideological and have ignored
both educational research and actual practice. That is, multicultural education has
come under fire precisely because it has challenged the status quo, encouraged the
emergence of previously silenced and marginalized voices, and championed the
transformation of curriculum and the use of alternative pedagogies. The criticisms
and detractions of multicultural education are also embedded in the broader socio-
political context. Three common strategies for trying to destabilize multicultural
education include (1) calls for going back to basics, (2) claims of erosion of the
educational canon, and (3) political struggles of legislation and policy.
The Back-to-Basics Argument

The backlash against multicultural education has been evident in claims that a
focus on diversity is a diversion from the “basics.” This has been the case for more
than three decades since the educational reform movement that began in 1983
after the publication of A Nation at Risk.57 One vivid example of the back-to-basics
argument is E. D. Hirsch’s 1987 book Cultural Literacy: What Every American
Needs to Know, which he initially developed to combat the “multicultural threat.”
Despite its date, the premise took hold in the discourse that aims to detract from
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multicultural education. The book includes a list of several thousand terms and
concepts that the author considers essential for every educated person to know or
at least to recognize and be familiar with.58 Many critics have charged that both the
book and the list are provincial and Eurocentric, with little attention given to the
arts, history, or culture of those from groups other than the so-called mainstream.
Yet since the publication of Hirsch’s book 30 years ago, several hundred schools
around the nation have been structured and organized according to what has been
dubbed “core knowledge” and the “cultural literacy” model. Hirsch’s work further
promulgated a notion of so-called cultural literacy that flies in the face of the rap-
idly changing demographics—not to mention the rich multicultural history—of our
nation. Numerous spin-off publications are targeted toward parents and guardians
and focus on different grade levels, making Hirsch’s cultural literacy model and
ideas a cottage industry that is hard to ignore. To challenge Hirsch’s work, Kristen
Buras analyzed the neoconservative evolution and contradictory ideology of this
core knowledge school reform movement. She uncovered the conservative lead-
ers and their financially powerful backers, as well as the strategies and campaigns
to politicize school curriculum in order to develop a permanent conservative
majority—which she dubs the rise of “Rightist Multiculturalism.”59
The pitfalls of Hirsch’s assertions of what counts as literacy are multifold. While
many of us might welcome a generally agreed-upon definition of the educated per-
son, this is a complex issue that cannot be solved by a prescribed list, or even a
prescribed curriculum. Eugene Provenzo has challenged Hirsch’s views in his book
Critical Literacy: What Every American Ought to Know, a critique of both Hirsch and
the simplistic ideas behind the cultural literacy model that he promotes.60
Eroding the Traditional Educational Canon

The call for “back to basics” falls under the broader conservative argument against
multicultural education as a liberal movement that erodes the traditional educa-
tional canon. The claim is that multicultural education can slide into a separa-
tist monoculturalism that pits Europeans and European Americans against people
of other backgrounds, creating a divisive “us versus them” mentality. This argu-
ment makes two assumptions: that no “us versus them” mentality existed previ-
ous to multicultural education and that there already is unity among all people
in our country—both clearly erroneous assumptions. There are tremendous divi-
sions among people in the United States, many of which have been renewed and
become increasingly visible in the political landscape and public parlance of the
past decade. The notion that multicultural education has separatist goals could not
be further from the truth. On the contrary, supporters of multicultural education
assume that a more pluralistic curriculum is also more complicated and truthful
and will, in the long run, help develop citizens who think critically, expansively,
and creatively and therefore will be actively engaged in a democratic society.
In terms of its impact on schooling, opponents have been especially nervous
about how a multicultural perspective might translate into curriculum changes.
Those who fear that the traditional educational canon is being eroded have vocif-
erously criticized it because, they claim, a multicultural curriculum will do away
with our “common culture.” The ramifications of this stance can be seen in efforts
to do away with specific courses at high schools and universities. Multicultural
education opponents claim that it is now more important than ever to focus on
a rigidly defined version of American history. An example of this can be found
in the actions of the Texas State Board of Education, which in the spring of 2010
adopted a set of social studies and history standards that dilutes the teaching of
the civil rights movement and the history of the trade of enslaved people, while
directing teachers to examine America’s relationship to the United Nations as a
threat to U.S. sovereignty.61 A group of educators, students, families and com-
munity members responded by creating free online curriculum to teach Mexican
American Studies.62
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We need to remember that the history of all groups in the United States is not
foreign; it is American history. Our history was never exclusively a European saga
of immigration and assimilation, although that is, of course, an important part of
the American story. But our collective consciousness began with—and continues
to be influenced by—indigenous Americans as well as by those who were forcibly
brought from Africa into slavery. No one in our nation has been untouched by
African American, Native American, Mexican American, and Asian American his-
tories and cultures (among many other groups, including women, European Amer-
ican immigrants, and working-class people). The influence of these groups can be
seen throughout our history in scientific discoveries, technological advances, pop-
ular culture, civic engagement, and the arts. The expansive globalization of com-
munication, commerce, and cultural experiences will continue to increase, and it
behooves us to educate our students to participate more fully in multicultural and
global social exchanges.
Political Struggles of Legislation and Policy

The sociopolitical context is vividly revealed in struggles over power and privi-
lege in the heart of U.S. education policy and law. The Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA) has been the law for over 50 years; since 1965, it has been
the federal government’s primary legislative vehicle for supporting and influenc-
ing K–12 public education in more than 16,000 local school districts across the
country. The ESEA has been reshaped and morphed through several presidential
administrations, and its history is worth a brief review to understand the current
sociopolitical context. In 2001 through 2015, public schools endured the ramifi-
cations of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era, noted for its pernicious expan-
sion of standardized testing practices and the resulting fallout of the accountability
movement.63 The most recent iteration of ESEA is the Every Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA), which was signed by President Obama in December 2015.64 Before sign-
ing the ESSA, the Obama administration had taken a positive step by dropping the
stringent measures of NCLB called Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), which had
been leveling sanctions against schools that did not meet the strict measures. But
given the legacy of NCLB, many concerns remain about how the ESSA policy will
develop into practice and how it may influence school life across the nation.65
The Historical Significance of NCLB

When the NCLB version of ESEA was enacted in 2001, it had marked the most
extreme reach of federal policy into state and local school districts in the history of
U.S. public education; it was particularly damaging on several levels. While NCLB
was originally enacted in response to several issues plaguing our educational system,
including the deplorable history of educational inequality in our nation, its single-
minded focus on standardized tests as the primary criterion for judging academic
progress, as well as the dismal results this focus produced, revealed many flaws in
the policy. By almost every measure, along the wide spectrum of liberal and con-
servative opinion and analysis, NCLB’s approach was a failure in closing gaps and
increasing test scores. However, as explained by Stan Karp in Rethinking Schools,
NCLB succeeded in creating a misleading general public perspective: that school
failure was the fault of students, their families, and teachers.66
As you will see in demographic data, research studies, and our own case stud-
ies throughout this text, educational inequality has been a fact of life for many
children in our schools, but especially for students of color and children living in
poverty. Parents, educators, and other defenders of public education have long
advocated for addressing this inequality through legislation. It is not surprising,
then, that many advocates of equal education initially supported NCLB and were
misled by its promises. While debate about its benefits or injuries to schools con-
tinues, it remains popular with some.
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Influence of Private Industry in Public Schools

At the same time, conspicuous among those who had been the most ardent sup-
porters of NCLB, and the 2015 version of the law now called the Every Student
Succeeds Act (ESSA), are those who support privatization of schools through tech-
niques that include, among others, vouchers and charter schools (many of which
are operated by profit-making companies) that frequently exclude the most vulner-
able children from their classrooms. The goals of various groups promoting NCLB
or ESSA may not be the same and, in some cases, may be contradictory, yet they
become entangled in the discourse and desire to demarcate achievement. For some,
gaining a standardized picture of so-called achievement is guided by a hopeful pur-
suit of equity; for others, it appears to be the pursuit of financial profit and/or seg-
regation. With the transition to ESSA, the enduring effects of NCLB will be difficult
to shake; research about the NCLB is essential to inform hopeful reform in this next
phase under ESSA. Researchers Heinrich Mintrop and Gail L. Sunderman of the Civil
Rights Project provide an analysis of why the NCLB policy failed, and also, despite
the counterintuitive indicators, why it continued to reap support from policymakers.
Their evidence indicts NCLB for causing serious costs to the U.S. education system
by keeping students mired in low-level intellectual work. They reveal how teachers
get stuck in test-driven basic skills remediation, pointing out how this is particularly
destructive for students who are in the schools NCLB identifies as failing: schools
that are overwhelmingly populated by students of color and students living in pov-
erty.67 They go on to explain that there are what Marshall Meyer and Lynne Zucker
call powerful “secondary beneficiaries”68 of NCLB, such as private business testing
agencies, segments of the school improvement industry, and others deriving eco-
nomic and political benefit from the system—even when it is failing. Indeed, one
of the most egregious outcomes of the overemphasis on testing is the flourishing
multimillion-dollar testing industry that reaps it profits from public school funding.
Challengers have aptly dubbed this monstrous carnivore of school funds the testing-
industrial-complex.
What Happened and What Now, Under ESSA?

The landscape under ESSA remains unchanged in many ways. It continues the mis-
guided emphasis and financial investment in standardized testing practices, while
punishing schools that do not meet specific requirements. However, the ESSA leg-
islation did change some aspects of the previous policy. ESSA responded to activist
students, parents, teachers and communities by shifting more ownership back to the
states from the federal government. Also it allows states to pass laws that protect the
rights of parents/guardians to support their children to “opt out” of taking standard-
ized tests.69 But at the same time, the law throws support to charter schools.
Also important to bear in mind is that during the years of debate about NCLB,
while waiting for ESSA to pass, the Obama administration had offered the “Race
to the Top” (RTTP) initiative under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA) of 2009 funding. RTTP required states to adopt a common reform agenda
that included the Common Core Standards to be eligible for such funding. RTTP
and Common Core initiative also will hold sway in the coming years, because
states had agreed to four assurances within that agenda. These four assurances
were required: (1) adopting rigorous standards and assessments, (2) implement-
ing statewide student data systems, (3) enhancing teacher effectiveness, and
(4) improving low-performing schools.70 The requirement to comply in order to
access funding created sweeping agreement in 2010–2011 with the national reform
agenda, including adoption of the Common Core standards by 46 states and the
District of Columbia, even though budget shortfalls and political rankling impede
implementation of many reform efforts. Despite current political rancor over the
Common Core, it will certainly take time to reconsider each state’s position on
standards.
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Teaching to the Test and High Standards

Now that the ESSA of 2015 has been adopted in schools, it is clear that concern for
the overemphasis on and misuse of standardized testing will continue. Keeping in
mind that 2014 was NCLB’s target date by which all children were to be proficient in
reading and math, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) reviewed
the 2014 National Assessment of Education Progress, which showed no improve-
ment for high school seniors in math or reading since 2009, and little improve-
ment over the past decade. Moreover, racial gaps still persist. FairTest Director Bob
Schaeffer emphasizes that test-driven schooling is not producing educational quality
or closing opportunity gaps.71
Each of these legislative developments continues to promulgate immense pres-
sure on teachers and administrators to “teach to the test” and to devote a lion’s
share of the school day to reading and mathematics. The effects have been mixed,
at best. While test scores are rising in some districts, the law’s pressure on school
districts has reduced instructional time for other subjects to make more time for
reading and mathematics under much more prescribed pedagogy. Subjects that
are not evaluated on high-stakes tests have been reduced or eliminated in some
schools. Recess and physical education have also been curtailed in many schools.
The testing frenzy has had a chilling effect on schools’ and teachers’ autonomy
to develop and implement curricula, and this includes multicultural curricula. A
range of mandates have also funneled professional development funding away
from any goals that are not test-score-driven, further eroding opportunities for
teachers to learn about or expand multicultural goals.
Questioning the Common Core State Standards

Though the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are being hailed by some as a
means to boost quality and equality,72 they are attached to particular high-stakes
tests, and steeped in social and political controversies that extend the problems of
NCLB into this ESSA era. Stan Karp, editor of the journal Rethinking Schools, pro-
vides a comprehensive analysis of the sociopolitical context of the CCSS. He argues
that the problem with the Common Core is not only the content of the standards, or
what is not included, although that’s certainly an issue. The greater issue is the over-
all role that the CCSS are playing in the larger dynamics of current school reform.73
Karp explains that the CCSS were not conceived or developed by a demo-
cratically representative group of educators and community members. It is worth
remembering that federal law prohibits the federal government from creating
national standards, so the Common Core efforts were framed within the National
Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and a private
consulting firm, Achieve. Funding from private industry was poured into the effort,
most notably more the $160 million from the Gates Foundation, which entered
into partnership with profit-making publishers to produce full K–12 curriculum
materials. These publishers also produce the broadest portion of the market of
standardized tests for students in early-childhood grades all the way through col-
lege teacher licensure programs. These so-called public–private partnerships raise
disturbing questions about the influence of private wealth and corporate power in
our public institutions that are assumed to be managed democratically.74
Advocates of the CCSS claim that these are not federally mandated standards
(as that would be against the law), and that curriculum implementation will still
be decided at the local level. However, a few resource-rich private industry text-
book companies are leading the development and dissemination of curriculum to
be aligned with the Common Core Standards. This creates a default dynamic of
centralizing curriculum. The centralization of curriculum and assessment across
the nation deepens the likelihood that more of our neediest children will have
access to fewer educational opportunities, as documented in research by Christo-
pher H. Tienken and Yong Zhao.75 As David C. Berliner and Gene V. Glass assert,
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time will tell whether or not the CCSS will or will not promote a richer and deeper
curriculum for U.S. students. But what is certain is that the CCSS will homogenize
education as they replace local and state developed standards, inevitably restrict-
ing what knowledge will be considered acceptable (and testable).76
Multicultural Standards Are High Standards

Most state standards, including the CCSS, do not preclude the possibility of
including multicultural perspectives in the curriculum. In fact, it is important
to emphasize that there is no contradiction between high standards and mul-
ticultural education. Quite the opposite is the case: Since its very beginning,
one of the major arguments in support of multicultural education has been that
some students—particularly students of color and poor students of all back-
grounds—have been the victims of an inferior education, often based on their
race/ethnicity, social class, first language, and other differences. Multicultural
education, through a rich curriculum and rigorous demands, was an antidote
to this situation. Nonetheless, the pressure that teachers and administrators are
under to meet scores, as defined by high-stakes standardized tests, has resulted
in little support for the visual arts, music, drama, dance, physical education,
and even subjects such as social studies and science, much less for innovation
and creativity in curriculum and instruction. The potential disaster on the limi-
tations of knowledge for future generations is frightening. The obliteration of
the arts and reduced status of science, history, and other social sciences have
shaped the curriculum of many children throughout their entire kindergarten
through twelfth-grade school life. Analysis by Christopher H. Tienkan and Yong
Zhao emphasizes that focusing on few subjects through standardization and test-
ing impoverishes the curriculum and greatly diminishes the overall educational
experience.77 Neglecting access to study of the humanities and full sciences will
certainly have an influence on the future of U.S. society. High standards then
should include multicultural perspectives and rich, meaningful experiences in
a wide range of subjects, including depth of study in the arts, humanities, and
sciences rather than more high-stakes standardized testing that limit access to
studying and producing robust knowledge.
The Question of International Standing

Nevertheless, the national conversation about standards continues to be confus-
ing. The standing of U.S. schools compared to schools internationally has become
a common battle cry among politicians, amplified by popular media for more
stringent standards and more frequent testing. However, Diane Ravitch’s research
calls for a more critical analysis of the scores from the Programme for Interna-
tional Student Assessment (PISA), which have been misused and misinterpreted
to claim that the United States is lagging significantly behind. Ravitch offers two
salient points through a close examination of the scores. First, in reading and
mathematics, the scores of American 15-year-olds on PISA tests had not declined
in 2010 compared to those recorded for 2000, 2003, and 2006. Moreover, Ameri-
can students’ scores in science improved from 2006. Ravitch’s second point con-
tends with school poverty rates and disaggregating data with a consideration of
these comparisons internationally. She clarifies that in American schools with
low poverty—where less than 10 percent of students were poor—students had
scores equal to those in the high-scoring nations of Finland, the Republic of
Korea, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, and Australia.78 Research by David C. Ber-
liner and Gene V. Glass concurs with much of Ravitch’s discussion by uncovering
the ways in which the myths about U.S. performance on international tests are
propagated. They assert that these misleading claims about international tests
supposedly showing the United States as having a second-rate educational sys-
tem, combined with the underanalyzed, overemphasized significance of college
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 26 26/09/17 12:02 PM

entrance exams scores such as SAT and ACT, are used by reformers who promote
unproven school reforms like high-stakes testing, charter schools, teacher merit
pay, and the CCSS.79
Teachers’ Responsibilities: ESSA and the Common Core

In terms of teachers’ responsibilities, we must once again consider the sociopolitical
context of education. Curriculum and pedagogy, along with other school policies
and practices, as we shall see in Chapter 4, are as much political issues as they are
educational issues. The same is true of standards, including the CCSS. We make the
assumption here that all educators want to hold their students to high standards.
Yet every curriculum decision also says something about the values, expectations,
and dreams that teachers hold for their students. If this is the case, it becomes the
responsibility of teachers to help define the curriculum and not simply to be automa-
tons who implement a rigidly prescribed curriculum.
The undue attention on test scores in the United States also has devastating
effects on teachers’ sense of professionalism. Many teachers are now reluctant—
and in some cases forbidden—to engage in projects outside the prescribed curricu-
lum with their students, or even to collaborate with peers due to possible criticisms,
or job-security threats they are likely to receive from administrators who are also
under tremendous pressure to keep their schools out of the headlines for failing test
scores. The result in many schools around the country is that teachers are expected
to follow a rigidly prescribed curriculum, particularly in reading and math, with lit-
tle room for innovation or collaboration. What are teachers to do?
Un-Standardizing Curriculum
Christine Sleeter and Judith Flores Carmona suggest that there is a difference
between a standards-driven and a standards-conscious curriculum. A standards-
driven curriculum, according to Sleeter and Camona, begins with the standards
and draws the “big ideas” from them; the standards are the main source for cur-
riculum design. A standards-conscious curriculum, on the other hand, uses the
standards as a tool, rather than as either the starting point or the underlying ideol-
ogy for the development of big ideas. In their book Un-Standardizing Curriculum:
Multicultural Teaching in the Standards-Based Classroom, Sleeter and Carmona
provide powerful vignettes of teachers who face the same pressures to teach to the
test as do all teachers. In spite of this pressure, rather than following the stand-
ards uncritically, these teachers developed standards-conscious curricula in which
the teachers selected big ideas that are both creative and critical from a range
of sources.80 Another example of using the standards in inventive ways is Mary
Cowhey’s Black Ants and Buddhists: Thinking Critically and Teaching Differently
in the Primary Grades.81 A first- and second-grade teacher, Cowhey uses the stand-
ards to develop curriculum that is inspiring, demanding, and multicultural. Other
examples of meaningful curriculum can be found in the book In the Service of
Learning and Empowerment: Service-Learning, Critical Pedagogy, and the Problem-
Solution Project by Vera Stenhouse, Olga S. Jarret, Rhina M. Fernandes Williams,
and E. Namisi Chilungu.82 This text features the firsthand accounts of PK–5 teach-
ers implementing service-learning curriculum that they call the “Problem-Solution
Project.” Such a model builds on student-centered interests, and standards are
woven throughout the student-driven curriculum that advances critical multi-
cultural perspectives. This is a useful resource for teachers at all stages of their
careers as well as teacher-educators.
These books, and a growing number of others, are challenging the notion that
standards will necessarily lead to rigid standardization. They provide vivid exam-
ples of how powerful learning, meaningful social actions, civic engagement and
imagination can be promoted even within a testing and accountability context that
tends to leave little room for such things.
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 27 26/09/17 12:02 PM

Conclusion
In this chapter, we have attempted to provide a definition and description of
the sociopolitical context of multicultural education. As described, taking into
account the sociopolitical context requires the following tasks: (1) clarifying
the goals and key terms of multicultural education; (2) dissolving myths about
immigration and difference; (3) naming the social, economic, political, and
ideological underpinnings of educational structures; (4) studying the current
demographic “mosaic” of our nation; (5) using qualitative research to under-
stand students; and (6) examining the political struggles of legislation and pol-
icy. This sixth effort was considered through a topic that is both current and
controversial in schools and communities around the nation: the reauthoriza-
tion of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act from the No Child
Left Behind Act to the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, including the adop-
tion of the Common Core State Standards and its implications for education in
a multicultural society. By rooting these challenges in qualitative research, the
issues can be studied through ethnographic “lenses,” specifically through case
studies and snapshots of students who reflect the tremendous diversity of our
school-age population. Such research can help us understand the effect of the
sociopolitical context of schooling on various segments of the population as
well as on the nation as a whole.
To Think About
1. Can you describe the sociopolitical context of your own education? For you to become
college-educated and to pursue a career in education, what circumstances cultivated both
success and challenges for your family and your ancestors?
2. Consider the academic accomplishments of two of your current students: one who earns
high marks in school and one who is struggling with grades. Compare what you know
about the OSFs described by David Berliner’s research. Does this influence the ways in
which you and the school might support each student?
3. Consider the various iterations of the ESEA and the concerns around the CCSS. Com-
pare your current standards and consider how CCSS might influence, or has influenced,
the teaching and learning in your school. Does it influence your school differently than
a school in a neighboring district? Does it seem to provide your students with more
resources or fewer? What are the implications of federal policy on your local school?
Activities for Personal, School, and Community Change

1. Increase awareness in your school culture of the rich mosaic of diverse backgrounds
and languages in U.S. society by developing a classroom activity that draws upon
the wide array of resources available from the U.S. Census Bureau developed spe-
cifically for teachers (http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/teachers.html). Compare
the U.S. demographics to your school’s demographics. Place emphasis on diver-
sity as an asset rather than as a “problem.” Make your students’ thinking visible
to the entire school through bulletin board displays, presentations during morning
announcements, school web spaces, multimedia projections in the lunchroom, and
the like.
2. Has your school responded to test preparation and budget constraints by cutting pro-
gramming that supports students’ multiple ways of knowing and expressing, such as
art, music, dance, drama, clothing design, cooking, physical education, technology cur-
riculum, theater, and so on? If so, help organize students, families, cultural workers,
community artists, and other educators to provide after-school activities to increase
students’ multiple intelligence engagement as well as to maintain their attachment to
the school environment.
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 28 26/09/17 12:02 PM

Notes
1. Bushaw & Lopez (2013). 44. The data in this paragraph were sourced from the U.S. Census
2. National Education Association (2013). Bureau website at http://census.gov/. A variety data tables were
3. Lubienski & Lubienski (2014). cited, such as “Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by
4. Kymlicka (2007). Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014.” Data
5. Lee (2004). were also sourced from National Center for Education Statistics,
6. Moses (2002, 2010). “Fast Facts: What Are the New Back to School Statistics for 2016?”
7. Banks (2016), p. 17. 45. U.S. Census Bureau (2015).
8. Vanneman, Hamilton, Baldwin Anderson, & Rahman (2009). 46. Baker & Rytina (2013). See also Monger (2010) for U.S. Department
9. Ibid. (2009). of Homeland Security Office of Immigration statistics.
10. Bohrnstedt, G., Kitmitto, S., Ogut, B., Sherman, D., and Chan, D. 47. U.S. Census Bureau (2009–2013, 2015).
(2015). Gutiérrez, R. (2014). 48. Brown (2014).
11. Hemphill & Vanneman (2011). 49. Davis & Bauman (2013).
12. Gándara (2008); Gándara & Contreras (2010). 50. Orfield (2009). See also U.S. Census Bureau (2015).
13. Kena et al. (2014). 51. Kugler (2002); Page (2007).
14. Ibid, (2014). 52. Jiang, Ekono, & Skinner (2015); DeNavas-Walt & Proctor (2015).
15. Timar (2012). 53. Boser (2014).
16. Ladson-Billings (2013, 2014). 54. Takaki (1998, 2008); Zinn (2010); CSPAN2 Book TV (2001).
17. Ladson-Billings (2006) p. 3 55. Merriam (2009), p. 43.
18. Chenoweth (2009). See also Karen Chenoweth’s summary in Phi 56. Fine (1991).
Delta Kappan (2009, September, vol. 91). 57. National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983).
19. Zurawsky (2004). 58. Hirsch (1987).
20. Barton & Coley (2009). 59. Buras (2008).
21. Anyon (2014), p. 2. 60. Provenzo (2005).
22. Gorski (2013b). 61. Birnbaum (2010).
23. Berliner (2009), pp. 1–2 62. MAS Texas (2017); Arce v. Douglas (2015).
24. Ibid.; see also Berliner (2014). 63. No Child Left Behind Act (2001).
25. Rothstein (2006). 64. Every Student Succeeds Act (2015).
26. Rothstein (2013). 65. Karp (2016).
27. Orfield (2004), p. 9. 66. Karp (2014).
28. Ibid. 67. Mintrop & Sunderman (2009).
29. Orfield (2009). 68. Meyer & Zucker (1989).
30. Frankenberg & Orfield (2012). 69. Guisbond, Neill, & Schaeffer (2015).
31. Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, AZ. 70. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) (2009). See also
SB 1070 (2010). U.S. Department of Education website for Race to The Top (2010).
32. Camarota (2012). 71. Schaeffer (2014).
33. Dream Act: Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors 72. Common Core State Standards Initiative (2017).
(2001), Senate bill S. 744. 73. Karp (2014).
34. United Nations High Commission for Refugees (2000). 74. Ibid.
35. Dryden-Peterson (2016). 75. Tienken & Zhao (2013).
36. Howe (1983). See also Wyman, Greenfield, & Gill (1993). 76. Berliner & Glass (2014).
37. Rothstein (1998). 77. Tienken & Zhao (2013).
38. Rigby (2015). 78. Ravitch (2013).
39. Tatum (2017), p. 86. 79. Berliner & Glass (2014).
40. Hall & Ushomirsky (2010). 80. Sleeter & Carmona (2017), pp. 58–59
41. Carey & Roza (2008). 81. Cowhey (2006).
42. U.S. Department of Education, Equity and Excellence Commission 82. Stenhouse, Jarret, Fernandes Williams, & Chilungu (2014).
(2013).
43. All the data in this paragraph were sourced from the U.S. Census
Bureau website at http://census.gov/. The data are in the public
domain. Various tables of data sets were cited, such as “Estimates
of the Components of Resident Population Change by Race and
Hispanic Origin for the United States: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014”
and “Population Estimates/Current estimates data.”
M01_NIET7232_07_SE_C01.indd 29 26/09/17 12:02 PM

2 Defining Multicultural
Education for School
Reform by Sonia Nieto
I
n discussing multicultural education with teachers and other educators over
many years, I have heard comments and remarks (see examples below) that
make it seem as if multicultural education is already “a done deal” or that we
do not need it. Nothing could be further from
the truth. In fact, statements such as these
reflect a profound misunderstanding of diver-
sity in our nation today.
Unfortunately, when multicultural edu-
cation is mentioned, many people first think
of lessons in human relations and sensitiv-
ity training, units about ethnic holidays,
education in inner-city schools, or food fes-
tivals. If multicultural education is limited
to these issues, the potential for substantive
change in schools is severely diminished. On
the other hand, when broadly conceptual-
ized, it can lead to more understanding and
empathy. It can also help to address the four
areas of potential conflict and inequity to be
addressed in Part II—namely, racism and dis-
crimination, inequitable structural conditions
in schools and society, the impact of culture
on learning, and language diversity.
“We don’t need multicultural education here; most of our students are White.”
“I don’t see color. All my students are the same to me.”
“We shouldn’t talk about racism in school because it has nothing to do with learning. Besides, it’ll
just make the kids feel bad.”
“Let’s not focus on negative things. Can’t we all just get along?”
“I want to include multicultural education in my curriculum, but there’s just no time for it.”
“Oh, yes, we have multicultural education here: We celebrate Black History Month, and there’s an
annual Diversity Dinner.”
“Multicultural education is just therapy for Black students.”
“Multicultural education became irrelevant after 9/11. It’s divisive because it focuses on differences.
Now, more than ever, we need to stress our similarities.”
30
M02_NIET7232_07_SE_C02.indd 30 23/09/17 2:01 PM

CHAPTER 2 Defining Multicultural Education for School Reform 31
Why School Reform?

This chapter proposes a definition of multicultural education as an essential element
of school reform. The definition is based on the context and terminology discussed
in the preceding chapter, and it analyzes seven primary characteristics included in
the definition, characteristics that underscore the role multicultural education can
play in reforming schools and providing an equal and excellent education for all
students. Emerging from the reality of persistent problems in our
nation’s schools, this definition especially addresses the lack of
achievement among students of diverse backgrounds and empha-
sizes the context and process of education, rather than viewing
multicultural education as simply an add-on or luxury discon-
nected from the everyday lives of students.
At the same time, we need to stress that multicultural educa-
tion is not a panacea for all educational ills. Because schools are
part of our communities, they reflect the stratification and social
inequities of the larger society. As long as this is the case, no
school program alone, no matter how broadly conceptualized,
can change things completely. Multicultural education will not
cure underachievement, eliminate boring and irrelevant curricu-
lum, or stop vandalism. It will not automatically motivate fami-
lies to participate in schools, reinvigorate tired and dissatisfied
teachers, or guarantee a lower dropout rate. Only by address-
ing inequities in the larger society can we hope to solve these
problems.
Despite these caveats, multicultural education can offer hope
for real change. Viewing it in a broad sociopolitical context is
both richer and more complex than simple lessons on getting
along or units on ethnic festivals. By focusing on major condi-
tions contributing to underachievement, multicultural educa-
tion, as defined here, permits educators to explore alternatives
to a system that promotes failure for too many students. Such an
Alex Demarjian, Jorge Piccole, Elliot Thomas,
Phoebe Weissblum in Dawn Southworth’s art
exploration can lead to the creation of a richer and more produc-
class at Glen Urquhart School, Beverly, Massa- tive school climate and a deeper awareness of the role of culture, language, and
chusetts. Self-portraits. Linoleum prints. 2010. power in learning. Seen in this comprehensive way, educational success for all
students is a realistic goal rather than an impossible ideal.
A Definition of Multicultural Education

In spite of some differences among major theorists, during the nearly 50 years
since multicultural education first developed as a specific field, there has been
remarkable consistency concerning its rationale, goals, and purpose.1 But no defi-
nition of multicultural education can truly capture all its complexities. The defini-
tion I present here reflects one way of conceptualizing the issues; it is based on
my many years of experience with students, teachers, researchers, and teacher
educators. Although the definition includes seven characteristics that I believe are
essential in multicultural education, you might come up with just 3, or with 15.
The point is not to develop just one way to understand multicultural education but
instead to encourage you to think about the interplay of societal and school struc-
tures and contexts and how they influence learning.
What I believe is essential is emphasizing the sociopolitical context of educa-
tion and rejecting the notion that multicultural education is either a superficial
addition of content to the curriculum or, alternatively, the magic pill that will do
away with all educational problems. As you consider my definition of multicul-
tural education, I hope it will serve to foster further dialogue and reflection so that
you will develop your own ideas, priorities, and perspectives.
M02_NIET7232_07_SE_C02.indd 31 23/09/17 2:01 PM

I define multicultural education in a sociopolitical context as follows:

Multicultural education is a process of comprehensive school reform and basic
education for all students. It challenges and rejects racism and other forms of dis-
crimination in schools and society and accepts and affirms the pluralism (ethnic,
racial, linguistic, religious, economic, gender, and sexual orientation, among oth-
ers) that students, their communities, and teachers reflect. Multicultural education
permeates the school’s curriculum and instructional strategies as well as the inter-
actions among teachers, students, and families and the very way that schools con-
ceptualize the nature of teaching and learning. Because it uses critical pedagogy
as its underlying philosophy and focuses on knowledge, reflection, and action
(praxis) as the basis for social change, multicultural education promotes demo-
cratic principles of social justice.
The seven basic characteristics of multicultural education in this definition are:

Multicultural education is antiracist education.
Multicultural education is basic education.
Multicultural education is important for all students.
Multicultural education is pervasive.
Multicultural education is education for social justice.
Multicultural education is a process.
Multicultural education is critical pedagogy.
Multicultural Education Is Antiracist Education

Anti-racism, indeed antidiscrimination in general, is at the very core of a multicul-
tural perspective. The antiracist nature of multicultural education must be kept in
mind because, in many schools, even some that espouse a multicultural philoso-
phy, only superficial aspects of this philosophy are apparent. Celebrations of eth-
nic festivals are the extent of multicultural education programs in some schools.
In others, sincere attempts to decorate bulletin boards with what is thought to
be a multicultural perspective end up perpetuating the worst kind of stereotypes.
Even where there are serious attempts to develop a truly pluralistic environment,
it is not unusual to find incongruencies. In some schools, for instance, the highest
academic tracks are overwhelmingly White, the lowest are populated primarily
by students of color, and girls are nonexistent in calculus and physics classes.
Although a school’s policies may claim to be multicultural, the result is not neces-
sary explicitly antiracist and antidiscriminatory.
Because many people erroneously assume that a school’s multicultural pro-
gram automatically takes care of racism, multicultural education must be con-
sciously antiracist. Writing about multicultural education over 30 years ago, when
the field was fairly new, Meyer Weinberg asserted:
Most multicultural materials deal wholly with the cultural distinctiveness of vari-
ous groups and little more. Almost never is there any sustained attention to the
ugly realities of systematic discrimination against the same group that also hap-
pens to utilize quaint clothing, fascinating toys, delightful fairy tales, and delicious
food. Responding to racist attacks and defamation is also part of the culture of the
group under study.2
Being antiracist and antidiscriminatory means being mindful of how some

students are favored over others in school policies and practices, such as the
curriculum, choice of materials, sorting policies, and teachers’ interactions and
relationships with students and their families. Consequently, to be inclusive and
balanced, multicultural curriculum must, by definition, be antiracist. Teaching
does not become more honest and critical simply by becoming more inclusive,
but this is a necessary first step in ensuring that students have access to a wide
variety of viewpoints. Rather than viewing the world through rose-colored glasses,
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antiracist multicultural education forces teachers and students to take a long, hard
look at everything as it was and is, instead of just how we wish it were. Thus,
although the beautiful and heroic aspects of our history should be taught, so must
the ugly and exclusionary.
Too many schools avoid confronting, in an honest and direct way, the nega-
tive aspects of history, the arts, and science. Michelle Fine has called this the
“fear of naming,” and it is part of the system of silencing in public schools.3
Related to the fear of naming is the insistence of schools on “sanitizing” the cur-
riculum, or what Jonathan Kozol many years ago called “tailoring” important
men and women for school use. Kozol described how schools manage to take
our most exciting and memorable heroes and bleed the life and spirit completely
out of them because it can be dangerous, he wrote, to teach a history “studded
with so many bold, and revolutionary, and subversive, and exhilarating men and
women.” He described how, instead, schools drain these heroes of their passions,
glaze them over with an implausible veneer, place them on lofty pedestals, and
then tell “incredibly dull stories” about them.4 Although he wrote these words
nearly 40 years ago, Kozol could just as well be describing education in many of
today’s U.S. schools.
The process of sanitizing is nowhere more evident than in depictions of Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. The only thing most children know about him is that he kept
“having a dream.” School bulletin boards are full of ethereal pictures of Dr. King
surrounded by clouds. If children get to read or hear any of his speeches at all, it
is his “I Have a Dream” speech. As inspirational as this speech is, it is only one of
his notable accomplishments. Rare indeed are allusions to his early and consist-
ent opposition to the Vietnam War; his strong criticism of unbridled capitalism;
and the connections he made near the end of his life among racism, capitalism,
and war. This sanitization of Martin Luther King, a man full of passion and life,
renders him an oversimplified, lifeless figure, in the process making him a “safe
hero.”
Most of the heroes we present to our children are either those in the main-
stream or those who have become safe through the process of what Kozol referred
to as “tailoring.” Others who have fought for social justice are often downplayed,
maligned, or ignored. For example, although John Brown’s actions in defense of
the liberation of enslaved people are considered noble by many, in most history
books, he is presented, if at all, as somewhat of a crazed idealist. Nat Turner is
another example. The slave revolt that he led deserves a larger place in our his-
tory books, if only to acknowledge that enslaved people fought against their own
oppression and were not simply passive victims. However, Turner’s name and
role in U.S. history are usually overlooked. On the other hand, Abraham Lincoln is
presented as the Great Emancipator, as if he was single-handedly responsible for
the abolition of slavery (and with little acknowledgment of his own inconsistent
ideas about race and equality). Nat Turner is not considered a safe hero; Abraham
Lincoln is.
A powerful example of reclaiming one’s history was recounted by Rebecca
Geary, a former graduate student on whose master’s thesis committee I served. In
writing about her great-great-grandfather, Moses Hunter, in her master’s thesis,
she recounts that he
pounded his fist upon the table when he heard my father sharing his school lesson
about how Lincoln “freed the slaves.” “Nobody freed me, sir! I earned my free-
dom with a pitchfork and a knife,” he bellowed in frustrated rage at my father’s
misinformation.5
To be antiracist is not a passive act; it presupposes working actively to combat

racism. For example, it means making antiracism and antidiscrimination explicit
parts of the curriculum and teaching young people skills in confronting racism. A
school that is truly committed to a multicultural philosophy will closely examine
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both its policies and the attitudes and behaviors of its staff to determine how these
might discriminate against some students. The focus on school policies and prac-
tices makes it evident that multicultural education is about more than the percep-
tions and beliefs of individual teachers and other educators; it is about the very
structure of the school.
Racism is seldom mentioned in school (it is bad, a dirty word) and therefore is
rarely addressed. Unfortunately, many teachers think that simply having lessons in
getting along or celebrating Human Relations Week will make students nonracist
or nondiscriminatory. But it is impossible to be untouched by biases including rac-
ism, sexism, linguicism, heterosexism, ageism, anti-Semitism, classism, ableism,
and ethnocentrism in a society characterized by all of these. To expect schools
to be an oasis of sensitivity and understanding in the midst of bigotry and strati-
fication is unrealistic. Therefore, part of the mission of the school is to create an
environment where these issues can be broached directly and honestly. Teaching
the missing or fragmented parts of our history is crucial to achieving this mission.
Although White students may be uncomfortable with discussions about race,
having these discussions can actually be a positive pedagogical approach to help
them think about their position in society and their responsibilities to combat bias
and bigotry. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s groundbreaking work on bringing discussions
of race out of the closet proposes discussing race and racism within the framework
of racial and cultural identity theory. Doing so, she contends, can help students
and teachers focus on how racism negatively affects all people and can provide a
sense of hope for positive changes.6
What about teachers? Because many teachers have had little experience with
diversity, discussions of racism often threaten to disrupt their deeply held ideals
of meritocracy, fair play, and equality. As a result, fruitful classroom discussions
about discrimination may not happen because many teachers are uneasy with
these topics. If this continues to be the case, neither unfair individual behaviors
nor institutional policies and practices in schools will change and students of dis-
empowered groups will continue to bear the brunt of educational inequities. The
dilemma is how to challenge the silence about race and racism so that teachers
can enter into meaningful and constructive dialogue with their students. For exam-
ple, in research with teachers from around the country, Karen McLean Donaldson
found that many teachers were in denial about racism and its effects in schools.
On the other hand, those who became active in antiracist projects broadened their
understanding and were able to use their new skills in creating affirming learning
environments for all their students.7
One of the reasons schools are reluctant to tackle racism and discrimination is
that these are disturbing topics for those who have traditionally benefited by their
race, gender, and social class, among other advantageous differences. Because
instruction in, and discussion of, such topics tend to place people in the role of
either the victimizer or the victimized, an initial and logical reaction, for example,
of European American teachers and students in discussing race is to feel guilty.
But being antiracist does not mean flailing about in guilt and remorse. Although
this reaction is understandable, remaining at this level is immobilizing. Teachers
and students need to move beyond guilt to a state of invigorated awareness and
informed confidence in which they take personal and collective action for positive
change, rather than hide behind feelings of culpability. For White students and
teachers, this means taking responsibility for being White, a point forcefully made
by Robin DiAngelo in a book that asks a question seldom heard in discussions
about race, What Does It Mean to Be White?8
The primary victims of racism and discrimination are those who suffer its
immediate consequences, but racism and discrimination are destructive and
demeaning to everyone. Although not everyone is directly guilty of discrimina-
tion, we are all responsible for combating it. This means that working actively for
social justice is everyone’s business. Yet it is often the victims of racism and other
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kinds of discrimination who are left to act on their own. Everybody loses when a
particular group of students is made a scapegoat. Rebecca Florentina’s case study,
which follows Chapter 5, is a good example. As a lesbian, Rebecca felt the need
to personally confront the heterosexual biases in her school, but this should have
been viewed as everyone’s responsibility. Indeed, we will have come a long way
when everybody feels this same obligation.
Multicultural Education Is Basic Education

One of the major stumbling blocks to implementing a broadly conceptualized mul-
ticultural education is the ossification of the “canon” in schools. When multicul-
tural education is peripheral to the core curriculum, it is perceived as irrelevant to
basic education. But given the recurring concern for teaching the “basics,” multi-
cultural education must be understood as basic to an excellent education. That is,
multicultural literacy is just as indispensable for living in today’s world as reading,
writing, arithmetic, and computer literacy.
The canon, as generally understood in contemporary U.S. education, assumes
that the knowledge that is most worthwhile is already in place. This notion
explains the popularity of E. D. Hirsch’s series What Every [First, Second, Third
. . .] Grader Needs to Know.9 Geared primarily to parents, this series builds on the
fear that their children will not measure up if they do not possess the core knowl-
edge (usually in the form of facts, names, and dates) that they need in order to
succeed in school. According to this rather narrow view, the basics have, in effect,
already been defined, and they are inevitably European, male, and upper-class.
Yet the basics must be understood as broader than names, dates, and facts, and as
more inclusive than the history or reality of any one group of people.
The alternative to multicultural education is monocultural education, which
reflects only one reality and is biased toward the dominant group. Unfortunately,
monocultural education is the order of the day in too many schools. Typically,
what students learn represents only a fraction of available knowledge. Those who
decide what is most important make choices that are influenced by their own lim-
ited background, education, and experiences. Because the viewpoints of so many
are left out, monocultural education is, at best, an incomplete and dishonest edu-
cation. In fact, nothing is more harmful or divisive than a monocultural education
because it excludes many people and perspectives from schools’ curricula and
pedagogy. A monocultural education deprives all students of the diversity that is
part of our world. What is needed is a true multicultural literacy. In the words of
James A. Banks,
Multicultural literacy consists of the skills and abilities to identify the creators of
knowledge and their interests . . . to uncover the assumptions of knowledge, to
view knowledge from diverse ethnic and cultural perspectives, and to use knowl-
edge to guide action that will create a humane and just world.10
The idea that there is a static and sacred knowledge that must be mastered is
especially evident in the arts and social sciences. For instance, art history classes
rarely consider the Great Masters of other countries besides those of France, Italy,
and sometimes England, yet surely other nations in the world have also had great
masters. “Classical music” is another example. “Classical music” generally refers
to European classical music, but Africa, Asia, and Latin America may define their
“classical music” differently. This same ethnocentrism is found in our history
books, which portray Europeans and European Americans as the “actors” and all
others as the recipients, bystanders, or bit players of history. The canon, as it cur-
rently stands, is unrealistic and incomplete because history is never as one-sided
as it appears in most school curricula.
This is not to say that the concern that the canon tries to address is not a
genuine one. Modern-day knowledge is so dispersed and compartmentalized that
our young people learn very little about commonalities in our history and culture.
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About Terminology
The Conundrum of Race
T he concept of race has received a great deal of criticism
because, in a biological sense, race does not exist. There
is no scientific evidence that so-called racial groups differ in
We have decided to use terms that refer specifically to so-
called racial groups when such terms are warranted. In speak-
ing of segregated schools, for example, it makes sense to refer
biologically or genetically significant ways. Differences that to Black and White students rather than to African American
do exist are primarily social; that is, they are based on one’s and European American students when color is the salient
experiences within a particular cultural group. Thus, it is now issue. In this way, we hope to underscore the fact that there are
generally accepted that the very concept of race is a social con- always differences of opinion about the use of various terms.
struction; that is, a racial group is socially and not biologically We have capitalized the terms White and Black because
determined. There is really only one race—the human race. they refer to groups of people, as do terms such as Latino,
Historically, the concept of race has been used to oppress entire Asian, and African. As such, they deserve to be capitalized.
groups of people for their supposed differences. Although these are not the scientific terms for so-called racial
Although race as a notion is dubious at best, racism is real. groups, terms such as Negroid and Caucasoid or Caucasian are
Consequently, the problem with using terms that emphasize only no longer used in everyday speech or are rejected because of
culture is that the very real issue of racism in our society is then their negative connotations, as well as their inaccuracy. For
obscured. A recent article by Paul Gorski helps elucidate how this example, all people with light skin are not from the Caucasus
happens. In it, the author challenges the conventional wisdom region bordering Europe and Asia.
that culture is central to understanding inequities in schools and Because race is a social construction, some scholars who
society. He argues instead that equity rather than culture needs write about it have made the decision to use the term only in
to be centralized as more relevant to conversations and practices quotation marks (“race”) to underscore its social construc-
that can lead to social and educational justice. (See Gorski, 2016.) tion. We have decided not to do so in this book for several
At the same time, culture needs to be taken into consideration as reasons. First, it can be reasonably argued that all differences
well. Our terminology in this text is in no way meant to dimin- are socially constructed (social class, gender, ethnicity, sexual
ish the role of race, but rather to stress that it alone does not orientation, etc.) and that to separate race from the others is
define people. For example, African Americans and Haitians are arbitrary. The second reason is a more practical one: Because
both Black. They share some basic cultural values and are both of the many references to race, gender, social class, ethnicity,
subjected to racist attitudes and behaviors, but the particular life and other differences in this text, readers would find it discon-
experiences, native language usage, immigration status, and eth- certing to confront a flurry of quotation marks around words
nicity of each group are overlooked or even denied if we simply in paragraph after paragraph about “race,” “gender,” “social
call both groups Black rather than also identifying them ethnically. class,” and so forth.
Nevertheless, static curricula that include almost exclusively European and Euro-
pean American referents do little to expand our actual common culture. The point
is that those who have been important in the evolution of our history, arts, litera-
ture, and science, yet who are invisible, should be made visible. Recent literature
anthologies that include more women and people of diverse cultural and racial
backgrounds than ever before are good examples. Did these people become “great
writers” overnight, or was it simply that they were “buried” for too long?
If this is the case, no school can consider that it is doing a proper or com-
plete job unless its students develop multicultural literacy. What such a concep-
tion means in practice will no doubt differ from school to school, but at the very
least, we should expect all students to be fluent in a language other than their
own; aware of the literature and arts of many different peoples; and conversant
with the history and geography not only of the United States but also of African,
Asian, Latin American, and European countries. Through such an education, we
can expect students to develop social and intellectual skills that help them under-
stand and empathize with a wide diversity of people. Nothing can be more basic
than this.
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The curriculum is not the only thing that needs changing for multicultural
education to become a basic ingredient of an excellent and high-quality education.
Even more significant is the context in which students learn, or fail to learn. In an
article I wrote several years ago, I proposed that we need to ask “profoundly mul-
ticultural questions,” that is, questions that at first blush might not appear to be
“multicultural” but that are, in fact, profoundly and fundamentally multicultural.11
Among others, these include questions such as “Do all students have access to
calculus [physics, or any other high-status courses]?” and “Is the bilingual [ESL,
special ed, or any other program with low status] in the basement?” These are
“profoundly multicultural questions” precisely because they concern access and
equity, rather than simply a change in course content. All students deserve a
chance at an equitable and high-quality education, and this is what it means when
multicultural education is “basic education.”
Multicultural Education Is Important for All Students

There is a widespread misperception that multicultural education is only for
students of color, for urban students, or for so-called disadvantaged or at-risk
students. This belief probably developed as a result of the roots of multicultural
education, that is, the civil rights and equal education movements of the 1960s.
During that era, the primary objective of multicultural education was to address
the needs of students who historically had been most neglected or miseducated by
the schools, especially African American and other students of color. Those who
first promoted multicultural education firmly believed that attention needed to be
given to developing curriculum and materials that reflected these students’ his-
tories, cultures, and experiences. This thinking was historically necessary and is
understandable even today, given the great curricular imbalance and learning gaps
and opportunities that continue to exist in most schools.
More recently, a broader conceptualization of multicultural education has
gained acceptance. It can be stated in this way: All students are miseducated to
the extent that they receive only a partial and biased education. Although it is true
that the primary victims of biased education are those who are invisible in the cur-
riculum and whose schooling experiences are inequitable, everyone loses when
education is biased. Important female figures, for example, are still largely absent,
except in special courses on women’s history that are few and far between at the
K–12 level. Males also receive an incomplete education because they (not to men-
tion their female peers) learn little about women in their schooling. Working-class
history is also absent in almost all U.S. curricula. The children of the working class
are deprived not only of a more forthright education but also, more importantly,
of a place in history, and students of all social class backgrounds are deprived of a
more honest and complete view of our past. Also, the children of the wealthy learn
that only the powerful are the makers of history, the ones who have left their mark
on civilization. Likewise, there is a pervasive and impenetrable silence concern-
ing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) people in
most schools, not just in the curriculum but also in extracurricular activities. The
result is that these students, as well as those with family members who identify
as LGBTQ, are placed at risk in terms of social well-being and academic achieve-
ment. Heterosexual students receive the message that gay, lesbian and transgen-
der students should be ostracized because they are deviant and immoral. Michael
Sadowski, in his most recent book, makes the compelling case that although it is
important that LGBTQ students feel safe in school, “safe is not enough.”12 Only the
able-bodied are reflected in most curricula, save for exceptions such as Helen Kel-
ler, who are presented as either bigger than life or as sources of pity. The human-
ity of all students is jeopardized as a result.
Teachers in primarily White schools might think that multicultural education
is not meant for their students. They could not be more wrong. White students also
receive only a partial education, which helps to legitimate their cultural blindness.
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Seeing only themselves, they may believe that they are the norm and thus most
important, and that everyone else is secondary and less important. A book that
challenges this perception, What If All the Kids Are White?, provides excellent
strategies and resources for teachers working in mostly White communities.13
Multicultural education is, by definition, inclusive. Because it is about all people,
it is also for all people, regardless of their ethnicity, ability, social class, language,
sexual orientation, religion, gender, race, or other difference. It can even be convinc-
ingly argued that students from the dominant culture need multicultural education
more than others because they are generally the most miseducated or uneducated
about diversity. For example, European American youths often think that they do
not even have a culture, at least not in the same sense that easily culturally identifi-
able youths do. At the same time, they feel that their ways of living, doing things,
believing, and acting are “normal.” Anything else is “ethnic” and exotic.
Feeling as they do, young people from dominant groups are prone to develop
an unrealistic view of the world and of their place in it. These are the children who
do not question, for example, the fact that everyone, Christian or not, gets days
off at Christmas and Easter and that the holidays of other religions are given little
attention in our calendars and school schedules. They may automatically assume
that all children are raised by heterosexual, biological parents and may be sur-
prised to learn that many children are instead raised by just one parent, adoptive
parents, grandparents, foster parents, or lesbian or gay parents. Whereas children
from dominated groups may develop feelings of inferiority based on their school-
ing, dominant-group children may develop feelings of superiority. Both responses
are based on incomplete and inaccurate information about the complexity and
diversity of the world, and both are harmful.
In spite of this, multicultural education continues to be thought of by many
educators as education for the “culturally different” or the “disadvantaged.”
Teachers in predominantly European American schools, for example, may feel it is
not important or necessary to teach their students anything about the civil rights
movement. Likewise, only in scattered bilingual programs in Mexican American
communities are students exposed to literature by Mexican and Mexican American
authors, and ethnic studies classes are only, if at all, offered at high schools with a
high percentage of students of color.
The thinking behind these actions is condescending as well as misinformed.
Because anything remotely digressing from the “regular” (European American)
curriculum is automatically considered “soft” by some educators, a traditional
response to making a curriculum multicultural is to water it down. Poor pedagogi-
cal decisions are then based on the premise that so-called disadvantaged students
need a watered-down version of the “real” curriculum, whereas more privileged
children can handle the “regular” or more academically challenging curriculum.
But making a curriculum multicultural inevitably enriches, not dilutes, it. All stu-
dents would be enriched by reading the poetry of Langston Hughes or the stories
of Gary Soto, by being fluent in a second language, or by understanding the his-
tory of Islam.
Multicultural Education Is Pervasive

Multicultural education is neither an activity that happens at a set period of the
day nor another subject area to be “covered.” Multicultural education is a philoso-
phy, a way of looking at the world, not simply a program or a class or a teacher.
A true multicultural approach is pervasive. It permeates everything: the school
climate, physical environment, curriculum, and relationships among teachers and
students and community. It is apparent in every lesson, curriculum guide, unit,
bulletin board, and letter that is sent home. It can be seen in the process by which
books, audiovisual aids, and multimedia materials are acquired for the library; in
the games played during recess; and in the lunch that is served. In this compre-
hensive way, multicultural education helps us rethink school reform.
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What You Can Do

“Multiculturalize” Your Lessons
B e on the lookout for resources—books, articles, artwork,

people, and organizations—that can help you make your
curriculum more multicultural.
Try to adapt at least one lesson a week and make sure
that you do so with all the subject matters you teach, whether
language arts, mathematics, social studies, art, a foreign lan-
guage, science, or other content areas.
What might a multicultural philosophy mean in the way that schools are organ-
ized? For one, it would probably mean the end of rigid forms of ability tracking,
which inevitably favors some students over others. It would also mean that the
complexion of the school, both literally and figuratively, would change. That is,
schools would be desegregated rather than segregated along lines of race and social
class as they are now. In addition, there would be an effort to have the entire school
staff be more representative of our nation’s diversity. Pervasiveness would be appar-
ent in the great variety and creativity of instructional strategies so that all students
would benefit from methods other than the traditional “chalk and talk.” The curric-
ulum would be completely overhauled and would include the histories, viewpoints,
and insights of many different peoples and both males and females. Topics usually
considered “dangerous” could be talked about in classes, and students would be
encouraged to become critical thinkers. Textbooks and other instructional materials
would also reflect a pluralistic perspective. Teachers, families, and students would
have the opportunity to work together to influence the school’s policies and prac-
tices, including designing multiculturally appropriate curricula.
In other, less global but no less important ways, the multicultural school
would probably look vastly different. For example, the lunchroom might offer a
variety of international meals, not because they are exotic delights but because
they are the everyday foods people in the community eat. Sports and games from
all over the world might be played, and not all would be competitive. Children
would not be punished for speaking their native language. On the contrary, they
would be welcomed to do so at school, and it would be used in their instruction as
well. In addition, parents would be encouraged to continue speaking their native
language at home. In summary, the school would be a learning environment in
which curriculum, pedagogy, and outreach are all consistent with a broadly con-
ceptualized multicultural philosophy.
Multicultural Education Is Education for Social Justice

All good education connects theory with reflection and action, which is what Bra-
zilian educator Paulo Freire defined as praxis.14 Developing a multicultural per-
spective means learning to think in more inclusive and expansive ways, reflecting
on what is learned, and applying that learning to real situations. A century ago,
educational philosopher John Dewey described what happens when education is
not connected to reflection and action when he wrote “information severed from
thoughtful action is dead, a mind-crushing load.”15 Multicultural education invites
students and teachers to put their learning into action for social justice (for a defi-
nition of social justice, see Chapter 1). Multicultural education with a social jus-
tice perspective also means learning to question power structures and the status
quo. Whether debating a contentious issue, developing a newspaper, starting a
community engagement project at a local senior center, or organizing a petition
for the removal of a potentially dangerous waste treatment plant in the neighbor-
hood, students learn that they have power, collectively and individually, to make
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change. This aspect of multicultural education fits in particularly well with the
developmental level of young people who, starting in the elementary grades, are
very conscious of what is fair and unfair. If their pronounced sense of justice is not
channeled appropriately, the result can be anger, resentment, alienation, or drop-
ping out of school physically or emotionally.
Preparing students for active membership in a democracy has frequently been
cited by schools as a major educational goal. But few schools serve as sites of
apprenticeship for democracy. Policies and practices such as inflexible ability
grouping, inequitable testing, monocultural curricula, and unimaginative peda-
gogy contradict this lofty aim. In some schools, democratic practices are found
only in textbooks and are confined to discussions of the American Revolution, and
the chance for students to practice day-to-day democracy is minimal. The result is
that students in many schools perceive the claim of democracy to be a hollow and
irrelevant one. The fact that controversial topics such as power and inequality are
rarely discussed in schools should come as no surprise. As institutions, schools are
charged with maintaining the status quo, and discussing such issues might seem
to threaten it. But schools are also expected to promote equality. Exposing the
contradictions between democratic ideals and actual manifestations of inequality
makes many people uncomfortable, including some educators. Still, such matters
are at the heart of a broadly conceptualized multicultural perspective because the
subject matter of schooling is society, with all its wrinkles and warts and contra-
dictions. Ethics and the distribution of power, status, and rewards are basic soci-
etal concerns; education must address them.
Although the connection between multicultural education and students’ rights
and responsibilities in a democracy is unmistakable, many young people do not
learn about these responsibilities, or about the challenges of democracy and the
central role of citizens in ensuring and maintaining the privileges of democracy.
Results from a study about the First Amendment, in which over 112,000 high
school students were surveyed, is a chilling example of how little students under-
stand about democracy. The project, which was funded by the John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation, found that when the First Amendment was quoted to students,
more than one-third of them felt that it went too far in the rights it guarantees.
The report concluded that “[i]t appears, in fact, that our nation’s high schools are
failing their students when it comes to instilling in them appreciation for the First
Amendment.”16 More recently, a report from the Educational Testing Service cau-
tioned, “The dismal state of civics knowledge among our youth, along with the
likelihood of voting and volunteering being strongly related to one’s age, educa-
tion, literacy and numeracy skills, and income, represent fault lines in the bedrock
of our democracy.”17 Without the opportunity to learn the rights, responsibilities,
and skills of living in a democracy, social justice becomes an empty concept.
Multicultural education can have a great impact in helping to turn this situa-
tion around. A multicultural perspective presumes that classrooms do not simply
allow discussions that focus on social justice but also welcome them and even
plan actively for such discussions. These discussions might center on issues that
adversely and disproportionately affect disenfranchised communities—poverty,
discrimination, war, the national budget—and what students can do to address
these problems. Because these problems are pluralistic, education must, of neces-
sity, be multicultural. In fact, addressing such problems is necessary because,
according to Homi Bhabha, “[I]t is from those who have suffered the sentence
of history—subjugation, domination, diaspora, displacement—that we learn our
most enduring lessons for living and thinking.”18
Multicultural Education Is a Process

Curriculum and materials represent the content of multicultural education,
but multicultural education is, above all, a process. It is ongoing and dynamic
because no one ever stops becoming a multicultural person and knowledge is
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never complete. This means that there is no established canon that is set in stone.
Second, multicultural education is a process because it primarily involves rela-
tionships among people. The sensitivity and understanding teachers show their
students are more crucial in promoting student learning than the facts and figures
they may know about different ethnic and cultural groups. Also, multicultural edu-
cation is a process because it concerns intangibles such as expectations of student
achievement, learning environments, students’ learning preferences, and other
cultural variables that are absolutely essential for schools to understand if they are
to become successful with all students.
The dimension of multicultural education as a process is too often relegated to
a secondary position because content is easier to handle and has speedier results.
For instance, staging an assembly program on Black History Month is easier than
eliminating rigid ability tracking: The former involves adding extracurricular con-
tent, and, although this is important and necessary, it is not as decisive at chal-
lenging fundamental perceptions about intelligence, ability, social class, and race
through the elimination of tracking. Another example: Changing a basal reader is
easier than developing higher expectations for all students. The former involves
substituting one book for another; the latter involves changing perceptions, behav-
iors, and knowledge—not an easy task. And making all classrooms “identity safe”
spaces takes a lot more work than learning a new pedagogical strategy (see the
book Identity-Safe Classrooms: Places to Belong and Learn by Dorothy M. Steele
and Becki Cohn-Vargas19). As a result, the processes of multicultural education are
generally more complex, more politically volatile, and even more threatening to
vested interests than introducing multicultural content.
Because multicultural education is a process, it debunks simplistic and erro-
neous conventional wisdom at the same time that it requires dismantling policies
and practices that are disadvantageous for some students at the expense of others.
Nothing short of a complete restructuring of curricula and the reorganization of
schools is required. The process is complex, problematic, controversial, and time-
consuming, but it is one in which teachers and schools must engage to make their
schools truly multicultural.
Multicultural Education Is Critical Pedagogy

Knowledge is neither neutral nor apolitical, yet it is generally treated in schools as
if it were. Consequently, the knowledge taught in our schools tends to reflect what
is least controversial. Students may leave school with the impression that all major
conflicts have already been resolved, but history, including educational history, is
still full of great debates, controversies, and ideological struggles. These controver-
sies and conflicts are often left at the schoolhouse door.
Defining Critical Pedagogy

A multicultural approach values diversity and encourages critical thinking, reflection,
and action. Through this process, students are empowered both individually and col-
lectively to become active learners. This is the basis of critical pedagogy. Its opposite
is what Paulo Freire called “domesticating education”—education that emphasizes
passivity, acceptance, and submissiveness. According to Freire, education for domes-
tication is a process of “transferring knowledge,” whereas education for liberation
is one of “transforming action.”20 Education that is liberating encourages students
to take risks, to be curious, and to question. Critical pedagogy is, at its core, about
understanding and questioning power, a concept that is beautifully articulated in Lit-
eracy and Power, a compelling book on critical literacy by Hilary Janks.21 Although
many of the examples in her book refer to South Africa—both before and after Apart-
heid—the lessons are universal and applicable to U.S. classrooms.
Critical pedagogy is not new, although it has been referred to by other terms
in other times. In our country, precursors to critical pedagogy can be found in the
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What You Can Do

Learn About, and Practice, Critical Pedagogy
B ecome familiar with the books and resources men-

tioned throughout this text. Go to the Teaching for
Change (teachingforchange.org) Rethinking Schools
change your curriculum to reflect the ideas discussed in
this section. Share your ideas with a colleague and get
feedback before using them with your students. Communi-
(rethinkingschools.org) and Teaching Tolerance (https:// cate with your students’ parents so they know what’s
www.tolerance.org/) websites to get ideas about how to happening and why.
work of African American scholars and educators such as Carter Woodson and W.
E. B. DuBois.22 In Brazil, the historic work of Paulo Freire influenced literacy and
liberation movements throughout the world. Even before Freire, critical pedagogy
was being practiced in other parts of the world. More than half a century ago,
Sylvia Ashton-Warner, teaching Maori children in New Zealand, found that the
curriculum, materials, viewpoints, and pedagogy that had been used in educating
them were all borrowed from the dominant culture. Because Maori children had
been failed dismally by New Zealand schools, Ashton-Warner developed a strategy
for literacy based on the children’s experiences and interests. Calling it an “organic
approach,” she taught children how to read by using the words they wanted to
learn. Whereas traditional basal readers, having little to do with Maori children’s
experiences, were mechanistic instruments that imposed severe limitations on
the students’ creativity and expressiveness, Ashton-Warner’s approach, based on
what children knew and wanted to know, was extraordinarily successful.23
As this example illustrates, every educational decision made at any level,
whether by a teacher or by an entire school system, reflects the political ideology
and worldview of the decision maker. Decisions to continue or dismantle tracking,
challenge the use of standardized tests, lengthen the school day, use one read-
ing program rather than another, study literature from the Harlem Renaissance or
Elizabethan period (or both), or use learning centers or rows of chairs (or both)
all reflect a particular view of learners and of education. All the decisions educa-
tors make, no matter how neutral or trivial they may seem, can have an impact
on the lives and experiences of our students. This is true of the curriculum, books,
and other materials we provide for them. State and local guidelines and mandates
may limit what particular schools and teachers choose to teach, and this, too, is a
political decision.
Critical pedagogy is also an exploder of myths. It helps to expose and demys-
tify as well as demythologize some of the truths that we take for granted and to
analyze them critically and carefully. Justice for all, equal treatment under the
law, and equal educational opportunity, although certainly ideals worth believing
in and striving for, are not always the reality. The problem is that we teach them
as if they are, and were always, real and true, with no exceptions. Critical peda-
gogy allows us to have hope in these ideals while critically examining the discrep-
ancies between the ideal and the reality.
Some Examples: The Content of the Curriculum

What is excluded from the curriculum is often as revealing as what is included.
Much of the literature taught in schools, for instance, is still heavily male-oriented,
European, and European American. The significance of women, people of color,
and those who write in other languages (even if their work has been translated into
English) is diminished, unintentionally or not. This is because history is generally
written by the conquerors, not by the vanquished or by those who benefit least
in society. This is especially the case in history books, which are skewed in the
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direction of dominant groups in a society. But when American Indian people write
history books, they generally say that Columbus invaded rather than discovered
this land, and that there was no heroic westward expansion, but rather an eastern
encroachment. Mexican Americans often include references to Aztlán, the legendary
land that was overrun by Europeans during this encroachment. Many Puerto Ricans
remove the gratuitous word granted that appears in so many textbooks and explain
that U.S. citizenship was instead imposed, and they emphasize that U.S. citizen-
ship was opposed by even the two houses of the legislature that existed in Puerto
Rico in 1917. African American historians tend to describe the active participation
of enslaved Africans in their own liberation, and they often include accounts such
as slave narratives to describe the rebellion and resistance of their people. Working-
class people who know their history usually credit laborers rather than Andrew Car-
negie and other industrialists with the tremendous building boom that occurred in
the United States and the rapid growth of the U.S. economy during the late nine-
teenth century and early twentieth century. And Japanese Americans frequently cite
racist hysteria, economic exploitation, and propaganda as major reasons for their
internment in U.S. concentration camps during World War II.
Textbooks in all subject areas exclude information about unpopular perspec-
tives or the perspectives of disempowered groups in our society. These are the
“lies my teacher told me” to which James Loewen refers in his powerful critique
of U.S. history textbooks. In another book (Teaching What Really Happened),
Loewen encourages teachers to get students motivated about history by avoiding
“the tyranny of textbooks” and becoming history sleuths.24 For instance, Thanks-
giving is generally presented as an uncomplicated celebration in which Pilgrims
and Indians shared the bounty of the harvest, but it is unlikely that the Wampa-
noags experienced Thanksgiving so innocently. One way to counter simplistic or
one-sided views is to provide alternative or multiple views of the same topic. A
book that does just this, published by the Boston Children’s Museum, presents
a multiplicity of perspectives on Thanksgiving, including the Wampanoag per-
spective. Another, Rethinking Columbus, from Rethinking Schools, is a treasure
trove of ideas to combat the simplistic perspective often presented about American
Indians.25
A major problem with a monocultural curriculum is that it gives students only
one way of seeing the world. When reality is presented as static, finished, and flat,
the underlying tensions, controversies, passions, and problems faced by people
throughout history and today disappear. To be informed and active participants
in a democratic society, students need to understand the complexity of the world
and the many experiences and viewpoints involved. That is, all students need to
understand multiple perspectives and not only the viewpoints of dominant groups.
Unless they do, students will continue to think of history as linear and fixed and to
think of themselves as passive and unable to make changes in their communities
and the larger society, or even in their personal interactions.
Let us consider some examples: The immigrant experience is generally treated
as a romantic and successful odyssey rather than the traumatic, wrenching, and
often less-than-idyllic situation it was (and still is) for many. The experiences of
non-European immigrants or those forcibly incorporated into the United States are
usually presented as if they were identical to the experiences of Europeans, which
they have not at all been. We can also be sure that, if the perspectives of women
were taken seriously, the school curriculum would be altered dramatically. The
historian Howard Zinn provides one of the few examples of such a multifaceted,
multicultural, and complex history. In his classic A People’s History of the United
States (most recently updated in 2016), we clearly see a history full of passion and
conflict with voices rarely included in traditional history texts. There is now also
A People’s History of the United States for Young People, a history book that pre-
sents a more inclusive and honest history than that found in most school history
textbooks.26
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Using a critical perspective, students learn that there is not just one way (or
even two or three) of viewing issues. To explain what I mean by “using a critical
perspective,” let me be facetious and use the number 17 to explain it: Let’s say
there are at least 17 ways of understanding reality, and until we have learned all of
them, we have only part of the truth. The point is that there are multiple perspec-
tives on every issue, but most of us have learned only the “safe” or standard way
of interpreting events and issues.
A multicultural perspective does not simply operate on the principle of sub-
stituting one “truth” or perspective for another. Rather, it reflects on multiple
and contradictory perspectives to understand reality more fully. In an interview,
the historian Ronald Takaki explained it in this way: “The intellectual purpose
of multiculturalism is a more accurate understanding of who we are as Ameri-
cans.”27 Critical pedagogy thus acknowledges rather than suppresses diversity
of all kinds. In our pluralistic society, teachers and students need to learn to
understand even those viewpoints with which they may disagree—not to prac-
tice “political correctness,” but to develop a critical perspective about what they
hear, read, or see.
Critical Pedagogy in Action

In his classic book When Students Have Power (1997), Ira Shor has proposed that
critical pedagogy is difficult precisely because it moves beyond academic discourse
to reflection and action.28 Yet the typical curriculum discourages students from
thinking critically. In this sense, critical pedagogy takes courage. What does it mean
to teach with courage? Some examples are in order. Vivian Vasquez, in her book
Negotiating Critical Literacies with Young Children, documented her experiences in
using a critical literacy approach with 3- to 5-year- olds. Among the many examples
she cites, one is about what happened when the children in her class realized that a
classmate had not eaten at the annual school barbecue because he was a vegetarian
and only hot dogs and hamburgers had been served. On their own initiative—but
having learned to confront social injustice—the students drew up a petition about
providing vegetarian alternatives and gave it to the event committee. The next year,
vegetarian alternatives were provided.
Mary Cowhey, in her book Black Ants and Buddhists: Thinking Critically and
Teaching Differently in the Elementary Grades, gives numerous examples of how
her 6- and 7-year-old students developed a critical perspective. In one case, she
recounts that her young students wanted to be involved in a presidential cam-
paign. Knowing that they could not vote until they were 18 years old, they decided
that, rather than be passive bystanders, they would instead conduct a voter regis-
tration drive. The result was that they educated the community about the impor-
tance of voting and in the process registered 37 new voters. They then brought the
voter registration cards to the town hall and met with the mayor to tell her about
their project. Another inspiring book, Teaching for Joy and Justice by Linda Chris-
tensen, describes in detail some of the English language arts lessons she has done
with high school students. These books also affirm that students of all ages, even
the youngest, can learn to think critically and positively about their ability to effect
change through their actions.29 In these beautiful and hopeful books, teachers and
researchers demonstrate that critical literacy is not about despair and anger, but
rather about joy and inclusion.
Other approaches that have successfully used the experiences of students
are worth mentioning. The superb preschool curriculum first developed almost
three decades ago by Louise Derman-Sparks and the Anti-Bias Curriculum
Task Force is especially noteworthy. Catherine Compton-Lilly, in her role as a
first-grade teacher and later as a reading teacher, used a critical perspective to
develop classroom strategies to “change the world” by confronting assumptions
about race, poverty, and culture. Instructional strategies based on students’
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languages, cultures, families, and communities are also included in wonderful

books by the educational organizations Rethinking Schools (rethinkingschools.
org) and Teaching for Change (teachingforchange.org). These, along with a
growing number of other resources for prekindergarten through college, make
it clear that critical pedagogy is a significant component of multicultural educa-
tion for all ages.30
Conclusion
In this chapter, I have described how multicultural education represents a way of
rethinking school reform because it responds to many of the problematic factors
leading to school underachievement and failure. When implemented comprehen-
sively, multicultural education can transform and enrich the schooling of all young
people.
This discussion leads us to an intriguing insight: In the final analysis, multicul-
tural education, as defined here, is simply good pedagogy and sound educational
policy. That is, all good education takes students seriously; uses their experiences
as a basis for further learning; and helps them to develop into informed, critically
aware, and empowered citizens. What is multicultural about this? To put it sim-
ply, in our multicultural society, all good education must be multicultural because
it needs to take into account the diversity of our student population. This means
looking at, and addressing, differences in our schools and society because, as the
title of a compelling article put it, “You Can’t Fix What You Don’t Look at.”31 Our
world is increasingly interdependent, and all students need to understand their
role in a global society, not simply in their small town, city, or nation. Multicul-
tural education is a process that goes beyond the changing demographics in a par-
ticular country. It is more effective education for a changing world.
To Think About
1. Why is it important for antiracism and antidiscrimination, in general, to be at the core of
multicultural education?
2. How are European American students miseducated if they are not exposed to a multi-
cultural curriculum? How are males miseducated if they do not learn about women in
history? How have you been miseducated? Give some concrete examples.
3. Think of a number of curriculum ideas that conform to the definition of multicultural
education as social justice. How might students be engaged through the curriculum to
consider and act on issues of social justice? Give specific examples.
4. How do you define multicultural education? Explain your definition.

1. Prepare a public presentation on the benefits of multicultural education for your col-
leagues, a group of new teachers, or a parent group. What might you include in your
presentation to convince skeptics that multicultural education, broadly defined and
implemented, is necessary for your school?
2. Ask to be on your school’s hiring committee when the next teaching position becomes
available. How can you use your influence to define the job qualifications and job
description in a way that includes multicultural education? What should these be?
3. With a group of colleagues, develop an art, science, or math project that builds on
multicultural education as critical pedagogy. How would you do this? In what activities
would students be involved? How would these activities motivate them to think criti-
cally? Discuss the results with your colleagues.
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Notes
1. A comprehensive resource on the history, goals, and concerns of 18. Bhabha (1994), p. 172.
multicultural education is Banks & Banks (2004). See also Nieto 19. Steele & Cohn-Vargas (2013).
(2009). 20. Freire (1985).
2. Weinberg (1982), p. 7. 21. Janks (2010).
3. Fine (1991). 22. See, for instance, Woodson (1933) and DuBois (1935). For a his-
4. Kozol (1975), pp. 16–20. torical analysis of multicultural education and critical pedagogy,
5. Geary (2009). see Banks (2009) and Nieto (2009).
6. Tatum (2003). (2017). 23. Ashton-Warner (1963).
7. Donaldson (2001). 24. Loewen (2008, 2009).
8. DiAngelo (2012). 25. Boston Children’s Museum (2002); see also Bigelow & Peterson
9. Published by Delta beginning in 1994, these texts include the so- (2003).
called core knowledge that children are supposed to know at dif- 26. Zinn (2010). For excellent classroom materials based on this
ferent grade levels in order to do well in school. The most recent important work, see http://www.zinnedproject.org. See also Zinn
addition to this series begins as early as preschool! See Hirsch and Stefoff (2009).
(2008). 27. Halford (1999).
10. Banks (2004), p. 291. 28. Shor (1997).
11. Nieto (2003a). 29. Vasquez (2014); Cowhey (2006); Christensen (2009).
12. See, Sadowski (2016). 30. See, for example, Derman-Sparks and the A.B.C. Task Force
13. Derman-Sparks, Ramsey, & Edwards (2011). (1989); Compton-Lilly (2004); Au, Bigelow, & Karp (2007);
14. Freire (1970). Bigelow, Harvey, Karp, & Miller (2001); Lee, Menkart, & Okazawa-
15. Dewey (1966), p. 153. Rey (2006); Menkart, Murray, & View (2004); May & Sleeter
16. John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (2005). (2010).
17. Coley and Sum (2012), p. 17 31. Carter, Skiba, Arredondo, & Pollock (2016).
M02_NIET7232_07_SE_C02.indd 46 23/09/17 2:01 PM

PART
II
Developing a Conceptual
Framework for
Multicultural Education
“Educators need to know what happens in the world of the children with whom
they work. They need to know the universe of their dreams, the language with
which they skillfully defend themselves from the aggressiveness of their world,
what they know independently of the school, and how they know it.”
—Paulo Freire,
Teachers as Cultural Workers: Letters to Those Who Dare Teach, 1998
Eniola Ajao in Ben Sears’s Foundations 2-D art
class, Amherst-Pelham Regional High School,
Amherst Massachusetts. Acrylic painting, 2014.
P
art II develops the conceptual framework for multicultural education. It
considers issues such as racism and other biases, school organization and
educational policies and practices, and cultural and linguistic differences.
Although we cannot say whether any of these factors inevitably leads to students’
success or failure, these issues need to be considered to understand how they may
influence the educational experiences of students.
The 16 case studies and 7 snapshots in Chapter 3 through 10 highlight how
these factors can influence academic success or failure. Although we have grouped
the case studies with particular chapters in Parts II and III because of common
themes, each case study or snapshot raises numerous issues discussed in other
chapters, too. For example, Delilah Rogers’s case study is placed after Chapter 3
because it highlights not only the impact that racism can have on school achieve-
ment, but also issues of teacher expectations and school climate. At the same
time, Delilah’s case study explores issues of family involvement, a topic covered
in Chapter 4. Besides addressing racism and other institutional barriers to learn-
ing, Chapter 3 also explores the influence of teachers’ and schools’ expectations on
students. In addition, this chapter includes two snapshots and is followed by three
case studies that underscore those issues.
Chapter 4 considers how school organization, policies, and practices—
including tracking, testing, pedagogy, curriculum, school climate and disciplinary
47

48 PART II Developing a Conceptual Framework for Multicultural Education
policies—may affect student learning. Case studies that emphasize curriculum and
other school-related factors follow Chapter 4.
Chapter 5 explores the relationship between cultural understandings and edu-
cation, and Chapter 6 focuses on linguistic diversity and schools’ responses to it.
These chapters are followed by case studies and snapshots that consider the influ-
ence of cultural and linguistic diversity on student learning.
The final chapter in Part II (Chapter 7) presents a synopsis and critique of
various theories and provides a comprehensive perspective for understanding stu-
dent learning with one snapshot that illustrates these critiques. The case studies
at the conclusion of the chapter provide two vivid examples of students whose
educational achievement was negatively influenced by conditions both in school
and outside of it. Unlike most of the case studies in which students are successful
learners (sometimes in spite of school conditions), the last two case studies reflect
an important reality for many students.
We hope all the examples in this book challenge readers to think about how
changes in classrooms and schools might positively affect student learning.

3 Racism, Discrimination, and
Expectations of Students’
Achievement
L
inda Howard, one of the interviewees whose case study
follows this chapter, was directly harmed by racism in
school and outside of it, and she developed a sophisti-
cated understanding of racism on both an individual and an
institutional level. As you will see in her case study, Linda
thought very deeply about racism. Regrettably, too many teach-
ers and other educators have not. In this chapter, we explore
the impact that racism, other biases, and expectations of stu-
dent abilities may have on achievement. We focus on racism
as an example of bias but also discuss other kinds of personal
and institutional discrimination. These include discrimination
on the basis of gender (sexism); ethnic group (ethnocentrism);
social class (classism); language (linguicism)1; sexual orienta-
tion and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) identi-
ties (heterosexism); age (ageism); and discrimination against
Jews (anti-Semitism), Arabs (anti-Arab discrimination), and
people with disabilities (ableism), among other differences.
Racism and Discrimination: Definitions

and Dimensions
Although the terms racism and prejudice are often used inter-
changeably, they do not mean the same thing. Gordon Allport,
in his groundbreaking work of over six decades ago on the
nature of prejudice, quotes a United Nations (UN) document
Clockwise from top left Allison Houn, Joseph that defines discrimination as “any conduct based on a distinc-
Barboza, Simone Robinson, Quinn Schein
tion made on grounds of natural or social categories, which have no relation either
in Lily Friedling’s art class. Amherst-Pelham
Regional Middle School, Amherst, Massachu- to individual capacities or merits, or to the concrete behavior of the individual
setts. Self portraits. Graphite on paper. 2016. person.”2 This definition is helpful but incomplete for two reasons. For one, it
fails to describe the harmful effects of such conduct; for another, it fails to move
“[Racists have power] only if you let them! We’ll stick with [the example of] striped shirts: If I go where
everyone is wearing solids, and I’m wearing a stripe, and someone comes up to me and tells me, ‘You
don’t belong here; you’re wearing stripes,’ I’ll say, ‘I belong anywhere I want to belong.’ And I’ll stand
right there! But there are some people who just say, ‘Oh, okay,’ and will turn around and leave. Then
the racist has the power.”
—Linda Howard, interviewee
49
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beyond the individual level toward an understanding of the institutional level.

More broadly speaking, discrimination (whether based on race, gender, social
class, or other differences) denotes negative or destructive behaviors that can
result in denying some groups life’s necessities as well as the privileges, rights,
and opportunities enjoyed by other groups. Discrimination is usually based on
prejudice, that is, on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals about entire groups
of people. These attitudes and beliefs are generally, but not always, negative. Atti-
tudes alone, however, are not as harmful as the behaviors, policies, and practices
that result from such attitudes.
Critical Race Theory and Other Frameworks

Over the past few decades, a great deal of theoretical work has been done on
understanding the sociopolitical and structural foundations of racism. Much of this
has been accomplished through the field of Critical Race Theory (CRT), which
applies critical theory to examine the ways in which the intersection of race, law,
and power influences society and culture. Some of the tenets of CRT include the
following: first, that racism is part and parcel of our everyday lives and not an
aberration; second, that it serves important material and psychological purposes,
that is, that some people inevitably benefit from it; third, that race is a social con-
struct, not a biological one; and, fourth, that people of color have a unique voice
and experiences that can communicate the reality of people of color in a way that
White people cannot. CRT makes clear the ways in which schooling and other
social structures have been deliberately designed to disempower people of color.3
The research of Zeus Leonardo expands from the foundations of CRT to offer
what he calls a “multidimensional theory of racism and education” in which he
argues the strengths and weaknesses of four frameworks in educational research:
Critical Race Theory; Marxism; Whiteness Studies; and Cultural Studies. His anal-
ysis emphasizes that postmodern frameworks of identity make a case for under-
standing identities as shifting and evolving according to the context, and so must
curriculum and instruction. Racism racism remains a stark reality and needs to be
addressed by multicultural education, even while contemporary discourse on iden-
tities calls into question the notion of race.4
Discussions about how to name identities and experiences with institution-
alized racism lead to the interrogation of implicit bias. The concept of implicit
bias emerges from intersecting scholarship among the fields of law, psychology,
sociology, and education, with attention to the study of attitudes. Given the way
it emerges in school contexts, the concept of implicit bias holds salience for this
chapter. Whereas explicit bias is held on a conscious level, implicit bias differs
because it operates at a level below conscious awareness and is not intentional.
This is essential research for teachers to understand the ways in which subtle cog-
nitive processes (e.g., implicit attitudes and implicit stereotypes) influence their
own judgments and/or behaviors.5
Obstinacy of Conventional Norms

This chapter investigates the ways that schooling and educational structures may
comply with U.S. society, among many others, by categorizing people according to
both visible and invisible traits, using such classifications to assign behavioral and
cognitive traits to these categories, and then applying policies and practices based
on these categories that jeopardize some people and benefit others.6 These practices
are dehumanizing and damaging. Positive social change is evident in many sectors
of society, and resistance movements have made enormous headway in the United
States. Yet the conventional norm that has been used to measure all other groups
as European American, upper-middle-class, English-speaking, heterosexual, able-
bodied, and male holds an obstinate place in the social imagination. Classifications
based on physical and social differences are omnipresent. Frequently, they result in
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CHAPTER 3 Racism, Discrimination, and Expectations of Students’ Achievement 51
gross exaggerations and stereotypes: Girls are not as smart as boys; African Ameri-
cans have rhythm; Asians are studious; Poles are simpleminded; Jews are smart;
and poor people need instant gratification. Entire racial groups may be categorized
as lazy or physically aggressive, while others are assumed to be gifted “by nature”
in music or mathematics. Although some of these may appear to be “positive” ste-
reotypes, both “negative” and “positive” stereotypes have negative consequences
because they skew our perception of entire groups of people. There are several prob-
lems with categorizing people in this way, two of the most obvious and damaging
are that: First, people of all groups begin to believe the stereotypes, and, second,
both material and psychological resources are doled out accordingly.
Institutional Practices
Racism and other forms of discrimination are based on assumptions that one ethnic
group, class, gender, or language is superior to all others. In education, discrimina-
tion based on perceptions of superiority is part of the structure of schools, the curric-
ulum, the preparation most teachers receive, and the interactions among teachers,
students, and the community. But discrimination is not simply an individual bias;
it is, above all, an institutional practice. It is because of institutional practice that
individual effort alone is not enough to counteract racism and other negative biases.
In our society, the metaphor of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is powerful,
but it fails to explain how structural inequality gets in the way of individual efforts.
Individual and Institutional Dimensions of Racism and Discrimination

Too often, prejudice and discrimination are viewed by many people as individu-
als’ negative perceptions toward members of other groups. Although the beliefs and
behaviors of individuals may be very hurtful and psychologically damaging, institu-
tional discrimination—that is, the systematic use of economic and political power in
institutions (such as schools) that leads to detrimental policies and practices—does
far greater damage. These policies and practices have a destructive effect on groups
that share a particular identity, be it racial, ethnic, gender, or other. The major dif-
ference between individual and institutional discrimination is the wielding of power.
It is primarily through the power of the people who control institutions, such as
schools, that oppressive policies and practices are reinforced and legitimized.
Here’s an example: Let’s say that you are prejudiced against tall people.
Although your bias may hurt tall individuals because you refuse to befriend them or
because you make fun of them, you can do very little to limit their options in life.
If you belong to a group of powerful “nontalls,” however, and you limit the access
of tall people to certain neighborhoods, prohibit them from receiving quality health
care through particular policies, discourage or outlaw intermarriage between “talls”
and people of short or average height, develop policies against the employment of
“talls” in high-status professions, and place all children who are the offspring of
“talls” (or who show early signs of becoming above average in height) in the lowest
ability tracks in schools, then your bias would have teeth and its institutional power
would be clear. The following discussion focuses primarily on this kind of discrimi-
nation, that is, institutional discrimination.
Institutional discrimination generally refers to how people are excluded or
deprived of rights or opportunities as a result of the normal operations of the insti-
tution. Although the individuals involved in the institution may not themselves be
prejudiced or have any racist intentions, or even an awareness of how others may
be harmed, the result may nevertheless be racist. Intentional and unintentional
racism may differ, but because they both result in negative outcomes, in the end
it does not really matter whether racism and other forms of discrimination are
intentional. Rather than trying to figure out whether the intent of a discriminatory
action was to do harm or not, educators’ time would be better spent addressing
the effects of racism.
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 51 03/11/17 11:37 AM

The Systemic Nature of Discrimination

When we understand racism and other forms of discrimination as a systemic prob-
lem that is pervasive through institutional practices, not simply as an individual
dislike for a particular group of people, we can better understand the negative and
destructive effects it can have for generations to come. This discussion is not meant
to minimize the powerful effects of individual prejudice and discrimination, which
can be personally painful, or to suggest that discrimination is perpetrated only by
certain groups, for example, by Whites toward Blacks. There is no monopoly on
prejudice and individual discrimination; they may be directed at any group and even
occur within groups. Members of any group may be prejudiced, and it is everyone’s
responsibility to work to eradicate individual racism and other biases. In our society,
however, interethnic and intraethnic biases and personal prejudices, while negative
and hurtful, simply do not have the long-range and life-limiting effects that institu-
tional racism and other kinds of institutional discrimination have.
The historical effects of institutionalized racism in U.S. society are deeply
enduring and starkly visible, and they have influenced the education of children of
color for centuries. Yet, the historic and deliberate construction of racist, unequal
housing laws, which impacted schooling, health, and family economics, has been
conveniently covered up or omitted in many current social debates. The prev-
alence of racially segregated neighborhoods, communities, and, in some cases,
entire cities provides graphic illustrations of institutionalized racism, and the
abuse of power, resulting in searing effects on multiple generations.
For example, in the wake of uprisings in Ferguson, Missouri, after an unarmed
Black teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in August
2014, some news media focused attention on the sharply defined racially segre-
gated neighborhoods of the city. Media panelists and political pundits held dis-
cussions retelling the common story line about the conditions of “white flight”
(the action of White families relocating to all-White communities), which main-
tained racial isolation. Certainly, individual and community prejudice and sub-
urban elitism that fueled White flight were factors, but what was, and continues
to be frequently missing from the explanation, Richard Rothstein7 argues, is the
role of a century of public policies that built the current urban landscape with
conscious racial division. His research provides an in-depth analysis, which delves
more deeply into local, state, and federal laws that intentionally excluded African
Americans from many resources in cities across the Unites States. Rothstein cites
policies that were in place for the major span of the twentieth century—such as
racially explicit zoning; segregated public housing projects; restrictive covenants
and laws against Blacks and other non-Whites; government subsidies for White
suburban developments that excluded Blacks; urban renewal and redevelop-
ment that relocated communities of color; and government regulators’ support for
real estate and financial loan institutions to promote segregation. Furthermore,
he asserts that even though many of these explicitly segregationist governmental
actions ended in previous decades, they continue to determine today’s racial seg-
regation patterns.8
It is no secret that housing segregation creates school segregation, and is fre-
quently a covariant in neighborhoods with high unemployment and high poverty,
stripping many community members of social and political power. As Gary Orfield
reports in his outline for a new civil rights policy, “School policy must be linked
with social and economic policy. Housing integration is critical since residence is
destiny for children of color.”9
Discrimination and Economic, Political, and Social Power

Prejudice and discrimination, then, are not just personality traits or individual psy-
chological dysfunctions; they are also manifestations of economic, political, and
social power. The institutional definition of racism is not always easy to accept
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 52 03/11/17 11:37 AM

What You Can Do

Directly Confront Racism and Discrimination
F ocusing on similarities and differences alone does not

guarantee that racism will disappear. In fact, a focus on
similarities and differences can become an excuse for not
developmentally appropriate ways helps even the youngest
children tackle racism and other biases in productive, rather
than negative ways.
delving more deeply into racism. Because racism and other The name-calling that goes on in many schools also
biases are generally hushed up or avoided in schools, they provides a valuable opportunity for you to engage in dialogue
can become uncomfortable topics of conversation. Directly with your students, as well as with other teachers, administra-
confronting racism and discrimination can be a healthy and tors, and families. Rather than addressing name-calling as
caring way to address these difficult issues. isolated incidents or as the work of a few troublemakers, as
Even young children can take part in discussions on is done too often, discussing it openly and directly helps stu-
racism and discrimination. Although many teachers believe dents understand these incidents as symptoms of systemic
that young children should not be exposed to the hor- problems in society and schools. Making explicit the biases
rors of racism at an early age, they overlook the fact that that are implicit in name-calling can become part of “circle”
many children suffer the effects of racism or other forms or “sharing” time or can form the basis for lessons on racism,
of discrimination every day. Discussing these issues in sexism, ableism, or other biases.
because it goes against deeply held ideals of equality and justice in our nation.
Racism as an institutional system constructs a system whereby some people and
groups benefit and others lose. Whites, whether they intend to or not, benefit in a
racist society; males benefit in a sexist society. Discrimination always helps some-
body—those with the most power—which explains why racism, sexism, and other
forms of discrimination continue in spite of the fact that the vast majority of indi-
viduals claims to be against them.
According to the late Meyer Weinberg, a well-known historian whose research
focused on school desegregation, racism is a system of privilege and penalty. That
is, one is rewarded or punished in housing, education, employment, health, and in
other institutions by the simple fact of belonging to a particular group, regardless
of one’s individual merits or faults. He wrote, “Racism consists centrally of two
facets: First, a belief in the inherent superiority of some people and the inherent
inferiority of others; and second, the acceptance of distributing goods and ser-
vices—let alone respect—in accordance with such judgments of unequal worth.”
In addressing the institutional nature of racism, he added, “Racism is always col-
lective. Prejudiced individuals may join the large movement, but they do not cause
it.” According to this concept, what Weinberg called the “silence of institutional
racism” and the “ruckus of individual racism” are mutually supportive. It is some-
times difficult to separate one level of racism from the other because they feed on
and inform one another. What is crucial, according to Weinberg, is understanding
that the doctrine of White supremacy is at the root of racism.10
The History and Persistence of Racism in U.S. Schools

As institutions, schools respond to and reflect the larger society. Therefore, it
is not surprising that racism finds its way into schools in much the same way
that it finds its way into other institutions, such as housing, employment, and
the criminal justice system. In schools, overt expressions of racism, while still
present, may be less common today than in the past, but racism does not exist
only when schools are legally segregated or racial epithets are used. Racism is
also manifested in practices such as rigid ability tracking, low expectations of
students based on their identity, and inequitably funded schools, among other
policies and practices.
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 53 03/11/17 11:37 AM

Racism and other forms of discrimination—particularly sexism, classism,

ableism, ethnocentrism, and linguicism—have a long history in our schools, and
their effects are widespread and long-lasting. The most blatant form of discrimina-
tion is the actual withholding of education, as was the case historically with Afri-
can Americans and sometimes with American Indians. To teach enslaved Africans
to read was a crime punishable under the law, and it became a subversive activity
that was practiced by Blacks in ingenious ways. Another overt form of discrimina-
tion is segregating students, by law or custom, according to their race, ethnicity,
or gender, as was perpetrated at one time or another against African American,
Mexican American, Japanese, and Chinese students as well as against females. Yet
another form is forcing a group into boarding schools, as was done to American
Indian students well into the twentieth century. The result was that children were
encouraged to adopt the ways of the dominant culture in sundry ways, from sub-
tle persuasion to physical punishment for speaking their native language.11 All of
these examples are bitter reminders of the inequities in U.S. educational history.
Unfortunately, the discrimination that children face in schools is not a thing
of the past. School practices and policies continue to discriminate against some
children in very concrete ways. Recent studies have found that most students of
color are in schools that are still segregated by race and social class, and the situ-
ation is worsening rather than improving. The result is that today students of all
races are less likely to interact with those of other backgrounds than at any time
in the past five decades, that poor children are segregated in inferior schools, and
that the high schools attended by these students are what Gary Orfield has called
“dropout factories.”12 At the impetus of the civil rights movement, many school
systems throughout the United States were indeed becoming desegregated, but
less than rigorous implementation of desegregation plans, “White flight,” and seg-
regated housing patterns succeeded in resegregating many schools. Segregation
invariably results in school systems that are “separate and unequal” because, in
general, fewer resources are provided to schools in poor communities and vastly
superior resources are provided to schools in wealthier communities. The curricu-
lum in such schools is also unequal, offering young people in schools with poor
resources few high-level courses that prepare them for postsecondary education.
Also, teachers in poor urban schools tend to have less experience and less prepara-
tion than those who teach in schools that serve primarily European American and
middle-class students. Even when they are desegregated, however, many schools
resegregate students through practices such as rigid ability tracking. Consequently,
desegregating schools, in and of itself, does not guarantee educational equity.
Manifestations of Racism and Discrimination in Schools

Racism and discrimination are manifested in numerous school practices and poli-
cies. Studies have found that some policies have especially negative consequences
for students from diverse backgrounds. This is the case, for instance, with rigid
ability tracking and high-stakes tests.13
Thus, it is clear that racism and other forms of institutional discrimination play a
part in students’ educational success or failure. In general, African American, Latino,
American Indian, many Asian, and poor children continue to achieve below grade
level, drop out in much greater numbers, and go to college in much lower propor-
tions than their middle-class and European American peers. Three concrete examples
illustrate this point. First, Black and Latino students are chronically underrepresented
in programs for the gifted and talented; they are only half as likely as White students
to be placed in a class for the gifted, although they may be equally gifted. In a sec-
ond example, Latino students drop out of school at incredibly and unacceptably high
rates: In some places, the rate is as high as 80 percent.14 A school in which 80 of every
100 students enrolled do not make it to high school graduation would be completely
unacceptable in middle-class and wealthy communities, yet it is not unusual in poor
communities. A third example concerns the fact that schools are frequently unsafe for
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 54 03/11/17 11:37 AM

lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (LGBTQ) students. Although the

situation has improved somewhat in the past two decades, a report by the Gay, Les-
bian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) found that, across all racial and ethnic
groups, large percentages of students still reported feeling unsafe and having faced hos-
tile school climates because of their sexual orientation or gender expression.15
If educational failure were caused only by students’ background and other social
characteristics, it would be difficult to explain why similar students are successful
in some classrooms and schools and not in others. In his extensive review of the
“achievement gap,” Richard R. Valencia analyzed what he calls “systemic challenges”
and indicted racialized structures that influence income, housing, health care, and
school quality for many Black and Latino students. His asset-based approach illustrates
the importance of tackling societal inequities and fully engaging and empowering stu-
dents’ parents and caregivers for hopeful and lasting “systemic transformations.”16
Even when schools are successful at narrowing the “achievement gap,” how-
ever, they alone cannot solve all the problems created by an inequitable and
unequal society. Discrimination based on social class is also prevalent in our pub-
lic schools, and social class and race are often intertwined. In her research, Jean
Anyon found that differences in academic achievement are due primarily to the
kinds of schools students attend, the length of time they stay in school, the cur-
riculum and pedagogy to which they are exposed, and societal beliefs concerning
their ability. As a result, unequal opportunities to learn can produce significant dif-
ferences in academic achievement among low-income urban versus affluent sub-
urban students. The consequences may be dramatic in terms of future life options.
Using extensive data from numerous studies, Anyon concluded that compound
educational and political inequality in the occupations, salaries, and housing of
the urban poor and the affluent reinforce political and economic differences.17 Her
work suggests that while school reform is both important and necessary, what
schools can accomplish is limited if larger macroeconomic policies having to do
with employment, housing patterns, health, and other issues do not change.
Rather than eradicate social class differences, then, it appears that schooling
reflects and exacerbates (or even duplicates) them. This finding was confirmed
by Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis in their groundbreaking class analysis of
schooling more than four decades ago.18 Bowles and Gintis compared the number
of years of schooling of students with the socioeconomic status of their parents
and found that students whose parents were in the highest socioeconomic group
tended to complete the most years of schooling. They concluded that schooling, in
and of itself, does not necessarily move poor children out of their parents’ low eco-
nomic class. More often, schooling maintains and solidifies class divisions. Tragi-
cally, as researchers Jean Anyon, David Berliner, Richard Rothstein, and others
have more recently documented, this outcome is still true.19
Intentional or not, racism, classism, and other forms of discrimination are
apparent in the quality of education that students receive. For instance, even when
teachers believe they are being fair, the results may be unfair. A study by Janet
Ward Schofield found that teachers who claimed to be “color-blind” suspended
African American males at highly disproportionate rates.20 Another graphic exam-
ple of discrimination based on both race and class may be found in the vastly
different resources given to schools, depending on the socioeconomic level of the
student population served. As Jonathan Kozol states in his searing indictment of
public education, the resegregation of students of different backgrounds is akin
to apartheid, the heinous policy that legally separated people according to race in
South Africa (similar to Jim Crow, the racist laws and actions in the southern United
States during the late nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century).21
Research by Gary Orfield and Chungmei Lee support this contention: According to
them, African Americans and Latinos are segregated as much by poverty as they
are by race and ethnicity, and thus segregation is an overriding contributor to the
tremendous standardized test disparities that exist between the races.22
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 55 03/11/17 11:37 AM

The effect of discrimination on students is most painfully apparent when stu-

dents themselves have the opportunity to speak. For example, Junia Yearwood,
a high school teacher of students of diverse racial backgrounds, decided to find
out for herself how they experienced school. She asked them to write down the
answers to two questions: “What is the best thing a teacher has ever said to you?”
and “What is the worst thing a teacher has ever said to you?” What she found
through her research is a clear indication of the power of words to either make or
break students’ attitudes about school. This is part of what Junia wrote:
There was no dearth of examples of experiences of degradation offered by my
students. They said that teachers called them, among many other words, “stupid,”
“slow,” “ignorant,” “fat,” “dumb,” “punk.” They said that teachers made com-
ments such as “You’ll never amount to anything,” “Shut up,” “You can’t even
pass a test,” “Even if you study, you’ll still fail,” “That was a dumb answer,” and
“You are the worst student.” One said that when he failed a test, the teacher said,
“I’m not surprised,” and another volunteered that his fourth-grade teacher had
said, “I should put you in kindergarten.” Another student said a teacher had told
him that in a couple of years, he would be either dead or in jail.23
In another example, a study by Karen McLean Donaldson in an urban high school

in the Northeast discovered that an astounding 80 percent of students surveyed said
they had experienced or witnessed racism or other forms of discrimination in school.
She found that students were affected by racism in three major ways: (1) White stu-
dents experienced guilt and embarrassment when they became aware of the racism
to which their peers were subjected; (2) students of color sometimes felt they needed
to compensate and overachieve to prove they were equal to their White classmates;
and (3) at other times, the self-esteem of students of color was badly damaged.24
However, self-esteem is a complicated issue that includes many variables. It does not
come fully formed out of the blue; it is created in particular contexts and responds
to conditions that vary from situation to situation. Teachers’, schools’ and society’s
complicity in creating negative self-esteem cannot be discounted.
Racism, Discrimination, and Silence

Well-meaning teachers are sometimes unintentionally discriminatory when they
remain silent about race and racism. They may fear that talking about race will
only intensify the problem of racism. As a consequence, most schools are character-
ized by a curious absence of talk about differences, particularly about race.25 Such
silence about racism is sometimes thought to be appropriate because it demonstrates
that teachers are “color-blind,” that is, fair and impartial when it comes to judging
people based on their race. They insist that they see no difference in their students,
in spite of their students’ obvious differences in race and ethnicity. This patronizing
stance facilitates the denial of racism because, according to Pearl Rosenberg, “[P]
eople who are colorblind have an optical defect that limits their ability to see.”26
Mica Pollock refers to the purposeful suppressing of words associated with race as
“colormuteness.” Colormuteness is a result of uneasiness with directly addressing
issues of race. She writes, “Given the amount of worrying that race-label use seems
to require in America, it is perhaps unsurprising that many Americans have pro-
posed we solve our ‘race problems’ by talking as if race did not matter at all.”27
In the United States, color blindness and colormuteness begin in early child-
hood, when children are admonished not to say anything about racial differences,
among other differences, because “it’s not nice.” We learn early on that even admit-
ting that we notice race is wrong. This kind of thinking assumes that the only way to
deal with differences is to pretend they don’t exist. Yet the reluctance to discuss race
can result in overlooking or denying issues of power embedded in race relations.
There is ample evidence, for example, that even the youngest children learn about
what Debra Van Ausdale and Joe Feagin have labeled “The First R,” that is, race and
racism, and that they form their opinion about these things before they even begin
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 56 03/11/17 11:37 AM

Eradicating racism and all forms of discrimination from our schools is essential to student
achievement. Despite the history and persistence of racism in U.S. schools and its pervasive-
ness in many areas of society, we see many teachers, principals, and school districts tackling
inequality by working in solidarity with students and their families. Given the national climate
around immigration rights, especially after the 2016 presidential election, and the subsequent
presidential executive orders to severely restrict immigration from 7 largely Muslin nations
in January2017,1 school leaders were witnessing the effects of the anti-immigrant
tone and policies on many students and families. In times such as these, school
Multicultural leadership can make a difference in guiding teachers, supporting families, and
setting a tone of active affirmation and support despite society’s messages of dis-
Teaching Story crimination and exclusion. This teaching story illustrates how leadership at each
level within a school district and community can
influence culturally sustaining practices based on
four themes: (1) caring and concern from the super-
intendent’s office; (2) sense of belonging in school
and classroom; (3) solidarity from town officials;
and (4) back to the schoolhouse door.
An example can be found in the efforts
to uphold immigration rights collectively by a
school superintendent, principals, teachers, stu-
dents, and families in the regional school com-
munity of Amherst, Massachusetts. I (Patty
Bode) am a school principal at Amherst-Pelham
Regional Middle School (ARMS) in this school
district, so I tell this story from both personal
and professional experience. This mid-size
school district is made up of three Amherst Pub-
lic Elementary Schools, one Pelham Elemen-
tary School, one Amherst-Pelham Regional
Middle, and one Amherst-Pelham Regional High
School, which collectively serve approximately
Immigration Rights 2,500 students from PK–12. About 23 percent of
the families report speaking a first language other than English at home, with a sizable
and Family Stories community from Central American countries. The racial demographics are reported as
approximately 50 percent White, 20 percent Hispanic, 9 percent African American, and 7
percent multiracial. The administration is headed by Interim Superintendent Dr. Michael
Morris, who insists that everybody call him “Mike.”*
Caring and Concern from the Superintendent’s Office

On November 9, 2016, Mike called a special meeting of school principals to discuss the visible
distress and audible cries for support from students and families in the wake of the national
election. He facilitated dialogue among all the school principals to share strategies that would
help to allay the palpable fear among our immigrant community. We discussed the letters
that each principal would send to staff members in our respective buildings, and how we
would visit our ELL classrooms to emphasize to students that school is a place which would
keep them safe, and to express our solidarity with their families. Many teachers had already
been integrating the dynamics of the presidential election into their curriculum, so even the
very young students demonstrated fluency in the contemporary national dialogue about
Notes for this Multicultural Teaching Story, Immigration Rights and Family Stories
1
See https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/ for Executive Order on January 25, 2017: Border
Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements. See also Executive Order on January 27, 2017:
Protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.
*We are grateful to Dr. Michael Morris, interim superintendent of the Amherst-Pelham Regional Public
School District, for supporting the content in this Multicultural Teaching Story.
continued
57
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 57 03/11/17 11:37 AM

immigration rights. Dr. Marta Guevara, our Family Center director, and social workers had
already contacted families and were poised to support them.
Within the broader community, Mike worked with a superintendent in a neighboring
school district to compose a letter to all families in the region, which read in part:
Today, many students came to school expressing feelings about the Presidential Election
in our similar school communities. Some indicated that they were in need of support or
that they are concerned for their friends. In general, our response has been to provide
instructional routines, which benefit students; to reassure students that our districts do
not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, dis-
ability, national origin, sexual orientation, economic status, or ethnic background; and
to provide additional support from our mental health teams. Additionally, our staff has
facilitated dialogue and guided discussions about the election as students have raised
the topic to make classrooms safe for all students to discuss their viewpoints regardless
of their reaction to the election. . . .
We are aware that there is a range of opinions and emotions from many individu-
als in our communities. Our talented staff will continue to be sensitive to students who
express concerns about the election results and will partner with students and families
to support them in whatever way is needed.2
Sense of Belonging in School and Classroom

At ARMS, on November 9, 2016, I sent a letter to all staff, and visited our middle school stu-
dents in the classroom of ELL teacher Alicia Lopez,† who along with other ELL teachers in the
school was endeavoring to establish a tone of calm with students and to help them continue
their learning while managing their fears. Leading up to the election, Alicia had been facilitat-
ing a lesson whereby each student wrote a letter to the president-elect, whoever it turned out
to be, as they deftly expanded their language skills while voicing their concerns. This was a
small class of six students with a mix of seventh and eighth graders, who had recently arrived
in Amherst from Brazil, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, and China. The students shared their letters
with me, and their worries were boldly exclaimed in questions about their family’s hope to
stay in the United States, descriptions of how hard their parents work, and their own aspira-
tions to complete their education.
We sat with our desks in a circle as I emphasized that they belonged here in our school,
here in our town, here in Massachusetts, and here in the United States. Whether or not an
immigrant is documented, I explained that our community cared for them, and valued their
family, language, and culture. I was surprised that our Puerto Rican students—who are
obviously U.S. citizens—demonstrated just as much distress as the children of our immi-
grant families. This made crystal clear the deleterious effects of institutional racism and
deep-seated discrimination. It was not only about legal status—although legal status cannot
be underemphasized in this strain of discrimination—it was about being Brown, speaking a
language in addition to English, about being from somewhere else. It was about being “oth-
ered” and absorbing all the messages communicated by certain pockets of society.
At the classroom level, Alicia embarked on a story project with her students in which
each student developed a narrative about his or her entry to the United States. Some told
of harrowing journeys to escape violence and being separated from family members at the
border. Others focused on how their family made the decision to move to the USA. The
project provided a forum of empathy and solidarity in the context of academic skill build-
ing. Alicia worked with the integrated arts teacher to develop these stories into handcrafted
books, which became a treasure trove of student voices and affirmation within our school.
As the school year unfolded, more events at the national level affected students in our
classrooms. The distress heightened after the two presidential executive orders in Janu-
ary 2017. Once again, Superintendent Mike Morris demonstrated leadership and resolve
†
We want to thank Alicia Lopez for contributing to this teaching story. Alicia is currently splitting her time
at Amherst-Pelham Regional Middle School as a part-time co-assistant principal and part-time ELL teacher.
2
Morris, M. & Provost, J. (November 9, 2016). Letter to Amherst-Pelham Regional and Northampton Communi-
ties. Office of the Superintendent, Michael Morris.
58
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 58 03/11/17 11:37 AM

through clear communication to all district staff members and families in a letter he sent on
January 26, 2017, which read in part:
Since yesterday, a number of questions, inquiries, and concerns have come to me on the
topic of the education of undocumented students in our district. Consistent with our past
practice and core beliefs, and established law, we will continue to enroll and serve every
child living in our district who chooses to attend our schools, without regard to their
immigration status.
The case law on this topic is very clear and can be found in the United States Supreme
Court case Plyer v. Doe from 1982. Stemming from that decision, federal guidance from
the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education states that:
All children in the United States are entitled to equal access to a basic public elemen-
tary and secondary education regardless of their actual or perceived race, color, national
origin, citizenship, immigration status, or the status of their parents/guardians.
Nothing in any of the recent presidential executive orders alters our policy of provid-
ing equal access to undocumented students or our commitment to providing all children
with the academic and emotional support that will allow them to flourish and become
contributing members of our community.3
Solidarity from Town Officials

The spirit of this letter and its support for immigrant rights pervaded our school community
under Mike’s leadership. Principals and staff members gained clarity of direction, and knew
where to turn if a student’s family needed support. This support continued through Mike’s col-
laboration with town government and the police department. On January 30, 2017, Mike co-
authored a letter to the community with the chief of police and town manager that read in part:
We uphold the integral and foundational American principles that the United States is
a nation of the indigenous and the immigrant, and we should continue to welcome new
immigrants to our great nation and to our community.
We—the Town Manager, Chief of Police and Superintendent of Schools—are
appointed officials and leaders of the Town entrusted with the responsibility to uphold
both its laws and its values. Our first and primary mission is the protection and educa-
tion of the people of every age who live, work, visit, or study in the Town of Amherst.4
The letter continued with statements about maintaining a partnership and positive rela-
tionship with all community members. It explained, “The Amherst Police Department shall
not inquire about the immigration status of any crime victim, witness, or suspect unless such
information is directly relevant to the investigation.” The letter reiterated the town’s resolu-
tion that “the Town and its officials and employees shall not participate in Federal enforce-
ment programs relating to immigration enforcement.”5 This public stance of solidarity among
town officials within their community, with explicit reference to immigration status, helped to
develop a counter-narrative to the onslaught of fear so pervasive in much of the national press.
A few weeks later, in February 2017, the Amherst School Committee6 passed a resolution
titled “Rights of Undocumented Students and Protocols for ICE Access to Schools.” This reso-
lution provides clarity for school leaders and staff around actions to be taken in the event that
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enter the school. It reads in part:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel will be refused entry to District
property unless the Superintendent and District Counsel are provided with a warrant
signed by a judge or magistrate authorizing ICE entry onto the property.
3
Morris, M. (January 26, 2017). Letter to Amherst-Pelham Regional School Community. Office of the
Superintendent, Michael Morris.
4
Bockelman, P., Livingston, S, & Morris, M. (January 30, 2017). Statement by Town of Amherst. Town
Manager, Chief of Police, Superintendent of Schools.
5
Ibid.
6
The term “school committee” is used in many communities in the New England region in place of
“school board” or “board of education” to denote the locally elected board of officials to set policy for
public schools.
continued
59
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 59 03/11/17 11:37 AM

Amherst Public Schools staff shall not ask about a student’s immigration status or
that of the student’s family members, and pursuant to FERPA shall not disclose, without
parental consent, the immigration status of any student.7
A resolution at the level of the Board of Education makes a strong statement to the
community and also provides an additional level of leadership, which principals and teach-
ers can draw on when seeking guidance during turbulent times.
Public activism makes a difference when vulnerable community members are at risk.
The full integration of school leaders in this work is vital to building culturally sustaining
communities in classrooms. A broad coalition was formed among community members to
support the rights of immigrants in the region. In March 2017, there was a community-wide
meeting held in a local house of worship. The event featured statements from all the faith
communities in Amherst and stories from local immigrants. Several state-level elected officials
attended, including a state representative and a state senator. Officials from town government
and the police department, and the superintendent, principals, and representatives from each
school, stood in the sanctuary as a show of support and solidarity while immigrants in the
community recounted their personal stories of flight to the United States.
Back to the Schoolhouse and Classroom

While these community demonstrations of activism, letters from public offices, and resolutions
from elected officials continued to unfold, hundreds of teachers and thousands of children
arrived at school every day to do the work of learning. Teachers maintained stalwart dedica-
tion to providing every student with a sense of authentic belonging and giving families a sense
of safety through daily lessons in math, science, social studies, the arts, and athletics. The let-
ters from the superintendent and town officials, and the community meetings asserting solidar-
ity, were important and powerful. However, if they had no effect in the school classroom, they
would be less meaningful. In this case, the implications in schools were direct and significant.
In March 2017, at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School, a co-curricular meeting was
held for high school students and families called “Know Your Rights” to help clarify legal
information regarding documentation status and engagement with the authorities. Superin-
tendent Mike Morris collaboratively organized the event with Principal Mark Jackson and
the ELL teachers. They worked with a local attorney to hold an information session dur-
ing the school day for immigrant high school students and their families. The information
was presented with collective resources from three organizations: Kids in Need of Defense
(KIND, founded by Angelina Jolie),8 the New England Chapter of the American Immigra-
tion Lawyers Association (AILA),9 and Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project
(PAIR).10 The meeting achieved four clearly stated objectives:
1. Understanding the current situation on the ground

2. Understanding your rights when approached by immigration officers
3. Understanding what you can do to prepare yourself and your family
4. Understanding where to go for help
With high school students and their families in attendance, the school provided inter-
preters for multiple languages. The philosophical and political stances of the resolutions
were brought to life by providing students and families with knowledge. This is the differ-
ence between public statements on paper and collective public activism.
Many teachers across the PK–12 district integrated content from national events into
their lesson plans to help students understand their implications within age-appropriate,
accessible curriculum. The fourth-grade curriculum includes an immigration unit in social
7
Amherst School Committee, Resolution. (January 2017). Rights of Undocumented Students and Protocols
for ICE Access to Schools. The Public School of Amherst, Massachusetts: Office of the Superintendent.
8
For more information about Kids in Need of Defense, see the website https://supportkind.org/
9
For more information about American Immigration Lawyers Association, see the website of the New
England chapter http://www.ailane.org/
10
For more information about the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project, see the web site
http://pairproject.org/
60
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studies every year, and teachers constantly update the content to make it relevant to the
students in their classes. Superintendent Morris dedicated funding for curriculum work to
give the fourth-grade teachers time to reimagine and redesign this unit within the context
of contemporary immigration rights. At ARMS, Alicia Lopez wrote a grant proposal to fur-
ther develop the Immigration Stories Unit and expand it across the school with grade-level
Social Studies and English Language Arts teachers. They will work with Family Diversity
Projects, Inc.11 to integrate academic skills and artistic expressions through photography,
family interviews, research, and writing with a generous grant from the Amherst Educa-
tion Foundation. Via this project, the assertion of student voices and expression of family
culture will be intertwined to make academic engagement meaningful in the lives of middle
school students. Alicia’s grant proposal stated:
The quintessentially American experiences of immigration and migration provide
rich opportunities for interdisciplinary curriculum with an integrated arts focus to
advance student voice for academic achievement and artistic expression. Whether
recently arriving to the USA as immigrants, descending from immigrants multiple
generations ago, or belonging to indigenous tribal communities that experienced
histories of migration, we all have immigration and migration stories.12
With Alicia’s leadership, teachers and students will explore and express their own
story while respectfully learning from and affirming other families’ stories of immigration.
The significant role of school leadership is evident throughout all these examples of cur-
ricular and co-curricular projects. The superintendent’s and principals’ collaborative support
undergirds all of it: the fourth-grade revisioning of the Immigration Social Studies Unit, the
middle school grant project to integrate arts and academics across the school in telling family
stories, and the high school information session for students and families. Within this struc-
ture, teachers can work toward eradicating racism and all forms of discrimination from our
schools. It is evident throughout this multicultural teaching story that tackling inequality and
working in solidarity with students and their families is achievable, and when buttressed by
leadership, it has long-lasting implications for learning policy and practice.
11
See Chapter 9 where we discuss other curriculum units that have partnered with Family Diversity
Projects, Inc. For more information see the web site https://familydiv.org/
12
Bode, P. & Lopez, A. (October 15, 2017). Grant proposal for Amherst Education Foundation, “Pictur-
ing my immigration story.” Amherst-Pelham Regional School, Amherst, Massachusetts.
their schooling.28 This research is a direct contradiction to the view that young chil-
dren are immune to the racist messages around them. If this is true, then educators
have an important role to play in helping them “unlearn” racism.
Failure to discuss racism, unfortunately, will not make it go away. Racism,
classism, and other forms of discrimination play a key role in creating and main-
taining inappropriate learning environments for many students. A related phe-
nomenon concerns the impact of teachers’ expectations on student achievement.
Expectations of Students’ Achievement

Much research has focused on teachers’ interactions with their students, specifically
teacher expectations. The term self-fulfilling prophecy, coined by Robert Merton in
1948, means that students perform in ways that teachers expect, that is, that stu-
dent performance is based on both overt and covert messages from teachers about
students’ worth, intelligence, and capability.29 The term did not come into wide use
until 1968, when a classic study by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson provided
61
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 61 03/11/17 11:37 AM

SNAPSHOT
Aiden and Daniel O’Carroll*
At the time of this interview, brothers Aiden and Daniel lived in I think there is definitely “white” as a social construct, and
a suburb of a large city in the southeastern United States with race is a social construct. In the U.S., I think there is a strong
their mother and father. Both parents held advanced degrees homogenous white culture. A lot of people might say there isn’t.
and were working professionals: Their mom was a professor at There are a lot of different meanings for the term white. There is
white culture. There are social terms like white privilege. It is hard
a nearby university, their father worked in the field of technol-
to separate those things because they are all tied in together.
ogy. The boys attended local public schools in their elementary
White culture is very influenced by white privilege. Like a white
years and transferred to a Quaker Friends School for their mid-
parents are not going to teach their kids to be afraid of the cops,
dle school years. For his high school years, Daniel transferred that is part of white culture and part of white privilege.
to a local public school, and was just about to enter his senior The high school I go to now is definitely the most diverse
year. His brother Aiden was going into seventh grade at the school I’ve been to. It is located right in the middle—between a
Friends School. We start with some thoughts from Aiden who really nice neighborhood and another neighborhood that some
was 12 years old at the time of our interview. people might not consider so nice. You look one way and you see
really big houses, and you look the other way and you see fast-food
chains and smaller houses. I’ve been able to see the difference in
E very school I have gone to has been extremely diverse.

All ethnicities, all genders. My friends were just about as
diverse as they can get: Asian friends, African American friends,
how people live. It has opened me up to be more comfortable with
people who might not look like me, or stuff like that. . . . Being at a
school where most of the people don’t look like me has made me
it is weird to think I may not have met them in the past (with more aware of my interactions. In the past, most of my friends were
knowledge of the history of racial segregation). I like it that way. It white guys. That’s who a lot of the people were at my past schools
annoys me when some people migrate toward one race. . . . the racial populations was 50-50, or maybe even more white.
I am a straight white male. That tends to be the kind of Being in an environment (at this school) that switched those
person—a straight white male—tend to be the kind of people ratios, made me think . . . around 10th grade I realized I was
who would stereotypically have the overall standpoint at the top keeping to myself a lot more. This year I have been branching out
of the ladder, because of racism and sexism and all of that. Just a lot more and talking to anyone. There are girls in my class who
because there is such a history with it. Even if that is cut out I have known since 9th grade but never got to know them. This
now, it is still there due to family wealth that has stayed through year I’ve gotten to know them a lot more—I switched something
generations. around in my brain . . . these are not people I should be intimi-
At my elementary school there was never any talk about it dated by—or I should be nervous to go up and talk to.
(race and white privilege). My parents do a lot—and they defi- There is a girl in my grade named Destiny. She is really loud,
nitely talk a lot about it at the Friends School. I don’t know why and really outgoing! I am really introverted, so I always find extro-
they didn’t talk about it in elementary school. Looking back, I feel verted people really intimidating. I would not exactly say we are
like it would be better to talk about it at elementary level—some good friends, but, even so, it sort of clicked for me. She is not
teachers might think elementary kids have not thought of that yet. that different from me, even though she acts different, looks dif-
I have not gotten benefit, and I don’t really want to, because ferent. She is not going to jump on me if I say something wrong. I
I would feel super guilty about it. I have not really benefited at am sort of nervous; a lot of my anxiety—especially around people
all from who I am. I am glad that other people are not getting from other races—comes from ignorance. There is definitely a
it worse than me just because of who I look like. So I have not difference in black and white culture, and I don’t know that much
experienced that at all. . . . about black culture except what I have seen from an outsider’s
Some people (who are straight white males) have continued perspective. I always saw black culture as very different, but now
with their belief that they are better than everyone. Some African I realize there is not that much of a difference.
American families have had it worse in their past—they would A lot of what shaped my view (of black culture) is the media:
have to work harder and work crappier jobs now, to get wealth music and TV, movies, which gave me a wrong sense of what
that was just handed to a white male. it is. (The media) is what told me it was very different; that’s
Aiden, at age 12, was distinctly aware of his social posi- where you see the extremes. I had a lot of black friends back in
tioning as a “straight white male” though his awareness was elementary and middle school, but I did not hang out with them
still in development about how the sociohistorical accumula- as much; I was not as good friends with them. I did not go over
their houses very often and stuff like that. So I never really got
tion of privilege might have influenced his life thus far. He is
to know as many black people that well. There were many more
certainly already much more conscientious of his social status
white people in my elementary and middle school. Now, going to
than many adults who would identify as straight white males,
a school that is mostly black kids has taken me away from that
and if he continues to expand his sociopolitical awareness, one extreme of what the media says, and brought me into reality.
may guess that he will understand the possibilities of engaging I don’t think I even really realized that there was a white cul-
in social change. His brother Daniel reflected on his identity ture, because that is what I grew up in. It never really clicked in my
and the role of race in society, when he told us: head that white people had a culture until middle school or high
continued
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 62 03/11/17 11:37 AM

school as I started learning more about social justice, and people So someone could tell me what’s going on and it might not get
actually talked about white culture. Because, you hear about black to me until I learn that 20% of homeless people are transgender,
culture all the time. But, if you listen to the news, they don’t talk or the fact that the majority of business leaders are men, or the
about white culture. If you listen to the radio, they don’t really say fact that there are more millionaires in Congress than ever before.
“white culture.” I did not realize it until the past few years. It is sort I care about injustices that I can understand. I should care about
of something I knew—but never realized. If someone said to me, all of them, and I do, but the ones that get to me are the ones I
“There is white culture,” I would be like, “Yeah—of course, there can understand in that way.
is.” But it was never a phrase that I heard very much, so it was not Definitely (I care about) the police brutality that has been going
something where I could take things, and put them in the category on recently. It has been hard for me to figure out where my place is,
of white culture. Whereas, I always heard the term “black culture,” in being an ally against racism, and within the antiracism movement.
so there was a category there I could put things in. So I don’t I know that I have a lot of internalized racism and internalized sexism
think I can really say what white culture is, because I have lived in from my upbringing and from the culture that we live in. At the same
it all my life so to me, it is just normal. time, I want to fight against that. I feel very strongly. I just do not
I think I always knew social justice was a thing. I think I had know how to put that “feeling strongly” into action.
a lot of social justice views but I think I was also a bit misguided. I I feel strongly about issues pertaining to race. I am not sure
had a lot of internalized racism and internalized sexism, especially how to take those feelings and put them into action without
in elementary school and middle school. Then in high school, I speaking over people or saying something wrong.
actually started learning about social justice through social media Aiden’s and Daniel’s reflections provide some perspective on
groups like tumblr and through my new friend groups that I got the need for multicultural education for all students. As adolescents,
in high school. Once I started learning about it, I found that I was these young men are both still developing their racial identity, and
not really as good of an ally to a lot of groups as I thought I was. they have had schooling, parenting, and social experiences that
It made me want to learn more and more about how I could better have cultivated an awareness of white privilege. We hear Aiden’s
myself. I knew I was ignorant of a lot of things, but I never took middle school perspective, which may expand into heightened
any steps to learn more, until I started talking to other people and awareness of how his social positioning has benefited him, while
going on social media, where it is talked about a lot. Daniel appears to be acutely aware of that advantage. He realizes
Every school I’ve been to, especially the Friends School in that he saw white culture as the norm, and that he held internalized
my middle school years, has taught values of equality and under- racism and sexism as a white male. At the same time, he is sincerely
standing. Friends School is Quaker and is very focused on total struggling with how to engage that knowledge within the framework
equality to all people. At age 14–15 you realize the world is not as of activist solidarity. These brothers’ insights give us examples of
great as you thought it was. You start to realize all the injustices the limits of discussions about race, and simultaneously powerful
that are going on. As a person, I know I need to better myself hope about the role of teachers, schools, families, communities—as
in a lot of things. That realization—along with that 15-year-old well as social media—in cultivating antiracist activists.
angst—pushed me to learn more about what I could do and learn
more about what injustices that are going on. *We want to thank Dr. Vera L Stenhouse for conducting the interviews
One of the causes I feel really strongly about is transgender with Daniel and Aiden. Dr. Stenhouse is an independent researcher, edu-
rights and things like that. I find that one of the things that gets cator, and evaluator with a focus on teacher education, teacher prepara-
to me is statistics. I like math and I am a logical thinking person. tion, diversity, Multicultural Education, and Indigenous Education.
About Terminology
White Privilege
T he phrase “white privilege” stems from the field of Critical
Race Theory. The research of Christine Clark* is useful in
explaining the meaning and context of the term. Building on
from which white people are spared, while also highlighting the
ugly histories of the benefits of racism for white people. People
of color, or who those are not categorized as white, are denied
the history of the CRT field, Clark explains that white privilege these privileges. The phrase “white privilege” then captures a
refers to the unearned privileges and advantages afforded to peo- wide concept of social positioning and unfair experience rooted
ple who identify as White, or are assumed to be White based in white supremacy. The use of the term often acknowledges
on skin color, phenotype, physical traits, and European herit- these complexities as woven into the fabric of U.S. social history
age. White privilege denotes that the systemic structures and and all too often present in contemporary society.
advantages have been furnished to white people based on racial
assumptions, and emphasizes that social privilege is not blind or
*Clark, C. (2014). White privilege. In Linwood H. Cousins, & J. Geoffrey
neutral. These understandings of white privilege underscore the Golson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of human services and diversity
social aggressions of both institutional racism and personal bias (pp.1385-86). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 63 03/11/17 11:37 AM

What You Can Do

Start Early
F ocusing on human differences and similarities can begin

as early as the preschool years, for example, by talking
about skin color, hair texture, and other physical differences
speakers in the school. When schools merely add activi-
ties without supporting teachers and staff in expanding their
knowledge about the topic and making space in the school
and similarities. Rather than hushing very young children’s days for robust curriculum to address the topic, no matter
questions and comments about skin color and other human how noble the intent, schools run the risk of reinforcing ste-
differences, use children’s remarks as a basis for making reotypes, propagating false information, or opening wounds
such differences an explicit part of the curriculum. Use indi- for some students while alienating others.
vidual photographs of the children; pictures from magazines In addition to heritage months and festivals, foods can
of people from all over the world; stories that emphasize the also become a rich resource in the curriculum when studied in
similarities in human feelings across all groups; and dolls that a social context. Mark Zanger, in a thoroughly researched and
represent a variety of races, ethnicities, and genders. excellent resource on foods from around the world, suggests
Patty Bode, one of the authors of this text and a former that food can be used as the basis for many creative projects
art teacher, uses a color theory lesson to focus attention on related to culture and immigration.†
skin color. One year, Patty developed a schoolwide activ- As well, you can work with your students and colleagues
ity in which every student and staff member in the school in many different ways to develop a “school culture” that truly
became involved, from cooks to teachers, to the principal represents your community. Some activities and rituals, such
and custodian. She had everyone mix the primary colors to as selecting local or national school heroes from a variety
match their particular skin color and then make handprints. of backgrounds, can be conducted as schoolwide projects.
In the process, they engaged in a dialogue about race, the Other activities could be having all students learn songs,
words we use to describe people of different backgrounds, poems, or speeches from several cultures and participating
discrimination and racism, and other issues rarely discussed in local history projects that explore the lives, experiences,
in most schools. When they were finished, Patty hung all the and accomplishments of many different people. You might
handprints (more than 500) in the halls of the schools. It was a develop a “classtory” (i.e., a history of the class) that includes
powerful graphic representation of diversity and inclusiveness. the pictures and biographies of all members of the class,
from information about their ethnicity and the languages they
Continue Through the Grades speak, to the things they like to do with friends and family.
With older students, focusing on multicultural literature
When used critically, festivals can also become an important
that depicts the reality of women and men of many groups
element of the curriculum. Although we need to avoid creating
is an effective strategy. Curriculum that discusses the his-
a superficial view of diversity based only on festivals, Debo-
tory and culture of particular groups is also helpful, especially
rah Menkart has suggested that even using the traditional
when used in an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approach.
idea of “heritage months” can become a positive approach
in diversifying the curriculum, when all students, faculty, and
*Menkart, D. J. (1999). Deepening the meaning of heritage months.
staff understand the goals from an anti-bias perspective.* It
Educational Leadership 56(7): 19—21.
is essential that the whole curriculum is infused with lessons †
Zanger, M. (2003). The American history cookbook. Westport, CT:
that make meaning of festivals, or assemblies or visiting guest Greenwood Press.
the impetus for subsequent extensive research on the subject.30 In this historically
significant study, several classes of children in grades 1 through 6 were given a
nonverbal intelligence test (the researchers called it the Harvard Test of Influenced
Acquisition), which researchers claimed would measure the students’ potential for
intellectual growth. Twenty percent of the students were randomly selected by the
researchers as “intellectual bloomers,” and their names were given to the teachers.
Although the students’ test scores actually had nothing at all to do with their poten-
tial, the teachers were told to be on the alert for signs of intellectual growth among
these particular children. Overall, these children—particularly in the lower grades—
showed considerably greater gains in IQ during the school year than did the other
students. They were also rated by their teachers as being more interesting, curious,
and happy and were thought to be more likely to succeed later in life.
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 64 03/11/17 11:37 AM

Considerations About Research on Teacher Expectations

Rosenthal and Jacobson’s now historical research on teacher expectations, often
referred to as the Pygmalion effect, caused a sensation in the educational com-
munity, and controversy surrounding it continued for many years.31 Interest in
this research has been revived recently to argue for a range of school reforms
from teacher quality to support for the Common Core Standards.32 From the begin-
ning, the reception to this line of research has been mixed, with both support-
ers and detractors, but one outcome was that the effect of teachers’ expectations
on the academic achievement of their students was taken seriously for the first
time. Before this research, students’ failure in school was usually ascribed wholly
to individual or family circumstances. Now, the possible influence of teachers’
attitudes and behaviors and the schools’ complicity in the process had to be con-
sidered as well. For instance, teachers’ beliefs that their students are “slow” can
become a rationale for providing low-level work in the form of elementary facts,
simple drills, and rote memorization. The most compelling implications were for
the education of those students most seriously disadvantaged by schooling, that
is, for students of color and the poor. Students are not immune to these messages.
Early research by Ray Rist on teachers’ expectations is also worth mention-
ing here. In a groundbreaking study, he found that a kindergarten teacher had
grouped the students in her class by the eighth day of class. In reviewing how
she had done so, Rist noted that the teacher had already roughly constructed an
“ideal type” of student, most of whose characteristics were related to social class.
By the end of the school year, the teacher’s differential treatment of children based
on whom she considered “fast” and “slow” learners became evident. The “fast”
learners received more teaching time, more reward-directed behavior, and more
attention. The interactional patterns between the teacher and her students then
took on a caste-like appearance. The result, after three years of similar behavior by
other teachers, was that teachers’ behavior toward the different groups influenced
the children’s achievement. In other words, the teachers themselves contributed to
the creation of the “slow” learners in their classrooms.33 In the research by Rist, all
the children and teachers were African American, although they represented dif-
ferent social classes, but similar results have been found with poor and working-
class children regardless of race.34 For example, in the following Snapshot of Kaval
Sethi, we hear about the ways in which he was judged by teachers and students.
High Expectations as Antiracist Teaching

Given the increasing diversity in our public schools, the problem of low expecta-
tions is even more acute because many teachers know little or nothing about the
background of their students. Consequently, teachers may consider their students’
identity to be at fault. In a revealing study, Marcos Pizarro interviewed over 200
Chicano students about their experiences in school. The students were a diverse
group: Some were successful students, while others had been largely unsuccess-
ful in school; some lived in small towns and others lived in large cities; they rep-
resented different social classes; they were high school, community college, and
university students; and some were high school dropouts. As a result of these
interviews, Pizarro concluded that the students were “profiled”—a more updated
term for the expectations of students based on their identities—by their teachers
and that this “profiling” had a significant effect on their schooling experiences and
outcomes. He found that teachers categorized the students according to skin color,
social class, dress, specific behaviors, linguistic abilities, friendship groups, and so
on. The result is that teachers judged the students by these characteristics, which
usually had little to do with their intellectual abilities. While the profiling might
have been unintentional and unconscious, the results could be far-reaching: “Just
as the police often use racial profiles to determine who are potential criminals and
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 65 03/11/17 11:37 AM

SNAPSHOT
Kaval Sethi
Kaval Sethi,* a junior in high school at the time of his inter- basically I’ve learned my whole moral character. My parents have
view, and his sister, a junior in college, were born and raised taught me to be morally strong.
in the United States shortly after their parents moved here Some people are concerned [about Sikhs coming into the
from Bombay, India. When he was interviewed, they lived in a school]. I guess that is because they are confused about our affil-
iations. We are not Muslims. Some people confuse us with ter-
wealthy suburb of Long Island in New York. Kaval, a hopeful
rorists. In our school, some kids ask me, “Are you Muslim?” And
and positive young man, had attended school in the same dis-
I say, “No, I’m not Muslim. I’m Sikh.” Not a lot of people know
trict since kindergarten. He was in honors classes in all subjects
about it, but I think it’s like the fifth largest religion in the world.
and had a 3.7 cumulative average; in addition, he was taking A White American in America does not have to deal with the
four Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Kaval was active in a prejudice that Sikhs have. I had a lot of bad experiences as a lit-
number of school activities, including the math club and jazz tle child. [Other kids] would make fun of me . . . because I was
band. In the community, he was involved in his local Gurud- different. They used to call me names. Some kids did not make
wara, the Sikh house of worship, and he volunteered in the fun of me, and I would hang out with them. By the time people
soup kitchen affiliated with the Gurudwara. Besides his native understood, they stopped.
English language, he also spoke Punjabi and Hindi. Sikhs are singled out because we wear turbans. I am the
As a Sikh, Kaval wore a Dastaar (turban) and kept a only kid in my class who wears a turban. I guess originally, at
first, on the day [after September 11], some people were feeling
beard, requirements for men who follow the Sikh religion.
kind of prejudiced against me because of Osama bin Laden and
These things made him visibly different from other young men,
how closely Sikhs resemble Osama bin Laden, because Sikhs
and he was sometimes made fun of or singled out by other
wear beards and turbans. So originally, people would be kind of
students. antagonistic, but that really subsided very quickly ‘cause they
Kaval Sethi was keenly aware of how his ethnicity and understood that I was a Sikh and I wasn’t really a harm to them.
social class affected his life. During his interview, he talked Definitely my English and social studies teachers know
about both the social class and economic privileges he enjoyed plenty about Sikhism. My math and science teachers really don’t
as well as the marginalization he experienced because of his understand it. They do ask questions. Over the years, the math
religious affiliation. Kaval openly discussed the challenges and science teachers have asked plenty of questions about Sikh-
faced by Sikhs and others after the events of September 11, ism, and I’ve answered them. My teachers are [mostly] fair. . . .
2001, as well as subsequent events. [S]ome teachers had prejudices against me. I want them to know
about my religion, some basic facts, so they can better relate to
me. If they relate to me, I can be more open.
I am an Indian American. My Sikh identity is very important to I’m very much into music. I play music and trumpet. I’m into
me. I like to keep my beard and keep my turban, and I don’t cut economics and business—and science. Probably biology will be
my hair. Sikhism defines my religion, how I act religiously, and my major in college. I’m into environmental topics. I’m part of the
how I act in my morals. When I say [I am] Indian American, that Environmental Action Committee. I’m very much into preserving
is how I am culturally. My cultural character: the food I eat, the the environment. . . . I’m also into jazz.
kinds of friends I have, the things I do. I am very Indian, but I mix I go to Gurudwara. I like to help out as much as possible
a lot of American values into my culture. there. I try to help clean up after langar (it’s like a free kitchen; on
Sikhism defines a lot about my life. I am Sikh, and my reli- Sunday they have it after the religious service). I like helping at
gion prohibits cutting hair. I want everyone to know that I am that. I like to help out in things that I can help out in.
Sikh. I am just as different as everyone else. I am part of your Now I am confident. A few years ago I would be shy. I am
culture—but I’m different as well. extremely independent. . . . If I want to do it, I will do it. I am very
I visited India recently. The life that they live isn’t much dif- proud of myself—of what I can accomplish.
ferent from mine. It’s a little tougher. I guess it’s not as much
technology. I was very comfortable in India. [There], they realize Commentary
you are a foreigner, and you realize you are a foreigner. I know As Kaval points out, Sikhs, particularly males, have been tar-
that [in the United States], other people see me differently from gets of anti-Muslim and xenophobic sentiments because of their
another person. You don’t get that feeling when you walk around mistaken association with Islam. Sikh Americans have been
India, but as soon as you speak to an American, they know you
verbally and physically assaulted, and some even murdered.
are an American.
Many persons with Brown skin endured hostility and threats
My parents worked hard to get where they are. They owe it
all to education. They find it very important. I find it very impor-
after September 11, 2001, but Sikh males and Muslims women
tant. My dad came when he was 17, and he went to college in wearing the hijab have the physical markers in addition to the
New York. . . . My mom’s first time coming to America was when phenotypic ones that especially make them targets of bigotry
she first got married to my dad. [My parents] also learned a lot of and fear. Kaval felt that most teachers were not prejudiced, but
things by living life, not just by going to school. From my family, he longed for more awareness and understanding from them
continued
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 66 03/11/17 11:37 AM

because, for the most part, they failed to address these issues, Educational Foundation (SEF), were developed by Sikh educators
either through private conversations or in the curriculum. in collaboration with teachers, administrators, students, and staff of
Greensboro Day School to provide these exciting tools for grades 6 to
12. Another DVD, titled Cultural Safari,‡ is well suited for grades K–5
*We are grateful to Khyati Y. Joshi, Professor of Education at Fair-
and is available online from the Kaur Foundation, which also provides
leigh Dickinson University who interviewed Kaval. She also provided
many classroom resources to promote cultural understanding and
us with important background information about Asian and Indian
creates awareness of the Sikh identity, heritage, and secular values.
Americans in general, and the Sikh American community specifically.
Khyati additionally suggested other sources of information. The web-
site of the Sikh Coalition provides up-to-date information about the
†
Sikh American community. For information concerning hate crimes, Lohgarh Sikh Educational Foundation (Producer). Singh, Preetmohan
visit the website of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education (Producer). Dhillion, Mandeep Singh, & Yeager, Tami (Co-Executive
Fund. Another classroom resource to help understand Sikh experi- Producers). (2004). The Sikh Next Door. [DVD]. Available from http://
ences is a film and curriculum available in DVD or digital download sikhnextdoor.org/welcome.html.
titled The Sikh Next Door.† The accompanying website, curriculum ‡
Kaur Foundation. (Producer). Cultural Safari. (2008). Potomac, MD:
guide, lesson plans, and classroom resources, produced by the Sikh Kaur Foundation. [DVD]. Available from http://www.kaurfoundation.org.
who does not need to be pulled over, teachers use racial profiles to determine who
will and will not benefit from opportunities to excel in school.”35
In spite of some very negative experiences, however, Pizarro found some
students who had been extremely successful. Significantly, the most success-
ful students were those who had been mentored through the various transi-
tions of their schooling by teachers and other authority figures who linked the
students’ identities with their schooling in more positive ways. That is, when
teachers connected the students’ identities with success in learning, the result
was students who were self-assured in their own identities and dedicated to
their schooling.
The issue of labeling is key here. Alejandro Portes and Rubén Rumbaut found
that the self-esteem of immigrant students is linked to how they are labeled by
their schools. For example, they found that students’ self-esteem is diminished
when they are labeled “limited English proficient.”36 If this is the case with a
seemingly neutral term, more loaded labels no doubt have a much greater impact,
but explicit labeling may not even be needed. According to research by Claude
Steele, the basic problem that causes low student achievement is what he terms
stereotype threat, based on the constant devaluation faced by Blacks, other peo-
ple of color, and females in society. In schools, this devaluation occurs primarily
through the harmful attitudes and beliefs that teachers communicate, knowingly
or not, to their students.37
Building on this line of research among seventh-grade students, confirmation of
the importance of affirming students’ identities comes from a widely reported, ran-
domized, double-blind study by Geoffrey Cohen and his associates.38 The research-
ers asked a randomly selected group of African American and European American
students to complete a writing assignment in which they were to choose either their
most or least important value among a list that included relationships with friends
or family or being good at art. Although the children completed this brief 15-minute
assignment near the beginning of the school year, the results were dramatic: The
academic performance of the African American students who had written about their
most important value was raised and the racial “achievement gap” was reduced by
40 percent. No effect was seen, up or down, among the European American stu-
dents. In other words, the intervention benefited targeted students without jeopard-
izing non-targeted students. David Sherman with Geoffrey Cohen and colleagues
continue this research on social-psychological interventions to overcome stereotype
threat with “values-affirmation” classroom writing assignments. They explain that
these writing tasks provide reassurance about students’ identities at a critical time in
their development when they are engaged in identity crafting.39
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 67 03/11/17 11:37 AM

What You Can Do

Promoting Racial Literacy in Your Classroom and School
T here is still chronic fear in schools around overt discus-

sions about race, race relations, and racism. We see
that play out in the case study of Delilah Rogers at the
literacy skills” that can become part of the PK–12 curriculum
and teachers’ professional development. The book provides
an understanding of racial stress and resilience through
end of this chapter. You can take leadership to address storytelling, with insights into children’s experiences and
this fear by using well-researched resources that provide ways in which educators of all racial groups may use racial
examples of hopeful change through study groups, book literacy interventions in the classroom. When administrators,
discussions, and workshops for faculty meetings. For faculty, and staff study and discuss books such as this one,
example, research by Howard Carlton Stevenson Jr., in his which offers strategies for racially literate leadership, they
book Promoting Racial Literacy in Schools: Differences that can transform the school climate, and ultimately the educa-
Make a Difference, points to ways that schools often avoid tional experiences of all students.
addressing racism at the expense of their students of color,
and provides strategies for a more proactive and effec- *Stevenson, H. C. (2014). Promoting racial literacy in schools: Differences
tive approach.* His work suggests ways to develop “racial that make a difference. New York: Teachers College.
Teachers’ attitudes about the diversity of their students develop long before
they become teachers. In a review of related literature, Kenneth Zeichner found
that teacher education students, who are mostly White and monolingual, gener-
ally view the diversity of student backgrounds as a problem.40 He also found that
the most common characteristics of effective teachers in urban schools are (1) a
belief that their students are capable learners and (2) an ability to communicate
this belief to the students. Martin Haberman reached a similar conclusion, iden-
tifying a number of functions of successful teachers of the urban poor. Most sig-
nificantly, he found that successful teachers did not blame students for failure and
had consistently high expectations of their students.41 Rashaud Kates, whose case
study follows this chapter, offers compelling evidence of this reality. According
to Rashaud, many teachers do not expect Black students to achieve academically.
He said, “People are already judging you when you’re African American. I would
tell teachers about African American students, ‘Everybody’s not bad; have high
expectations.’”
Research on teachers’ expectations is not without controversy. First, it has
been criticized as unnecessarily reductionist because, in the long run, the detrac-
tors claim, what teachers expect matters less than what teachers do. Second, the
critics say that the term teachers’ expectations and the research on which it is
based imply that teachers have the sole responsibility for students’ achievement
or lack of it, and that this is both an unrealistic and an incomplete explanation for
student success or failure. The study by Rosenthal and Jacobson, for example, is,
in fact, a glaring indication of the disrespect with which teachers have frequently
been treated in research, and it raises serious ethical issues about how research is
done.42 Blaming teachers, or “teacher bashing,” provides a convenient outlet for
complex problems, but it fails to take into account the fact that teachers function
within contexts in which they usually have little power.
Some teachers, of course, have low expectations of students from particular
backgrounds and are, in the worst cases, insensitive and racist. But placing teach-
ers at the center of expectations of student achievement shifts the blame entirely
to some of those who care most deeply about students and who struggle every day
to help them learn. The use of the term teachers’ expectations distances the school
and society from their responsibility and complicity in student failure. The truth is
that teachers, schools, students, communities, and society all interact to produce
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 68 03/11/17 11:37 AM

failure. Low expectations mirror the expectations of society. It is not simply teach-
ers who expect little from poor, working-class, and culturally dominated groups.
Conclusion
Racism is unfortunately not a vestige of the past as the research in this chapter
underscores.
Focusing on the persistence of racism and discrimination and low expecta-
tions is in no way intended to deny the difficult family and economic situation
of many poor children and children of color, or its impact on their school experi-
ences and achievement. The fact that families living in poverty do not have the
resources and experiences that economic privilege would give them is also det-
rimental. Poverty can lead to stressors such as drug abuse, violence, and other
social ills as well as poor medical care, deficient nutrition, and a struggle for the
bare necessities for survival—and all of these conditions harm children’s lives,
including their school experiences.
However, blaming poor people and people from dominated racial or cultural
groups for their educational problems is not the answer to solving societal ineq-
uities. Teachers can do nothing to change the conditions in which their students
may live today, but they can work to change their own biases and the institu-
tional structures that act as obstacles to student learning and to the possibilities for
their students’ futures. Although some teachers and other educators might prefer
to think that students’ lack of academic achievement is due solely to conditions
inside their homes or inherent in their cultures, racism and other forms of institu-
tional discrimination clearly play a central role in educational failure, as does the
related phenomenon of low expectations.
To Think About
1. Think about schools with which you are familiar. Have you seen evidence of discrimi-
nation? Was it based primarily on race, gender, class, language, sexual orientation, or
other differences? How was it manifested?
2. How would you go about helping students become aware of racial privilege and racial
discrimination? Think of some strategies in specific situations you have witnessed in
your learning community.
3. Describe a time when teachers’ expectations did or did not make a difference in your life.

1. Develop a lesson for your classroom that directly focuses on racism and/or discrimina-
tion. If you teach one of the lower grades, you may want to use a children’s book. With
older students, you can base the lesson on a current event or on a personal experience
that one of the students has had. Write and reflect on the outcome of the lesson. Was it
difficult for you to plan? To implement? Why? What was the reaction of students? What
have you learned from this teaching experience?
2. Ask one of your trusted colleagues to visit your classroom and observe your teach-
ing for several days with the purpose of pointing out how you might unintention-
ally demonstrate low or high expectations for students. After debriefing with your
colleague, draw up a plan of action to address any instances he or she may have
witnessed.
3. Begin a study group in your school to learn more about the effects of discrimination
and racism on students and teachers. Plan to meet regularly for a specific amount of
time (half a year, a year, or whatever time frame makes sense in your specific context).
Select appropriate books from the references cited in this chapter, and write together
about ways to combat these kinds of discrimination.
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 69 03/11/17 11:37 AM

Notes
1. Skutnabb-Kangas (1988, 2000). 14. See Harry & Klingner (2006); Gàndara & Contreras (2010).
2. Allport (1954), p. 52. 15. Kosciw, Greytak, Palmer, & Boesen (2014).
3. See, for example, Delgado & Stefancic (2017); Ladson-Billings 16. Valencia (2015).
(2004). 17. Anyon (2014).
4. Leonardo (2013). 18. Bowles & Gintis (1976).
5. See Banks, Eberhardt, & Ross (2006); National Center for State 19. See, for instance, Anyon (2014); Berliner (2009); Rothstein (2004,
Courts (2012). 2013, 2017).
6. See, for example, Gould (1996) for a history of racism in intel- 20. Schofield (2010).
ligence measurement; Sussman (2014) for an in-depth analysis of 21. Kozol (2005).
the persistence of historical origins of the construction of race and 22. Orfield & Lee (2005).
its persistence in current social stratification; and Selden (1999) 23. Yearwood (2003), p. 110.
for a comprehensive treatment of the eugenics movement. 24. Donaldson (1996).
7. Rothstein (2014). Also see Rothstein’s (2017) expansion of the 25. Consider, for example, Beverly Daniel Tatum’s simple but eloquent
ramifications of legalized, institutional racism in his recent book, question in the title of her book Can We Talk About Race? (2007). It is
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Seg- an admonition that too often such discussions have been silenced.
regated America published by Liveright Publishing/W.W. Norton, 26. Rosenberg (2004), pp. 257, 262.
which provides in-depth analysis of this issue. 27. Pollock (2004), p. 2.
8. Ibid., p. 6. 28. Van Ausdale & Feagin (2001).
9. Orfield (2014), p. 273. 29. Merton (1948).
10. Weinberg (1990), pp. xii–xiii. 30. Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968).
11. See, for example, Williams (2005); Spring (2010b). For educational 31. See, for instance, Snow (1969); Wineburg (1987); Rosenthal
discrimination against Latinos, see MacDonald (2004). For the (1998); Jussim & Eccles (1992).
history of educational discrimination against Native Americans, 32. Boser, Wilhelm, & Hanna (2014).
see Lomawaima and McCarty (2006). For the history of gender- 33. Rist (1971).
segregated schooling, see Sadker and Zitttleman (2010). 34. Ibid.
12. For example, Gary Orfield and his associates found that the past 35. Pizarro (2005), p. 240.
four decades have seen the largest backward movement toward 36. Portes & Rumbaut (2014).
segregation for Blacks since the 1954 Brown v. Topeka Board of 37. Steele (1992), p. 77.
Education decision. They also reported that Latino students have 38. Cohen, Garcia, Apfel, & Master (2006).
become the most segregated of all groups. See Orfield (2009). 39. Sherman et al., (2013).
13. On the subject of rigid tracking, see Oakes (2005) and Anderson 40. Zeichner (2003).
and Oakes (2014); on the impact of high-stakes testing on students 41. Haberman (1995).
of color, see Au (2009), Au and Tempel (2012), and Kohn (2015). 42. Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968).
Also see the report by FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open
Testing (2012).
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 70 03/11/17 11:37 AM

Case Studies
Delilah Rogers
A
t the time of this interview, Delilah was 15 years old,
and living in Boston with her dad, stepmom, and little
“I am aware of my racial place in this brother. She was a participant in the Metropolitan Council
for Educational Opportunity (Metco) Progam, so she attended a
school. . . . Talking about race is like a ticking
highly regarded suburban public school in an affluent commu-
time bomb.” nity outside the city of Boston. The Metco Program is described
on the website of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education: “It is a voluntary program intended to expand educa-
tional opportunities, increase diversity, and reduce racial isolation, by permitting
students in certain cities to attend public schools in other communities that have
agreed to participate.”1 Metco is an historic desegregation initiative in existence
since 1963.
As a ninth-grade student, this was Delilah’s third year as a Metco student in
this suburban school district; she had been bused through the Metco Program
since her seventh-grade year.
Delilah’s freshman year also coincided with a year of renewed national
public attention to the injustices of racial stratification. The Black Lives Matter
movement, which was launched in 2012 after George Zimmerman was acquit-
ted of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of 17-year-old
Trayvon Martin, swelled into a determined, vigorous activist “call to action and
a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates our society.”2 The
movement was reignited as the 2014–2015 school year opened and was demar-
cated by the uprisings in Ferguson, Missouri, after an unarmed 18-year-old Black
man Michael Brown was shot and killed by police. The Black Lives Matter move-
ment gained even more momentum when revealing videos emerged publicizing
the death of Eric Garner after he was restrained in a chokehold by a New York
City Police Department officer in the summer of 2014. Further community organ-
izing and calls for social justice ensued after Freddie Gray, a Black man from
Baltimore, died of a spinal cord injury while in the custody of local police in
April 2015. During that year of uprisings, national news stories, and community
responses, some schools supported the startup of student chapters of Black Lives
Matter within the school day and as part of after-school programming. However,
Delilah’s school appeared to be more reactionary than proactive about address-
ing student concerns on these issues.
Within this sociopolitical setting, Delilah was conscious of the ways in
which a web of societal dynamics and family cultures intersected in her iden-
tity. She explained that she lived with her mom, who is African American,
during her early childhood and elementary school years, when she attended
various public schools in Boston and New York City. She relocated to Boston to
live with her dad and stepmom when she was 11 years old. She saw her dad’s
efforts to enroll her in the Metco Program as a positive experience in her edu-
cation, despite some of the challenges that she describes here. As a youngster
who identifies as African American and Hispanic, she reflected about how her
racial identity and race relations in general have influenced and continue to
shape her school life. In what follows, we highlight four themes that emerged
in Delilah’s interview: family heritage and educational values, racial place in
school, talking about race is like a ticking time bomb, and the importance of sup-
portive school structures.
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 71 03/11/17 11:37 AM

Family Heritage and Educational Value

Now I live with my father and step mom—they are Caribbean, and they are strict.
My dad is the only sibling born here [in the United States]. His mom was in
Honduras and his dad was from St. Vincent. They had all the kids in Honduras,
except for my dad. He was born here. His family moved to Boston when he was 3
or 4. My stepmom—I call her my mom—is the same way. She was born here, but
her mom came to America from Jamaica. My parents are more strict, and more
close together. Family is everything, and very close together, and education is
everything. My mom, who I lived with before, is African American—more Ameri-
can. I came to live with Dad in 6th grade. Originally, I got D’s and F’s. When I
came here with my dad, I started getting A’s and B’s and started to be an honor
roll student. I was very energetic and everyone was surprised! My stepmom and
my dad—they kept pushing me to strive and to do well. My purpose in school is
to gain knowledge and gain wisdom in different things so I can be what I want
to be later on in life. This school is fulfilling; the education is awesome. My par-
ents influenced me a lot about school. There are ups and downs of being in this
school, but it is a great school even though we definitely have our issues that
need to be addressed.
I say I am African American and Hispanic because Honduras is Hispanic . . . it
depends on who is looking at me. Because of the way people look on the outside—
that is how people judge you. Like I have a friend who is mixed but people say
they think she is Hispanic, or they would call her Black, but not mixed. Teachers
and students assume I am Black. So when I am in the classroom and the only kid
of color, I am the Black kid. My cultural identity is like this: My dad’s side of the
family, grandmother and aunts and uncles and cousins all speak Spanish, but my
dad was born here and he is the only one who does not speak Spanish—so I wish
I did—but I don’t speak Spanish. I am African American and Hispanic, and now I
also have Jamaican culture from my stepmom. I am a lot Caribbean, really.
Racial Place and the Job of Metco Kids

I am aware of my racial place in this school. I feel like my parents have a sig-
nificant role in my awareness. In 7th grade when I went [to the suburban school
through Metco], I was the only Black kid in my class. Out of 21 kids I was the
only kid of color, and I was the new kid, and you are looked at and stared at. That
was hard for me. I talked to my parents a lot. My parents educated me on this
topic. My stepmom educated me. She is very passionate and very educated about
that. She and my dad are full of support for me. It is easy to have a conversation
about racial differences. We have the same views on it. It is very cool with my
parents. The other kids in my school—well, they are in suburbia. They are shel-
tered. They know their town and that’s about it . . . or maybe they know their
town and another part of the country because they have townhouses there . . . my
friend who is Caucasian . . . she will always have that bubble around her. She will
always be kind of in her own world.
That is a job as a Metco person to help teach other students those things. That
is how the kids look at us. I am going to do a presentation in one of my classes
to talk about a racial issue. I am going to talk about how slavery affected us and
how it has created a mental oppression among the African Americans and how it
affects us to this day. I feel like it is a really big issue. I can share my story a bit
in front of a class of just about ten people, but my goal is to get this in front of the
entire school.
But . . . if one Metco kid does something that maybe even some white kids
do—some kind of a mistake—but then ALL the Metco kids are looked at as if they
committed that mistake.
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Talking About Race Is Like a Ticking Time Bomb

A lot of the kids are very ignorant when it comes to race and stuff like that, and
instead of teachers correcting them, or saying “This is not how it is,” or trying to
teach them . . . well, they do not do that. They just let the kids go out there and say
rude things. When they say something ignorant or rude—they get away with it.
Recently, we had a protest about the Ferguson and New York situation with
the racial tension. It started out as a nice peaceful protest . . . it led into something
that should have never been. There was a ruckus, like a riot. There were so many
people in the hallways and others looking over the balconies. It got very violent.
Kids were throwing things, spitting at us, throwing pencils, putting up the mid-
dle finger. It was hurtful to a lot of Boston kids because some of them were their
friends. It was like, “Whoa wait, I thought you were my friend.” But the suburban
kids were saying, “Get off this [expletive] floor” and they were using the N-word.
The day of the protest, the kids were organizing it. It was definitely kid-led.
There were some suburban kids and lots of the Boston kids. So it was mostly
Metco kids, in other words, mostly Black kids and kids of other minorities. It
started around 11:00 during the first lunch. Kids just walked around with posters
up that said things like “Black Lives Matter,” saying how people should not be
ignorant and stuff like that. They were all hand-made posters by kids. Kids wrote
with white paint on a dark background. The posters expressed how we need to
be educated . . . the idea behind it was the idea of education, that Whites should
not be ignorant. The protesting students who organized it were chanting call and
response, and singing “We Shall Overcome.” It was an awareness-raising protest.
It was related to the national protest that was happening that day and at that time.
All about raising awareness. It was cool to do, because our school does not do
anything about current events.
Talking about race is like a ticking time bomb. You do not know how people
will react. After the protest, most teachers could not have a discussion about it in
their classrooms. They felt uncomfortable or they did not know what to say. Most
teachers are afraid to discuss it. That was hard for some teachers. Maybe they
wanted to let the kids know how they felt, but maybe they were afraid. My English
teacher did not want to talk about it. She felt that “it’s not my place to talk about
it.” She said she did not want to push her opinion on the kids, and every teacher
is different.
For example, in one of my history classes, we were discussing slavery and
what we would do [if we were in that situation during that time period]. All the
Caucasian students said they would just enslave the African Americans. I said I
would not do that, I would pay for someone to work for me. But even the teacher—
who is also Caucasian—admitted she would enslave the African Americans! That
was really awkward, I don’t understand why we did that as a class. Anyways . . .
I would just pay to have people work for me. Not every teacher is the greatest
teacher ever, some teachers seem to think like “since you are a minority you might
not be able to do all the work”—they have low expectations.
The school normally did not have talks about race, or programs to discuss
racial issues, because normally they did not think it was an issue. They started to
have talks with us in February—well, you know—because of Black History Month.
The first event was an assembly, and there was a panel discussion. The panelists
were teachers from other places, local activists—a few Blacks and a few Whites
but no other minorities. There were 6 or 7 panelists. The whole school went to the
panel. The assembly was an hour; it was boring. You were just sitting there listen-
ing to the people answer their questions. To be honest, I am usually into that stuff
and excited about those discussions. But it was boring.
Afterwards they had talks about it in the classrooms. You know, a lot of
suburban kids do not see that much about that kind of racial stuff in everyday
life. Out of my whole class, only three or four of us talked. I was the only Black
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 73 03/11/17 11:37 AM

kid who talked. It was me talking back to just the three white kids who were
talking. They were like . . . “I did not know Black people got pulled over for no
reason; I never knew Black people got incarcerated for no reason.” They were
like “Whoa that’s crazy.” I was thinking, “I deal with this type of racial prejudice
stuff on a daily basis, and this stuff happens on a daily basis to lots of people all
the time.” Some kids in the classroom and in the hallway would be like: “This
race stuff does not matter.” I would talk back and say, “That is not necessarily
true.” I would rather verbally fight back. It is easier to run away than to actually
face the problem. Really to do the work, you have to say like “No, this happens
every day!”
I do not feel like it [the assembly of panelists, and that one class discussion]
created any change. The way the administration went about it by just doing lec-
tures and then just talking with the kids . . . they should have tried to connect to
the audience. Otherwise, only one or two kids are taking that message with them
with them when they leave. Find a way to connect with the kids—maybe someone
who is young and who can say, “I go through this every day.” It seems like we are
trying to educate the suburban kids about something they do not want to learn.
Importance of Supportive School Structures

In the very beginning I did not do that well, in elementary school—in the urban
public schools they are not as “on the kids” because there are just so many, too
many students. I was just passing by in school. In my elementary schools that I
went to, they do not push the school children. I feel like that is a major thing—so
then the kids do not have the drive to do well.
In the suburban school they push their kids . . . even if they have a lot of
them—they have structures in place. They find all the resources they need just to
get the kids by—that is something I really loved coming here through Metco. But
not all the kids take advantage of those resources. But they ought to realize, there
are kids just a few miles away that do not have that many resources!
Being a Boston kid—the teachers do not have that same expectation of us.
They say they do, but it is more like putting on a front. There is a difference
between what they say they expect. That achievement gap—you can actually see
that in my school . . . high up and down below. Part if it is the teachers—they do
not want us there—they really don’t.
Then there is the cutting of the money. Our school is going to be cut with
money. They do not really care. They are kicking kids out of Metco now because
of the money—but also because they feel that kids really do not belong there.
They do not want us there.
I do not see any curriculum in any classes that address racial issues. They
keep it simple to what the kids know—which means European history. They do
not teach kids about minorities—they do not teach kids about us. I heard they had
classes about minority cultures in the past, but not enough people signed up and
none of the suburban kids were interested, so they cut those classes.
But there is one class called CIGs or Cultural Identity Group. Just Metco kids
have this special class, called Cultural Identity Group. It is a class to teach us
about our culture. To teach us about other racial things that affects us as minori-
ties. It is a great class to have, but it can make you feel uncomfortable. Because
you are learning things that you have a connection with and you say, “That
affects me every day.” It kind of stinks that it is required for Metco kids, but it
is not required for the suburban kids. Everybody should be studying this stuff. I
would make it a mandatory class for everyone in the entire school for freshman
and sophomore year—I think it would be good to make it required for everybody,
instead of same race classes, make it multicultural. I see a value in having eve-
rybody required to take a class that makes you learn how your history gives you
privilege or does not.
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So in this way, the school does care about you—the Metco kids have some-
body who cares about them. If you are failing in class, then boom!—they have
tutors right there. You can find people in the school—I go to my guidance coun-
selor a lot—to talk about academics, every now and again. He is my go-to guy. I
also talk to my Metco director. We have a Metco area, a nice room with resources,
and the Metco director is there and is really cool to talk to about anything. He is
always there for us. All the Metco people are there for us.
But there are those teachers who do a good job of addressing racial differ-
ences. They are African American or African; they have had that experience.
They have lived in the Boston area, they know how that can be, they speak up
for the kids, they know what it is like. As far as other teachers—there are maybe
2 or 3 that are Caucasian that you could talk to, and might feel the same way
that I feel. They would defend you and speak up for you. We can have discus-
sions about race. My favorite subject is history. I want to know more about the
race thing. I used to love books about slavery and I keep reading more. History
is my number one favorite.
I want to become an architect or an engineer—I am not sure about the math
and science in engineering, but I am very interested in architectural design. I
like building. I have a lot of creativity, and now I see that art and creativity,
which I love—well, I could use that and also build homes. I like thinking about
homes. I like edgy ideas. I have a strong background, because I used to win sci-
ence fairs. There are people in the school who help students plan their futures,
but I am just a freshman so I think they focus on the kids in other grades. If I
need to talk to anybody, I can depend on my Metco director. Also, my English
teacher just told me she is signing me up to apply for a scholarship—so she
believes in me.
Commentary
D
elilah told us that grades were important to her, because it “tells me how
I am doing in my class, but it is not the only thing that matters.” She also
emphasized strong morals and values, noting “if you do not have morals
or values—it can be harder.” Echoing some of the research we reviewed in this
chapter, Delilah is keenly aware that perceptions of her racial identity could influ-
ence the way teachers and students judge her schoolwork. She explained, “You
have to be pushing yourself, pushing your butt, putting your best foot forward,”
to prevent “falling into any category—and that is bad for me as a Black, African
American woman in an all-White school. . . . People put me in a category like,
‘she is just like that.’ People try to bring me down.” Compared with this static
view of her identity and race, Delilah viewed her own racial identity, community,
culture, and heritage as dynamic and shifting. She recognized that moving into her
father’s home when she was 11 years old expanded her understanding of self, his-
tory, and language, while complicating her story of heritage to include that of her
new (step) mom’s family traditions and values, still retaining her early childhood
self. She certainly embraced the multidimensional aspects of her African American
identity and simultaneously realized the delimiting aspect of others viewing her as
“the Black kid in the class.”
Delilah’s story offers a glimpse into the tensions of school life resulting from
efforts to implement school desegregation and address institutionalized racism
for Boston public school children dating back decades before she was born.
Metco was initiated in 1963 by Black educators and families, and was intended
to be a stop-gap measure. By design it meets the needs of only a small frac-
tion of the city’s school children, and despite many critiques, it has remained
popular within communities of color as a means to gain access to exceptional
education opportunities. It has also maintained the support of the predomi-
nantly White suburban districts that enroll Metco students. It provides Boston
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with a counter-narrative to the ugly memory of 1970s court-ordered busing that

spurred violent conflict.
The imperfections and social ironies laden in school desegregation practices
are graphically illustrated for students such as Delilah. Participation in Metco is
dependent on her status as a so-called racial minority, so the embodiment of her
racial identity provides her with a specific educational privilege. At the same time,
a discussion of institutionalized racism and social stratification are glaringly absent
from the curriculum and the overall school experience—with the exception of CIG
classes. These valuable CIG classes address Delilah’s yearning to investigate racial
inequality, and satiate her academic hunger to study social histories and contem-
porary events. Delilah’s proposal to “make it required for everybody” would ben-
efit the rest of the student body as well.
Delilah repeatedly expressed the stark disparity between her suburban peers’
and the Metco kids’ understandings of racial injustice. This aspect of her daily
school life was obviously perplexing, frustrating, burdensome, and in some cases,
aggressively oppressive. The research of Gloria Ladson-Billings on culturally rel-
evant pedagogy3 and how it segues with Django Paris’s call for culturally sus-
taining pedagogy4 is informative here. Given the experience of cultural pluralism
in Delilah’s daily life and the lack of explicitly critical curriculum in her school,
we believe Delilah’s educational experience could be transformed by the call for
sustaining the cultural experiences of youth who have been marginalized. In the
absence of such deliberate culturally sustaining perspectives and pedagogies, the
project of school desegregation and the transporting of the bodies and minds of
urban youth of color into predominantly White suburban schools may simply reify
middle-class White norms.
Despite its shortcomings, Delilah and her family were overwhelmingly grateful
for the educational opportunities afforded to her through the Metco Program and
that she reached for each day after her long bus ride to the suburbs. Imagine how
much more complete Delilah’s education could become in an environment that
was academically rich and also culturally sustaining, with a commitment to equity
literacy for all.
Reflect on This Case Study

1. Delilah noted that she was “the only kid of color” and therefore her racial identity
was reified as “the Black kid in the class.” If you have a student or a small number
of students who may identify as students of color in your classroom, what are some
ways in which you work against racial isolation in your classroom? Consider pos-
sibilities for each content area that you teach, all school co-curricular activities that
you lead, and each portion of the school day, such as lunch time, homeroom, and
advisory groups.
2. The assembly that Delilah described sounds like a heartfelt effort that did not go far
enough to meet the goals of addressing racial injustice. What can be learned from the
limits of a one-shot-deal assembly or the requirement to facilitate discussions on hot
topics without any training or orientation for teachers? Which strategies could be effec-
tive to bring the attention of your teaching team and administration to some of the
resources mentioned in this chapter?
3. Delilah pointed out that some teachers “do a good job of addressing racial differences.”
What can you do in your daily practice to become one of those teachers?
Notes for Case Study: Delilah Rogers

1. Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (Metco) Program within the Massachusetts
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
2. Black Lives Matter. According to its website, Black Lives Matter is a chapter-based national organi-
zation working for the validity of Black life, working to (re)build the Black liberation movement.
3. Ladson-Billings (1995, 2014).
4. Paris (2012); Paris & Alim (2014).
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 76 03/11/17 11:37 AM

Linda Howard
J
efferson High School is a large, comprehensive high school
in Boston. It has a highly diverse population of students from
Unless you’re mixed, you don’t know what it’s throughout the city, including African American, Puerto Rican
like to be mixed. and other Latino, Haitian, Cape Verdean, Vietnamese, Cambodian,
Chinese American, other Asian American, and European Ameri-
can students. This is the high school from which Linda Howard,
a 19-year-old senior, had just graduated.1 Linda was the class valedictorian, was
awarded a four-year scholarship to a prominent private university in New Eng-
land, and was looking forward to her college education. She was already thinking
about graduate school, and although she had not yet decided what she wanted to
study, she was contemplating majoring in education or English.
Frequently taken for Puerto Rican or Cape Verdean because of her biracial back-
ground (her father is African American, and her mother is European American),
she resented these assumptions by those who did not know her. Linda’s insistence
about being recognized as biracial and multicultural sometimes put her in a difficult
situation, especially with friends who pressured her to identify with either her Black
or her White heritage. She remained steadfast in proclaiming her biracial identity in
spite of the difficulty it caused her. Her friends were a mosaic of the varied back-
grounds of her school and of the community in which she lived. Her best female
friend was Puerto Rican, and her boyfriend Tyrone was West Indian.
Linda had an uneven academic career. At Tremont School, a highly respected
magnet elementary school in the city, she had been very successful. The school’s
population was diverse, with children of different backgrounds from all over the
city. She loved that school and has good memories of the caring teachers she had
there. Because she was in an accident and had missed a great deal of school during
her recuperation, by the time she reached junior high, she was held back twice,
in both seventh and eighth grades. After the eighth grade, Linda transferred to
Academic High, which she attended for two years before transferring to Jefferson
High. She was a highly successful student, although she felt that Jefferson High
was “too easy.” The normal load for most students was four academic courses and
two electives, but Linda had taken six academic courses per semester.
A gifted student, Linda was also a talented singer and even hoped to some-
day make a living as a musician. She inherited her love of music from her father,
who had given up a career in music. The entire family sang together, and Linda
claimed to be the best singer—when her father was not around. She was a mem-
ber of the school choir and also studied music on her own. Music gave her great
solace and motivated her to do her best. Linda was also gifted in language. She
frequently wrote poems to express her feelings.
At the time of her interviews, Linda lived with her mother, father, one older
brother, and two younger brothers in a middle-class, predominantly Black com-
munity in Boston. Her family had moved there from a public housing project 14
years before and bought their first home two years later. She still called the hous-
ing project and neighborhood where she grew up “part of my community, part of
my heritage.” Both of Linda’s parents were working professionals, although that
had not always been the case. She was proud of the fact that her father had started
in the telephone company as a lineman some 20 years earlier and now held a
white-collar job. Her mother was a human services administrator.
Being both outgoing and personable, Linda had a great many friends. Showing
her more playful side, she told us she and some of them “cruise around, find cute
guys, and yell out the window, ‘Yo, baby!’ That’s how we hang!” Her boyfriend
Tyrone was her “very best friend.” They had known each other for seven years and
were actually engaged when she was 15. She broke off the engagement because she
felt that she had her life ahead of her and needed to plan for college and a career.
One month before being interviewed, they had broken up completely but were still
good friends. Linda said that she would do anything in the world for Tyrone.
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Linda was very aware of her values and of the role her family played in their
formation. Her interviews highlighted a number of issues central to understanding
these values: her struggle concerning identity and racism, the importance of teach-
ers’ caring and their role in students’ learning, and the great value of education in
her life and her parents’ influence over this factor.
Identity, Racism, and Self-Determination

My parents are Black and White American. I come from a long heritage. I am of
French, English, Irish, Dutch, Scottish, Canadian, and African descent.
I don’t really use race. I always say, “My father’s Black, my mother’s White, I’m
mixed.” But I’m American; I’m human. That’s my race; I’m part of the human race.
After all these years, and all the struggling (because when [my parents] got
married it was a time right before desegregation), people from all sides were tell-
ing them, “No, you’ll never make it. You’ll never make it. White and Black don’t
belong together in the same house.” And after 20 years, they’re still together and
they’re still strong. Stronger now than ever, probably. That’s what I like the most
about them. They fought against all odds, and they won.
It’s hard when you go out in the streets and you’ve got a bunch of White friends
and you’re the darkest person there. No matter how light you are to the rest of your fam-
ily, you’re the darkest person there, and they say you’re Black. Then you go out with
a bunch of Black people, and you’re the lightest there, and they say, “Yeah, my best
friend’s White.” But I’m not. I’m both. I don’t always fit in—unless I’m in a mixed group.
I’ve had people tell me, “Well, you’re Black.” I’m not Black; I’m Black and
White. I’m Black and White American. “Well, you’re Black!” No, I’m not! I’m both.
It’s insulting, when they try and . . . bring it right back to the old standards, that if
you have anybody in your family who’s Black, you’re Black. . . . I mean, I’m not
ashamed of being Black, but I’m not ashamed of being White either, and, if I’m
both, I want to be part of both. And I think teachers need to be sensitive to that.
It’s hard. I look at history, and I feel really bad for what some of my ancestors
did to some of my other ancestors. Unless you’re mixed, you don’t know what it’s
like to be mixed.
My boss, who was a teacher of mine last year, just today said something about
me being Puerto Rican. I said, “We’ve been through this before. I am not Puerto
Rican. I am Black and White.” I may look Hispanic, but this is what I mean. And
this is a person who I’ve known for a whole year and a half now. [I felt] like I was
insignificant. If, after all this time, he didn’t know, and we discussed it last year. . .
. It was insulting. I usually don’t get insulted by it. I say, “Oh, no, I’m not Spanish.
I’m Black and White.” And people say, “Oh really? You are? I thought you were
Spanish.”
[Teachers should not] try to make us one or the other. And God forbid you should
make us something we’re totally not. . . . Don’t write down that I’m Hispanic when
I’m not. Some people actually think I’m Chinese when I smile. . . . Find out. Don’t just
make your judgments. And I’m not saying judgment as insulting judgments. But some
people, they don’t realize that there are so many intermarried couples today. You have
to ask people what they are. If you really want to know, you have to ask them. You
don’t just make assumptions. ‘Cause you know what happens when you assume. . . .
If you’re filling out someone’s report card form and you need to know, then ask.
I don’t know how to put this . . . race hasn’t really been a big factor for me.
Because in my house, my mother’s White; my father’s Black; I was raised with
everybody. Sometimes I don’t even notice. I see people walking down the street. I
don’t care what they are; they’re people.
My culture is my family. I have an enormous family. I have three brothers, two
parents, and my father has ten brothers and sisters, and all of my aunts and uncles
have children. That to me is my culture . . . I was born and raised in America. I’m
fourth-generation American, so it’s not like I’m second generation, where things
were brought over from a different country or brought and instilled in me. I’m just
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American, and my culture is my family, and what we do as a family. Family is very

important to us. . . . My family is the center of my life.
I would say I have more Black culture than White . . . because I know all
about fried chicken and candied yams and grits and collard greens and ham hocks
and all that because that’s what we eat. . . . My father had to teach my mother
how to cook all that stuff [laughs]. But that’s just as far as food goes. . . . But as far
as everything else, my family is my culture.
See, the thing is, I mix it at home so much that it’s not really a problem for me
to mix it outside. But then again, it’s just my mother and my grandmother on the
“White side,” so it’s not like I have a lot to mix.
I don’t think [being interracial is] that big of a problem. It’s not killing any-
body. At least as far as I know, it’s not. It’s not destroying families and lives and
stuff. It’s a minor thing. If you learn how to deal with it at a young age, as I did, it
really doesn’t bother you the rest of your life, like drugs. . . .
In the city, I don’t think there’s really much room for racism, especially any-
more, because there’s just so many different cultures. You can’t be a racist. . . . I
think it’s possible, but I don’t think it’s logical. I don’t think it was ever logical. It’s
possible. It’s very possible, but it’s sort of ridiculous to give it a try.
I think we’re all racist in a sense. We all have some type of person that we
don’t like, whether it’s from a different race, or from a different background, or
they have different habits. But to me a serious racist is a person who believes that
people of different ethnic backgrounds don’t belong or should be in their space
and shouldn’t invade our space: “Don’t come and invade my space, you Chinese
person. You belong over in China or you belong over in Chinatown.”
Racists come out and tell you that they don’t like who you are. Prejudiced
people [on the other hand] will say it in like those little hints, you know, like,
“Oh, yes, some of my best friends are Black.” Or they say little ethnic remarks that
they know will insult you, but they won’t come out and tell you, “You’re Black. I
don’t want anything to do with you.” Racists, to me, would come out and do that.
Both racists and prejudiced people make judgments, and most of the time they’re
wrong judgments, but the racist will carry his one step further. . . . A racist is a
person that will carry out their prejudices.
[Racists have power] only if you let them! We’ll stick with [the example of]
striped shirts: If I go where everyone is wearing solids, and I’m wearing a stripe,
and someone comes up to me and tells me, “You don’t belong here; you’re wear-
ing stripes,” I’ll say, “I belong anywhere I want to belong.” And I’ll stand right
there! But there are some people who just say, “Oh, okay,” and will turn around
and leave. Then the racist has the power.
I wrote a poem about racism. I despise [racism]. . . .
Why do they hate me?

I’ll never know
Why not ride their buses
in the front row?
Why not share their fountains
or look at their wives?
Why not eat where they do
or share in their lives?
Can’t walk with them
Can’t talk with them unless I’m a slave
But all that I wonder is who ever gave
them the right to tell me
What I can and can’t do
Who I can and can’t be
God made each one of us
just like the other
The only difference is,
I’m darker in color.
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I had a fight with a woman at work. She’s White, and at the time I was the
only Black person in my department. Or I was the only person who was at all
Black in my department. And she just kept on laying on the racist jokes. At one
point, I said, “You know, Nellie, you’re a racist pig!” And she got offended by
that. And I was just joking, just like she’d been joking for two days straight—all
the racist jokes that she could think of. And we got into a big fight over it. She
threw something at me, and I was ready to kill her. . . . She started to get down
and dirty. . . . She was really getting evil. . . . They locked her out of the room, and
they had to hold me back because I was going to throttle her.
She thought I was upset because she tossed the water at me. I said, “You
know, Nellie, it’s not the water. It’s all these remarks you’ve been saying. And you
just don’t seem to have any regard for my feelings.”
I remember one thing she was talking about. She said, “I’m not racist, just
because I was jumped by eight Black girls when I was in the seventh grade, I’m
not racist.” After [30] years, why was she still saying they were eight Black girls?
That to me was insulting. That was then; this is now. I didn’t do it to you. I didn’t
jump you. It wasn’t my father who jumped you; it wasn’t my aunt who jumped
you. . . . I told her I didn’t want it taken out on me, that’s the thing. I don’t want
anybody’s racism taken out on me.
I’ve got a foot on both sides of the fence, and there’s only so much I can take.
I’m straddling the fence, and it’s hard to laugh and joke with you when you’re
talking about the foot that’s on the other side.
She couldn’t understand it. We didn’t talk for weeks. And then one day, I had to
work with her. We didn’t say anything for the first . . . like two hours of work. And
then I just said, “Smile, Nellie, you’re driving me nuts!” and she smiled and laughed.
And we’ve been good friends ever since. She just knows you don’t say ethnic things
around me; you don’t joke around with me like that because I won’t stand for it from
you anymore. We can be friends; we can talk about anything else—except race.
Teachers, Role Models, and Caring

My first-grade teacher and I are very close. She’s always been there for me.
After the first or second grade, if I had a problem, I could always go back to her.
Through the whole rest of my life, I’ve been able to go back and talk to her. She’s
a Golden Apple Award winner, which is a very high award for elementary school
teachers. She keeps me on my toes. When I start getting down, she peps me back
up, and I get back on my feet.
All of my teachers were wonderful. I don’t think there’s a teacher at the whole
Tremont School that I didn’t like. It’s just a feeling you have. You know that they
really care for you. You just know it; you can tell. Teachers who don’t have you in
any of their classes or haven’t ever had you, they still know who you are. . . . The
Tremont School in itself is a community. I love that school!
I knew [Academic High] would be a hard school, but I didn’t know it would be so
. . . they’re just so rigid. The teachers, there’s no feeling. Like I said, the Tremont was
a community for me, and I loved it. I’m that type of person; I’m an outgoing person,
and I like to be able to talk to anybody and not feel that I can’t talk to someone. If I
have to spend six hours a day in school, I want to feel that I can talk to my teachers. At
Academic, I didn’t feel that at all. I hated it, absolutely hated it. They let me know that
I wasn’t high anymore. I was average. They slapped me with it. My first report card,
oh goodness, it was terrible. I don’t remember exactly what grades they were; I just do
remember it was the first time in my life I had seen an F or a D under my name.
I think you have to be creative to be a teacher. You have to make it interest-
ing. You can’t just go in and say, “Yeah, I’m going to teach the kids right out of the
book and that’s the way it is, and don’t ask questions.” Because then you’re gonna
lose their interest. . . . Because I know there were plenty of classes where I lost
complete interest. But those were all because the teachers just [said], “Open the
books to this page.” They never made up problems out of their head. Everything
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came out of the book. You didn’t ask questions. If you asked them questions,
then the answer was “in the book.” And if you asked the question and the answer
wasn’t in the book, then you shouldn’t have asked that question!
At Jefferson, just about the whole school is like a big community. There are
very few White, Caucasian, whatever you want to call them, us [laughing]. There
are very few, but they don’t cluster together. It’s all integrated. . . . Nobody gets
treated differently. We’re all the same.
Mr. Benson, he cared; he was the only one of the two Black teachers [at Jef-
ferson High School]. He was not enough. The other Black teacher, he was a racist,
and I didn’t like him. I belonged to the Black Students’ Association, and he was the
advisor. And he just made it so obvious . . . he was all for Black supremacy. A lot of
times, whether they deserved it or not, his Black students passed, and his White stu-
dents, if they deserved an A, they got a B. He was insistent that only Hispanics and
Blacks be allowed in the club. He had a very hard time letting me in because I’m not
all Black. . . . I just really wasn’t that welcome there. He never found out what I was
about. He just made his judgments from afar. He knew that I was Black and White,
and I looked too White for him, I guess. But we never discussed it.
I’ve enjoyed all my English teachers at Jefferson. But Mr. Benson, my English
Honors teacher, he just threw me for a whirl! I wasn’t going to college until I met this
man. He was one of the few teachers I could talk to. Instead of going to lunch, I used
to go to Mr. Benson’s room, and he and I would just sit and talk and talk and talk. My
father and Mr. Benson share a lot of the same values. And every time I’ve heard Mr.
Benson talk, all I could think about was Daddy: “Oh, that’s exactly what my father
says!” . . . “Education, get your education and go far.” “Whether you’re flipping burg-
ers at the local joint or you’re up there working on Wall Street, be proud of yourself.”
‘Cause Mr. Benson, he says, I can go into Harvard and converse with those
people, and I can go out in the street and “rap with y’all.” It’s that type of thing.
I love it. I try and be like that myself. I have my street talk. I get out in the street
and I say “ain’t” this and “ain’t” that and “your momma” or “wha’s up?” But I get
somewhere where I know the people aren’t familiar with that language or aren’t
accepting that language, and I will talk properly. . . . I walk into a place, and I lis-
ten to how people are talking, and it just automatically comes to me.
Mr. Benson is the same as I am. Well, his mother was Black and his father
was White, so Mr. Benson and I could relate on all the problems that you face in
the world. Like when you go to fill out any kind of form and they ask you, “Black,
White, Chinese, Hispanic, Other.” I check off “Other” and I’ll write it down. And
then Mr. Benson told me that he found out that when you write it down, they put
you under “Black” because it all comes back to the old laws about, if you had any
Black blood in you, you were Black.
And I went to him and I said, “Mr. Benson, what do you do when you get all
these forms and they ask you ‘Black, White, or Other?’ And he said, “You might as
well just fill out ‘Black’ because that’s what they’ll do to you.” That just drives me
nuts! And we got on this big conversation about it.
He came from the lower class in Chicago and worked his way [up], and he
studied every night, six hours a night. He got into Harvard, and he went to Har-
vard, and now he’s back helping the people who needed help. Because the way
he sees it, he could go and he could teach at Phillips Academy, and he could teach
at Boston Latin, which he did for awhile. But those people don’t need his help.
That’s how he sees it. They’re gonna learn with or without him. He wanted to
come back to a small community, the underprivileged community, and help those
people. That’s what made me admire him the most because I like to help people.
The teacher who didn’t really help me at all in high school was my computer lit
teacher. Because I have no idea about computer literacy. I got A’s in that course. Just
because he saw that I had A’s and that my name was all around the school for all the
“wonderful things” I do, he just automatically assumed. He didn’t really pay attention
to who I was. The grade I think I deserved in that class was at least a C, but I got an
A just because everybody else gave me A’s. But everybody else gave me A’s because I
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earned them. He gave me A’s because he was following the crowd. He just assumed,
“Yeah, well, she’s a good student.” And I showed up to class every day. . . . He didn’t
help me at all because he didn’t challenge me. Everybody else challenges me; I had to
earn their grades. I didn’t have to earn his grade. I just had to show up.
I hated math up until the second time I was in the seventh grade. . . . I despised
math until I met Ms. Morgan. And from that point on, I have never received less than
a B in math. She turned every math problem . . . every type of math problem was a
game, so that school is never, “This is the way it is, and that’s just it. Just learn it.” I’d
make everything exciting and fun, or I’d try to. That makes school enjoyable.
Family Values and Education

In the Tremont and in the Williams [schools], I was at the top of my class, well,
not top of my class, but I was very high up in the ranks. . . . That all comes from
family. My mother’s been reading me books since probably the day I was born, up
until school age . . . any book with a serious message for children. My mother’s
always been very big on that, to make sure that reading was important. I still love
to read . . . mysteries, human interest stories. It made a difference in elementary
school. It really did. And, actually, it made a difference in high school, after I left
Academic High, because I graduated first in my class.
The first five years of your life, that’s when you develop the most. Before you go to
school, you’ve already got your personality. If you have parents who are showing you
the right values (not “the right values” because everybody’s values to them are right . .
.), whatever values they’ve given you are what you carry for the rest of your life.
That’s the way my family has raised me. . . . They really taught me not to
judge. You just accept [people] the way they are. With my family, if you go to
church, you go to church; if you don’t, you don’t. My grandmother says, “Jesus
still loves you and I still love you, whether you go to church or not.” It’s that kind
of thing. You just learn to accept people.
Sexuality—I don’t judge, I try not to, anyway. I’m sure subconsciously I do
. . . I don’t come out and say, “Ugh, he’s gay.” My neighborhood is thoroughly
mixed and sexually open. And they’re my neighbors. I don’t differentiate them.
And that’s something I wish a lot of people would do. Because I think it’s wrong.
Because if you were to take people and differentiate because of their preferences,
be it sexual or anything, everybody’s different. I prefer a certain type of music; you
prefer a different type of music. Does that mean we have to hate each other? Does
that mean you have to pick on me and call me names? That’s the way I see it.
I’m not going to be exactly like my parents. I grew up with basic values. And I fol-
low those basic values. And if you think about it, the choices I make have something
to do with my values. And the only place I got my values from was [home]. So, I may
change things around, flip them over, just adjust them a bit. But they still come down
to my home values, my basic values, and my basic values came from home.
[My parents] have always taken good care of me. They’re always there for me,
all the time, if I need to talk. And they make it so obvious that they love me, you
know, with these ridiculous curfews that I have [laughs]. I know it’s for the better,
although I can’t stand it; I know there’s a reason behind it, some twisted reason!
. . . Just a regular night out, I have to be in at midnight. If it’s a party, I don’t
have to be in ‘til two. All my friends stay out ‘til three and four in the morning.
But that’s because their parents can go to sleep. My parents can’t sleep if I’m not
home. That’s what I like the most about them.
I was reading an article the other day about how the family dinner has sort
of been tossed out the window in today’s society. My family sits down to dinner
together four out of seven nights a week, all six of us. Dinner’s at six. If it’s late,
then everybody waits. You don’t just eat on your own. I’ve noticed a lot of people,
my boyfriend, for one, they never eat together. I’ve had all kinds of friends who
always say, “Your family eats [together]?” And that’s different from other families.
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It’s very important to my parents, and it’ll be important to me. Because that’s
the time when we sit down and say, “How was your day? What’d you do? How
are you feeling? Do you have a headache? Did you have a rough day? Did you
have a good day?” You know? And that’s about the only time the whole family can
sit together and talk and discuss.
I have wonderful parents, although I don’t tell them [laughing]. [Do they
know?] Probably. My parents know that the further I go in school, the better life
I’ll have. Because they had to struggle to get where they are today. They had to
struggle to make themselves comfortable. Going to school is going to be a struggle.
But as long as I’m in school, my parents will always be there for me. Whereas if I
go and get myself a college education, I’m not going to have to start splicing lines
if I want to work at the telephone company. I’m going to start with the knowledge
that I don’t have to splice a line. I could start in the office with my father.
A lot of us [Black kids] just don’t have the home life. I really do think it begins
when you’re a baby! My mother, like I said, I believe she read to me from the day I
was born; I’m sure of it. A lot of people just didn’t have that. Their parents both had
to work; they didn’t have anybody at home to read to them. They just sat in front
of the tube all day. When they came home from school, their homework was just
tossed aside, and they sat in front of the television until Mom and Dad came home.
Then Mom and Dad rushed them through dinner, got them to bed, and this and that.
I blew two years. I learned a lot from it. As a matter of fact, one of my college
essays was on the fact that, from that experience, I learned that I don’t need to
hear other people’s praise to get by. All I need to know is in here [pointing to her
heart] whether I tried or not.
It’s not the school you go to. It’s what you want to get out of it and what you
take from it. If I know I did my hardest, if I know I tried my very best and I got an F,
I’d have a beef with the teacher about it, but if that’s what I got, that’s what I got. If
that’s seriously what I earned after all my efforts, then I’ll have to live with it.
[Grades] are not that important. To me, they’re just something on a piece of
paper. . . .
[My parents] feel just about the same way. If they ask me, “Honestly, did you
try your best?” and I tell them yes, then they’ll look at the grades and say okay. . .
. The first thing my father always looked at was conduct and effort. If all the letter
grades in the academic grades said F’s, and I had A’s in conduct and effort, then
my father would just see the F’s, and say “Oh, well. . . . “
[The reason for going to school is] to make yourself a better person. To learn
more, not only about the world and what other people have gathered as facts,
but to learn more about yourself. The more that there are opportunities for you
to learn, you should always take them. I just want to keep continuously learning
because when you stop learning, then you start dying.
I’ve got it all laid out. I’ve got a four-year scholarship to one of the best schools in
New England. All I’ve gotta do is go there and make the grade. I’m ready now. I can face
the challenge. I’m ready to go out in the world and let [that] university know who I am!
Commentary
I
ssues of identity were clearly at the core of Linda’s striving to carve out a
place for herself in her family, community, and school. Although she had
reached quite a sophisticated understanding of race, racial awareness, racism,
and identity, some feelings of ambivalence, conflict, and pain were still appar-
ent. Being “mixed,” to use Linda’s term, is the reality of more and more students
in U.S. schools. In fact, it is estimated that in some large urban areas, one in six
children is multiracial.2 In spite of this reality, many schools are unaware of the
strains, dilemmas, and benefits that a biracial identity poses for children.
It is likely that most people in the United States are a mixture of several racial
heritages, but this is either not known or not readily acknowledged. Miscegenation, or
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racial mixing, is far more common than generally admitted in our society. Discomfort
with this issue is understandable, given the history of rape and subjugation forced on
African American women, especially during slavery. This is an example of the legacy
of racism; so is the “one-drop” rule—the idea that one drop of Black blood makes a
person Black—to which Linda alluded. In fact, the “one-drop” rule was reaffirmed
as late as 1982 in a court decision in Louisiana, in which one thirty-second African
ancestry was sufficient to keep “Black” on an individual’s birth certificate.3 This clas-
sification, which has not been used in other societies, was not always the case in the
United States either. Rather, it emerged sometime in the early eighteenth century.4
The classification benefited the preservation of the institution of slavery because,
with this logic, people could still be enslaved even if they were mostly White. Like
race itself, this was a social and political construction rather than a biological one.
Although during the first half of the twentieth century, interracial marriages in
the United States had declined dramatically from previous centuries, they began to
increase again after the civil rights movement, and particularly after miscegenation
laws were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 12, 1967, in the Loving
v. Virginia case (aptly named because it was about the right of people—regardless
of race—to love one another). It is estimated that over 10 percent of all marriages
in the United States are interracial.5
Considering the racist underpinnings of group and self-identification in the
United States, the dilemmas Linda faced were difficult indeed. According to psy-
chologist Maria Root, the existing psychological models of racial and cultural iden-
tity development have not yet caught up with the reality of a rapidly expanding
multiracial and multi-ethnic population. As a result, young people are still adversely
affected by mixed-race heritage. If they are of mixed heritage, particularly if that
includes European American background, these youngsters are often seen as “less
authentic” African Americans, Asian Americans, or Latinos.6 On the other hand, the
situation is complex because mixed-race identity also has its advantages. As author
Rebecca Walker has suggested, the situation for multiracial individuals is complex.
According to her, “A new generation, a multiracial president, and a shifting global
environment demand that we rethink the old tropes of multiracial identity. It’s hip to
be multi now.”7 Thus, in spite of its increasing visibility, multiracial identity is both
more complicated and more fluid than it has ever been.
In spite of—or perhaps because of—the relative invisibility of mixed-race peo-
ple, especially at the time she was first interviewed in 1990, Linda identified most
strongly with her family. As she said, “My culture is my family.” And because her
family was mixed, so was her culture. Hers was a particularly courageous stand in
a society that forced an individual to choose one identity over the other, or to be
forced into one that he or she would not necessarily choose. Linda did not expect
all her teachers to be biracial like herself, but she did expect them all to be sensitive
and accepting of who she was, rather than imposing their own ideas about identity
on her. The teachers who stood out were not only those with whom she could iden-
tify culturally, but also those who made learning fun, engaging, and challenging.
Linda Howard, an extraordinary young woman, was ambitious, certain of her
talents, and ready for the future. No doubt, her strong family bonds, love of learn-
ing, and steadfast identification as Black and White all contributed to her academic
success. Her teachers and schools were not always able to understand or support
her, which emphasizes the importance of a school’s social context and the degree
to which it can insulate students from racism and influence their self-esteem.

1. Linda Howard insisted on identifying as biracial. She also said that she was just “a
member of the human race” and that race was not very important to her. Nevertheless,
she obviously spent a great deal of time thinking about race, as some of her anecdotes
and her poem make clear. Are these assertions contradictory? Why or why not?
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About Terminology
Whites, European Americans
W hat is the appropriate term to use for White people? As the
majority in U.S. society, Whites seldom think of themselves
as ethnic; they tend to reserve this term for other, more easily
an individual should be called European American when they
are essentially “as American as apple pie.” Of course, the same
can be said of African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Amer-
identifiable groups. Nevertheless, the fact is that we are all ethnic, icans whose families have been in the United States for any
whether or not we choose to identify in this way. Because Whites length of time. European Americans may never have even vis-
in U.S. society tend to think of themselves as the norm, they often ited Europe, for example, or may not identify at all with a Euro-
view other groups as ethnic and therefore somewhat exotic and pean heritage. Nevertheless, we have chosen to use the term
colorful. By using the term European American, we hope to chal- European American because the traditions, values, and behav-
lenge Whites to see themselves as ethnic. though “Whiteness” is iors of White Americans are grounded in European mores and
an important factor, it hides more than it reveals: There is a tre- values. Although they may be far removed from their European
mendous diversity of ethnic backgrounds among Whites, and this heritage and may have drastically changed and adapted to U.S.
is lost if race or color is used as the only identifier. mainstream culture, their roots are still European.
The term European American implies culture, too, although We do not use the terms Anglo and Anglo American,
many European Americans lament that they do not have cul- except when speaking specifically of those with an English
ture. But everybody has a culture, whether clearly manifested heritage, because these are inaccurate terms for referring to
in its more traditional forms or not. The term European Ameri- all Whites in the United States. Many Whites are not Eng-
can, like all terms, has its drawbacks. For one, although it is lish in origin, but rather come from a wide variety of ethnic
more specific than White, it is still overly inclusive of a great groups from other European societies. Classifying all Whites
many ethnic backgrounds that may have little in common other as Anglos is even more of an overgeneralization than calling
than race or color. (A similar criticism applies to terms such as them European Americans. If used to contrast English speakers
African, Asian, or Hispanic or Latino/a.) Another drawback to from speakers of other languages, the term Anglo American is
the use of the term European American is that many European equally inaccurate because African Americans, among others
Americans are a mixture of several European ethnic groups. A whose native language is English, are not included in this clas-
person may be German, Irish, and Italian (they may affection- sification. In addition, it is a term rejected by some, not the
ately refer to themselves as Heinz 57) and not speak any of the least of whom are many Irish Americans, who are often under-
languages or follow any of the traditions associated with any of standably offended at being identified with an English heritage
these cultures. It is reasonable to ask, in these cases, why such because of the oppression they suffered under the British.
2. If you were one of Linda’s teachers, how might you affirm her identity? Give specific
examples.
3. What can you learn, for your own teaching, from the teachers who have been most
influential in Linda’s life? What are the implications for curriculum? For pedagogy? For
relationships with students?
4. Can issues of race and identity be handled by schools, or are these issues too complicated
for them? What skills do you think you need if you are to effectively confront these issues?
Notes for Case Study: Linda Howard

1. We appreciate the work of Paula Elliott in conducting and analyzing the extensive interviews that were
the basis for this case study. Paula is an educator, researcher, teacher professional development special-
ist, as well as an arts education advocate and musician/vocalist. Her work addresses the social, cultural,
and political forces structuring the educational experiences and equitable inclusion of urban school stu-
dents and families.
2. For photographs and text that document this reality, see the introduction by Rebecca Walker in Tauber
and Singh (2009). See also the work of Family Diversity Projects, Inc., especially Kaeser and Gillespie
(2007).
3. Miller & Rotheram-Borus (1994).
4. Williamson (1980).
5. Passel, Wang, & Taylor (2010).
6. Root (2004), p. 112.
7. Tauber & Singh (2009), n.p.
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Rashaud Kates
R
ashaud Kates, a soft-spoken African American high school
student in a midsize town on the southern coast of Georgia,
I am African American. My culture is was getting ready to start his senior year of high school at
important to me. It is who I am. the time of this interview.1
Rashaud lived with his mother because his parents had recently
divorced, but his father continued to figure prominently in his life.
He had older siblings from his mom’s first marriage who lived on their own. One
sister, with whom he spent a great deal of time, lived nearby. His family lived within
very modest means in a neighborhood close to his school that he described as “safe
and quiet.” His father, a former U.S. Marine, worked for a law enforcement training
center. His mother was a housekeeper and also worked at their church.
Rashaud was attending a comprehensive high school for grades 9–12 with
approximately 1,600 students. A high-achieving student, he cared deeply about
his grades, especially as they reflected his parents’ pride and his collegiate future.
Co-curricular activities also played a significant role in his school life. He was a
member of the after-school club Future Business Leaders of America.2 Rashaud
also played on the school basketball team and looked forward to playing varsity
his senior year. The school population was racially diverse: 55 percent White stu-
dents; 42 percent Black students; and small percentages of Hispanic, Native Amer-
ican, and Asian students. Just under 40 percent of the students were eligible for a
free or reduced lunch.
Rashaud’s school life can be viewed through the lens of the broader context of
Black students in U.S. schools. The data on the schooling experience of many Afri-
can American students, especially young men, reflect the “crisis in Black educa-
tion” cited by scholars of the American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Commission on Research in Black Education (CORIBE).3 In several studies, the
commission documented the overwhelmingly unequal learning opportunities for
students of African heritage and called for a transformative research agenda.4
Disparities in graduation rates, resources, and access to qualified teachers; racial
bias in special education; and cultural alienation in curriculum and instruction are
among the many documented factors that contribute to systemic inequality for
many students of color, especially low-income African American youth.
These realities permeate the lives of many students. Nevertheless, Rashaud,
his family, and many of his teachers were resolute in working to overcome
institutional discriminatory structures in order to to cultivate a bright future.
Rashaud’s deep family roots, connections to school, and abiding trust in the
promise of education undergird the two themes that emerged in his case study:
determined responsibility and the enduring influence of teachers’ expectations,
with which we begin.
The Enduring Influence of Teachers’ Expectations

I am African American. My culture is important to me. It is who I am. [But] being
an African American student, to me, really it’s kinda’ tense. People look at you
every way, to see if you’re doing stuff wrong, but really you don’t [do anything
wrong]. If you were somebody else, they really wouldn’t look at you like that. Peo-
ple are already judging you when you’re African American. I would tell teachers
about African American students, “Everybody’s not bad; have high expectations.”
The school does Black History Month. That’s about the only time [the school
recognizes my culture]. There are mostly White teachers in my school. If a student
is trying to do what they need to do, that’s all that really matters. It shouldn’t mat-
ter if the teacher is a different race. The thing that might hold me back from get-
ting a good education, sometimes is that when I first meet a teacher, the teacher
thinks I’m bad ‘cause I’m Black. I overcome it by just being me, just who I am;
then they see me as a regular person.
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Sometimes I think it’s just the way things are, but you could really do some-
thing about it if people would just stop acting up and stuff. Then teachers would
be able to understand that everybody ain’t bad or whatever. My advice for other
African American boys entering our school is, “Don’t act like everybody else, like
the kids who are acting up. You gotta work hard, study, and stay focused.”
I had teachers who I learned a lot from. Ms. Teshek in fourth grade. She joked
a lot, she used to have us laughing all the time . . . she was really fun. We learned
more from her because it made us pay more attention. She taught everything . . .
math, reading, science, and everything.
Another teacher in middle school, Ms. Hollis, . . . she was a seventh-grade
teacher; she taught math. She was strict. To me, it was good; to other people
it might have been bad. It was good because that’s how my daddy is about my
grades and stuff, so I was just used to it. She used to have a ruler she carried
around, and she used to hit the desk all the time to let you know that she was
expecting something out of you. A teacher needs to let you know that they expect
a lot. It makes you work harder. When a teacher is strict like that, they are doing
it because they care about you. I did well in math that year. See, with my daddy,
if I get a D or something on my progress report, I get a punishment or something
until I get my grades up. Sometimes he gave me a bit of money if I did real good. If
I didn’t get a good progress report, there would be punishment.
Also, in middle school, Ms. Ketchem, in English—she spent time with me after
class, to teach me stuff. In English I did good because she helped me so much.
Sometimes after school, sometimes during the lunch break, mostly after school,
whenever she could, she would help me know where to put the commas and stuff
like that.
Another teacher is from a class I took during tenth-grade year called “Entre-
preneurship”; I just really liked it. We made business plans and discussed them,
and all this stuff. [We learned about] developing a business; I made a clothing
store. I learned so much; I was in FBLA [Future Business Leaders of America]. I
joined last year as a junior. It was fun; I felt like a real businessman. We would
go and volunteer a lot. We volunteered at Ronald McDonald House in Savannah
and we went to a couple of nursing homes. We try to think about how we can
help. Mr. Richards runs FBLA, [the] same teacher who taught Entrepreneurship.
He helps me think about college.
My favorite subject is math . . . learning about money . . . knowing about
money. Maybe Ms. Hollis from seventh grade had something to do with that. If you
do well in math you can manage your money better. My least favorite is history. I
don’t really see a point in knowing what happened in 1720 or whatever . . . all those
dates. If I could tell the teacher what I want to learn, I would want to know about
the wars. Now they only teach about World War II. We never make it to the subject
of the war in Iraq or even the Vietnam War. The war now is never discussed.
If I were principal of the school . . . I would listen to the students’ suggestions.
We do go to the principal about a lot of stuff. I don’t feel like they really listen. For
the prom, it was suggested to have a DJ instead of the band, and they didn’t listen
to that. Then, they only had one pep rally for the whole year. It was for football
season. They didn’t listen about that.
Some teachers need to be more laid back. Some of them are always on you
for the small stuff. Not the way Ms. Hollis was because she was on us to get good
grades. Some teachers are just always, always on you for nothing.
Determined Responsibility
I’m an OK student. I messed up my A/B honor roll last year. In ninth and tenth
grade I was on the A/B honor roll. But last year in eleventh grade, because of lit-
erature class, I messed up at the end of the year. I don’t know, I was just slackin’.
I got a C. I was disappointed. I do think I’ll get back on honor roll senior year
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because I’m going to work hard. If I feel myself slacking, if my grades start to go,
I’ll go to the teachers and ask if I can do some makeup work or something.
The way to succeed is through determination. You gotta be determined to do
it. If you’re not, you won’t get it done. Determination means a lot. You need an
education to better yourself in life. To get an education, to broaden life, it makes
more opportunities and stuff. I think I am accomplishing that.
My parents want to see me successful and get a chance to start my business
. . . to be secure financially. My brother didn’t graduate from high school. My
parents check my grades. They tell me what they are thinking. It matters to me
because if they didn’t care, I wouldn’t care. Since they do, I really do. I really want
to make them proud. I think I am getting what I need out of school. Sometimes I
wish I could get more out of it. I wish I could get more out of the literature. We
were learning about allegory and all that, which I liked and then literature class
changed. It doesn’t seem [to mean] much about anything. There’s not really any
stories or literature about African Americans in our school.
Freshman year I did not play basketball because everybody was telling me it
was the hardest year. I was worried about grades, so I didn’t play basketball. I did
good in school, so sophomore and junior year I played JV. Senior year will be my
varsity year. I’d like to play in college.
If I don’t get on the basketball team, I’ll still go to college. Sports at college
are like this: I would like to play sports so I gotta keep my grades up to be able to
play sports, so it helps. But if I don’t play sports, I will still be keeping my grades
up. The [Georgia State] basketball team is good—I want to play sports, but I gotta
keep the grades up, too.
Guidance counselors are talking about college. They told me to take the SAT
test, and I did. They are telling us to take all the tests. They told me I can go to
the community college down here, but I really want to go to Georgia State. I have
looked at the college application. For financing college, I am going to try to apply
for scholarships. I have been on the Internet looking. In the guidance office, I
heard about some scholarships. My parents don’t say too much about college.
They don’t really know what to say about it; they haven’t been to college. They
don’t know what it is like. Maybe they worry about money; they just don’t talk
about college. They want me to go.
When I am done with college I want to start my own business. I am not too
sure yet what business. I am just interested in the business world. I am going to
apply to Alabama State, too. That’s about all I’m looking at right now. The college
here is a community college. A four-year college would be better.
Commentary
J
uggling academic achievement with co-curricular activities, part-time employ-
ment, family commitments, and participation in a faith community is a bal-
ancing act for many American teens, as it was for Rashaud. He enjoyed sports
and after-school clubs, and worked at his church, and although he did not have
much time for TV, he enjoyed watching sports news shows when he had the
chance. He also liked reading mysteries, listening to R&B, and eating chili-cheese-
dogs and hamburgers. He cared about school achievement and realized the impor-
tance of good grades for his future.
Rashaud knew that he had to overcome the persistence of institutionalized
racism in schools. He put it plainly, “The teacher thinks I’m bad ‘cause I’m Black.”
Rashaud’s encounters with negative expectations echo the experiences of many
African American students. The destructive effect of institutionalized racism
on students’ perceptions of their racial identities is not always obvious to stu-
dents like Rashaud who develop achievement strategies to counteract the racism.
Rashaud articulated a phenomenon that reaches beyond individual bias; however,
he viewed changing this dynamic as the sole responsibility of the students “who
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act up.” The overwhelming social message that individual effort may defeat pow-
erful structural obstacles runs deep. Rashaud did not entertain the possibility that
the institutional structures themselves need to be changed.
A study by Ann Arnett Ferguson describes how certain forms of punishment
in schools perpetuate the identity of “troublemakers and potential inmates,”
especially among African American boys, while she makes an argument for
changing classroom strategies.5 Reports by researchers Angel Love and Ann
Cale Kruger stress the importance of educating teachers to examine their beliefs
related to race and culture, teaching practices, teaching as a profession, and
expectations of students.6 The results of such teacher education could change
both the students’ and teachers’ views of the prospects for Rashaud and his
peers.
Most students are not taught to assess critically the hierarchies of institutional
discrimination and cultural bias that exist in many schools. Rashaud’s case shows
that he and other students appear to maintain faith in the notion of American
meritocracy, believing that determination and hard work alone will bring them
success, even when inequities stare them in the face. Research by Prudence Carter
noted the persistence of this hopeful yet seemingly contradictory mind-set—that
is, that many African American students acknowledge the existence of racism and
its influence on their lives and schooling, while at the same time, they are fre-
quently emphatic that their potential success or failures are contingent upon only
their own personal determination and hard work.7
In contrast to the disparaging incidents and situations he faced, Rashaud also
remembered a number of teachers who had positively influenced his learning. His
description of the warmth and humor of his fourth-grade teacher appeared to be in
direct opposition with the seventh-grade math teacher’s ruler-banging strategies,
yet he said that both styles contributed to his success. The point is that a range of
approaches may lead to academic achievement, which is another implication of
Angel Love and Ann Cale Kruger’s study. They point out that numerous pathways
can be followed to teach African American children successfully and that success-
ful teachers may have an eclectic array of beliefs and practices.8
Stories about students like Rashaud underscore the significance of providing
curricula, as well as teaching methods, in which students see reflections of them-
selves and their heritage. Rashaud explicitly yearned for more curriculum, in both
social studies and literature courses, that reflected the cultural perspectives of his
ancestors as well as his current social and political realities. He may have been
edging toward school disengagement with his report of “slackin’” in the literature
course, but his resolve to strengthen his grade in the class appeared to draw from
other support systems. Despite the variety of factors that may have been impeding
or promoting his success, Rashaud’s sense of self-determination mattered a great
deal. His effort to maintain a high level of school engagement may be attributed
to a web of intricate factors, not the least of which were his parents’ supportive
expectations, his views on a productive future, the efforts of many dedicated (if
not always culturally responsive) teachers, and his involvement in co-curricular
activities.
While Rashaud stated that he was receiving some counseling about the local
community college, he appeared to have been left on his own to navigate apply-
ing to comprehensive four-year institutions and seeking out scholarships—a high
hurdle, to be sure. Several researchers highlight the necessity of mentors to sup-
port students of color in this process, which is so vital to socioeconomic upward
mobility.9 Prudence Carter, for example, refers to such mentors as multicultural
navigators.10 Especially for African American males in underresourced schools and
communities, multicultural navigators may have an enduring imprint on a stu-
dent’s future. To be guided by an adult who is fluent in the social and cultural
capital of college admissions and scholarship acquisition can make the difference
between discouraged confusion and confident assertion for a student. A mentor’s
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sustained support may help a young person to endure the academic rigors of
higher education and stay in college and facilitate the youth’s passage into inde-
pendent adulthood.
Rashaud’s family was explicitly supportive of his aspirations but may not have
had access to the experiences needed to provide multicultural navigation. Rashaud
may still have been able to break through the institutional barriers, even in the
absence of a specific mentor or a school program or structure to facilitate college
entrance. Will Rashaud’s commitment to academic achievement, determination
to disprove stereotypes, engagement in community service, and athletic skills be
enough for him to gain admission to a realm that few people in his daily life have
entered? Will he sustain his vision of his future? If so, what resources will he be
able to access to pursue his hopeful vision as a successful businessperson? More to
the point, how many peers of African heritage will he see in his college classes and
in his potential business meetings? Will Rashaud be a celebrated exception or part
of revolutionary change? The answers to these questions may depend in large part
on the teachers of African American students.

1. Rashaud did not see his racial identity or culture reflected in the school curriculum.
What may have been preventing the school from being more culturally responsive?
What are some strategies the school administration and teachers could have imple-
mented to affirm Rashaud’s identity and that of his peers?
2. As a teacher, what is your responsibility for ensuring that all students achieve? What
might you do when a student exhibits behavior that Rashaud described as “slackin’”?
Whose responsibility is it to ensure student engagement?
3. What are the respective roles of the school and individual teachers in supporting stu-
dents through the college admissions process? When should this support begin? How
might this support be shaped for first-generation college-bound students from commu-
nities with less experience in the cultural capital of college admissions?
Notes for Case Study: Rashaud Kates

1. We would like to thank Joan Nichols, a high school art teacher in Georgia, who assisted us in
arranging Rashaud’s interview.
2. For more information on Future Business Leaders of America, visit their national website (http://
www.fbla-pbl.org).
3. For more information on the American Educational Research Association Commission on Research
in Black Education, see the website http://www.aera.net.
4. King (2005).
5. Ferguson (2001).
6. Love & Kruger (2005).
7. Carter (2005).
8. Love & Kruger (2005).
9. See, for example, Stanton-Salazar (2001); Conchas (2006); Carter (2005).
10. Carter (2005).
M03_NIET7232_07_SE_C03.indd 90 03/11/17 11:37 AM

4 Structural and
Organizational Issues in
Classrooms and Schools
N
early a century ago, John Dewey warned, “Democracy cannot flourish where
the chief influences in selecting subject matter of instruction are utilitarian
ends narrowly conceived for the masses, and, for the higher education of the
few, the traditions of a specialized cultivated class.”1 As Dewey feared, many of our
public schools, as currently organized, are not fulfilling the promise of democracy.
Certain school policies and practices exacerbate the inequality that exists in soci-
ety. Although some of these policies and
practices have evolved in an attempt to
deal more equitably with student diver-
sity and a changing world, just the oppo-
site may be the result. This is the case
with tracking, which is often meant to
help those students most in academic
need, yet, as we shall see, results in per-
petuating learning gaps. Some practices
are so integral to the schooling experi-
ence that they are hardly disputed even
though there may be little evidence for
their effectiveness. This is the case with
grade retention, or holding students back
a grade. Some may not be official poli-
cies, but rather unquestioned practices
that can lead to disempowerment. This is
the case with the limited roles that teach-
ers, students, and parents have in school.
Policies and practices can become
rigid structures that are difficult to
change. Many of these structures, unfor-
Molly Huber in Ben Sears’s Foundations 2-D art tunately, run counter to the grand and
class, Amherst-Pelham Regional High School,
Amherst Massachusetts. Interior drawing in
noble purposes that Dewey described, yet they have come to define schooling
ink, 2014. itself. These include the general similarity of curriculum and schedules; particu-
lar patterns of resource allocation; and, most recently, an unswerving faith in
test scores as measures of ability or potential. The case studies that conclude this
chapter provide examples of organizational practices and policies that can either
help or harm students.
“School’s really not that challenging to me. . . . Most of my classes are just memorization, and I’m really
not learning anything from it. I have found very few teachers who actually teach classes in an interesting
way that makes me really want to work.”
—Nini Rostland, Snapshot interviewee, Chapter 7
91
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It is legitimate to ask how structural and organizational issues such as school

policies and practices are related to multicultural education. When defined com-
prehensively as we do in this book, multicultural education concerns far more
than simply adding ethnic content to the curriculum. Instead, it questions the total
context of education, including curriculum, student placement, physical struc-
ture of schools, school climate, pedagogical strategies, assumptions about student
ability, hiring of staff members, and parent/guardian involvement, among other
issues. In this sense, organizational structures, policies, and practices are central
to the development of a comprehensive multicultural education.
Because larger structural issues were discussed in previous chapters, this
chapter focuses on school- and classroom-based policies and practices that may
reinforce social inequities. The focus here is the classroom and school rather than
society, so the impression may be that issues such as school financing, residential
housing patterns, employment opportunities, racism and other institutional biases,
and the ideological underpinnings of education are not as important. On the con-
trary, as we made clear in previous chapters, all these larger structural issues are
profoundly implicated in school success or failure. We urge you to keep these
societal issues in mind to understand how they directly influence inequities at the
classroom and school levels.
In this chapter, each of the following school-based policies and practices is
briefly described and examined:
• Tracking
• Grade retention
• Standardized testing
• Curriculum
• Pedagogy
• School climate
• Disciplinary policies
• Limited role of students
• Limited role of teachers
• Limited family and community involvement
Tracking
One of the most inequitable practices in schools is tracking. The term tracking gen-
erally refers to the placement of students into groups that are perceived to be of
similar ability (homogeneous groups) within classes (e.g., reading groups in self-
contained classes), into classroom groups according to perceived abilities and sub-
ject areas (e.g., a low-level math group in seventh grade), or into groups according
to specific programs of study at the high school level (e.g., academic or vocational).2
In most schools, some kind of tracking is as much a part of school as are
bells and recess. Why this is the case can be explained largely by traditional and
static notions of intelligence. Despite the past several decades of research about
multiple intelligences, many schools are still structured by practices rooted in
negative beliefs about intelligence and social class that sort students according
to their future life stations.3 This kind of thinking drives the rationale to provide
some students with rigorous curricula and other experiences that challenge them,
while students who are not considered intelligent often end up with pedagogy
that consists of practice, review, and memorization. Yet as Beverly Daniel Tatum
has suggested, these ideas run counter to reality as well as to our nation’s creed
of equal educational opportunity. She cautions that we must examine notions of
intelligence, if we are to really create high levels of achievement for all of our
students, no matter their race or class.4
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CHAPTER 4 Structural and Organizational Issues in Classrooms and Schools 93
Tracking may begin at the very earliest grades, and decisions about student
placement are sometimes made on tenuous grounds. These can include social
indicators, such as information provided on registration forms, initial interviews
with parents, and teachers’ prior knowledge about specific students. Research
over many years has confirmed that tracking is frequently linked with racial, eth-
nic, and social class differences. In her 1985 pioneering research study of 25 junior
and senior high schools around the country, Jeannie Oakes found that the results
of tracking were almost exclusively negative for most students. In a more recent
edition of her groundbreaking study, Oakes reviewed the field in the intervening
20 years and concluded that tracking as a practice was still largely grounded in
ideologies that maintain race and social class privilege.5
The effectiveness of tracking is questionable. If the purpose of tracking is to
provide access to opportunity for those who have been denied this access the
most, it has failed badly. In many instances, it has had the opposite effect because
tracking is largely propped up and sustained by social class interests. Because it
sorts and classifies students, tracking helps prepare them for what is perceived
to be “their” place in the larger society. Students in the top tracks generally end
up attending college and having a better shot at becoming professionals; those in
the bottom tracks frequently drop out or, if they do finish high school, become
unskilled workers. Without lapsing into a mechanistic explanation for a complex
process, it is nevertheless true that while a small number of students benefit, most
lose because of tracking. As a consequence, tracking decisions are rarely innocent
and their effects are not benign; on the contrary, they can have devastating and
long-term consequences.
The messages children internalize because of grouping practices can have
damaging consequences. Students may develop enduring classroom personalities
and attitudes. They may, for instance, begin to believe that their placement in
these groups is natural and a true reflection of whether they possess attributes,
such as “smart,” “average,” or “dumb.” At the high school level, although stu-
dents may think that they themselves are deciding which courses to take, these
decisions may actually have been made for them years before by the first teacher
who placed them in a reading group. Analysis across content areas consistently
reveals the effects of early ability grouping and course selection.6
Tracking leaves its mark on pedagogy, too. Students in the lowest levels are
the most likely to be subjected to rote memorization and static teaching methods
because their teachers often feel that these are the children who most need to
master the “basics.” As a result, teachers may believe that creative methods are a
frill that these students can ill afford until the “basics” are learned. Children living
in poverty and those most alienated by the schools are frequently the losers, and
the cycle of school failure is repeated. The students most in need are placed in the
lowest-level classes and exposed to the drudgery of drill and repetition, school
becomes more boring and senseless every day, and the students become discour-
aged and drop out.
This is not to imply that students at the top ability levels always receive
instruction that is uplifting, interesting, and meaningful. They, too, are exposed
to methods and materials similar to those used for students at the bottom levels.
However, if innovative methods and appealing materials exist at all, they tend
to be found at the top levels. Knowledge becomes yet another privilege given to
those who are already privileged.
If tracking were unanimously acknowledged as placing all students at risk, it
would have been eliminated long ago. The truth is that powerful vested interests
are at play in preserving it. Although tracking affects most students negatively, it
may benefit a few. The evidence is mixed, but there is some indication that high-
achieving students benefit from being tracked in honors and high-level classes. It
is not surprising, then, that it is frequently the parents of high-achieving students
who are most reluctant to eliminate tracking because they perceive it as beneficial
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to their children. In addition, tracking decisions and race are often linked. This
was found to be the case in a three-year longitudinal case study by Oakes and
colleagues. In their review of 10 racially and socioeconomically mixed secondary
schools participating in detracking reform, the researchers concluded that one of
the greatest barriers to detracking was the resistance of powerful parents, most of
whom were White. Through strategies such as threatening to remove their chil-
dren from the school, the parents of students who traditionally benefited from
tracking made detracking difficult, if not impossible.7
We want to make it clear, however, that grouping per se is not always a
negative practice. Good and experienced teachers have always understood that
short-term and flexible grouping can be effective in reviewing a particular skill or
teaching intensively a missing piece of content, whether it be in English language
arts, social studies, math, or science. Grouping in such instances can be effective
in meeting temporary and specific ends. But because rigid ability-group tracking is
linked with, and supported by, particular classist and racist ideologies, grouping of
any kind needs to be done with great care.
What are the alternatives to tracking? One approach is to detrack, that is, to
do away with tracking based on so-called ability differences. However, detracking
alone will do little unless accompanied by a change in the school’s culture and
norms. In one study of six racially mixed high schools undergoing detracking,
Susan Yonezawa, Amy Stuart Wells, and Irene Serna found that the schools’ low-
and middle-track students, mostly Latino and African American, resisted enter-
ing high-track classes even when they were academically capable of taking them
because they “hungered for ‘places of respect’—that is, classrooms where they
were not racially isolated and their cultural backgrounds were valued.”8 Because
tracking is supported by a complex set of structures that reinforce cultural assump-
tions and influence students’ identities, the authors concluded that “freedom of
choice” for students to select their own classes is, by itself, an empty concept
without altering the other structures and ideologies that help perpetuate existing
track hierarchies. They suggest that, to work, tracking needs to be accompanied
by “safe spaces” such as ethnic studies classes that can make students feel valued.
Research by Carol Corbett Burris, a high school principal—with Kevin Welner,
a university professor; and Jennifer Bezoza, an attorney and children’s advocate—
focused on three case studies: a school in San Diego; a school district in Long
Island; and a nation, Finland, to describe how all three have promoted high levels
of student achievement by doing away with tracking, or what they call “curricu-
lar stratification.” Some of the gains were extraordinary. For example, in 1996 at
What You Can Do

Detrack Extracurricular Activities
T racking also occurs in extracurricular activities. School

activities and clubs frequently perpetuate the social class
groupings that students develop, instead of helping to counter
organizations. You can help make clubs and other organiza-
tions appealing to a wider range of students by, for instance,
becoming a faculty sponsor for a group and actively recruiting
the stereotypes on which they are based. As the case stud- and encouraging students of diverse backgrounds to join. For
ies and snapshots in this book demonstrate, extracurricular example, ask yourself: Who is participating in the chess club,
activities were significant in the academic success for most and what kind of academic achievement does that reinforce?
of the students. Nevertheless, extracurricular clubs or organi- Who is benefiting and who is losing as a result of participat-
zations are often seen by students as exclusive and with ing? Also, you can print recruitment materials in a number of
limited membership. Although the message “You need not languages, post them in neighborhood centers, and conduct
apply” is not purposely given, many students infer it from the outreach with families of students underrepresented in extra-
cost, recruitment policies, and activities of some clubs and curricular activities to encourage their children to join.
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South Side High School on Long Island, only 32 percent of all African American
and Hispanic students but 88 percent of all White and Asian American students
earned Regents diplomas, the most rigorous diploma awarded in the state of New
York. Just five years later, 92 percent of all African American and Hispanic stu-
dents and 98 percent of White and Asian American students entering South Side
in 2001 earned Regents diplomas. By June 2009, 95 percent of the school’s African
American and Hispanic students earned a Regents diploma, far surpassing the rate
in the rest of the state. Furthermore, this work has sustained over time.9 In 2016,
one of the schools in these case studies, South Side High School on Long Island,
was named as a “Gold School of Opportunity” by the National Education Policy
Center.10 Under the guidance of Principal John Murphy, South Side High met the
criteria to close opportunity gaps through 11 research-proven practices advanced
by Prudence Carter and Kevin Welner.11 Significantly, standardized test scores are
not one of the criteria. Although Burris, Welner, and Bezoza do not claim that it is
an easy or problem-free process, they maintain that the three cases they reviewed
offer ample evidence that all students benefit from high-level curricula. They also
caution that adequate supports are needed and, in their report, they recommend
specific supports practices that can be implemented at all grade levels. These
include cooperative learning, peer tutoring, multilevel teaching, shared decision
making with students, and deemphasizing the use of textbooks; challenging racist
and classist notions of ability can also result in inspired stories of improved learn-
ing and intergroup relations.
In her follow-up book after that study, On the Same Track, Carol Corbett Bur-
ris extends her argument and also cites policies that have exacerbated tracking on
a wider scale. She explains that the expansion of so-called school choice tends to
cordon off high-needs students into schools that already have low test scores, which
tracks entire communities into struggling schools. In addition, schools that use screen-
ings and admissions based on tests have resulted in warehousing students with the
highest needs into schools with the lowest graduation rates. Burris also points out
that charter schools play a roll in widespread tracking. Overall, charter schools enroll
a lower percentage of special education students and English-language learners, and
more than 60 percent of charter school students are attending a racially unbalanced
school—a far higher percentage than in public schools.12
Although students differ from one another in many ways, and such differences
need to be taken into account to provide students with a high-quality education,
tracking has proven to be antithetical to the goals of an equitable education. At the
same time, tracking alone cannot be blamed for inequality in learning. Singling
out any specific policy or practice as the culprit is an insufficient explanation for
schools’ lack of success with particular students. Rather, a constellation of factors
creates school failure. The discussion that follows considers some of these factors.
Retention
Retention, or the practice of holding students back a grade, is another common
practice in schools. Like tracking, retention is intertwined with other policies and
practices that exacerbate inequality. For instance, it is related to testing because
retention decisions are often made as a result of test scores. This is especially evi-
dent in the high-stakes testing context of the past three decades.
In 2014, John Robert Warren, Emily Hoffman, and Megan Andrew reviewed
patterns and trends of grade retention and called for more accurate measures
and reporting of these grade. Their research reveals retention rates are highest in
Grades 1 and 9, and that they are highest among boys, racial/ethnic minorities,
children living in poverty, and those living in the South. However, their findings
demonstrate that since 2005, there has been a decline in absolute retention rates
and in disparities by sex, race/ethnicity, geographic locale, and students’ socioeco-
nomic circumstances.13 Students are typically retained in a particular grade when
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a determination is made, usually by the teacher (sometimes in consultation with

counselors, the principal, and parents), that a student is incapable of performing
the work required in the coming grade. As in the case of tracking, these decisions
are generally made with good intentions: Often, teachers want to protect students
from further failure or believe that, during the following year in the same class,
students will learn the material that they have not yet learned. But as in the case
of tracking, such reasoning is often erroneous.
What, then, is the alternative? Considering the widespread public opposition
to “social promotion”—promoting students to the next grade even if they have not
learned the subject matter of their current grade—it is unrealistic to expect that
retention as a policy will be abandoned. It is also unfair to simply move students
on to the next grade if they are unprepared for it and to expect them to catch up
on their own. Because of this dilemma, more schools are implementing alternative
intervention programs, such as mandatory summer school and after-school tutoring
programs. However, these measures are likely to produce few results unless accom-
panied by comprehensive schoolwide reform involving other practices and policies.
For example, the positive connection between academic success and co-curricular
and extracurricular activities is clear in the case studies throughout this book, yet
poor urban schools, where the need is greatest, have fewer of these activities.
Standardized Testing
Another practice that impedes equity in schools is the uncritical use of standard-
ized testing, particularly when employed to sort students, rather than to improve
instruction. Originally designed a century ago to help identify children who were
labeled “mentally retarded,” the use of standardized tests expanded greatly after-
ward, influenced by the tremendous influx of new immigrants into the country.
As a result, the original aims of standardized tests were subverted to include the
rationalization of racist theories of genetic inferiority.14 For example, after testing
only two American Indian and Mexican American children, Lewis Terman, a psy-
chologist who experimented with intelligence tests at the beginning of the twen-
tieth century, stated with absolute conviction, “Their dullness seems to be racial,
or at least inherent in the family stock from which they came. . . . Children of this
group should be segregated in special classes . . . they cannot master abstractions,
but they can often be made efficient workers.”15 The same reasoning was used on
other occasions to explain the “inferior” intelligence of Blacks, Jews, the Irish, and
Italians; practically every new ethnic group that has come to the United States has
fared badly on standardized tests.16
An extensive review of how test use changed during this period is not called
for here, but it should be pointed out that standardized tests have frequently been
used as a basis for segregating and sorting students, principally those whose cul-
tures and languages differ from the mainstream. The belief that tests should be
used to replicate repressive and racist social theories and policies is not a histori-
cal relic. Unfortunately, contemporary examples of this kind of thinking exist.17
Testing and tracking have often been symbiotically linked. Joel Spring has used
a variety of primary sources ranging from real estate publications to newspaper
accounts to demonstrate these links.18
Although comments today about specific groups tend not to be as blatantly
racist as Lewis Terman’s, the variety and number of standardized tests to which
we continue to subject our students are staggering. This situation is especially
related to the testing craze that has swept our nation for over 30 years since the
1983 report, A Nation at Risk, followed by testing mandates including No Child
Left Behind (NCLB) that reshaped the educational landscape by mandating stand-
ardized testing in various subject areas in elementary, middle, and high school. As
a result, students now spend entire days, sometimes weeks, taking standardized
tests. On top of the actual testing days, a great deal of time is spent on teaching
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children how to take tests, and in remediation on how to retake tests, time that
could be better spent in teaching, and the students’ learning of, actual content.
The fact that textbook companies and other companies that develop tests earn
huge profits from test construction and dissemination often goes unmentioned, yet
it, too, is a reality. Private testing companies that control the market operate with
little or no public accountability, which is ironic considering the calls for account-
ability in schools. Monty Neill of FairTest, a watchdog organization on testing, has
said that determining the exact profits that testing and textbook companies make
from tests is difficult because many are for-profit companies with numerous divi-
sions. He explains that identifying all the companies involved can be tricky, but
clearly, testing is a lucrative business.19 In a critique of for-profit schemes such
as private tutoring for high-stakes testing, Jill Koyama makes the case that such
schemes deserve further scrutiny because they end up perpetuating failure.20 The
cost of testing is borne by school districts and state education departments that are
already financially strapped and can ill afford it.
The concern for equity is a common reason cited for high-stakes testing, that is,
for linking test scores to the success of schools, teachers, and students. Certainly,
equity is a significant concern because, as we have seen, schools for poor children
of diverse backgrounds are often inferior to others. Nevertheless, there is little evi-
dence to support the contention that standardized tests lead to greater achievement.
Despite its purported intent, testing policies have focused little attention on changes
in curriculum or instructional practices, on improvements in teacher education, or
on equalizing funding for school districts. Richard Elmore argues that the work of
improving schools should consist instead of improving capacity, that is, the knowl-
edge and skills of teachers, by increasing their command of content and how to
teach it.21 Diane Ravitch has argued that the billions of dollars spent on standard-
ized tests and the infrastructure surrounding school tests would have been much
more effective if directed at reducing class sizes, especially in struggling schools,
restoring the curriculum that has fallen victim to the testing craze, such as the arts
and physical education, and rebuilding the physical structures of severely neglected
school buildings, as well as providing universal early childhood education.22
A number of reviews of testing legislation and practice have concluded that,
rather than improving learning outcomes, such legislation is actually having a detri-
mental impact because gross inequities in instructional quality, resources, and other
support services are being ignored. Also, as pointed out in the discussion on reten-
tion, because more states now require students to pass standardized tests before they
can graduate from high school, dropout rates are actually increasing in some places.
Even more alarming, a report from the Advancement Project has documented how
high-stakes testing policies direct students into the school-to-prison pipeline.23
Standardized test scores are also inequitable because they correlate highly
with family income and ethnicity, a situation that belies the myth in the United
States about equality of opportunity regardless of social class and race. In a review
of abundant national and international studies, Sharon Nichols and David Berliner
found overwhelming evidence of a positive and high relationship between social
class and test scores.24 This correlation has consistently been shown to be the
case with the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT), a test that is required for admis-
sion to most colleges and universities. Rather than helping to equalize educational
opportunity, such tests may, in fact, aggravate inequality, which carries forward
into the college admissions process. In affluent schools and neighborhoods, stu-
dents often learn specific test-taking skills that help them do very well on tests.
Regarding SATs and college entrance exams, Lani Guinier refers to “testocratic
merit,” which ignores built-in biases that privilege those who are already advan-
taged and makes the assumption that test scores are the best evidence of appli-
cants’ worth in the college application process.25
Affluent families have the means to pay for tutoring and other classes to help
their children do well on tests. Students from less affluent homes, especially if they
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live in poverty, do not generally have the same kind of access to learning these skills.
The very validity of using SAT scores to predict college success has been seriously
challenged by researchers Saul Geiser and Maria Veronica Santelices. Their study of
80,000 University of California students found that the students’ high school grade
point average was actually the strongest predictor of their college success because it
was less closely tied to students’ family income and ethnicity.26
Standardized testing negatively affects equity in other ways, too. For instance,
testing may limit teachers’ creativity and constrict the curriculum because teach-
ers in schools in which children have poor test scores are often forced to “teach
to the test,” rather than create curricula that respond to the real needs of learn-
ers. The result may be “dumbing down” or restricting the curriculum to better
reflect the content and approach of tests. In her review of the damaging effects
of poorly designed and administered standardized tests, Linda Darling-Hammond
reported that instruction that focuses on memorizing unrelated facts out of con-
text produces passive, rather than active, learning. She concludes that most of
the material learned in this way is forgotten quickly. When they are taught in this
way, students end up losing ground over time, because as intellectual demands
increase, they have not gained the critical acumen to attend to complex tasks.27
Pedagogy is also negatively affected by standardized testing. Many critics of high-
stakes testing have found that when standardized tests were required, there was a
decline in the use of innovative approaches, such as student-centered discussions,
essay writing, project-based learning, research projects, and laboratory work.28
Because of the unrelenting pressure to raise test scores, teachers may reason that they
have little time for innovative approaches. This, in turn, affects teacher autonomy and
morale because it moves curriculum decision making from the teacher to the school,
district, city, or even state level. The result is that the further the curriculum is from
the teacher and the school, the less it reflects the lives of the students in the school.
Regrettably, the concern for engagement in meaningful activities is missing
in many state-mandated testing programs, and students who are most vulnerable
are once again the victims. In a vicious cycle of failure, students perceived as
What You Can Do

Be Proactive About Tests
S tandardized tests exert a powerful influence on most edu-

cational decisions. As we have seen, however, they cor-
relate more with family income than with intelligence or ability.
risk because of the results of such tests. Like the previously
mentioned teacher, you might decide that, given the perva-
siveness of testing and the power it exerts on the options of
The specific strategies that each teacher, school, and school young people, your energy might be better spent in teaching
district chooses to engage in may vary. Two basic strategies students how to take tests more critically and effectively. To
can be tried: Either challenge the use of tests, or focus atten- help even the playing field, you can start an after-school test-
tion on test taking and how to use it to the advantage of the tutoring program for students in your school. You might also
students. In fact, these need not be mutually exclusive strate- try to get funding from your school system or parent–teacher
gies. We know of one teacher, for instance, who campaigned association (PTA), or even from a local business.
against standardized tests because he knew they unfairly Also, there are many resources to help students, parents,
jeopardized his students. At the same time, he developed guardians, teachers, a principal, and community organizers
after-school tutorial sessions in which he taught his students question, resist, and opt out of testing. To learn about the
specific test-taking skills so that they might be more success- experiences of many in the movement, see the book More
ful in taking these required tests. Than a Score by Jesse Hagopian.* Also see the website of
With a group of interested colleagues and parents, you FairTest.org for helpful resources.
can approach the local school committee and ask that stan-
dardized tests be kept to a minimum, that the results be used *Hagopian, J. (2014). More than a score: The new uprising against
in more appropriate ways, and that students not be placed at high-stakes testing. Chicago: Haymarket Books.
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needing more help are placed in classes in which the curriculum is diluted, higher
levels of thinking are not demanded, and instruction is bland and formulaic.
Although standardized tests ostensibly are used to provide teachers and schools
with information about the learning needs of students, in fact, they are often used
to sort students further. John Dewey minced no words in expressing his views of
rigid assessments: “How one person’s abilities compare in quantity with those
of another is none of the teacher’s business. It is irrelevant to his work,” Dewey
wrote. He went on to state, “What is required is that every individual shall have
opportunities to employ his own powers in activities that have meaning.”29
In spite of the shortcomings of high-stakes standardized testing, we need to
understand why there is so much popular support for them. For one, many people
view standardized tests as highly objective and reliable measures of what students
know, even if this is not always the case. In addition, parents whose children
attend poor schools have become weary of their children’s lack of achievement
in such schools. It is true that many teachers who work in poor urban and rural
schools are highly competent and devoted to their students; they demonstrate
their care through high expectations and rigorous demands. On the other hand,
in schools where few teachers know much about the students they are teaching,
expectations of student achievement are likely to be quite low. As a result, some
children have been chronically underserved for many years. It is little wonder that
too many children in these circumstances have failed to learn and that their par-
ents have become staunch advocates of stringent accountability measures, includ-
ing standardized testing. As we have seen, however, standardized tests alone
rarely guarantee equality; in fact, they may intensify inequality.
Nevertheless, reliable and effective assessment of student learning is necessary.
Teachers and schools must be held accountable for what students learn or fail to learn,
especially in the case of those who have received low-quality schooling. Schools, dis-
tricts, states, and the federal government need to rethink testing policies and practices
so that they are more equitable. One response has been to promote alternative assess-
ments, for example, to replace or at least complement norm-referenced tests with
performance-based assessments, also called authentic assessments. Some examples of
more authentic assessment are portfolios, performance tasks, and student exhibitions.
These assessments represent an important shift in thinking about the purpose and
uses of tests, from sorting and separating students toward ensuring more equitable
opportunities for all children to learn at high levels of achievement.
The Curriculum
Broadly defined, curriculum is the organized environment for learning. Curriculum
concerns what should be learned and under what conditions it is to be learned.
Although it may seem that this is a fairly clear-cut process, it is not. Because cur-
riculum defines what is deemed important for students to know, it also involves
the knowledge, attitudes, and traditions valued in a particular society. Thus, cur-
riculum is an inherently political matter. To illustrate this point, we turn to curric-
ulum theorist Michael Apple, who has suggested a number of essential questions
to keep in mind when thinking about the curriculum—questions that are particu-
larly significant within a multicultural framework. Some of these questions are:
“Whose knowledge is it? Who selected it? Why is it organized and taught in this
way?”30 Because only a tiny fraction of the vast array of available knowledge finds
its way into state curriculum standards and frameworks, district guides, textbooks,
and teachers’ instructional manuals, it is obvious that the curriculum is never neu-
tral. Rather, it is deeply ideological and represents what is perceived to be con-
sequential and necessary knowledge, generally by those who are dominant in a
society. Furthermore, curriculum decisions in public schools are usually made
by those furthest from the lives of students—namely, central and state boards of
education—with little input from teachers, parents, and students.
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The problem is that the curriculum is often presented as if it were the whole,
unvarnished, and uncontested truth. Instead, we should think of curriculum as a
decision-making process. If we do so, we realize that somebody made decisions
about what to include. For example, it is rare for Black English, also called Ebon-
ics or African American Vernacular English (AAVE), to be incorporated into the
established curriculum. Typically, it becomes part of the curriculum only when
students who speak Black English are corrected by their teachers. As a conse-
quence, even when present in the curriculum, Black English tends to be viewed
in a negative light, and students pick up the powerful message that the language
variety they speak has little value in our society. On the other hand, if teachers
were to use students’ language—including Black English—as a bridge to Standard
English or to discuss critical perspectives about the role that language and culture
play in their lives, the value of students’ identity is affirmed. A good example
comes from the work of Bob Fecho, who used his students’ vernacular to discuss
broader issues about language and power in his urban high school English class-
room.31 Unfortunately, however, talk about such issues is frequently silenced, and
in this way, the curriculum serves as a primary means of social control. Lisa Delpit
and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy explain how the curriculum also lets students know
whether the knowledge in their families and communities has prestige within the
educational establishment and beyond. Many students—particularly those who
live in poverty and students from families who are racially and culturally different
from the mainstream—find that it does not.32 As an example, it is not unusual to
see urban classrooms in which young children learn about “community helpers”
without ever studying about some of the most important people in their own com-
munities. They learn about police officers, firefighters, and mail carriers, all of
whom may live outside their immediate communities. They learn about doctors
and lawyers and people who own large businesses, but they may never have met
one of these people in their own neighborhood. The people that some children do
see every day—the owner of the corner bodega, local factory worker, bus driver,
or community service provider—are rarely mentioned as community helpers.
This is not meant to suggest that children should study only about themselves
and their communities. Doing so would fly in the face of one of the major objec-
tives of education, that is, to broaden students’ experiences and perspectives
beyond their own particular life circumstances. One of my (Sonia Nieto’s) favorite
books when I was a child was Heidi, a story that was as distinct from my own
experience as night is from day. What could I, a relatively poor Puerto Rican child
growing up in New York City, possibly get out of the story of an orphan sent to live
in the Alps with her cantankerous grandfather? I knew nothing about mountains,
had spent little time outside urban Brooklyn, and didn’t even have a grandfather.
But I understood Heidi because hers was a story of the significance of family rela-
tionships and of resilience in the face of considerable obstacles, and I could relate
to these things. I could also relate to a girl who loved reading and exploring life.
It was precisely because I could identify with these things on a personal level that
I was able to benefit from Heidi. The point is that a curriculum needs to build on,
rather than neglect, students’ life experiences in order to broaden their worlds.
Children who are not in the dominant group have a hard time finding themselves
or their communities in the curriculum. If they do “see” themselves, it is often through
the distorted lens of others. American Indian children may read about themselves as
“savages” who were bereft of culture until the Europeans arrived; if they learn of it
at all, African Americans often read sanitized versions of slavery; Mexican Ameri-
cans read of the “westward expansion,” with no information about the fact that their
ancestors were already living on the lands to which Europeans were “expanding”;
working-class children learn almost nothing of their history, except perhaps that the
struggle for the eight-hour workday was a long one; and females may be left wonder-
ing how it is that half of humanity has consistently been left out of the curriculum.
Little wonder, then, that school curricula and real life often have nothing in common.
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In contrast to a traditional approach to curriculum design, James Banks has

proposed a transformation approach that “changes the basic assumptions of the
curriculum and enables students to view concepts, issues, themes, and problems
from several ethnic perspectives and points of view.”33 For example, learning
how people from different communities feel about a topic such as immigration
or war—matters that are paramount in current news stories and in the lives of
many students—would help them develop a more nuanced way of understand-
ing the world.
One topic that seems to hold particular saliency for many young people,
regardless of their background, is that of biases and discrimination. Yet broach-
ing difficult or conflicting issues in the curriculum and class discussions is some-
thing that many teachers, because of their lack of information or experience, are
reluctant to do. Michelle Fine has called this silencing, that is, determining “who
can speak, what can and cannot be spoken, and whose discourse must be con-
trolled.”34 This may be due to several factors: Many teachers are unaccustomed
to, afraid of, or uncomfortable discussing discrimination and inequality; they feel
pressure to “cover the material,” and these topics are not included in the tradi-
tional curriculum; they are accustomed to presenting information as if it were free
of conflict and controversy; or they may feel that bringing up issues concerning
conflict will create or exacerbate animosity among students. Racism, discrimina-
tion, and other “dangerous” topics, students quickly find out, are not supposed to
be discussed in school.
Unfortunately, however, these issues do not simply vanish because they are
excluded from the curriculum. On the contrary, quashing them reinforces students’
feelings that school life is unrelated to real life. In spite of teachers’ reluctance to
address issues such as racism, slavery, inequality, genocide, and so on, discussing
them can be tremendously beneficial to students if they are approached with sen-
sitivity and care. An example comes from a study in which the researchers found
that providing information about racism had a positive impact on the racial atti-
tudes of both White students and students of color.35 Murray Levin, an educator
who taught at Harvard University and Boston University and later at the Greater
Egleston Community School in Boston, provides a vivid example. Levin believed
that even the most marginalized students learn when education is meaningful to
their lives. The title of his book documenting the experiences he had at the school
is ‘Teach Me!’ Kids Will Learn When Oppression Is the Lesson.36 We would do well
to heed this message.
The relationship between curriculum and democracy is significant, especially in
the current political era. In light of our nation’s expressed support for equality and
fair play, students need to learn that patriotism means standing up for individual and
collective freedom, and this is sometimes unpopular. Actions that we now recognize
as patriotic may have been very unpopular at the time they took place. For exam-
ple, the general public largely reviled the actions of those who took part in the civil
rights movement, yet today the view that all Americans deserve equal rights is largely
accepted, at least in principle. The same is true of women’s rights, considered a radi-
cal idea just a few decades ago. The issue of LGBTQ rights has experienced unprec-
edented acceptance over the past two decades. The transgender rights movement,
still controversial in many quarters, hopefully will follow the same course.
Students need to learn that putting democracy into action may mean taking
unpopular stands, and this is something they can learn through the curriculum. A
tremendous chasm frequently exists between expounding on democracy and actual
democratic actions in schools. Providing students with both the rhetoric and the
reality of democracy may help them to become agents of positive social change.
Curriculum transformation is needed if we believe that one of the basic purposes of
schooling is to prepare young people to become caring, productive, and critical citi-
zens of a democratic society. One way for teachers to begin is to develop their own
curriculum. An excellent resource for doing so is Planning to Change the World, an
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inspiring teacher’s plan book available from Rethinking Schools, published by the
Education for Liberation Network; it provides weekly planning pages, references to
online lesson plans and other resources, and essential questions to spark classroom
discussion. This resource is updated annually as a teacher plan book.37
Democratic principles are thwarted by the lack of access to knowledge in
other ways, too. Low-income students and students from inner-city and poor rural
schools generally have fewer opportunities to learn, and as we have already seen,
they also have fewer material resources, less engaging learning activities in their
classrooms, and less qualified teachers. While “watering down” the curriculum
for socioeconomically disadvantaged students may seem equitable on its face, the
truth is that it may instead reflect lower expectations. All children can benefit
from high expectations and a challenging curriculum, but some students are reg-
ularly subjected to diluted, undemanding, and boring content because teachers
and schools do not tap into their strengths and talents. Typically, though, what
What You Can Do

Use the Curriculum Critically
U se your current curriculum as the basis for helping students

develop a more critical perspective and better research
skills. For example, when studying the Revolutionary War, have
of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. Many schools,
towns, cities, and states have already officially changed the
name of this day in their communities. Thanksgiving, con-
students investigate the experiences of enslaved Africans, sidered by many American Indians to be a day of mourning,
American Indians, women, working people, loyalists, and others is another holiday that can be presented through multiple
whose perspectives have traditionally been excluded from the perspectives.
curriculum. When studying the Industrial Revolution, ask stu- Create an emerging multicultural curriculum by using the
dents to explore the role of the nascent workers’ movement and experiences, cultures, and languages of every student in your
of children and young women factory workers, as well as the class. Encourage them to bring their identities into the class-
impact of European immigration on the rise of cities. Students room, for example, by inviting their parents to teach the class
can also concentrate on the emergence of scientific discoveries about their particular talent, job, or interest. These talents do
through inventions by African Americans, women, and immi- not have to be culture-specific either: For instance, a parent
grants during the late nineteenth century. who is a seamstress might teach the children how to sew
When teaching different mathematical operations, help a hem. Although a talent may not be particular to a specific
students see the real life application of their lessons. Engaging ethnic heritage, it helps students to see that people from all
students in Hidden Figures, the book by Margot Lee Shetterly backgrounds have skills and worthwhile experiences.
(2016)*—the full biography of Katherine G. Johnson, Doro- Oral history projects that focus on students and their
thy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, African American women family experiences are another good way to make the curricu-
who worked at NASA in its early days—or its young reader’s lum multicultural. Ask students to collect stories, poems, and
edition, and the film† of the same title can provide a view of legends (either recorded or written down) from their families to
mathematical achievement in U.S. history that was previously create a multicultural library. More elaborate activities might
invisible. include dramatizations for the school assembly, videotap-
If traditional U.S. holidays are commemorated in the ing parents and other community members reciting poems
curriculum, try to include other perspectives, too. For exam- and stories, and readings by older students to children in the
ple, for Columbus Day, discuss the concept of “discovery” younger grades.
with students so that they understand this was the perspec-
tive of the Europeans, not the Native people. Alternative *
Shetterly, M. L. (2016). Hidden figures: The American Dream and the
activities can focus on this holiday as the encounter of two untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the
worldviews and histories, rather than the “discovery” of one space race. New York: HarperCollins.
†
world by another. (Rethinking Columbus,‡ from Rethink- Chernin, P., Gigliotti, D., Melfi, T., Topping, J., & Williams, P. (Produc-
ers). Melfi, T. (Director). (2017). Hidden Figures. [Motion picture]. 20th
ing Schools, is an excellent publication that includes many Century Fox.
lesson plans and other resources for classrooms.) Engage ‡
Bigelow, B., & Peterson, B. (1998). Rethinking Columbus: The next
students in research about the movement to change the title 500 years. 2nd ed. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.
M04_NIET7232_07_SE_C04.indd 102 03/11/17 11:39 AM

students want are more demands rather than fewer, as you can see in the case
studies in this book. In fact, according to an exhaustive review of research con-
cerning the so-called achievement gap, Linda Darling-Hammond has concluded
that unequal access to rigorous courses and a challenging curriculum—rather than
student laziness or parent apathy—explains this gap.38
Textbooks, a significant component of the curriculum in most schools, may
also be at odds with democratic and pluralistic values because women and people
of color are strikingly underrepresented. While great strides have been made, many
textbooks tend to reinforce the dominant European American perspective and to
sustain stereotypes of groups outside the cultural and political mainstream.39 Even
in recent textbooks, critical and nondominant perspectives are largely missing.
According to James Loewen, most history textbooks are filled with half-truths or
myths that are the basis for much of the U.S. history taught in school. In his book
Teaching What Really Happened, he suggests that teachers go beyond textbooks
and use additional resources, such as primary documents, camcorders and cam-
eras, guest speakers, and alternative reading material, to involve students more
directly as “history sleuths” to uncover history.40
Pedagogy
Pedagogy refers to the strategies, techniques, and approaches used by teachers
in their classrooms, that is, teachers’ practices. It means more than these things,
however. Pedagogy also includes what teachers do to create conditions that help
students become critical thinkers and moral human beings. For example, many
classrooms, through their practices, reflect the belief that learning can best take
place in a competitive atmosphere. As a result, the most prevalent classroom
approaches stress individual achievement and extrinsic motivation. These include
ability grouping, testing of all kinds, and rote learning. Although learning in such
classrooms can be fun or interesting, students may learn other unintended lessons,
too: that learning equals memorization, that reciting what teachers want to hear is
what education is about, and that independent and critical thinking have no place
in the classroom.
The observation that schools are tedious places where little learning takes
place and where most students are not challenged to learn is hardly new. It is par-
ticularly true of secondary schools, where subject matter dominates pedagogy and
classes are too often driven by standardized tests as “gatekeepers” to promotion
and/or accreditation. Avi Abramson’s case study, which appears at the end of this
chapter, provides enlightening examples of teachers who, as he says, “teach from
the point of view of the kid” or those who “just come out and say, ‘All right, do
this, blah, blah, blah.’”
Avi’s impressions are confirmed by research. In his comprehensive and clas-
sic study on secondary schools, John Goodlad found that textbooks were used
frequently and mechanistically, whereas other materials were used infrequently,
if at all; that teaching methods varied little from the traditional “chalk and talk”
methodology commonly used over 100 years ago; and that routine and rote learn-
ing were favored over creativity and critical thinking.41 Most students today would
likely agree. In a three-year study of students in urban middle schools, Bruce Wil-
son and H. Dickson Corbett discovered that, more than anything, students wanted
teachers who taught content meaningful to their lives and who had high expec-
tations of them.42 Specifically, students most frequently mentioned projects and
experiments as the kind of work they liked doing best and that most helped them
learn. Rather than focusing only on teachers’ personalities or their sense of humor,
students cared about how their teachers taught.
In a now classic article, Martin Haberman used the term pedagogy of poverty
to refer to a basic urban pedagogy that encompasses a body of specific strategies
that are limited to asking questions, giving directions, making assignments, and
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monitoring seatwork. Unsupported by research, theory, or even the practice of the

best urban teachers, the pedagogy of poverty, according to Haberman, is based
on the dubious assumption that children who live in poverty and children of cul-
turally, racially, and linguistically diverse backgrounds cannot learn in creative,
active, and challenging environments. Suggesting instead that exemplary peda-
gogy in urban schools actively involves students in real-life situations and allows
them to reflect on their own lives, Haberman found that good teaching was taking
place when, among other things, the following occur:
• Students are involved with issues they perceive as vital concerns (e.g., rather
than avoid controversies such as censorship of school newspapers or dress
codes, students use these issues as opportunities for learning).
• Students are involved with explanations of differences in race, culture, reli-
gion, ethnicity, and gender.
• Students are helped to see major concepts, big ideas, and general principles
rather than isolated facts.
• Students are involved in planning their education.
• Students are involved in applying ideals such as fairness, equity, and justice to
their world.
• Students are actively involved in heterogeneous groups.
• Students are asked to question commonsense or widely accepted assumptions.43
In related research, Jim Cummins suggested that there are particular “ped-
agogies for the poor,” and these are especially evident in reading programs,
approaches, and materials. Focusing specifically on the federal Reading First ini-
tiative, Cummins argues that, in spite of the fact that minimal scientific support
exists for this approach, it has been mandated in many schools that poor children
attend. The result has been a teacher-centered, inflexible way of teaching reading
that is not evident in other more affluent communities.44
Expanding pedagogical strategies alone, however, will not change how and
what students learn in school. Let us take the example of cooperative learning, gen-
erally praised as a useful instructional strategy. In reviewing hundreds of studies of
cooperative learning over three decades, Laurel Shaper Walters concluded that there
is a positive correlation between cooperative learning and student achievement.45 In
spite of its commendable qualities, however, cooperative learning should be viewed
as no more than a means to an end. It is based on the premise that using the tal-
ents and skills of all students is key to designing successful learning environments.
If cooperative learning is viewed unproblematically, however, it has little chance
of changing the fundamental climate of learning in the classroom. This is a good
reminder that particular methods can become disconnected from their educational
purposes or sociopolitical context.
Another pedagogical approach rooted in the philosophy and theory of con-
structivism has taken hold in many classrooms in the past three decades.46 This
approach is based on the notion that students’ background knowledge can be
enormously significant in their learning and that interpretations of new infor-
mation are influenced by their prior knowledge and experiences. Through this
approach, teachers encourage students to use what they know in order to develop
deeper understandings, rather than simply to learn random and unrelated facts.
Constructivist teaching is characterized by practices such as inquiry activities,
problem-posing strategies, and dialogue among peers. In this approach, learning
is viewed as an interactive rather than a passive process, and students’ creativ-
ity and intelligence are respected. Although this sounds promising, constructiv-
ism—or any other approach, for that matter—is not necessarily effective with all
students and cannot be simply “applied” as if it is the answer to all learning prob-
lems. It is not a prescription. In a critique of constructivism, Virginia Richardson,
who is herself a proponent of the approach, claims that using it indiscriminately
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What You Can Do

Punch Up Your Pedagogy!
G o beyond textbooks and use additional resources

to make the curriculum more inviting for students. A
straight lecture, what has been called “chalk and talk” (now
for group work, individualized tasks, collaborative research,
peer tutoring, cross-age learning, group reflections, dialogue,
debates, and action projects in the school and community,
could be called screen and talk, or white board and talk), among other pedagogical approaches. Also, whenever pos-
may be appropriate sometimes, but if it is overused, it treats sible, integrate technology and digital media that tap into the
students as passive learners. This approach is also culturally ways of knowing and communicating so common among
inappropriate for many students. To help students become many youth. Assign video analysis and production; web-
more active learners as well as to provide a multiculturally based communication; and, with secondary students, try
sensitive learning environment, use inquiry-based engage- innovative practices using text messaging and lessons that
ment to hear student-generated ideas, create opportunities utilize social media.
may be counterproductive. Richardson writes, “The most serious problem with

the use of the constructive pedagogy construct occurs when it becomes valued as
best practice for everyone.”47
We need to view all approaches and methods with a critical eye, even with
skepticism, because no method will solve learning problems for all students. This
is the problem with any pedagogical approach that is uncritically elevated to the
level of “best practice,” as if a particular practice is appropriate for all students
in all contexts. Lilia Bartolomé suggests that, instead of devotion to a particular
instructional strategy, teachers need to develop a “humanizing pedagogy” that val-
ues students’ cultural, linguistic, and experiential backgrounds.48 Confirming this
view, Jim Cummins cautions that if we are serious about reversing patterns of
underachievement, it is essential to remember that transformative pedagogy is a
crucial component of any educational reform process.49
School Climate
The notion of school climate has evolved over recent years. The current under-
standing of school climate in public schools encompasses several concerns about
the overall environment: respect for human difference; physical safety; students’
social-emotional health; family inclusion in school life; teaching strategies to meet
diverse needs; and a welcoming environment in the physical plant and facilities.
In 2016, the National School Climate Center published its definition of school cli-
mate at its website:
School climate refers to the quality and character of school life. School climate
is based on patterns of students’, parents’ and school personnel’s experience of
school life and reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teach-
ing and learning practices, and organizational structures. A sustainable, positive
school climate fosters youth development and learning necessary for a productive,
contributing and satisfying life in a democratic society. This climate includes:
• Norms, values and expectations that support people feeling socially, emotion-
ally and physically safe.
• People who are engaged and respected.
• Students, families and educators who work together to develop, live and con-
tribute to a shared school vision.
• Educators who model and nurture attitudes that emphasize the benefits and
satisfaction gained from learning.
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• An environment where each person contributes to the operations of the

school and the care of the physical environment.50
All aspects of school climate hold sway in meeting the goals of multicultural
education. School climate will either impede or advance effort to tackle inequality,
raise achievement, and provide students with an apprenticeship to become active
participants in a democratic society. Climate is also associated, of course, with
other policies and practices, such as the curriculum, pedagogy, and disciplinary
policies, as we have seen above; with the morale of teachers and administrators in
the building; and with family outreach, as we shall see below.
Ron Berger, a long-time teacher, describes how the various elements of a
school’s climate and culture affect students. He points out that aspects of a school
experience that leave the most indelible marks on a student often fall into catego-
ries outside curriculum and instruction. He argues that both the inside and outside
physical appearance of the building, the ways in which personal property and
school property are treated, and the levels of physical and emotional safety deeply
influence students. Moreover, the tone of courtesy and kindness in the ways that
routines are implemented, such as class transitions, lunch times, and dismissals,
also adds to the overall school culture. Adding to these aspects, Berger underscores
the ways that authority is exercised and the means by which student achievements
are shared within and outside the school community as contributions to defining
the school to the larger community, which sets the tone for school climate. While
some of these aspects of school life are not specifically within the realm of directly
defined curriculum and instruction, they are certainly just as important in contrib-
uting to student learning.51
In this section, we examine four aspects of school climate, including social
and emotional learning; anti-bullying initiatives; physical violence and safety; and
school buildings, the physical environment, school and class size.
School Climate: Social and Emotional Learning

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is a
leader in advancing research-based social and emotional learning (SEL), an inte-
gral part of PK–12 education. In 2016, CASEL published its definition of social and
emotional learning (SEL) at its website:
The process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the
knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions,
set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and
maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.52
To be clear, CASEL and SEL are not specific programs. Rather, the review of
research provided by CASEL points to a number of curricular programs already
in existence that meet its criteria for effectively addressing social, emotional, and
academic learning in schools. Analysis reported by CASEL also emphasizes that
in addition to teaching specific core competencies, a focus on social emotional
learning can prevent many behaviors that may put students at risk for interrupted
schooling, such as drug use, violence, bullying, and dropping out.53 Social and
emotional learning plays a significant role in the goals of multicultural education,
since discrimination and exclusion can and often do shape the trajectory of stu-
dents’ educational achievements. Understanding social and emotional learning
from a critical multicultural perspective can support the development of produc-
tive members in a democratic society.
School Climate: Anti-Bullying Initiatives

An aspect of social and emotional learning is implemented through anti-bullying
efforts in schools. National laws have shined a light on the problem of bully-
ing among school children and also among adults in the workplace. The U.S.
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Department of Health and Human Services defines school bullying on its Stop Bul-
lying website as follows:
Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that
involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the
potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully oth-
ers may have serious, lasting problems.54
The Stop Bullying website goes on to explain that:

There are three types of bullying: 1) Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean
things; 2) Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves
hurting someone’s reputation or relationships; 3) Physical bullying involves hurt-
ing a person’s body or possessions.55
Since the behaviors described in this definition may—but do not always—

include acts of aggression about affiliation groups and their identities based on race,
ethnicity, language, socioeconomic class, ability/disability, sexual orientation, gen-
der, age, and religion, multicultural education should be included in efforts to com-
bat bullying in schools. Students who are the targets of bullying may feel enormous
interruptions in their academic achievement. Student efforts to participate in class-
room activities, accomplish assignments, and attend school can be greatly impinged
when they are worried for their emotional or physical safety. It is essential that edu-
cators are prepared to recognize, interrupt, and prevent such aggressions.
In 2013, the National Center for Educational Statistics reported that about 22 per-
cent of students ages 12 through 18 reported being bullied at school and cyber-bullied.
Student reported personal fear, avoidance behaviors, fighting, and weapon carrying
at school in the 2012–2013 school year.56 Students whose identities differ from the
mainstream, particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer and/or ques-
tioning (LGBTQ) students, or those who are perceived to be, are often the targets of
bullying. While there is some evidence of improvement in school climate with regard
to anti-LGBTQ bullying since research documented in 2001, the negative impact of
bullying on the climate of schools remains clear. For example, the 2015 National
School Climate Survey, the biennial report from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Edu-
cation Network (GLSEN), which was founded in 1999, includes a sample of 10,528
secondary students from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Over 85 percent
of LGBTQ students surveyed said they experienced verbal harassment, and 66 per-
cent felt LGBTQ-related discrimination at school. Most alarming, students reported
a decrease in school staff members responding to denigrating verbal remarks. Yet,
the good news is that school supports for LGBTQ students—while not widespread
enough—are increasing in growth and have a marked effect on school climate in the
form of GSAs (Gay-Straight Alliances); anti-bullying policies and curriculum; as well
as curriculum that specifically includes LGBTQ identity representation and voices.57
A comprehensive review of anti-bullying initiatives is beyond the scope of this
book. However, there is a burgeoning body of research that provides current data
and recommended practices rooted in teacher–student experience. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention report in the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveil-
lance Summaries indicates that, nationwide, 20 percent of students in grades 9–12
experienced bullying.58
School Climate: Physical Violence and Safety

School violence is another problem related to the climate for learning and maintain-
ing physical safety for all students and staff. School violence is directly connected to
anti-bullying initiatives. While all three types of bullying—verbal, social, and physi-
cal—can be considered forms of violence, this section considers the research on
physical violence and school safety. But schools alone are not to blame for violence.
At the national level, youth violence in general, and school violence specifi-
cally, have garnered the attention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
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Services’ CDC (national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The CDC dis-
seminates Fact Sheets through its Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Divi-
sion of Violence Prevention. As reported in a 2016 Fact Sheet:
A number of factors can increase the risk of a youth engaging in violence at school.
However, the presence of these factors does not always mean that a young person
will become an offender. Risk factors for school and youth violence include:
• Prior history of violence
• Drug, alcohol, or tobacco use
• Association with delinquent peers
• Poor family functioning
• Poor grades in school
• Poverty in the community59
While these factors may seem overwhelming, there is a great deal of preventa-
tive work that schools and community groups can do to alleviate them. Many free
resources are available on the CDC website. Preventing Youth Violence by Cor-
rine David-Ferdon and Thomas R. Simon was published in 2014, and it outlines
research, rationale, and key prevention strategies.60
The phenomena of school shootings, school-associated violent death, and
school mass violence also have implications for the broader policies and practices
of U.S. schools. Despite the horrifying mass shootings in recent years, the per-
sonal loss for the families affected, and the enduring effects in the communities
in which these events occur, such tragedies are still statistically relatively rare.61
Yet the traumatic impact holds sway for decades and influences practices through-
out PK–12 schools, such as placing metal detectors at the schoolhouse door and
surveillance cameras throughout hallways and classrooms. The presence of these
police tactics has become so commonplace, they go unnoticed and unquestioned.
It is notable that these devices and practices are found much more prevalently in
schools that serve students in urban, low-income neighborhoods, giving specific
messages to students and families about the expectation of criminal behaviour and
setting the stage for the school as a site of surveillance.
Nevertheless, most public schools in all neighborhoods now follow state and
federal guidelines for routine drills for lockdowns, shelter in place and evacua-
tion, in addition to fire drills. Students learn the language of shelter in place at a
very early age by practicing how to hide and stay silent in the event of an intruder
in the building. While necessary, these practices may inadvertently leave lasting
memories of school as a place of fear.
Violence in schools is a reflection of the violence that takes place in society,
and teachers and administrators often struggle heroically to contain it and to make
schools places of learning and joy. Yet it is often students from these very schools
who do the damage. Boredom and rage are implicated in such actions, particu-
larly when schools show little regard for students by silencing their voices and
negating their identities in the curriculum. Destructiveness and violence by stu-
dents sometimes represent a clear message that school structures are incompatible
with students’ emotional and physical needs. For instance, the U.S. Department
of Education reported that large and impersonal schools, and those with hostile
and authoritarian teachers and administrators, are more likely to be vandalized
than schools characterized by cooperation among teachers and administrators and
clear expectations for students.62 Another study by Rami Benbenishty and col-
leagues investigated the causal link between school climate, school violence, and
a school’s general academic performance over time. Their findings demonstrated
that a school’s overall improvement in academic performance is a central factor in
reducing violence. Their analysis argues that when strong efforts to improve aca-
demics are taken, schools may tend to include issues of climate and victimization
as part of those academic reform efforts.63
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Despite the media attention and personal loss that mass shootings garner,
school violence, in general, has diminished over the past several years. This is
not to understate that violence is still a major problem that must be addressed at
systemic levels of social support systems and overall school improvement and the
well-being of all students and educators.
School Climate: School Buildings, Physical Environment,

School and Class Size
The physical structure of schools can also either promote or inhibit educational
equity. In some schools, desks are nailed to the floor, halls and classrooms are air-
less and poorly lit, and shattered glass can be found in courtyards where children
play. There is indeed a relationship between poor student achievement and the con-
dition of school buildings. These conditions include poor lighting, inadequate ven-
tilation, inadequate or too much heating, school safety, class size, and air quality.
The physical resemblance of some schools to factories or prisons is unfor-
tunate but true. In many instances, school buildings are uninviting, fortresslike
places precisely because school officials are trying to protect students and teachers
against vandalism, theft, and other acts of violence. The size of schools alone is
enough to give them this institutional look. High schools sometimes hold 2,000,
3,000, or even 4,000 students, and it is easy to understand the students’ and teach-
ers’ feelings of alienation and insecurity that can result. Not all schools are large
and impersonal, however. In general, it is often the case that the farther away
from urban or poor rural communities, the less institutional the appearance of the
school. Suburban schools or schools in wealthy towns tend to look strikingly dif-
ferent from schools that serve the poor. Not only do the former usually have more
space, bigger classrooms, and more light, they also have more material supplies
and generally are in better physical condition, partly because the level of financing
for the education of poor students is lower than that for children in more afflu-
ent districts. Wealthier schools tend to have smaller classes as well. However,
lower budgets do not necessarily have to dictate less imaginative and unwelcom-
ing architecture. Educational vision and political will can lead to more appropriate
school environments for all students regardless of their economic situation.
Because school size can make a difference in student learning, many schools
are developing schools within schools, teams, or other approaches to encourage
more small community environments and closer relationships among students and
teachers. School size may also influence students’ feelings of belonging, and thus
their engagement with learning, as well as teachers’ motivation and engagement.
Small classes also have proven to have a positive effect on student learning. A
widely cited study by Jeremy Finn and his associates found that, when students
started early and continued in small classes or classes with teachers’ aides for at
least three years, they performed significantly better in all grades than students
in full-size classes or without teachers’ aides. In addition, those benefits endured:
Students who attended small classes in grades K–3 continued to perform better in
all subjects up to the eighth grade.64 A recent report from the National Education
Policy Center concurs: Class size is an important determinant of student outcomes.
All else being equal, lowering class sizes will improve student outcomes. Benefits
at the secondary level were especially strong for the lowest-achieving students.65
Class size alone, however, may not be the most important factor in influencing
student engagement in learning. Simply making schools smaller will not have a
major impact if the emotional climate within schools and negative relationships
between students and teachers remain unchanged.66
The physical environment of schools can also reflect the expectations of stu-
dents. If students are perceived to be deficient, the educational environment may
reflect a no-nonsense, back-to-basics drill orientation. However, if students are
perceived as intelligent and motivated and as having an interest in the world
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What You Can Do

Enliven Your Environment
Y ou can do little about some things in your physical envi-

ronment, but you can change others, both inside class-
rooms and out.
Outside the classroom, graffiti and garbage in a school
building, or broken toilets and non-functioning science labs,
give the message that the children who attend the school
Make your classroom inviting and comfortable. Ask are not valued. Help organize families, colleagues, and
parents, students, and colleagues to help with ideas and children for clean-up brigades and mural-painting projects.
resources. Collect pillows, rugs, and colorful fabric swaths If there are more serious issues, inform parents and other
for curtains or for covering bulletin boards. In the younger community members about some of the policies and prac-
grades, create engaging activity corners, a cozy place to read, tices that make school uninviting so that they can organize
comfortable chairs or a couch, and a place for group work. In to help solve these problems. Such issues can be brought
the older grades, have a quiet place for individual work and up at parent–teacher association (PTA), school board, and
a space for collaborative research. From time to time, mix up even city council meetings. Letters to the editor can also
the seating arrangements. Move chairs into clusters, or place draw a great deal of attention and result in subsequent
seats in a horseshoe arrangement to create a more amena- action. Unless demands are made to change the negative
ble space for dialogue. From preschool through high school, messages of the school environment, children will continue
posters, student artwork, maps, pictures, books, and music to be the victims.
help create a sense of community.
around them, the educational environment tends to reflect an intellectually stimu-

lating and academically challenging orientation, a place where learning is consid-
ered joyful rather than tedious. Given this reality, we might well ask what would
happen if the schools attended by youngsters in poor urban and rural areas were
to miraculously become like the schools that middle-class and wealthy youngsters
attend. Might there be a change in educational outcomes if all students had access
to generously endowed, smaller, and more democratically run schools? We can-
not know the answer to this question until we try this approach, but one thing is
certain: The physical environment in many schools provides a stark contrast to the
stated purposes of teaching and learning. When schools are not cared for, when
they become fortresses rather than an integral part of the community they serve,
and when they are holding pens instead of learning environments, the contradic-
tion between goals and realities is a vivid one. This chasm between ideal and real
is not lost on the students.
Disciplinary Policies
Disciplinary policies can aggravate the alienation felt by some students, particu-
larly students who are already marginalized in school. Over two decades ago, in
a compelling study using longitudinal data from the national High School and
Beyond study, researchers Gary Wehlage and Robert Rutter found that certain
conditions in the schools themselves could predict the dropping-out behavior of
students.67 They concluded that certain student characteristics in combination
with certain school conditions can determine the holding power of a school and,
consequently, students’ decisions to stay in or drop out of school. In a review of
related literature, researchers Anne Gregory, Russell Skiba, and Pedro Noguera
found that because schools tend to rely heavily on school exclusion as their pri-
mary disciplinary tool, this discipline practice has a disproportionate and negative
impact on Latino, African American, and Native American students. As a result,
what they call the racial discipline gap further exacerbates the racial “achieve-
ment gap.”68
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What You Can Do

Create Inclusive Disciplinary Practices
I nvestigate how disciplinary policies and practices affect

students of different groups unfairly by looking at rates of
detention, suspension, and assignments to “special” classes
promising practices to transform the school climate by
rethinking discipline policies. Implementing restorative jus-
tice requires a great deal of planning and preparation of
or alternative programs in your school. If students in these school staff. A valuable resource is Safer Saner Schools:
programs are overwhelmingly from one social or racial group Whole-School Change Through Restorative Practices by
or gender, ask the principal to set up a study or inquiry group the International Institute for Restorative Practices in
to look into this problem. Study the data on rates of interven- Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.* Additionally, the Edutopia blog
tions, and the populations who are most often involved. Sug- provides an short summary of restorative practices; see
gest appropriate steps to address the problem directly. 8 Tips for Schools Interested in Restorative Justice by
At the classroom level, think about how to involve all your Fania E. Davis† for a brief overview. Also, refer to a
students as class citizens. For example, have them help design comprehensive guide, available online, by the Illinois
disciplinary policies. At the school level, rather than rely on Criminal Justice Authority titled Implementing Restorative
those who happen to be on the student council—generally, a Justice: A Guide for Schools.‡
rather limited group of students—suggest a forum in which a
broad range of student voices is heard. This forum can include
academic classes, assemblies, and other student activities, *Ashley, J., & Burke, K. (2009). Implementing restorative justice: A guide
such as sports and clubs. Inviting students to take responsibil- for schools. Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.
Retrieved from http://www.icjia.state.il.us/publications/implementing-
ity for shaping school decorum and climate will undoubtedly
restorative-justice-a-guide-for-schools.
open new ways of thinking about school disciplinary policies. †
Davis, F. (2014, September 26). 8 Tips for schools interested in restora-
tive justice [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/
Learn About Restorative Practices restorative-justice-tips-for-schools-fania-davis.
‡
International Institute for Restorative Practices. (2011). Safer saner
An example of transforming such policies is exemplified in Schools: Whole-school change through restorative practices. Retrieved
the restorative justice in schools movement, which offers from http://www.iirp.edu/pdf/WSC-Overview.pdf.
Students living in poverty and students of color are more likely to be sus-
pended and expelled. A recent study by Russell W. Rumberger and Daniel J. Losen
for the Center for Civil Rights Remedies shows much higher suspension rates for
Blacks and Hispanics than for Whites. Moreover, this study found that there are
substantial economic costs to suspending students, as students who receive sus-
pensions are more likely to drop out of high school. Their analysis demonstrated
that suspensions increased the number of dropouts by more than 67,000, at the
national level, which translates into a cost to taxpayers of more than $11 billion.
They assert that cutting the suspension rate in half would result in saving taxpay-
ers $5.5 billion. This research points to the need to invest resources in keeping
students in school to support their future productivity and participation in society
as a long-term investment.69
Studies of suspension and expulsion expose disparities in interpretations of
student behavior that may be culturally or class biased, and this poses an addi-
tional barrier to enforcing disciplinary policies fairly. Discipline can be an issue
even among more economically privileged students who are culturally different
from the mainstream. For instance, Avi Abramson, the subject of one of the case
studies that conclude this chapter, pointed out how he was the subject of several
anti-Semitic incidents. Because teachers did not take action, Avi felt that he had to
take matters into his own hands. He said, “I went up to the teacher and I said to
her, ‘I’m either gonna leave the class or they leave.’” This is a good reminder that
teachers’ actions—or lack of action—go a long way toward making students feel
safe, or unsafe, in school.
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The Limited Role of Students

That many students are alienated, uninvolved, and discouraged by school is
abundantly clear. This fact is most striking, of course, in dropout rates, the most
extreme manifestation of disengagement from schooling. Students who drop out
are commonly uninvolved and passive participants in the school experience.
Usually, schools are not organized to encourage active student involvement.
Although it is true that students are nominally represented in the governance struc-
ture of many schools, often this representation is merely window dressing that has
little to do with the actual management of the school. Rather than being designed to
prepare students for democratic life, most schools are more like benign dictatorships
in which all decisions are made for them, albeit in what schools may perceive to
be students’ best interests. They are more often organized around issues of control
than of collaboration or consultation. That is, students are expected to learn what is
decided, designed, and executed by others. Often, it is not the teacher or even the
school that determines the content of the curriculum and the majority of school poli-
cies, but some mythical, “downtown” school board or state education department.
In the classroom itself, the pedagogy frequently reflects what Paulo Freire
called banking education, that is, a process by which teachers “deposit” knowl-
edge into students, who are thought to be empty receptacles. It is education that
promotes powerlessness. In a characterization of what happens in many schools,
Freire contrasted the expected roles of the teacher and the students:
• The teacher teaches, and the students are taught.
• The teacher knows everything, and the students know nothing.
• The teacher thinks, and the students are thought about.
• The teacher talks, and the students listen—meekly.
• The teacher disciplines, and the students are disciplined.
• The teacher chooses and enforces his or her choice, and the students comply.
• The teacher acts, and the students have the illusion of acting through the
action of the teacher.
• The teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not
consulted) adapt to it.
• The teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his or her own professional
authority, which he or she sets in opposition to the freedom of the students.
• The teacher is the subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere
objects.70
What impact does the involvement of students have on their school experi-
ences and achievement? Much has been written about how to engage students in
their learning, but very little of it has issued from students themselves. In a book
focused on the perspectives of secondary students in the United States, England,
Canada, and Australia, as well as the work of teachers, researchers, and teacher
educators who have collaborated with a wide variety of students, Alison Cook-
Sather and her colleagues focus on student perspectives, articulated in their own
words, regarding specific approaches to creating and maintaining a positive class-
room environment and designing engaging lessons and on more general issues of
respect and responsibility in the classroom. To illustrate how these approaches
work in practice, the book includes stories of how preservice and in-service teach-
ers, school leaders, and teacher educators have made student voices and participa-
tion central to their classroom and school practices.71
In a specific example, researcher Ernest Morrell sought to understand the rela-
tionship between apprenticing urban youth as critical researchers of their realities
and the development of their academic literacy through Youth Participatory Action
Research (YPAR), which is a means to harness students’ critical thinking and advance
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their voices through rigorous research directed by the youth about their concerns. In
a multiyear, critical ethnographic study, the students took on the issue of the tre-
mendous inequities that existed in their high school—inequities based on ethnicity
and social class background—that effectively made it seem like two separate high
schools. Morrell saw students develop from novices to productive writers, research-
ers, and speakers at national education conferences who published their research as
a form of social action. He concluded that, as a result of students’ work—including
their writings, presentations, conversations, and questions—the decision makers in
the school were forced to respond to students’ findings about the two-school situa-
tion, and indeed to design and implement strategies to address the situation.72
In addition, students became more passionate learners. Some who had never
dreamed of going to college were so changed by this experience that they decided
to apply or attend. As Morrell found, however, such changes cannot be sustained
in the absence of a broader political movement in which students, families, and
educators mobilize to radically alter the status quo in schools and districts. In
recent research on YPAR, Morrell collaborated with Nicole Mirra and Antero Gar-
cia on a text that helps walk teachers through the method of YPAR practices in
their classrooms and communities.73 This resource helps teachers and schools
involve students in directing their own education to transform and reveal their
enthusiasm in their learning.
The Limited Role of Teachers

As a group, teachers are shown little respect by our society and are usually paid
less than other professionals. In school, they are sometimes the victims of physi-
cal and verbal threats and attacks, and they feel a lack of parental support and
involvement. Teachers are traditionally discouraged from becoming involved in
decision-making processes in the schools. As such, they have become alienated
in the current climate of reform because it has become obvious that people far
removed from the schools are making the decisions about curriculum and instruc-
tion, while at the same time accountability is being determined more and more
by high-stakes tests and imposed standards. Alienated and discouraged teachers
can hardly be expected to help students become empowered, critical thinkers. In
contrast, teachers who feel that they have autonomy in their classrooms and in
decisions about curriculum generally also have high expectations of their students.
Structures such as teacher-led schools, job sharing, and time on a weekly basis
for professional development and other activities may help make teachers more
active players in their schools. In addition, a number of recent studies have found
that, to create a sense of teaching as intellectual work, it is vital to develop schools
as professional communities of practice.74 For example, the practice of teacher
inquiry groups holds great promise for teacher-led research on school improve-
ment issues in which they are most interested. Changing the nature of professional
development in schools so that teachers take more responsibility for their own
learning is imperative, but the professional climate in schools is only one aspect of
a larger problem. Teachers are disempowered for many reasons, and these do not
correspond simply to school structures. Their disempowerment also has a lot to
do with their status within the professional hierarchy. Restructuring schools to be
more respectful of teachers’ professionalism is crucial if they are to become places
where teachers feel engaged and empowered.
Nevertheless, restructuring and greater teacher efficacy, by themselves, are no
guarantee that schools will become more effective learning environments for stu-
dents. For this to happen, teachers also need to confront their attitudes and preconcep-
tions of students, particularly students who are different from themselves, and then
work to develop positive and caring relationships with their students. In addition,
broadening the roles, responsibilities, and status of teachers needs to be accompa-
nied by changes in (1) the general public’s attitudes about teachers’ professionalism,
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“We have created a place where many families feel welcome. Kids feel at home. Teachers
feel empowered.”
– Laura Davila, art teacher
The Boston Teachers Union (BTU) School, a pilot school within the Boston Pub-
Multicultural lic School (BPS) system, is an example of a school structure designed to empower
teachers because it disrupts the traditional professional hierarchy by emphasizing
Teaching Story teacher knowledge and embracing teacher innovation.*

Pilot schools were first launched in Boston in 1994 to serve as sites
of educational innovation and research through a collaborative vision
shared by the Boston Teachers Union, the mayor, the city’s school com-
mittee, and the superintendent. The goal of pilot schools was to provide
models of effective urban education in the Boston Public School District.
This model also serves as an alternative to charter schools that typically
funnel resources and students away from neighborhood schools.
A decade after the initiation of pilot schools, in 2004, the BTU was
alarmed by the negative working conditions in some pilot schools that
overtaxed and exploited teachers while disregarding the teaching con-
tract. The BTU set out to launch its own pilot school, which opened
in September 2009. Founded and democratically led by teachers, the
school’s emphasis is on bringing teacher knowledge to bear in decision
making about how to help kids learn best.† We featured the school in a
Multicultural Teaching Story in the sixth edition of this book, when the
school had just completed its first year, so we checked in with the BTU
School for some updates for the current seventh edition.
With no principal or headmaster, the school is still headed by two co-
lead teachers who are collaboratively responsible for the daily functions of
the school as well as for implementing the long-term vision. Berta Beriz who
was featured in the sixth edition has since retired; Betsy Drinan has stayed
on as a lead teacher and worked with other co-lead teachers since then.
As the seventh edition of our book goes to press, the school has grown
to its full size in its eighth year. There are approximately 350 students
enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade. We were eager to hear how
the school is thriving and maintaining one of its most distinctive aspects:
the way in which teacher knowledge and dedication to student achieve-
Laura Davila, art teacher ment drive decision making. We reconnected with Erik Berg, a board member to see
how the school was doing several years into the project, and we also spoke with Laura
at Boston Teachers Union Davila, one of the founding faculty members, who is the art teacher of all students in
School spoke to us about grades kindergarten through 8.
the evolution of the school Teachers Union as Educational Leader

culture. Boston Teachers A union member and second-grade teacher in Boston, Erik Berg lives and works
in the same neighborhood as the BTU School and was instrumental in leading the
Union School: Teacher efforts to create it. While Erik does not teach at the BTU School, he is a member of
its governance board. In our earlier conversation, Erik explained that the union’s
Leadership and Student vision was to embrace teacher knowledge for making decisions about curriculum
Achievement and school climate in a way that would support all students’ achievements, paying
particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable BPS children. The school
would fully integrate a broad liberal arts curriculum with rigorous high standards
in the arts, history, humanities, and sciences, which have been woefully neglected
*For more information on Boston’s pilot schools, see http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/.

†
See the website of the Boston Teachers Union school at http://theunionschool.com/wp/.
114
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in many Massachusetts schools since the implementation of high-stakes standardized testing

in the 1990s. The test-conscious subjects of math and English language arts would be thor-
oughly addressed as well, but not at the risk of ignoring or eliminating other content areas,
a practice that had been neglectful of students’ multiple intelligences in many schools. Erik
expressed that it is important for teacher unions to step forward on educational issues and
develop real, achievable opportunities for changing educational experiences for urban kids.
He sees the role of the union as pointing out alternatives. He acknowledged that the BTU
School was a work in progress whereby some of the most prominent features of the structure
allowed for teacher-led decision making, robust parent and family engagement, meaningful
professional development, and partnerships with teacher educators. The school community
was striving to maintain that vision.
Reflecting on the growth of the school, Erik conveyed deep pride in the accomplishments
of the BTU School teachers, staff members, students and families in meeting those ideals. Simul-
taneously, he explained that moving from the imagined vision of a teacher-led school through
full implementation of daily school life and yearly realities has been eye-opening. Preserving the
democratic ideals of a teacher-led school requires a tenacity to hold fast to foundational beliefs
despite the weight of time and emotional energy that comes with sharing responsibility:
The effect of democracy on the school is that decisions take an inordinate amount of
time, and decisions can be painful. It can be rewarding, of course—and it can be very
painful, for example—to get faculty together in a room with the board to make deci-
sions about where to cut the budget. Whenever staff or resources are cut back, it is very
difficult on everybody. I do like to think the process ended up with a more transparent
and sensible allocation of resources in the service of kids. But you can see that some
would say it is a blessing and a curse, the democracy of the school. We move forward
with the democratic process, always. But it is slow, and sometimes very difficult.
Erik expressed that the biggest challenge was to continue to honor teachers’ voices
in an authentically democratic way, without overtaxing them. Laura Davila echoed these
challenges:
It’s a deliberate process. We evolve, and many of us learn—we learn to listen to
others. We have this utopian idea of shared leadership, and we are committed to
it—and when you live through it—you realize the struggle of top-down models. It is
a struggle constantly; some people think it has to be top down. It is not ill-intended.
It is often just people thinking “What is the more efficient way to run the school?”
Then in the name of efficiency—sometimes, shared leadership suffers.
Despite the push and pull of efficiency and time against democratic voices, both Erik
and Laura voiced unwavering commitment to the participatory model of leadership, and its
overwhelming positive results for children and families. They did not disparage the time
and energy that were required to maintain this collaborative school structure. Rather, they
underscored the multiple reasons to continue with the democratic practice.
Teacher Collaboration and Family Participation for Student Learning

The democratic model extended beyond the staff and was woven into the teachers’ work
in the community. Families are viewed as assets at the BTU School, and the staff corralled
a variety of resources to address the needs of the students and families. The school built its
strategies on a solid foundation of family engagement that was already interwoven into the
fabric of the school culture.
Each year by the month of June, the lead teachers have already met the new families
for next year. They have high attendance at events for families because the BTU Family
Council is very active. They organized family nights with potluck dinners, where the kids
perform in the auditorium for the whole school. There are also classroom-parents in charge
of communication, ensuring that every parent-guardian receives information in languages
they understand and can voice their questions and concerns directly to teachers. Reflecting
on the school culture, Laura Davila told us:
continued
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Our families are very involved—for example, they get together and create huge events.
They also hold a major fundraiser. They do so much to add resources to our school!
Another example: I’ve been running the website for the school. I’ve done it for years
and love and feel proud of it . . . and it is exceptionally time-consuming. Some parents
through the parent council have decided to take it on—I said yes, absolutely! If you want
to take over the website, please do. It’s like that. Families see what we need and we wel-
come them to pitch in. We ask what they need to support their kids, and they help us as
well. Also, our school newsletter was developed with the family council. I facilitated the
newsletter, but the parents helped to get the content together.
Kids feel at home. We receive a lot of students from other schools where they have
gone through extreme behaviour issues and interventions—but when they get to our
school, you can tell how relaxed the students feel after a while—they say “I love BTU
school”—as a positive part of their life, and they often write that phrase in their art-
work or on their notebooks. It feels welcoming, people are nice, people always say “good
morning”—there is a feeling of the school being a big family.
We have the family council; we have that structure. I feel our family council is
stronger than most schools. Family council meetings are significant—we are always
trying to make sure the family council truly reflects the diversity of our school. We
appreciate all our families. Sometimes the families who have a bit more privilege run
the family council events—but we work to bring everybody into be participants. . . .
It’s a work in progress—since the beginning—it is ongoing work to include all families.
Teacher Knowledge and Teacher Research

Another innovative hallmark of the BTU School is the way in which professional development
is engaged with teachers sharing resources and strategies. On a weekly basis, teachers hold a
two-hour meeting after school and they take turns serving as facilitators. While these actions
represent a major commitment of time, the teachers see that it pays off through the priority
the extra responsibilities place on their intellectual prowess and creative vision. Sometimes
they work with the whole group of faculty members and sometimes with smaller groups.
Laura enthusiastically explained the multiple opportunities for teachers to expand profes-
sional practices, share pedagogical strategies, engage in research, and collaborate on projects:
Since we are a teacher-led school, the teachers do not have that extra political hurdle
of having a principal who may or may not understand what you are trying to do.
The tools are there for all of us to use, if we want to. We can propose ideas and a
plan, get a thumbs up on it and just do it! We organize workshops for one another.
We make all-school events. We bring in community partnerships. We develop really
exciting approaches to curriculum together.
Erik pointed out that the union’s work in launching and running the school has con-
tributed to a shift in the role of the union across the entire Boston Public School District.
The union is stepping up as a resource for professional development to facilitate teachers
teaching teachers:
Establishing the school has helped the district to think of the union as a professional
leadership organization—not only the role of negotiating contracts and filing griev-
ances. We certainly take that role seriously, but this gives us a more full, complete
role in the education of our children. The school has brought our union into a
stronger perspective and positions the union to play a more significant role in the
professional lives of the teachers throughout the whole district.
Role of Research, Professional Development, and Teacher Education

In addition to the professional development that teachers provide to one another within
the school, and the opportunities across the district, teacher educators from Simmons
College in Boston support this teacher-led professional development. While some insti-
tutions of higher education claim “partnerships with schools” by merely sending their
116
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student teachers, Simmons brings resources to the school in a variety of ways. Professor
Theresa Perry rallied from the beginning for Simmons to be a substantive partner in the
BTU School. In addition to student teachers, and collaborating with teachers on research
and academic publishing, Simmons College provides a faculty member, who works with
teachers in the school one day a week. Simmons faculty members have worked closely
with the school lead teachers from the outset, to help them shape the co-lead teachers’
model, develop their professional relationships, and help them lay the foundation for
shared, democratic leadership.
A wide range of community partners contributes to the school’s success to bring inno-
vative learning opportunities to students and professional support to teachers. Laura stated
that one of her favourite features of shared leadership was that
any and all partnerships are encouraged. As long as they are well-organized,
brought to faculty, for a review and it benefits our student—then we get the support
and the money.
Describing one of the school’s many projects, Laura’s passion was palpable. She and
another teacher collaborated with the non-profit city research institute 826 Boston, which is
described as follows on its website:
826 Boston is a nonprofit youth writing and publishing organization that empowers
traditionally underserved students ages 6–18 to find their voices, tell their stories,
and gain communication skills to succeed in school and in life.
The youth workers of 826 Boston collaborate with a range of schools in Boston, and
Laura seized on the opportunity to bring them to the BTU School. Since she teaches all
grades in the school, from her perspective as an art teacher, Laura can see across the
grade levels and teams of teachers to devise partnerships that deeply impact the whole
school culture.
I always like to collaborate with partners outside of the school who have a differ-
ent set of knowledge and experiences. An ELA teacher and I brought the partner-
ship with 826 Boston to the faculty and we got the thumbs up. Their goal is for
students to be writers. The students wrote personal narratives in English class
with the teacher in the ELA classroom, and they created their artwork in the art
room to represent their stories. It was kind of chaotic at times—I had more than
20 college student volunteers in my art room at one time helping the kids make
their prints. The seventh graders published their artwork in a book! It was amaz-
ing—a REAL book. Now 826 Boston has expanded throughout our school and has
established a “K–8 Writer’s Room”—for which they provide the staffing of three
volunteers all day—in our Boston Teachers Union School! We are the very first in
the city! This is what you can do when you get to make decisions and bring in
creative resources.
While teacher-led decision making, robust parent and family engagement, meaningful
professional development, and partnerships with teacher educators may not sound new or
particularly revolutionary, it is rare for a school to enact these ideals in a democratic pro-
cess that empowers teachers.
In our sixth edition, Berta had concluded her remarks by saying that in June, at the
end of the school’s first year, she was “exhausted but happy. I see it as a liberation project,
for teachers, students, and families. It has worked out well with this Freedom-to-Teach
approach.” When I read those comments to Laura Davila, she agreed that most teachers
would likely describe themselves the same way—exhausted but happy. She concluded by
emphasizing:
Despite all that constant struggle. We have created a place where many families feel
welcome. Kids feel at home. Teachers feel empowered. They are empowered.
We are grateful to Erik Berg, a member of BTU School Governance Board, and Laura
Davila, a BTU School art teacher, for contributing their time and voices to this multicultural
teaching story.
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(2) teachers’ beliefs about their own capabilities, and (3) the dynamic possibili-
ties for learning that students’ diversity creates. Thus, in spite of the restrictions
imposed by school structures and the bureaucratization of schools, when teachers
deliberately choose to work together to promote change, and when they focus on
learning about their students’ realities, tremendous positive changes can begin to
take shape.
Limited Family and Community Involvement

The findings of research on the effectiveness of family and community involve-
ment are clear: In programs with strong family involvement, students are con-
sistently better achievers than in otherwise identical programs with less family
involvement. For example, the Harvard Family Research Project studied the influ-
ence of family engagement on student achievement. The results were undenia-
ble: Children at all levels of education benefit from family engagement in their
schools. Particularly significant was their finding that family engagement helps
close educational gaps between children from different racial groups and socioeco-
nomic backgrounds.75 In addition, students in schools that maintain frequent con-
tact with their communities outperform students in other schools. These positive
effects persist well beyond the short term.76
There are many definitions of parent involvement, and each is more or less
effective, depending on the context. Activities such as attendance at parent–
teacher conferences, participation in PTAs, and influence over children’s selection
of courses can help improve student achievement. But involvement of this kind
is becoming more and more infrequent in a society increasingly characterized by
one-parent families or two-parent families in which both parents work outside the
What You Can Do

Vigorously Promote Family Outreach
F irst, recognize and acknowledge that most families are

involved in the education of their children through the
values they foster at home and in the implicit and explicit
provides training and support for families and teachers via
a home visit model across the United States. While the
model is adapted in a wide variety of settings PTHV adheres
expectations they have of their children. At the same time, to the following five non-negotiable core practices:
encourage families to become more involved, as much as
1. Visits are always voluntary for educators and families,
they are able, in the day-to-day life of the school.
and arranged in advance.
Most important, communicate with families regularly
through a weekly or monthly newsletter, phone calls, meet- 2. Teachers are trained, and compensated for visits outside
ings at school or home, or a combination of these approaches their school day.
as well as online methods for families who may have access 3. Focus of the first visit is relationship-building; we discuss
to electronic devices. When school meetings are scheduled to hopes and dreams.
take place, ask administrators to provide child care, transla- 4. No targeting—visit all or a cross section of students, so
tion of the proceedings into languages spoken by the fami- there is no stigma.
lies, and transportation. Encourage family members to bring
5. Educators conduct visits in pairs, and after the visit,
activities and materials that are significant to them and their
reflect with their partner.*
children into the classroom. Additionally, home visits can be
powerful and meaningful when practiced in the spirit of part-
nership and collaboration.
*For more detail about PTHV, search for the organization’s website,
For example, see the practices of the non-profit organi- or contact its national office through Carrie Rose, Executive Director,
zation called Parent Teacher Home Vist (PTHV), which [email protected], (916) 448–5290.
M04_NIET7232_07_SE_C04.indd 118 03/11/17 11:39 AM

home. Thus, defining involvement only in these traditional ways is problematic.

PTA meetings held during the day, parent–teacher conferences held during school
hours, and the ubiquitous parent-sponsored cake sale are becoming relics of the
past or, at best, the purview of a limited number of families who have the time,
the resources, and the inclination to participate in such activities.
It is also true that family involvement is a complex issue, and teachers and
other educators are often intimidated by family involvement, or are reluctant to
reach out to families. For one thing, most educators have had little preparation for
working with families. Also, families and school personnel may have little knowl-
edge of one another’s realities. One interesting poll found that there was a wide
gap in the way parents and principals perceived their relationship: Although 93
percent of the principals said that their relationships with parents were “satisfac-
tory,” only 64 percent of the parents polled expressed the same feeling.77
Cultural and economic differences influence family involvement outreach in
many ways. Families of linguistically and culturally diverse communities and from
working-class neighborhoods may have difficulty fulfilling the level and kind of par-
ent involvement expected by the school, such as homework assistance and family
excursions. Not taking part in these activities should not be interpreted as non-
involvement or apathy, however. Research has consistently found that, contrary to
conventional wisdom, families of all backgrounds generally have high expectations
and aspirations for their children, although school personnel may not realize this.78
In addition, teachers and other school staff members often do not understand the
cultural values of different families and the goals that parents have for their children;
typical involvement strategies may further estrange families who already feel discon-
nected from the school. The general lack of awareness among many school staff
members—from secretaries to teachers and administrators—concerning the cultural
and linguistic resources of families of diverse backgrounds can lead to frustration
and misunderstanding on the part of both families and educators. Many excellent
books provide practical and respectful strategies for engaging families in their chil-
dren’s education; these should be on every educator’s bookshelf.79
Conclusion
The organization and structures of schools often are contrary to the needs of stu-
dents, the values of their communities, and even one of the major articulated pur-
poses of schooling—to provide equal educational opportunity for all students. For
example, a comprehensive Schott Foundation report on inequities in opportunity
to learn reached the shocking conclusion that nationally, students from histori-
cally disadvantaged groups have just 51 percent of the opportunity to learn that
White students do.80 The result of such tremendous inequities is that policies and
practices in schools, more often than not, reflect and maintain the status quo and
the stratification of the larger society. Too many students, in the words of Kirsten
Olson, are “wounded by school.”81 In her insightful book based on autobiographi-
cal interviews with over 100 students, teachers, and parents, the author describes
the boredom and daily disengagement of students, the drudgery and lack of value
in their work, the incessant labeling and tracking based on meaningless tests, and
a poor understanding of students and what they really need and want.
But schools by themselves cannot change this situation. Witness the sobering
words of Jeannie Oakes and her colleagues. In a longitudinal study of 16 schools
around the country undergoing reform, these researchers reached the reluctant con-
clusion that the educational reforms they studied “did little to interrupt or disrupt
the course of the nation’s history, flaws, and inequity, its hegemony and racism.”
They added, “Asking to disrupt a nation is a tall order—one that, we have become
convinced, schools will eagerly follow but should not be expected to lead.”82
M04_NIET7232_07_SE_C04.indd 119 03/11/17 11:39 AM

In spite of our fondest wishes, therefore, schools cannot, by themselves,

become an oasis of equity in a land of inequity. This does not mean, however, that
the situation is hopeless. On the contrary, there is much for teachers and other
educators to do, both in and out of classrooms. This was the subject of this chap-
ter and will continue to be the focus of subsequent chapters.
To Think About
1. Ability-group tracking decisions are often based on ideologies concerning intelligence. The
“nature versus nurture” argument in explaining intelligence has been raging for many years:
While some people believe that intelligence is primarily dependent on genetic makeup
(“nature”), others believe that the environment (“nurture”) plays a more important role.
What are your thoughts on this debate? Why? What is the basis for your conclusions?
2. Design a school for either the elementary or secondary level that would provide what
you think of as an excellent environment for learning. Describe the school’s policies
and practices, and explain why you’ve designed the school in the way you have.
3. Research the disciplinary policies in your district. How do suspensions compare across
racial, ethnic, and gender groups? How would you interpret these data? If there are
inequities, what can you do—alone, with colleagues, or with parents and other com-
munity members—to address them?

1. Survey your students about their school climate. What are your students saying about
feeling socially, emotionally, and physically safe? What can you do about it?
2. Get some evaluation checklists for textbooks at your library or, working with col-
leagues, design your own. Review and evaluate the textbooks used in your local
school. Are they biased against students of any group? How? Give specific examples
based on the checklists you have used.
3. With a group of colleagues, prepare a workshop for other teachers on retention and alterna-
tives to it. Present some actual data from your school or district about the effects of retention.
Notes
1. Dewey (1966). Herrnstein & Murray (1994, updated 2010). In a recent iteration
2. For the purpose of consistency, the term tracking rather than ability of the arguments made by him and his co-author, Charles Mur-
grouping will be generally used in the discussion in this chapter. ray indicts America’s schools for believing what he views as “the
3. Burris (2014). romantic myth” that all children can learn to high levels. In con-
4. Tatum (2007), p. 41. trast, he claims that America’s future depends on the gifted. See
5. Oakes updated the 1985 research in the second edition. See Oakes Murray (2008).
(2005); also Oakes & Saunders (2008). 18. Spring (2010).
6. Farley-Ripple (2016). 19. Neill (personal communication, July 2010).
7. This research is reviewed in Oakes (2005). See note 5. 20. Koyama (2010).
8. Yonezawa, Wells, & Serna (2002), p. 40. 21. Elmore (2002), para. 2.
9. Burris, Welner, & Bezoza (2009). 22. Ravitch (2016).
10. National Education Policy Center (2016). 23. Advancement Project (2016), p. 3.
11. Carter & Welner (2013). 24. Nichols & Berliner (2007).
12. Burris (2015). 25. Guinier (2015).
13. Warren, Hoffman, & Andrew (2014). 26. Geiser & Santelices (2007).
14. For example, see Selden (1999). 27. Darling-Hammond (2010), p. 70
15. Terman (1916). 28. Many books and monographs in the past decade and a half, in
16. See examples of the connection between IQ testing and eugenics addition to those already cited, have weighed in on the debate
in Selden (1999) and in Gould (1996). about standardized tests. Most have pointed out the connection
17. For a more contemporary example of how IQ tests are used to between a loss of equity and the overuse and misuse of standard-
“prove” the social and intellectual inferiority of some groups, see ized tests. See, for example, Hagopian (2014); Kamenetz (2015);
M04_NIET7232_07_SE_C04.indd 120 03/11/17 11:39 AM

McNeil (2000); Meier, Kohn, Darling-Hammond, Sizer, & Wood 57. Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) (2016).
(2005); Noddings (2007); and Au (2009). 58. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2014).
29. Dewey (1966), p. 172. 59. David-Ferdon & Simon (2014).
30. Apple (2004), p. 6. Also see Apple (2014). 60. Ibid.
31. Fecho (2003, 2011). 61. CDC (2014), David-Feron & Simon (2014).
32. Delpit & Dowdy (2008). Also see Delpit (2012). 62. U.S. Department of Education (2015).
33. Banks (2016), p. 242.- 63. Benbenishty, Astor, Roziner, & Wrabel (2016).
34. Fine (1991), p. 33-37. 64. Finn, Gerber, Achilles, & Byrd-Zaharias (2001).
35. Hughes & Bigler (2007). 65. Mathis (2016).
36. Levin (2001). A recent book that connects social justice with com- 66. For the benefits and potential pitfalls of small schools, see Meier (2006).
munity service learning for young people also engages students in 67. Wehlage & Rutter (1986).
meaningful and responsible activities. See Cipolle (2010). 68. Gregory, Skiba, & Noguera (2010).
37. Brion-Meisels, Nikundiwe, & Shalaby (2016). 69. Rumberger & Losen (2016).
38. Darling-Hammond (2010). 70. Freire (1970), p. 59.
39. Sleeter & Carmona (2017). 71. Cook-Sather (2009), and also Thiessen & Cook-Sather (2007),
40. Loewen (2009). See also Loewen (2007a, 2007b). document the powerful impact that student engagement can have
41. Goodlad (2004). on learning and motivation.
42. Wilson & Corbett (2001). 72. Morrell (2008).
43. Haberman (1991). 73. Mirra, Garcia, & Morrell (2016).
44. Cummins (2007). 74. See, for example, McLaughlin & Talbert (2006); Nieto (2003b);
45. Walters (2000). Lieberman & Miller (2008); also Zemelman & Ross (2009).
46. Fosnot (2005); Pelech & Pieper (2010). 75. The findings were published by the Harvard Family Research Pro-
47. Richardson (2003), p. 1635. ject (2007).
48. Bartolomé (1994, 2004). 76. Weiss, Bouffard, Bridglall, & Gordon (2009).
49. Cummins (2000), p. 280. 77. Markow & Scheer (2003).
50. National School Climate Center (NSCC) (2016). 78. See Weiss et al. (2009).
51. Berger (2005), p. 35. 79. See, for example, Dantas & Manyak (2010); Allen (2007); Epstein
52. CASEL (2016). et al. (2009). For engaging families of middle and high school stu-
53. Ibid. dents, see Hill & Chao (2009).
54. See the website managed by the U.S. Department of Health and 80. Schott Foundation for Public Education (2009).
Human Services (https://www.stopbullying.gov/). 81. Olson (2009).
55. Ibid. 82. Oakes, Quartz, Ryan, & Lipton (2000), p. xxi.
56. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (2013).
Case Studies
Avi Abramson
T
albot is a small, quiet, and aging working-class town in
eastern Massachusetts a few miles from the busy metropo-
Some teachers teach from the point of view of lis of Boston. Its total area is a mere 1.6 square miles, and
it has a population of approximately 20,000. With the exception of
the kid. They don’t just come out and say, “All
salt marshes and surplus federal installations, there is little vacant
right, do this, blah, blah, blah.” They’re not so land in Talbot.
One gets a sense of the community’s aging by its housing.
one-tone voice.
More than half of the dwellings were built near the beginning of
the twentieth century, and the population mirrors this aging profile. In the past
three decades, the number of youths has been declining, with younger adults and
families moving to more prosperous areas. Older residents remain, continuing to
live in homes that long ago lost their modern veneer. Both public and parochial
school enrollment have been dwindling over the past decades, too. One of the
three elementary schools was turned into condominiums. The one high school in
town, Talbot High School, has approximately 700 students.
Avi Abramson,1 the subject of this case study, lived in Talbot at the time of his
interview. Talbot was home to many Italians and Irish and to smaller concentrations
M04_NIET7232_07_SE_C04.indd 121 03/11/17 11:39 AM

of other European American immigrants. The percentage of people of color was

quite low—only a handful of families. Although there had been a thriving commu-
nity in Talbot just a generation before, the number of Jewish families was very small
at the time of Avi’s interview. There were two synagogues in town, one known as
the “big synagogue” and the other as the “small synagogue.” Many Jewish fami-
lies had moved to other communities, and the remaining Jews were mostly senior
citizens; many of them were religiously observant and went to temple regularly.
According to Avi, many people in his community were close to 85 years of age. The
high school had no more than ten Jewish students.
Except for a year when his family moved to North Carolina, Avi had lived in
Talbot almost all his life. He went to first and second grade in public school, then
to a Jewish day school until eighth grade. When interviewed, he was 16 years old
and a senior at Talbot High School. As he explained during his interviews, Avi
had not always been a successful student. He had a hard time adjusting to public
school because the curriculum was so different from what he had experienced in
the Jewish day school. His plans were to go to college the following year, and he
had given some thought to becoming either a history teacher or a graphic designer.
Avi lived on the water-tower hillside of this quaint old town in a quiet neigh-
borhood of single and multifamily homes. During the Christmas season, his
house was easily spotted: It was the only one on the street without Christmas
lights. He described his town as peaceful, and he said he enjoyed living there. Avi
and his family had good relationships with their neighbors, whom he described
with fondness (“Everybody looks out for each other,” he said). Nevertheless, he
clearly longed to live in a community where he would not be perceived as being
so “different.”
Avi lived with his mother and a brother who was 10 years his elder. His older
sister lived in New York City with her husband and two children. Avi’s father had
originally come from Israel and had met his Jewish American wife in the United
States, where he had remained. He had died after a long illness six years before
Avi’s interview. He had been a much-loved teacher in various Hebrew schools.
Avi’s mother was also a Hebrew teacher but, although she loved teaching, there
was not much call for Hebrew teachers in the area, so she began studying comput-
ers to prepare for a new career.
Exuding a warm glow of familiarity and old, comfortable furniture, Avi’s home
was filled with the aroma of latkes (potato pancakes) during the Hanukkah season
and of many other Jewish foods at other times of the year. Books and artifacts
were everywhere, reflecting the family’s respect for tradition and history.
In many ways, Avi was a typical American teenager. He had a girlfriend and
enjoyed frequent telephone conversations with friends. His bedroom was crammed
with posters; comic books; encyclopedias; track team gear; woodworking projects;
Star Trek memorabilia; drawing pads full of his own comics; and, underneath it all,
bunk beds. In other ways, however, Avi was different from many other American
youths. His serious, wise demeanor was evident in the profound respect and love
that he had for his culture and religion. He dedicated every Saturday to leading
the last elderly remnants of his community in their Sabbath prayers at the small
synagogue (what one might call a “role model in reverse”). He enjoyed speaking
Hebrew, loved the Jewish holidays, and devoted a great deal of time to religious
and cultural activities. An energetic and thoughtful young man, he enjoyed school
as well as sports and other hobbies.
Three basic themes were revealed in Avi’s interviews. One was his sense of
responsibility—to himself, his family, and his community—as well as his per-
sistence in fulfilling this responsibility. This trait was especially evident in the
respect and care with which he treated his culture and religion. The joy and
pain of maintaining them was another theme frequently discussed by Avi. The
role of positive pressure, from peers and family, and through activities such as
track, was the third.
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Independent Responsibility and Persistence

I’m fairly religious. I mean, I work in a temple on Saturdays, so I keep myself
Orthodox. I try to keep the law, you know, for Shabbat [Yiddish for Sabbath],
‘cause I’m reading the Torah [holiest book for Jews], so it would be nice if the per-
son who’s reading at least [should follow it]; if you’re reading the law, then you
might as well follow it. Set an example, in a way. Again, I don’t know how much
of a role model I can be to 85-year-olds [laughs sadly].
I’m currently working, or helping out, in Temple Solomon, with their ser-
vices. A lot of people here, too, they come to temple but some of them don’t
understand exactly what they’re doing. They come, and if there weren’t certain
people here, they wouldn’t know what to do and they wouldn’t come at all,
probably. So, I guess one of the reasons why I probably do what I’m doing is
. . . well, I enjoy it ‘cause I enjoy doing the services. I enjoy being that kind of
leader. To help them.
I was going to temple every Saturday when I was little. I didn’t follow along,
but I just listened to them every time, and I got the tune and everything. It wasn’t
hard for me at all to learn the service for my Bar Mitzvah ‘cause I already knew
half of it in my head. Yeah, it’s fun . . . it is.
The Price of Maintaining Language and Culture

There were more [Jews] years ago. Yeah, and now everybody has aged, and all
the young ones are gone and left. So, there’s not too many young ones coming up,
‘cause there’s not too many families—young families. The average age is probably
50s.
[In school] I’m the only person that I guess follows the [Jewish Orthodox]
laws. So I wouldn’t go out on a Friday night or something like that. Right now,
most people know that I don’t usually go out on a Friday night. But when I started
high school, people used to say sometimes, “Ya coming out tonight?” I’m like,
“No, I can’t. . . .” In a way, it brought me away from those people. I mean, I have
different responsibilities than most people.
If I miss track and say (cause it’s not exactly the holiday, it’s the day before)
“I have to go home and prepare,” most people won’t understand. “What do you
mean, you have to prepare?” or “I thought the holiday was tomorrow?” Most other
religions don’t have so many holidays during the year, so there’s not that much
preparation that they have to do, I guess.
[How would you feel if you lived in a place where everybody was Jewish?] [I’d]
have a good feeling every day, ’cause everybody knows there’s a holiday. It would be
fun, ‘cause I mean, it wouldn’t be boring on Shabbat ‘cause when you can’t . . . really
do anything, there’s always somebody around. That’s why I go to [Jewish] camp, too.
We just had Simchas Torah here the other day. . . . It was really pathetic. I
mean, on Thursday night, there were four little kids there, and there were less
than 20 people all together. And then, Friday morning, there were 11 men at the
big shul [temple], and there were 10 at the little shul.
When I have kids, I want to bring them up in a Jewish community. And from
the looks of it here, there might be a Jewish community. I mean, there is one now,
but it’s dwindling away, or starting to rebuild itself. But it will probably take a
while before it actually becomes a large Jewish community again, when people
start coming and bringing their children to the temple and actually doing some-
thing. And even if I’m not married, I’d like to be in a place where I could walk
to the temple on Saturday, or I could just go down the street and I won’t have to
travel so far to where I could get some good kosher meat.
If the other people that are out there, if the reason that they don’t come [to
temple] is also probably ‘cause their parents [don’t] . . . I was just speaking to
a friend of mine last week who’s Jewish, and I said to him, “When was the last
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time you were in temple? I’m just curious.” I was just joking around with him, of
course. And, he was like, “Yeah, I haven’t been there in a while, you know. It’s
pretty sad. My parents don’t follow anything, so I don’t,” he basically said.
A couple of years ago, I had some anti-Semitic things happen. But that was
cleared up. I mean, it wasn’t cleared up, but they, I don’t know. . . . There’s a few
kids in school that I still know are anti-Semites. Basically Jew haters.
I was in a woods class, and there was another boy in there, my age, and he
was in my grade. He’s also Jewish, and he used to come to the temple some-
times and went to Hebrew school. But then, of course, he started hanging around
with the wrong people, and some of these people were in my class, and I guess
they were making fun of him. And a few of them started making swastikas out of
wood. So I saw one and I said to some kid, “What are you doing?” and the kid said
to me, “Don’t worry. It’s not for you. It’s for him.” And I said to him, “What?!?”
And he walked away. And after a while, they started bugging me about it, and
they started saying remarks and things and. . . . Finally, it got to a point where I
had them thrown out of class . . . ‘cause I just decided to speak up.
And there was one kid that I didn’t have thrown out because I didn’t think he
was as harmful as they were. But it turned out, as the year went on, I had a little
incident with him, too.
It was one of the last days of school, and . . . I came into the class and I said
to myself, “This is it. If he says something to me today, I’m gonna go hit him.” So
I walked in there and I was just walking around, and he started bugging me again,
so I did the same thing. I just went up to him and I pushed him, and he must’ve
been 300 pounds. And I just started pushing him and I said, “Come on, let’s go
already. I’m sick of you.” I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I know I
got pulled away. And he walked by me again and he goes, “You ready for the sec-
ond Holocaust?” And then I think I had him thrown out. Yeah, you see, I went up
to the teacher and I said to her, “I’m either gonna leave the class or they leave.”
It was funny ‘cause one of the kids I got thrown out actually wasn’t that harm-
ful. I don’t know, he was just like a little follower on the side. And it turns out last
year, I was on the track team and he decided to do track, and I became friends
with him. And I got to know him, and . . . apparently his grandfather had con-
verted to Judaism before he died. This year, I’m pretty good friends with him, and
every time I’m talking to him, he’s always mentioning Judaism. And he’s very
interested in Judaism and he told me that he would like to convert himself. He just
asked me last week if he could come to the temple.
He understands a lot now. So, I mean, he was hanging around with the wrong
[crowd]. They didn’t care. I mean, they weren’t doing anything in the class, any-
ways. They were just sitting around. Yeah, druggies basically.
[Do your teachers understand your culture?] Yeah, when I tell them I’m
gonna be out of school for the holidays and they say, “Okay, don’t worry. Make
it up, don’t worry.” They know about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur [major
Jewish holidays], but they don’t know about Sukkot. There’s the first day and
the last day. After Yom Kippur, I say, “I’m gonna be out these other days” and
they go, “Oh, I thought the holidays were over with,” and I go, “No, there’s
a few more.” But they’re nice about it anyway. I mean, sometimes, once in a
while, someone gets a little frustrated. You know, if I come in the next day after
a holiday and I’m not ready for the test ‘cause I couldn’t write or do anything
to study for it, but I make up my work in pretty good time. And I don’t usually
have any trouble.
[How do you celebrate holidays with your family?] With pride and tradition!
[laughs] I usually have to stay around here ‘cause I work in the temple. But if we
can, we invite somebody over for the Seder [Passover dinner]. It’s nice to have
people over for the holidays. It makes the holiday more enjoyable.
I like the taste of chicken on a Friday night—that I’ve waited for all week
long. It’s just not the same on Wednesday night. You can’t even smell it the
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same. It’s different. I like deli stuff: corned beef, a nice sandwich, a little pickle,
you know. I like kugel too. All the Jewish food’s good. On like Shavuos or Pesach
or Sukkot, we usually get special fruits, like the new spring fruits, the first fruits
of the harvest.
[Pesach, or Passover] is my favorite holiday. I love the preparation for it. I
don’t like it after the third day because there’s no more seders, and there’s noth-
ing left to do except for waiting it out. I mean, it wouldn’t be so bad. . . . You
see, if I have to go to school, I have to go to school in the middle. But if I didn’t
have to go to school, then I could sit home and kind of enjoy it. But I have to go
to school, and I just say it’s not the same when you see other food that you can’t
eat. I mean, it would be a whole different feeling if you saw so many other people
eating matzoth or whatever.
When I went to [Jewish] day school, it was nice to have people who were
Jewish around you. I mean, it made you understand. When I came [to public
school] in the ninth grade, it was hard ‘cause I didn’t hardly know anybody, and I
didn’t know what to expect ‘cause it was such a different curriculum.
The Role of Positive Pressure

[Good grades] give you confidence, show you what you’re doing . . . and [help you] keep
on going.
I haven’t done really bad in a while. . . . I mean occasionally, I’ll do bad on a test or
something, but I’ll just bring it back up after, ‘cause I’ll feel bad after. “Ugh, I really did
bad. I should have done really well.” And I just try and do it better the next time. . . . Let
myself slip a little bit and then I’ll go back. I’ll take a break and go on.
Growing up at an early age, [my parents taught me] like what was right and wrong
and the basics of Judaism. . . . One summer, my mother was teaching me Hebrew. She’s
fair. . . . She doesn’t keep me bound, keep me in. You know, “Stay here; don’t go any-
where. You can’t go out if you have to.” She trusts me. . . . Most of the time, I can see
why she wouldn’t want me to do some things.
Most [teachers] are understanding. I mean, if you don’t know how to do something,
you can always just go ask them. And ask them again and again and again. [He singles
out one particular teacher, a math teacher he had in ninth grade.] ’Cause I never really did
good in math ’til ninth grade and I had him. And he showed me that it wasn’t so bad, and
after that I’ve been doing pretty good in math and I enjoy it.
There’s some teachers that understand the kids better than other teachers. . . . They
teach from the point of view of the kid. They don’t just come out and say, “All right, do
this, blah, blah, blah.” I mean, in a way, they like, sometimes joke around with the kid.
They try to act like the student. . . . They’re not so one-tone voice.
[A bad teacher is] one who just . . . for example, some student was doing really bad
on his tests, test after test after test. The teacher would just correct them and that’s it.
Wouldn’t say anything to the student. . . .
I try to run [track] as often as I can. I mean, during the season you kinda have to run
every day just to keep in shape. But I like to run anyways, ‘cause when you run you think
about everything and just . . . it gives you time, in a way, [to] relax, and just get your mind
in a different place.
I do a lot of drawing. I’ve been drawing for years. Sometimes it’s just doodling or
drawing strange designs or things like that. But I enjoy it. It relaxes me to sit down, flip on
my radio, anything I want to listen to and just draw away. It just puts you away from the
rest of the world.
Some of my friends have an influence on me, too, to do well in school. My friends
from [Jewish] camp, I mean, they all do pretty good in school and we’re all close friends.
Whenever one of us gets in, if we ever got into some sort of trouble, we’d bail each other
out of it. Because, well, I mean, we all trust each other, basically. We keep in touch a lot.
We’ll always be friends.
I run up my phone bill talking to them ‘cause they’re all out of state. [My mother] tells
me to write letters [laughs]. But sometimes it’s hard ‘cause sometimes, in a way, I live off
my friends. They’re like a type of energy, like a power source.
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Commentary
W
hen asked to describe himself, Avi said he was “fun-loving and reli-
gious,” adjectives that might not ordinarily be juxtaposed in this way,
yet, curiously, his description was an apt one. Deeply involved in his
religion, as was apparent from his earnest and responsible attitude about his work
at the synagogue, he was also a gregarious and playful teenager who enjoyed
camp, sports, and practical jokes. A little digging may reveal how Avi was able to
develop these seemingly divergent qualities.
Because both of his parents were teachers, and given the immense importance
of scholarship within religious education in the Jewish culture, it was no surprise
that Avi had done well in school. However, the perception that all Jewish children
are good students, what has often been called a “positive stereotype,” has placed
an undue burden on many youths. Like the “model minority” myth surrounding
the academic achievement of Asian students, the consequences of this “positive
stereotype” are negative because they treat a whole class of students in the same
way, without allowing for individual differences.
Avi’s enormous commitment to his religious community in the “small syn-
agogue” was evident: He spoke Hebrew and worked hard at it, he studied the
Torah, and he was clear about the love he had for his culture and religion. But the
price Avi was paying for upholding his religion and culture was often steep. The
mismatch of his culture with that of the school was evident in many ways, espe-
cially when it came to organizational policies and practices. For example, during
his interviews, Avi said that he had accepted that most of his teachers and class-
mates did not pronounce his name correctly. He appreciated that most of them
tried to be understanding about the Jewish holidays, although they usually did
not understand what holiday observance meant within the context of Judaism. His
days off were always at odds with those of the other students, and the curriculum
was at odds with his experience. Because remaining somewhat unassimilated is a
hard choice, Avi’s desire to move from Talbot when he had his own family was
not surprising.
Other problems Avi talked about concerned his social life and the lack of
friends in his community. For a teenager, making the decision between staying
home on Friday evening with family or going out with friends can be difficult.
Incidents of anti-Semitism in school were also painful reminders that being differ-
ent from the majority can still be dangerous in our society. The decisiveness with
which he handled these particular incidents revealed his self-confidence and desire
to take control of his life (by “having them taken out of the class”), although in
his hesitant explanation, it was also evident that he felt powerless (“But that was
cleared up. I mean, it wasn’t cleared up, but they, I don’t know . . .”). The inci-
dents also revealed his own stereotypes and social class biases about those he
called “druggies.”
Straddling two worlds, Avi was constantly confronted with the need to accom-
modate the outside world. This is a challenge historically faced by most immi-
grants. As expressed by Stephan Brumberg in describing the experience of Jewish
immigrants in New York City at the turn of the twentieth century, “In the immi-
grant world, learning to live simultaneously in two worlds may have been required
for successful adaptation.”2 What is unique in Avi’s case is that this balancing act
was increasingly taking place with those who had been here for more than one or
two generations, not simply with new arrivals.
Jewish culture is intertwined with religion and tradition, rather than with
nationality as in other groups, and this can make maintaining cultural ties diffi-
cult. Although our society claims to be secular, clearly it is not. Rather, it is openly
a Christian nation, as can be seen in the abundance of Christian symbols and arti-
facts, from the daily prayer in Congress to the crèches that adorn small towns in
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New England, where Avi comes from, at Christmas. Added to this is the weight of
centuries of oppression, minority status, and marginality to which Jews have been
subjected. Even in societies where they have been assimilated, Jews have often
been victimized and treated as scapegoats.3 Given this long history of oppression,
Jews throughout the world have had to think long and hard about the balance
between the degree of accommodating to host societies and maintaining their
cultural traditions. The results have ranged widely—from becoming completely
assimilated and losing all traces of their roots to remaining within religious and
cultural enclaves removed from any but the most basic and necessary exchanges
with non-Jews.4
Pressure toward assimilation and the accommodations made to it are only one
reflection of the diversity in the Jewish community in the United States, which
has often been portrayed in a one-dimensional manner. However, Jews differ in
religiosity, tradition, political viewpoints, language, and social class, among other
characteristics. The religious tenets in Judaism itself—that is, Orthodox, Reform,
and Conservative elements—reflect this diversity. In addition, some Jews who are
not religious at all—secular Jews—are still profoundly Jewish in terms of cultural
values. Some Jews speak Hebrew and others speak Yiddish, although others speak
neither. Jews also differ in their viewpoints on relations with the Arab world and
on Zionism.
Besides his religion and track, another source of positive pressure for Avi was
his Jewish friends, who are, in his eloquent phrase, “a type of energy, like a power
source.” That peers can have this kind of influence on young people is often over-
looked by schools and parents, yet it is the very reason for the existence of such
institutions as Portuguese American schools, Hebrew camps, and Saturday culture
schools in the Chinese community.
Avi Abramson was straddling two worlds, trying to be both an American and
a Jew. He was maintaining a difficult balancing act between complete assimilation
into the mainstream of U.S. life and holding onto his religion and culture. This is
not easy, even for seasoned adults. For Avi, it meant not giving in to assimilation-
ist forces, while also accommodating those parts of his life to U.S. society that
would not compromise his values. When we last checked in with him, Avi had
moved to Israel and had become a rabbi.5

1. Do you think Avi’s school life would have been different if he had not played on the
track team? How? What implications can you draw from this for schools?
2. The United States officially supports the “separation of church and state,” but is it pos-
sible for teachers to affirm Avi’s culture and background without bringing religion into
the school? Think about some ways this might be done.
3. Friends are, in Avi’s words, “like a power source.” How can teachers use this power
source to advantage? Think of strategies that teachers and schools might develop to
build on positive peer pressure.
Notes for the Case Study: Avi Abramson

1. We appreciate Diane Sweet’s work in locating and interviewing Avi, and in providing extensive
background information for this case study. Diane teaches courses in language and writing at the
Wentworth Institute of Technology in Massachusetts.
2. Brumberg (1986), p. 2.
3. Wistrich (2010).
4. For an examination of the pressure Jews feel to become assimilated in U.S. society, see Lipset and
Raab (1995).
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Jasper and Viena

J
asper and Viena Alejandro-Quinn1 are brother and sister who
live with their parents on an American Indian reservation in
Alejandro-Quinn Northwest Washington near the border with Canada. When
asked how they identify themselves ethnically and culturally, they
both said, “Filipino and Native.” Jasper replied, “Technically,
Native American,” and they each named their tribal affiliations as
Paiute, Swinomish, and Visayan. Then Jasper added, “[A]nd probably like one-
eighth Irish, maybe less—like a drop.” When discussing cultural identity, they
included reflections about spiritual practices learned from family as well as their
journey navigating religious and nonreligious beliefs and practices. Jasper was
exploring atheism; Viena was planning to become baptized a Catholic, like her
cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents.
Jasper at age 13, who was finishing the seventh grade, and Viena, age 16,
who was just completing her sophomore year of high school, have a great deal in
common with many young U.S. teens. They both like watching movies and listen-
ing to hip-hop, R&B, and rock. Among their favorite foods, they both list adobo
(Filipino cuisine) and fried bread, along with other dishes that have become more
familiar to many American teenagers, such as burritos, various vegetarian dishes,
chicken, and steak. Viena’s favorite books are the Twilight series2 and she enjoys
playing soccer. She plans to go to college to become a pediatrician. Jasper likes to
read fiction—he reported reading Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian at least 10 times.3 He said, “I could connect with the character. I
connected as Indian. Also, it was Indian humor—telling jokes about white people.
That kind of thing.” He is cultivating his interest in filmmaking and considering it
as a future profession.
Jasper and Viena’s parents are professionals in the field of education who
are deeply involved in their children’s education. They are also both in gradu-
ate school at the local state university. Their dad works there as the director of a
student center that focuses on the needs of college students of color and is also
a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program.
Their mom, a former teacher, is currently earning her master’s degree in educa-
tion, with a focus on Indian Education. Growing up with parents who are college-
educated has exposed Jasper and Viena to a world of ideas, conversations, and
opportunities that may not be typical for many Native students, or for other teens
their age. Yet having parents involved in their education did not protect them
from the challenges that many Native students face in their schooling experiences.
The schools where Viena and Jasper are currently enrolled are comprised of
mostly White students, what the U.S. Department of Education Office of Indian
Education (OIE) calls “low-density” public schools, where less than 25 percent
of the student body is American Indian/Alaskan Native (AIAN).4 The elementary
school they attended enrolls approximately 25 percent Native students, while Jas-
per’s current middle school enrolls 15 percent, and Viena’s current high school
enrolls only 8 percent Native students. Both the middle and high school demo-
graphics are listed as 80 percent White. This represents a dramatic shift from the
school Viena attended in kindergarten, which was a Bureau of Indian Education
(BIE) school on the reservation that serves Native students almost exclusively.5
However, their parents moved them out of the BIE schools because they found the
academic expectations to be too low, which they attributed to the faculty being
staffed by mostly White teachers who had little experience with Native students
and Native ways of knowing.
Jasper’s and Viena’s descriptions of their experiences are consistent with some
of the students who provided information about themselves, their families and
communities, and their school experiences to the National Indian Education Study
(NIES) of 2009. The two-part study, conducted by the National Center for Edu-
cation Statistics (NCES) for the U.S. Department of Education OIE, reported on
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the educational experiences of American Indian and Alaska Native students in

grades 4 and 8.6 The study was designed in consultation with American Indian
and Alaska Native educators and researchers from across the country, and one
of its goals was for Native students to report on their knowledge and schooling
experiences. This study reinforces what many researchers have found: American
Indian/Alaskan Native student experiences are not consistent in U.S. schools.7 For
example, while it is worth celebrating the fact that over 50 percent of the students
surveyed planned to attend college, it certainly begs the question: What is happen-
ing to the other 40 or more percent? It also underscores research by the National
Indian Education Association, which reveals the national graduation rate for
American Indian high school students was 49.3 percent in the 2003–2004 school
year compared to 76.2 percent for White students.8 These data are consistent with
research by Susan C. Faircloth and John W. Tippeconnic III indicating the urgent
concern about Native student high school graduation rates. In the seven states
with the highest percentage of AIAN students, as well as five states in the Pacific
and Northwestern regions of the United States, less than 50 percent, on average, of
Native students graduate each year.9
These alarming statistics inform Jasper’s and Viena’s family commitment
to holding their children to rigorous educational standards, and this dedication
appears in Jasper’s and Viena’s high academic achievement, despite some of the
difficulties they described. Their comments were laced with hopefulness and punc-
tuated with what Jasper calls “Indian humor.” The three themes that emerged
from their interview point to some of the triumphs and struggles that many Ameri-
can Indian/Alaskan Native students face in U.S. schools: navigating home culture
versus school culture, preserving identity with the support of family, and fighting
the perpetuation of false assumptions.
Navigating Home Culture Versus School Culture

Jasper: My culture? I honor my elders and community members whenever they are
praying, like the Native way, like drumming, that kind of thing. My culture is as
important as it can be—as much as I am exposed to it. My parents take me to
events and that kind of thing with my grandmother or whatever. I guess just
the kind of things—the day-to-day things that sort of happen. Like whenever
people thank the Creator for the food and stuff. That’s important to me. I have
also learned a lot from my cousins and from the University Center for Students
of Color—what it means to be Native: the kind of jokes you tell, the way you talk,
the slight distrust of the government, that kind of thing—you take up manner-
isms from your family.
Viena: Being around the people who are the same as you—you pick up the manner-
isms from food to religion to clothes—it is just there.
Jasper: [About the fifth-grade student group called Tribal Council] My teacher who
started the Tribal Council said that someone approached her and said the Na-
tives were not being represented (in the school). I got into Council because I
was Native. . . . It was a fun thing to do. I designed a mural. We painted it! You
just need to do something that breaks away from the monotonous habit of the
school day—that makes it exciting and interesting. That’s why I liked it, it was
different. I was getting a better day than the rest of the kids who were not Native
because they were not getting to go to council. It was fun.
Viena: The school district just says you come to school to learn and they don’t teach
about [cultural identity], but they don’t forbid it. Recently in my honors English
class, this book was called Bless Me Ultima.10 We worked in groups. I was in
one group and we had to answer all these questions about our beliefs and ev-
erything. That’s when [cultural identity] comes into play in school, when there’s
an actual study on it.
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In the mostly White schools [off the reservation], the Native kids sit together.
All the Mexican kids sit together—everyone’s comfort zone is with the people they
can relate to the most. I notice how different it is when I leave the reservation—the
people there are so different. I learned how to get along with both kinds of people
when I was young. I have friends from both. I am one of the only persons who can
go back and forth . . . . [A]t my high school the majority are White. When I was at the
reservation school, it was an all-Native school and then going to the public school
off the reservation and seeing nobody who looks like me. . . . The school I am at
right now, they do not really accept people who are different.
Jasper: I hang out with the Native kids at my school—I know them better than the rest of
the people there. Just cuz you know them better. And we have the same humor.
The teachers who I know—they do not understand my culture. Because I do
not really expose it. I would say to teachers, be able to understand it or know
about it . . . admitting that you don’t know it. Take the information you get from
the person. Show an interest in it, but do not put people on the spot if you don’t
want to talk about it. One time, I had a substitute teacher, he was probably the
only ethnic teacher I have ever had. It was just for one day. It wasn’t like an in-
depth occasion. Actually, there was not much of a connection because it would
take longer to identify with him . . . but I was excited because he was the only
teacher who was ethnic. Just for one day.
Preserving Identity with the Support of Family

Jasper: During the summer sometimes we go to Powwows, and I used to dance and I am
going to start dancing again. When I am there, it is really cool. It is more of an ex-
perience that I have always been around. That’s one of the places my parents take
us. They also take us to Filipino cultural night at the university. That kind of thing.
My father took me to Hawaii and I met all those Filipinos there . . . also Powwows,
events that have Natives and Filipinos present. Seeing speakers at the university
or community: we go to lots of [those] kinds of events. I do not think school and
identity are connected. Not really. . . . Identity is just part of my life.
Viena: I think my family wants me to go to school because they see education as an
opportunity to express yourself, but right now in high school it is not really where
they do intense critical thinking on things that I think are important to learn
about—regular math, science, English—until you get into college. Racism or sex-
ism or anything: They do not even face that in high school—they don’t address it
in class. I think the teachers get kind of surprised by how much I know about stuff
like that. They do not expect me to know anything about racism or anything—and
growing up around the Center for Students of Color [at the university]—when I
bring it up in school my teachers just change the subject so they do not have to
involve the rest of the class in the conversation. I think my parents have filled in
that gap that my school does not do. We have conversations with my parents
about things that really happen in the world; the school should be teaching about
it. If kids were exposed to it at an earlier age other than college, it might make a
change in life. Like if you grow up in a certain kind of village, you are pressured to
think a certain way about people. I have not been forced at all to do that. My par-
ents let me make my own choice and they give me the whole picture to look at. I
am going to go to the university and study pediatrics and then I am going to coun-
tries where they need more doctors and help the kids there . . . and then make a
lot of money and get a big house . . . and I really want to make a difference.
Jasper: My ambitions are to be a movie director or write scripts like a storyteller with mov-
ies. If filmmaking was part of school, it would be better. I watch a lot of movies and
read a lot of books. I have been in a video workshop with “Native Lens”11 . . . being
a storyteller with movies. School is for preparing people to be part of our society . . .
part of the society of America that we live in. My purpose for going to school—cuz
my parents tell me to do it, [and] I want to feel that I am learning things.
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Fighting the Perpetuation of False Assumptions

Viena: Most of the time I feel comfortable in school, unless the teacher talks about
something that is not accurate. I do not know if I am supposed to raise my hand
and say, “That is not true.”
Jasper: I don’t really feel comfortable in school. Things have happened to make me
feel uncomfortable, so it just doesn’t really matter to me. In fifth grade we
had this big study-thing on Native Americans . . . and the teacher spelled one
of the tribal names wrong, and I said, “One of the spelling of the tribes was
wrong.” I was annoyed. Then my mom told the teacher how to spell it—and the
teacher said, “I saw it this way in the book.” So it was really difficult for her to
admit that a book could be wrong and a Native person could be correct—so
the teacher left both ways of spelling it on the board so kids would see both
ways to spell it.
Viena: The teachers, when they first get to a community, they should not automatically
think the students are going to warm up to them and they should not act like
they know what they are doing. They should get to know the place a little bit and
get to know the children a little more before they start making assumptions or
accusations. I know here on the reservation the students are not going to warm
up to you [as a teacher]—it’s going to be tough. I live here—we are not used to
having a lot of change. We have had the same things for years now; if there is
just a new person coming in—the parents and grandparents won’t be like “Hey
welcome!” They will be nice, but not trusting automatically. Here on the reserva-
tion, [the teachers] come in and automatically think we need help or something,
or they think we are the disadvantaged kids or whatever. There was a time, I was
in third grade, there was a film about Native Americans, something in the movie
I knew wasn’t right and I came home really sad about the Paiute. The movie said
the so-called pioneers came westward. They were in some fort and their fort was
encircled by the Paiute and burnt to the ground. The whole class got to watch
that film. The class was saying how horrible the Paiute were. My mom went in
and talked to the teacher; she said to the teacher, “Did you know Viena is Pai-
ute?” She could not deal with it. She could not deal with the fact—the European
Americans did bring diseased blankets, how many people died. You cannot
just say one side. Eventually, my mom made the teacher apologize to me. The
teacher said something like, “What do you expect me to do, apologize every time
we teach about slavery? Every time we teach about these things?” She needed
a reality check. Our people did not just attack people for no reason. It is true that
Indians did burn down forts, but it is the way in which the story has been told
[that bothers me]. Why did they have to defend themselves in this way?. . .
When people ask about your identity, there is sometimes a genuine want-
ing to know, and then there are those who put you in an awkward situation.
They have asked me about my background. Let’s say we were learning about a
certain tribe or something. There is a teacher at my high school right now, and
there is a Cambodian girl in my class and a Thai girl in my class and when-
ever there is anything about Asia at all, they expect them to know the answers
about Asia! Even if they have never been to Asia or as if they would know about
everything Chinese or something. Stupidity. Stereotyping. Even though I am
Native, and I know about my tribe, I am not going to know about the Cherokee
tribe or something. I would ask my teachers not to do that.
My teachers don’t understand my culture. I don’t have any teachers that
really know anything about my culture at all. They really never experienced any
of the cultural things we do. They should educate themselves more about the
minority students who go to our school. I feel like they throw all of the minority
kids into a group and say they are all the same; they are just a minority. There
are so many different cultures; I think the teachers should really focus and learn
more about them.
M04_NIET7232_07_SE_C04.indd 131 03/11/17 11:39 AM

Commentary
V
iena and Jasper sincerely expressed wanting to learn new things while
reflecting on schooling experiences that are unique to their circum-
stances. Yet at the same time, some aspects of their schooling are parallel
to findings from reports about Native students. Of the approximately 624,000
AI/AN students in the U.S. K–12 school system, about 93 percent attend public
schools, while only 7 percent attend Bureau of Indian Affairs schools.12 Jasper
and Viena’s parents faced a difficult dilemma when navigating home culture
versus school culture and selecting their schools; their mother explained, “I
am happy they survived another year. In some ways there are two choices: the
Tribal School and the local public school district. One offers a cultural link, the
Tribal School, but not very high academic standards. The other offers no cultural
links and a little bit higher academic standards.” When families are forced to
choose between maintaining cultural links and striving for rigorous academic
challenge, our education system is surely failing them, no matter which choice
they make. Students cannot flourish academically or culturally in an environ-
ment where they merely “survived another year.”
The history of centuries-long injustices wrought upon Native communities
is reflected in the multifaceted story of Indian education. Yet a resilient spirit
of self-determination and resistance to colonization has been documented by
researchers Donna Deyhle, Karen Swisher, Tracy Stevens, and Ruth Trinidad
Galván.13 This resistance reverberates in Viena’s and Jasper’s assertion of the
Native perspective as a counter-narrative to the school perspective. With the sup-
port of their parents, Viena and Jasper fought the perpetuation of false assump-
tions through retelling historical events and acknowledging Native languages
through accurate spelling; their family also battled the legacy of low expecta-
tions and segregated schooling. Their mother reported, “It is frustrating because
I keep going in there and making all these meetings and making all these calls,”
to question the public school about admission into the Gifted and Talented pro-
gram, from which Jasper and Viena were excluded. Their parents also found
that the school counselors did not recommend Jasper for more advanced classes,
such as algebra. Yet another teacher expressed that Jasper needed to be chal-
lenged; she thought he was bored in school. In addition to the perpetuation of
institutionalized racism, these competitive and exclusive practices of tracking
stand in stark contrast to traditional values held by many Native communities.
For example, in a report on Indian education by researchers from the Clearing-
house on Native Teaching and Learning, the topic of gifted and talented educa-
tion was addressed from a Native viewpoint:
Indian education dates back to a time when all children were identified as gifted
and talented. Each child had a skill and ability that would contribute to the health
and vitality of the community. Everyone in the community was expected and
trained to be a teacher to identify and cultivate these skills and abilities. The elders
were entrusted to oversee this sacred act of knowledge being shared. That is our
vision for Indian education today.14
This comprehensive study and action plan, developed by Native research-

ers and educators, indicts educational neglect by the government. It advances
specific “achievement and success goals” in four areas to empower Indian
communities in their educational future. These goals include (1) “teachers,
administrators, school boards, and tribes” about the critical need to develop
relationships between school districts and tribes; (2) “health and well-being”: to
monitor the health and well-being of Native American children, youth, adults,
and families, with culture-based prevention programs; (3) “academic achieve-
ment and educational attainment” advocating for Native students’ proficiency
in reading, writing, and math at various grade levels and at high school gradu-
M04_NIET7232_07_SE_C04.indd 132 03/11/17 11:39 AM

About Terminology
American Indians, Native Americans, Indigenous People
A s is the case for other groups, what to call the original
inhabitants of what is now the United States has been
a contested issue for many years. Should we refer to them
Given all these considerations, we have favored the terms
American Indian, Indian, and Native people in this book
because we have noted that people from these groups generally
as Native Americans, Indians, American Indians, Native peo- use them most often.
ple, Indigenous people, or some other term? It is important to There are many commonalities among all indigenous
emphasize that Native people also wrestle with terminology, groups, just as there are among most Latino groups or people
and different people make different decisions about what they of African descent. These may include a worldview, a com-
want to be called. Some adamantly oppose the use of Native mon historical experience, and shared conditions of life. At the
American, while others reject the term Indian. During the same time, each nation has its own unique history, traditions,
1960s, Native American became the preferred term because it language, and other differences. We should also point out that
reflected a people’s determination to name themselves and to the names of most American Indian nations generally translate
have others recognize them as the original inhabitants of these to “the people.” Most Native people prefer to use the name of
lands. During the late 1980s and 1990s, the use of this term their specific tribe or nation, and we have followed their lead in
declined, and American Indian and Native people became more this book. However, it is not always possible to do so because
common. Although the term Native American has recently overarching terms such as Native American and American
become popular again in some quarters, many Native peo- Indian are generally used, both in the research and in reports.
ple reject this term because it is sometimes used by European In addition, much of the research literature documenting the
Americans whose early ancestors came from Europe and who experiences of American Indian groups does not distinguish the
see themselves as native to this land. When speaking among different ethnic groups. As a result, we are sometimes obliged
themselves, some Native people prefer to use the term Indian; to use a generic term in spite of our preference to distinguish
however, Indian also refers to people from India, so if we use along ethnic lines.
this term, we usually add the qualifier American.
ation; and (4) “assessment of learning,” that is, supporting Native students by
offering more intervention and direction to students and families to improve
student learning.15
It is notable that all four goals of the report engage tribes and families in the
solutions to academic achievement. Researcher Sandy Grande concurs with this
stance in her theory of “Red Pedagogy,” which reimagines schools as sites of
social transformation, honoring the principles of sovereignty, emancipation, and
equity.16 Throughout this text, we have noted that an essential component of mul-
ticultural education includes authentically involving families in classrooms and
schools. Researchers K. Tsianina Lomawaima and Teresa L. McCarty argue that,
for many Native families who bear the burden of centuries of broken promises
with government entities and the haunting collective memory of American Indian
boarding schools, it a matter of urgency for schools and teachers to cultivate col-
laborative, respectful relationships with families that draw on their knowledge and
values.17
Jasper and Viena told us about a wealth of activities that affirm and pre-
serve their identity with the support of family. Yet most of those experiences were
completely unrelated to school. Jasper said it plainly: “I do not think school and
identity are connected.” Many questions emerge out of the glaring gap between
Jasper’s and Viena’s home culture and school culture. Robust academic, arts, and
athletic experiences are the rights of every child in both reservation schools and
public schools. How can these essentials of education be connected and respectful
of cultural identities? For example, if more of their White teachers were fluent in
multicultural education and Indian education theories of pedagogy, how might it
change their relationship to schooling? How might Jasper’s engagement in school
M04_NIET7232_07_SE_C04.indd 133 03/11/17 11:39 AM

differ if he had memories of more than one day with one person of color as a
teacher? How can the development of more teaching professionals of AI/AN herit-
age be supported by teacher education programs?

1. With supportive parents who are familiar and comfortable with the communication
systems of public schools, Viena and Jasper were vocal about misrepresentations
and inaccuracies concerning Native life. Other students may have knowledge to add
to the classroom, but they may feel much more inhibited. What can you do to make
the voices and knowledge of students, parents, and elders more audible and visible
in school?
2. A statement by the National Education Association (NEA) in NEA Closing Achievement
Gaps: An Association Guide (2006) purports, “We will never accept that American
Indian or Alaska Native students, or Asian or Pacific Islander students, cannot handle
the demands of a college preparation program.” If this is the case, what are teachers’
unions doing to stand behind that statement? How can you engage your local union
to be proactive about college preparation and career counseling for all youth in your
school? Do you think Viena’s goals to pursue a career in medicine will be cultivated by
her high school teacher and her coursework?
3. Consider Viena’s comments: “I don’t have any teachers that really know anything
about my culture at all. They should educate themselves more about the minority stu-
dents who go to our school.” How can you educate yourself more about your students?
What steps can you take to, as Sandy Grande advocates, “decolonize your curriculum”?
4. Given Jasper’s engagement with Sherman Alexie’s book The Absolutely True Diary of
a Part-Time Indian (2007), what can teachers learn about their approaches to select-
ing literature and supporting their students’ choices in literature? Considering the role
that literature plays in affirming the identity of students, how can teachers expand the
selection of literature and develop activities around reading to help make students’
identities more visible?
Notes for the Case Study: Jasper and Viena Alejandro-Quinn

1. We would like to thank Dr. Kristen French who conducted this interview with Jasper, Viena, and
their parents. Kristen is an ssociate professor of elementary education at Western Washington Uni-
versity in the Woodring College of Education and is also the WWU Director of Center for Educa-
tion, Equity and Diversity.
2. Meyer (2008).
3. Alexie (2007).
4. More information on the Office of Indian Education can be found at http://indianeducation.org.
5. More information on the Bureau of Indian Education Schools can be found at http://www.bie.edu.
6. Grigg, Moran, & Kuang (2010).
7. Mead, Grigg, Moran, & Kuang (2010).
8. National Indian Education Association in partnership with the National Education Association
(2007). For more information on the NIEA, see http://www.niea.org/index.php.
9. Faircloth & Tippeconnic (2010).
10. Anaya (1999).
11. For more information on “Native Lens,” a program of Longhouse Media that teaches digital film-
making and media skills to indigenous youth as a form of self-expression, cultural preservation,
and social change, see http://www.longhousemedia.org/index.html.
12. National Indian Education Association in partnership with the National Education Association
(2007).
13. Deyhle, Swisher, Stevens, & Galván (2008).
14. Clearinghouse on Native Teaching and Learning (2008). The people: CHiXapkaid (Pavel); Banks-
Joseph; Englebret; McCubbin; Sievers; Bruna; Galaviz; Anderson; Egan; Brownfield; Lockhart;
Grogan; and Sanyal. For more information, see https://education.wsu.edu/students/clearinghouse/.
15. Clearinghouse on Native Teaching and Learning (2008).
16. Grande (2004).
17. Lomawaima & McCarty (2006). On the topic of American Indian Boarding Schools, see the follow-
ing collection of essays: Trafzer, Keller, & Sisquoc (2006).
M04_NIET7232_07_SE_C04.indd 134 03/11/17 11:39 AM

5 Culture, Identity, and
Learning
Y
oung people whose languages and cultures differ from the dominant group
often struggle to form and sustain a clear image of themselves. In addi-
tion, they struggle to have teachers understand who they really are—to
help teachers “understand something inside our hearts,” in the poignant words of
Hoang Vinh—because teachers
and schools too often view stu-
dents’ differences as deficien-
cies. The case studies of Yahaira
León, James Karam, Hoang
Vinh, and Rebecca Florentina
that conclude this chapter pro-
vide diverse and moving exam-
ples of how students’ identities
may be devalued. In spite of
being proud of themselves and
their families and communities,
at one time or another, all of
these young people felt the need
to hide or deemphasize their
identity, culture, or language
in school. Yet this deemphasis
may have had negative conse-
quences for their learning. This
chapter explores the influence
that culture and identity may
have on student learning, and
it reviews a number of promis-
ing pedagogical and curricular
adaptations that teachers and
Lauren Phillips Jackson in Ben Sears’s art class, Amherst-Pelham Regional High School, Amherst Massachusetts. schools can make.
Acrylic painting, 2014.
Countering Color-Blind Classrooms

Many teachers and schools, in an attempt to be color-blind, do not want to
acknowledge cultural or racial differences. “I don’t see Black or White,” a teacher
will say, “I see only students.” This statement assumes that to be color-blind
is to be fair, impartial, and objective because to see differences, in this line of
“[Teachers] just understand some things outside, but they cannot understand something inside our hearts.”
—Hoang Vinh, interviewee
135
M05_NIET7232_07_SE_C05.indd 135 03/11/17 11:42 AM

reasoning, is to see defects and inferiority. Although it sounds fair and honest and
ethical, the opposite may actually be true. If used to mean non-discriminatory in
attitude and behavior, color blindness is not a bad thing. On the other hand, color
blindness may result in refusing to accept differences and therefore accepting the
dominant culture as the norm. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s research demonstrates a
structural understanding of race relations and analyzes color-blind ideology as a
means for Whites to ignore systemic or institutionalized racism. He provides an
historic lens on racism, which underscores the current prevalence of color-blind
ideologies in schools.1
Taking a color-blind stance impedes teachers’ development of racial literacy,
rather than cultivating multicultural perspectives in sociopolitical contexts. In her
book What Does It Mean to Be White?, Robin DiAngelo explains that color-blind
ideology prevents Whites from challenging misinformation and from critiquing
the messages that devalue and discriminate against people of color.2 Furthermore,
Michelle Alexander has argued that legal discrimination through current practices
in the criminal justice system that claim to be color-blind perpetuates the social
stratification of Jim Crow and thus maintains disparities in health, education,
income, and incarceration rates.3 While color-blind racia ideology is an impedi-
ment to developing racial literacy for White people, it can also harm racial literacy
development for some people of color. Research by Helen A. Neville, Tuyet-Mai
Hoang, and Arielle Brown points out that color-blind racial ideology cultivates and
perpetuates internalized racism by leading some people of color to ignore or deny
the social inequities they are experiencing. Neville et al. connect affirmative Black
identity to the concept of critical consciousness and transformative action, which
supports youth to engage in civic action and address problems in their communi-
ties.4 This research on color-blind racial ideology emphasizes the need for teachers
to recognize that identity, difference, and power are all connected in their class-
rooms and in their students’ lives.
Blinders can be used across many lines of difference. In the case of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students, this attitude may be
expressed as “I don’t care what they do in their private lives. I just don’t want
them to broadcast it.” This may be touted as accepting and non-discriminatory,
but the same statement is not generally made about heterosexual students. In both
cases, these attitudes result in denying the identities of particular students, thereby
making them invisible. Such blinders do not support equality.
As we mentioned in Chapter 1, “equal is not the same.” What are the educa-
tional implications of “Equal is not the same”? First, it means acknowledging the
differences that children bring to school, such as their gender, race, ethnicity, lan-
guage, social class, sexual orientation, religion, abilities, and talents, among oth-
ers. The refusal to acknowledge differences often results in schools and teachers
labeling children’s behavior as “deficient” or “deviant.” In other cases, it results in
making students invisible, as happened with James Karam, one of the students in
the case studies presented here.
Second, it means admitting the possibility that students’ identities may influ-
ence how they experience school and, hence, how they learn. Being aware of the
connections among culture, identity, and learning should in no way devalue chil-
dren’s backgrounds or lower our expectations of them, yet this is precisely why so
many educators have a hard time accepting “Equal is not the same.” That is, they
are reluctant to accept this notion because they may feel that, in doing so, they
must lower their expectations or “water down” the curriculum so that all children
can learn. Yet neither of these practices is necessary; on the contrary, it is impera-
tive to raise the bar for all students.
Third, accepting differences also means making provisions for them. When stu-
dents’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds are viewed as strengths on which edu-
cators can draw and build, pedagogy changes to incorporate students’ lives. This
approach is based on the best of educational theory: that individual differences
M05_NIET7232_07_SE_C05.indd 136 03/11/17 11:42 AM

CHAPTER 5 Culture, Identity, and Learning 137
must be taken into account in teaching and that education must begin “where
children are at.” Unfortunately, these ideas are often overlooked when it comes to
cultural and linguistic differences. The fact that Yahaira León, whose case study
appears at the end of this chapter, was fluent in two languages was rarely viewed
as anything but a liability by most of her teachers. But if we are serious about
providing all students with educational equity, then students’ cultures and identi-
ties need to be seen not as a burden, a problem, or even a challenge, but rather as
assets on which to build.
Defining Culture
Before we can ask schools to change in order to teach all students, we need to under-
stand the differences that students bring with them to school. Culture is one of these
differences, and we define it as follows: Culture consists of the values, traditions,
worldview, and social and political relationships created, shared, and transformed
by a group of people bound together by a common history, geographic location, lan-
guage, social class, religion, or other shared identity. Culture includes not only tan-
gibles such as foods, holidays, dress, and artistic expression, but also less tangible
manifestations such as communication style, attitudes, values, and family relation-
ships. These features of culture are more difficult to pinpoint, but doing so is neces-
sary if we want to understand how student learning may be affected.
Power is implicated in culture as well. That is, members of the dominant group
in a society traditionally think of dominant cultural values as “normal,” while they
view the values of subordinated groups as deviant or perhaps even wrong. The
difference in perception is due more to the power of each of these groups than to
any inherent goodness or rightness in the values themselves. For instance, U.S.
mainstream culture stresses the necessity for youngsters to become independent
at an early age, whereas other cultures emphasize interdependence as a major
value. Neither of these values is innately right or wrong; each has developed as
a result of the group’s history, experiences, and needs. However, people with a
U.S. mainstream frame of reference may view as abnormal, or at the very least
curious, the interdependent relationships of Latino children and parents, for
instance. They may characterize Latino children as overly dependent, too attached
to their parents and siblings, and needing more attention than other children. For
their part, Latino families may view U.S. mainstream culture as strange and cold
for its insistence on independence at what they consider too young an age. The
difference in these perceptions is that the values of Latinos do not carry the same
weight, status, or power as those of the dominant group.
In this text, we are concerned primarily with the sociocultural and sociopo-
litical dimensions of identity, rather than with individual psychological identity
formation. Thus, we focus on issues such as power, institutional arrangements in
schools, and the impact of ideology on culture as well as students’ lived realities
and experiences in families and communities. This is not to dismiss the impor-
tance of individual identity development. On the contrary, teachers should under-
stand how children develop their social and cultural selves and how this process
interacts with issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and other variables. The work of
scholars such as A. Wade Boykin, Beverly Daniel Tatum, Gary Howard, and oth-
ers focuses specifically on such matters. All teachers should become familiar with
these theories as well as the sociocultural and sociopolitical perspectives underly-
ing this text.5
We are always on shaky ground when considering cultural differences. The
danger of considering culture lies in overgeneralizing its effects. Overgeneraliza-
tions can lead to gross stereotypes, which in turn may lead to erroneous con-
clusions concerning entire groups of people, not to mention the abilities and
intelligence of individual students. We have all seen some of the more disastrous
consequences of overgeneralizations: rigid checklists of cultural traits of different
M05_NIET7232_07_SE_C05.indd 137 03/11/17 11:42 AM

ethnic groups, the mandate to use certain pedagogical strategies with students of
particular backgrounds, and treatises on supposedly “indisputable” student behav-
iors. Culture, in such instances, is treated as a product rather than a process, and
it is viewed as unchanging and unchangeable. Viewing culture in this way can
also lead to essentializing culture—that is, ascribing particular immutable char-
acteristics to it. This may result in thinking of culture as inherent in individuals
and groups. Kris Gutierrez and Barbara Rogoff describe it as believing that indi-
viduals and groups are “carriers of culture—an assumption that creates problems,
especially as research on cultural styles of ethnic (or racial) groups is applied in
schools.” They suggest using instead a cultural-historical approach stemming from
the theories of Lev Vygotsky that recognizes the histories and valued practices
of cultural groups. Rather than thinking of culture as “pure,” unadulterated, and
unaffected by other circumstances and contexts, they view learning as a process
that takes place within ongoing activity.6 Gutierrez and Rogoff thus distinguish
between understanding cultural practices and locating cultural characteristics
because the latter can be problematic.7 Using the previous example, we would be
in error to view Latino culture as always interdependent, regardless of the situa-
tion. Culture is too complex and too varied for us to conclude that all those who
share a particular background behave in the same way or believe the same things.
Hybridity: Another Way of Understanding Culture

One problem with a static view of culture is that it fails to recognize that our soci-
ety is more heterogeneous than ever. As you can see in the case studies of young
people in this chapter, many of them have multiple identities: Rebecca is not only
a lesbian but also Italian American; Yahaira is Dominican and Puerto Rican; James
is Lebanese and a bike rider. In the case of these young people, all of their identi-
ties are significant to them. With multiple identities of this kind becoming more
and more common, it is impossible to speak about culture as it is lived today, in
this context, as if it were unitary. A major premise of this book is that a static view
of culture contradicts the very notion of multicultural education as presented here.
This brings us to a discussion of hybridity, that is, the fusion of various cul-
tures to form new, distinct, and ever-changing identities. Growing up amidst a
range of cultural influences that substantively shape one’s development and
worldview contributes to cultural hybridity, which is a reality in our own country
as well as internationally. It refers not simply to mixed-race and ethnic identity
because the conceptual understandings of hybridity have grown with the aware-
ness of the limitations of racial categories. This is evident at the institutional level
of the U.S. Census Bureau, which provides the following statement on its website
and census forms:
The racial categories included in the census questionnaire generally reflect a social
definition of race recognized in this country, and not an attempt to define race bio-
logically, anthropologically or genetically. People may choose to report more than
one race to indicate their racial mixture, such as “American Indian and White.”
People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any
race. In addition, it is recognized that the categories of the race item include both
racial and national origin or socio-cultural groups. You may choose more than one
race category.8
Of the 2010 U.S. population of 308,745,538 (estimated), approximately 1.7

percent reported two or more races in their responses to the U.S. Census. Clearly,
what has been called mixed-race, multiracial, biracial, and multi-ethnic identity is
certainly a growing reality. About 4 percent of youth under age 18 in the United
States are of mixed heritage, and the number is growing rapidly. Alejandra Lopez-
Torkos argues that we need to learn to talk about identity in different ways, “allow-
ing for fluidity and multiplicity in racial-ethnic identification.”9 But understandings
M05_NIET7232_07_SE_C05.indd 138 03/11/17 11:42 AM

of hybridity go far beyond listing more than one racial category. This need for
fluidity is also closely tied to conceptions of multilingualism in schools. María E.
Torres-Guzman and Ester J. de Jong point out that multilingualism needs to be
broadly defined, and that views of multilingualism have evolved over time.10 Their
research traces the historical developments of multilingualism to focus on the rela-
tionship between language, culture, race and poverty, and how multilingualism is
a negotiated, lived experience for students, especially in urban areas and in what
Juan Guerra has called transcultural repositioning.11
Some examples can help explain this kind of fluidity and repositioning. In an
ethnographic study of a large, urban, and culturally diverse high school, Laurie
Olsen described how immigrant students felt “caught in the middle,” not really fit-
ting into any category. She found that the “sides” were constantly shifting: While
identity was sometimes defined in terms of nationality, at other times it was defined
in terms of culture, religion, race, or language and sometimes as a combination
of these.12 In another example, Pedro Noguera’s research with Mexican Ameri-
can students in East Oakland illustrates how context influences identity. When
they were in elementary school, the Mexican American children were described by
African American classmates—and frequently referred to themselves—as “White.”
However, in the new social contexts of adolescence and middle school, they began
to view themselves as Mexican Americans, among other identities.13 Daniel Yon’s
research in a Toronto high school illustrates similar complexities: He found, for
example, that a Serbian identified as “Spanish,” while a White male identified
strongly with Guyanese. Yon refers to the shifting notions of identity as “elusive
culture,” that is, a view of culture as an ongoing process that includes not only
race and ethnicity but also popular culture.14
Beyond Race and Ethnicity

Hybridity, then, also refers to how people identify, regardless of which ethnic, cul-
tural, or racial group they may belong to. It recognizes that there are many other
identities besides race and ethnicity; these may include gender, sexual orienta-
tion, geographic location, and professional affiliation, among many others. That
is, hybridity substantiates Nadine Dolby’s point that identity is not “an absolute
state of being,” but rather a variable that is constantly shifting and changing.15 For
example, urban youth often identify with a culture that is an amalgam of various
ethnic, racial, and other identifications. Researchers Nikola Hobbel and Thandeka
K. Chapman argue for conceptualizing identity as process and as category, calling
attention to the signs of alliance across unlikely borders. They emphasize, “No
single aspect of the expression of identity can fully account for cultural and histori-
cal context, even given the fact that race has consistently assumed a central role
in America’s history and imagination.”16 Hip-hop culture is a good example of
this: Incorporating music, dance, visual culture, as well as working-class and often
marginalized urban perspectives, hip-hop represents a unique culture that is not
tied to any one ethnic or racial group although it began in urban communities of
color. In fact, it is not unusual in many suburban, primarily White middle schools
and high schools to see young people identifying principally with urban hip-hop
culture, even though many of these young people have never lived in cities or
known people of color. Recognizing the complexity in culture allows us to under-
stand the many and varied identities taken on by young people.
Influence of Culture on Learning

Learning is at the core of our discussion of culture. That is, we are not interested
in exploring culture simply for the sake of developing awareness of cultural differ-
ences or developing sensitivity to students of diverse backgrounds. These are also
important goals, but considering the troubling history of underachievement and
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marginalization of students of particular backgrounds in our schools—especially

students of color and poor students of all backgrounds—the first priority must be
understanding how educators and schools view students’ cultures and how their
perceptions may, as a result, influence students’ learning and achievement.
While culture is integral to the learning process, it may affect individuals
differently. In other words, culture is not destiny. Given differences in social
class and family structure, individual psychological and emotional differences
and experiences, birth order, residence, and a host of other individual and social
distinctions, it is folly to think that culture alone accounts for all human differ-
ences. Anyone who has children can confirm this truth: Two offspring from the
same parents, with the same culture and social class, and raised in substantially
the same way, can turn out to be as different as night and day. Hence, culture is
neither static nor deterministic; it gives us just one way in which to understand
differences among students. The assumption that culture is the primary deter-
minant of academic achievement can be oversimplistic, dangerous, and coun-
terproductive because, although culture may influence, it does not determine
who we are.
Everyone participates in culture, but many times, members of the culturally
dominant group of a society do not even think of themselves as cultural beings.
For them, culture is something that other people have, especially people who dif-
fer from the mainstream in race or ethnicity. The problem with conceptualizing
culture in this way is that it tends to “exoticize” those people who are not in the
cultural mainstream (and who also, not incidentally, tend to be the most power-
less in society). A more complicated view of culture is needed, especially among
teachers whose classrooms are becoming more diverse every day. There are vast
differences among learners within ethnic groups, and these differences may be
due not just to culture but also to social class, language spoken at home, number
of years or generations in the United States, and simple individual differences.
Let us take the example of social class, an aspect of identity that may be as
important as ethnicity in influencing learning. Because membership within a par-
ticular social group is based on economic factors as well as cultural values, the
working class may differ from the middle class not only in particular values and
practices, but also in the amount and kinds of economic resources they have at
their disposal. Because of these differences, gross generalizations may be made,
thus perpetuating what has been called “the culture of poverty,” that is, a view of
poverty that sees the poor as having no culture or having a culture that is without
any merit whatsoever. Thus, the “culture of poverty” pathologizes the values and
actions of working-class and poor people.
Educators need to become acquainted with far better analyses of poverty,
which, are grounded in an understanding of the larger structural issues that create
and sustain poverty. Paul Gorki’s research rejects deficit perspectives and provides
strategies to create what he calls a pedagogy of engagement for students in pov-
erty, classroom practices that are both instructional and relational. At the same
time, he insists that there is no package of strategies that work for all low-income
children; rather, it is always necessary to partner with people in the community
to learn more specifics about learners’ needs.17 Also, he cautions that the disposi-
tions we bring to our relations with low-income families will greatly influence our
effectiveness. With that in mind, and within a sociopolitical analysis of the influ-
ences of socioeconomic class on students’ learning, Gorski suggests the following
strategies for classrooms and schools:
• Express high expectations through higher-order, engaging pedagogies.
• Enhance family involvement.
• Incorporate arts into instruction.
• Incorporate movement into instruction.
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• Focus intently on student and family strengths.

• Analyze materials for class bias.
• Promote literacy enjoyment.
• Reach out to families early and often.18
He also urges educators to expand our spheres of influence by taking on some
larger social issues of equity that would be particularly beneficial to expanding
educational opportunities for children living in poverty, such as:
• Advocate for universal preschool.
• Nurture relationships with community agencies, including health clinics and
farms (to promote the production and consumption of fresh food).
• Reduce class sizes.
• Increase health services in schools.19
Gorski’s scholarship supports the tenets of this book. His research points to
practices rooted in an ideology of equity, and he underscores the ways in which
educational policy influences practice. In the case of students in poverty, the ine-
qualities in the educational and social environments must be addressed.20 This
work is a direct counterpoint to some popular books and professional develop-
ment programs such as Ruby Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty and
Eric Jensen’s Teaching with Poverty in Mind, which perpetuate the ideology of
deficiencies and the myth of the “culture of poverty.”21
Notwithstanding these caveats about overdetermining its significance, we want
to emphasize that culture is important. One reason for insisting on the significance
of culture is that some people, primarily those from dominated and disenfran-
chised groups within society, have been taught that they have no culture. This has
resulted in, among other things, what Felix Boateng has called deculturalization,
that is, a process by which people are first deprived of their own culture, and then
conditioned into embracing other cultural values.22 This is how the patronizing
term cultural deprivation has come to imply that a group is without culture alto-
gether, although in reality what it means is that some people do not share in the
culture of the dominant group. The research cited in this chapter underscores one
of the central tenets of multicultural education: Everybody participates in culture—
that is, everybody has the ability to create and re-create ideas and material goods
and to affect their world in a variety of ways.
Multicultural education is one way of counteracting the notion that culture
is reserved for the privileged. For example, Hoang Vinh, although only 18 years
old when he was interviewed for our case study, had a more sophisticated under-
standing of culture than do many adults. As you will see, Vinh described Viet-
namese cultural values, behaviors, and expectations without falling into simplistic
explanations for complex phenomena. He was also very accurate in pointing out
cultural differences between his teachers in Vietnam and the United States: He
said that one of his teachers, Ms. Mitchell, expected all students to do things in
the same way but that people from other countries “have different ideas, so they
might think about school in different ways. . . . So she has to learn about that cul-
ture.” As one example, he described how his English teachers praised him for his
fluency in English, although he felt that instead they should have been telling him
to study more. He concluded, “But that’s the way the American culture is. But my
culture is not like that.”
Cultural differences in learning may be especially apparent in three areas:
learning styles or preferences, interactional or communication styles, and language
differences. Examples of the first two areas are explored next in this chapter. Lan-
guage and language issues are considered more fully in Chapter 6, although it
should be understood that language is a major component of culture and is also
part of the discussion here.
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Learning Styles, Preferences, Intelligences, and Power

Learning style is usually defined as the way in which individuals receive and pro-
cess information with the understanding that individuals think and learn best in
different ways.23 Exactly how culture influences learning and learning style is
unclear. For example, an extensive review of scholarship on models of learning
styles found the field to be wide-ranging and conceptually confusing. There are
many and diverse approaches to defining, measuring, and describing learning
styles. Many scholars assert that a reliable measure or categorization of learning
styles has not yet been found. These reports cautioned that considering learning
styles as a fixed trait could lead educators to labeling students and mislead them
to believe that such traits cannot be altered. It can also promote a misguided pre-
scribed view of “matching” teaching and learning styles that could be limiting to
students. These reports suggest that educators’ time and energy are better spent
on investigating theories and practices that more authentically aid instruction.24
In spite of the advances made in understanding how culture might influence learn-
ing, the linear process implied by learning style theory is not convincing. In fact, some
of the early research in this field concentrated on ethnic and racial differences in learn-
ing, a perspective that can skirt dangerously close to racist perceptions of differences
in IQ. It also flies in the face of cultural hybridity and negates the vast pool of learners
who adapt to multiple learning situations and to a range of cultural experiences.
A focus on rigid learning styles is problematic because of its tendency to dichot-
omize learning; it is doubtful that a process as complex as learning can be charac-
terized as having only two poles, four quadrants, or five characteristics, whatever
the theory may assert. Hence, we use the term learning preferences because it is a
more flexible way of approaching differences in learning. A good example is the
case of Hoang Vinh, who loved working in cooperative groups, a learning pref-
erence that is not usually associated with Vietnamese students. Thus, although
learning-style research can be helpful in identifying learning differences related to
ethnicity and culture, its misapplication also runs the risk of oversimplification and
stereotyping and can be used as a rationale for poor or inequitable teaching.
How learning-style theory can be misapplied is evident in reviews of research
on American Indian and Alaska Native education. For example, Donna Deyhle and
Karen Swisher concluded that while learning-style research can point to meaning-
ful adaptations that may improve the educational outcomes of these students, they
also warned of the detrimental consequences of viewing learning-style research
uncritically. Specifically, they pointed out that the depiction of the “nonverbal”
Indian child is reinforced when teachers read that American Indian students pre-
fer observation to performance. They emphasise that it is crucial for teachers to
understand power relations in the classroom, and how these may be even more
significant than supposed learning styles.25 Deyhle builds on that research in the
lessons she learned from the young Navajo men and women with whom she
worked in a more recent study, which echo the themes of this book. While reflect-
ing on diverse learning needs, she emphasizes, “Clearly, cultures don’t represent
a seamless whole. And identities are situational, contradictory, and divergently
shaped by social, political, and economic forces.”26 She noted that these students
address the inequalities of colonization and their schooling as they assert their
Indigenous knowledge while stating these six learning needs:
Lesson 1: “Know who I am!”
Lesson 2: “I am not the same as my grandparents, and don’t use this against me.”
Lesson 3: “Believe in me and appreciate me.”
Lesson 4: “We want a rich and exciting schooling experience.”
Lesson 5: “I want to learn my language and culture.”
Lesson 6: “I’ll never give up who I am.”27
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Navajo researcher Kathryn Manuelito has also underscored the importance

of incorporating Native American epistemologies in schooling for Indigenous stu-
dents while indicting the power relations that can impede Native students’ educa-
tional achievement.28
Power Differences
An example of debilitating power relations can be seen in the case study of James
Karam that follows later in this chapter. Although the Arabic language and Leba-
nese culture were very important to James, they were essentially invisible in his
school. As a result, he learned to deemphasize them in the school setting. This
kind of “invisibility” of Arab Americans and their culture was reversed after the
events of 9/11. A new type of harmful visibility experienced by many Arab Ameri-
cans in school involves “racial profiling” by peers, whereby some students—and
even some adults—may disparage their culture, language, appearance, and reli-
gion and make unfounded, prejudicial accusations. In such a climate, the learning
of all students is negatively affected.
Thus, the sociopolitical context, as well as a constellation of factors such as
child-rearing practices and cultural experiences, wield substantial influence on
students’ learning preferences. Circumstances such as power relationships and
status differentials are also at work, and these may be even more substantial
than child-rearing practices. These power differentials are evident in Rebecca
Florentina’s comments, summarized in her case study at the end of this chapter.
Quite astute in understanding how curriculum and pedagogy can malign stu-
dents’ identities, Rebecca suggested that the major problem in health class was
the curriculum and that one way to address this problem was to “get the health
teachers to put better curriculum for teaching about same sex, transgender, any-
thing, you know?”
Multiple Intelligences and Multicultural Education

Although not specifically related to cultural differences or even related to multi-
cultural education, Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (MI) from
the field of cognitive science and education has implications for culturally com-
patible education.29 According to Gardner’s theory, each human being possesses
eight or nine relatively independent forms of information processing, and each is
a specific “intelligence.” These intelligences include logical-mathematical, linguis-
tic (these first two are the most emphasized in school success), musical, spatial,
bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, naturalistic, intrapersonal, and the ninth—about
which Gardner continues to speculate—existential. Accordingly, Gardner defines
intelligence as the ability to solve problems or develop products that are valued in
a particular cultural setting. The salience of cultural differences in descriptions of
intelligence is evident. Gardner’s research has demonstrated that individuals dif-
fer in the specific profile of intelligences that they exhibit, and these differences
may be influenced by what is valued in their culture. Because a broader range of
abilities is acknowledged in this conception of intelligence, previously discounted
talents of individuals can be considered in a new light.
However, MI theory can also be misapplied. Gardner reports that he “objected
strenuously” to a statewide educational intervention “that described major racial
and ethnic groups in Australia in terms of the intelligences that they purportedly
had and the ones that they purportedly lacked.”30 He recently launched a web-
site called Multiple Intelligences Oasis as the repository of authoritative, reliable
research in a sea of claims about MI theory. The website is replete with research
and resources designed specifically to support continued inquiry about MI theory,
while countering some of the misinformation that is sometimes practiced in its
name.31 The website builds on a paper he released on the 25th anniversary of the
publication of his groundbreaking book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple
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Intelligences; the paper addressed some of the myths and misunderstanding of MI

theory—for example, confusing an intelligence with a learning style, or claiming
that all children are strong in at least one intelligence. He asserts that any seri-
ous application of MI ideas should entail at least two components: (l) an attempt
to individuate education as much as possible and (2) a commitment to convey
important ideas and concepts in a number of different formats.32 Gardner has
branched into the policy arena to focus not only on how human beings should be
understood by scientific study, but also on how they should be nurtured by edu-
cational institutions. His more recent theory, articulated in his book Five Minds
for the Future, describes these five minds as (1) the disciplined mind, (2) the
synthesizing mind, (3) the creative mind, (4) the respectful mind, and (5) the
ethical mind.33
The theories of multiple intelligences and of five minds may have signifi-
cant implications for multicultural education because these theories go beyond
the limited definition of intelligence valued in most schools. Since Gardner’s the-
ories break out of the rigid definition of intelligence narrowly defined as book
knowledge or doing well on standardized tests, they may be particularly helpful in
challenging current assessment practices that focus almost exclusively on logical-
mathematical and linguistic intelligence. Understanding multiple intelligences
may provide guidance in helping educators reconsider the role that schools play
in cultivating participation in a democratic society. The danger, as always, lies in
extrapolating from individual cases to an entire group. Although it may be true,
for example, that a certain culture—because of its social, geographic, or political
circumstances—is more highly developed in one kind of intelligence than other
cultures, educators should not conclude that all the group’s members will mani-
fest this intelligence equally. They should also not assume that individuals from
this culture are primarily or only intelligent in one way and therefore unable to
develop intelligence in other areas.
Communication and Pedagogy

Cultural influences can also be evident in interactional or communication styles,
that is, the ways individuals interact with one another and the messages they
send, intentionally or not, in their communications. According to Geneva Gay,
communication is much more than the content and structuring of written and spo-
ken language. She states,
Sociocultural context and nuances, discourse logic and dynamics, delivery styles,
social functions, role expectations, norms of interaction, and nonverbal gestures
are as important (if not more so) than vocabulary, grammar, lexicon, pronuncia-
tion, and other linguistic structural dimensions of communication.34
If teachers and schools are unaware of these differences and the impact they
can have on learning, the result may be cultural conflict that leads to school fail-
ure. School failure, in this case, can be understood as the product of miscommu-
nication between teachers and students and a rational adaptation by students who
are devalued by schools. Following this line of thought, unless changes are made
in learning environments, school failure may be inevitable.
Roland Tharp in his now historical review of culturally compatible education
concluded that when schools become more attuned to children’s cultures, aca-
demic achievement improves.35 Tharp suggested at least four cultural variables
related to communication that may be at odds with the expectations and struc-
tures of schools: social organization, sociolinguistics, cognition, and motivation.
Tharp followed up this research with Stephanie Stoll Dalton in collaboration
with the Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence (CREDE)
and realized the limitations of classrooms strictly organized according to cultur-
ally compatible education. For example, what happens when you have classroom
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What You Can Do

Teach Through the Transformational Inquiry Method
T he way in which teachers approach topics of human dif-

ference and student identity can make or break the class-
room experience. Moreover, as we point out in this section
for inquiry into identity, replete with sample lessons and hand-
outs for lessons on inquiry into race, social class, gender,
and more. This resource is not cookbook-style or a script;
of the book, cultivating teacher awareness of the multiplicity rather, it provides guidance for you to cultivate the transfor-
and intersectionality of student identity is essential to a posi- mation inquiry method in your classroom, with attention to the
tive learning experience. Teachers Martha Caldwell and Oman expanding and flexible cultural identities that your students
Frame offer a classroom practice they call “The Transfor- bring to your classroom.
mational Inquiry Method” in their book Let’s Get Real.* This
book provides helpful frameworks for facilitating dynamic *Caldwell, M., & Frame, O. (2017). Let’s get real: Exploring race, class,
classroom dialogue that provide a solid classroom foundation and gender identities in the classroom. New York: Routledge.
demographics that include students representing a range of diverse groups, such

as Navajo, African American, Cambodian, Irish American, and Greek? The expo-
nential growth of classrooms that hold a range of multilingual, multi-ethnic, mul-
tiracial, and multicultural learners in the ensuing 30 years since Tharp’s initial
research led Tharp and Dalton to offer “five standards for effective pedagogy”
that can guide teachers in meaningful practice for students of all cultural back-
grounds.36 Dalton expanded on these in her book Five Standards for Effective
Teaching, in which she provides classroom practices that demonstrate the follow-
ing:(1) teachers and students producing together, (2) developing language and lit-
eracy across the curriculum, (3) connecting school to students’ lives, (4) teaching
complex thinking, and (5) teaching through instructional conversation. In sum-
mary, these five standards guide what they call a “pedagogy system” that includes
both collaborative group and individual work; activities linking curriculum to the
strengths, needs, and interests of local communities; and the rich dialogic lan-
guage environments of multiple, simultaneous classroom activity settings.37
How relationships between students and teachers can be either improved or
damaged by their interactions is another pertinent area of research on culturally
responsive classrooms. As an example, students and teachers from the same back-
ground are often on the same wavelength simply because they have an insider’s
understanding of cultural meanings and therefore do not have to figure out the
verbal and nonverbal messages they are sending. In the two decades since Michele
Foster examined how a shared cultural background or shared norms about how
language is used in African American communities can benefit classroom interac-
tions, a great deal has been written about African American Vernacular English
(AAVE).38 The research about classroom practices is mixed. Rebecca Wheeler’s
scholarship on fostering teachers’ habits of mind about AAVE found obstacles to
bringing these linguistic insights into teacher education classrooms and PK–12
classrooms. The obstacles include teachers’ dominant language ideology and prior
lack of training in the structure of English. Her research suggests strategies for
guiding teachers in ways of thinking about grammar, AAVE, and Standard Ameri-
can English (SAE).39 Wheeler also points out that theories and practices about
AAVE have not taken root in schools, despite the scholarship of linguistic scholars
and critical language theorists.40
More examples of communication style are needed for teachers to learn about
successful classroom strategies, such as research on urban youth culture by Ernest
Morrell and Jeff Duncan-Andrade who used their students’ involvement with
hip-hop culture to successfully engage them in literacy learning.41 In Christopher
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Emdin’s book For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood . . . and the Rest of Y’all
Too, he presents the practice of “reality pedagogy” as “an approach to teaching
and learning that has the primary goal of meeting each student on his or her own
cultural and emotional turf.”42 Part of reality pedagogy includes privileging the
dialectal practices of urban students, which he refers to as neo-indigenous lan-
guage to help students understand code switching. This acknowledges that there
are different contexts or worlds in which students use language, and each world
has its own language code. Emdin gives the example of displaying a classroom
chart that compares vocabulary across three codes: traditional English; language
of science; and slang, or neo-indigenous language. He shows the term “emit” as
science language, side by side with “shine” as traditional English, and “bling” as
slang.43 Emdin’s research argues for teaching youth to code switch through class-
room exercises that welcome their local colloquialisms, while teaching them the
distinctive contexts in which various speech practices are used. They gain under-
standings of “socially constructed codes and rules while maintaining their own
cultural identities.”44
Carol Lee’s research on the literacy practices of African American high school
students also showed that cultural resources support learning. In analyzing stu-
dents’ everyday practices, Lee found that African American students who speak
Ebonics, or African American Vernacular English (AAVE), consistently use irony,
satire, and symbolism in their everyday talk, especially in the speech genre signi-
fying, that is, ritualistic insults and other word games. Because of their creative
use of language, Lee reasoned that building on this kind of knowledge and skills
would be an effective basis for a literature curriculum because, in Lee’s words,
“[u]se of rhythm, alliteration, metaphor, irony, and satire are routine in the lan-
guage practices of this speech community.”45 As a result of this understanding,
Lee developed the Cultural Modeling Project, a four-year literature curriculum
that has been implemented in a large midwestern city. The result: Students at
all grade levels have achieved beyond what their standardized reading scores
predicted.46
Cultural differences likely influence students in more ways than we can imag-
ine. For example, take the case of Susan, a new teacher who was attending a
workshop being given by me (Sonia) many years ago. Susan was a young teacher
of English as a Second Language to Puerto Rican students. Although she was sin-
cerely committed to her students’ achievement, she was unaware of many aspects
of their culture. The Puerto Rican children, most of whom had recently arrived
in the United States, used the communication style typical of their culture. For
example, many Puerto Ricans wrinkle their noses to signify “What?” When Susan
would ask the children if they understood the lesson, some would invariably wrin-
kle their noses. Not understanding this gesture, Susan simply went on with the
lesson, assuming that their nose wrinkling had no meaning.
Two years after first being exposed to this behavior, Susan attended a work-
shop in which we discussed Puerto Rican gestures and the work of Carmen Judith
Nine-Curt in the area of nonverbal communication. She learned that nose wrin-
kling among Puerto Ricans was a way of asking “What?” or “What do you mean?”
or of saying, “I don’t understand.”47 From then on, Susan understood that, when
her students exhibited this form of nonverbal communication, they were asking
for help or for further clarification. We all laughed about it that day in the work-
shop, but this humorous anecdote is not without its serious consequences. Stu-
dents whose culture, verbal or nonverbal, is unacknowledged or misunderstood in
their classrooms are likely to feel alienated, unwelcome, and out of place.
Promoting teachers’ familiarity with communication differences would go a
long way in helping them transform their curriculum to address their students’
backgrounds more adequately. The communication styles explored here are only
the tip of the iceberg, but they help to point out the sometimes subtle ways that
culture, if it is not understood, can interfere with learning.
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What You Can Do

Research Families’ Funds of Knowledge
E xplore who your students are, what makes them “tick,”

and the values and life skills of their families. Doing so will
help you understand the strengths that families have, rather
way to learn about your students’ family histories, challenges,
and triumphs. Oral histories do not need to be confined to the
English or social studies class. Math, health, science, art, and
than focusing on assumed weaknesses or deficits. other subject matters are fertile ground for case studies. You’ll
If you are an elementary-level teacher, make it a point be surprised at how much you can learn—and use in your
to visit your students’ families at least once a year. Focus on curriculum—from conducting this kind of project.
learning about what Norma Gonzalez, Luis Moll, and Cathy Another helpful approach is called Biography-Driven Cul-
Amanti have called “families’ funds of knowledge”—that is, turally Responsive Teaching and is explained in a book of the
their skills and competencies—and think about how you can same title by Socorro Herrara.† This practical, hands-on, how-
use these in your curriculum. To learn more about doing such to resource guides teachers in classroom practices that are
research, see their book.* rooted in well-researched theory.
Considering the large number of students they teach, it is
*Gonzalez, N. E., Moll, L., & Amanti, C. (Eds.) (2005). Funds of knowl-
unrealistic to expect secondary school teachers to engage in edge: Theorizing practices in households and classrooms. Mahwah,
such research. However, there are other projects that can help NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
you, as a secondary school teacher, become familiar with your †
Herrera, Socorro. (2016). Biography-Driven Culturally Responsive
students’ cultures and identities. Oral histories are an excellent Teaching (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.
Cultural Discontinuities and School Achievement

Cultural discontinuities, that is, the lack of congruence between home and school
cultures, may cause numerous problems for students from culturally marginalized
groups. A review of some of the literature on culture-specific educational accom-
modations can pinpoint how cultural differences between schools and students’
home lives may lead to negative academic outcomes.
Discontinuities in Language
A classic research study that paved the way for numerous other studies by anthro-
pologists, sociolinguists, and educators was done by Shirley Brice Heath in the
Piedmont Carolinas during the 1970s.48 In exploring the language of Black children
at home and at school, she found that different ways of using language resulted
in tensions between the children and their mostly White teachers in the class-
room. For example, the children were not accustomed to answering questions con-
cerning the attributes of objects (color, size, shape, etc.), the kinds of questions
that typically occur in classroom discourse as well as in middle-class homes (i.e.,
“What color is the car?” “How many dolls are there?”). Instead, the children gen-
erally used descriptive language at home for storytelling and other purposes. The
result was a communication breakdown, with teachers believing that many of the
students were “slow” and students perceiving a lack of support from teachers.
Through research coordinated by Heath, the teachers began to experiment with
different ways of asking questions. The result was that teachers helped children
bridge the gap between their home and school experiences and thus the children’s
language use in the classroom was enhanced. Heath continues to bring critical
reflections of these findings in her current research, in which she considers the
implications of contemporary social conditions that are creating changes in fam-
ily interaction and discourse. She suggest, for example, that emerging technolo-
gies and lifestyle shifts create changes in language use, which influence what we
refer to as family literacy. As a result, she makes the case for placing value on
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community literacies in texts of all forms: oral and written, visual and verbal, that
comprise projects of joint work and play.49
Discontinuities in Perspectives on School Achievement

Cultural discontinuities do not develop, however, simply because of differing cul-
tural values among groups. There is often a direct connection between culture and
the sociopolitical context of schooling. One example of the link between sociopo-
litical context and culture is the academic success of many Asian students in U.S.
schools. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that in the 2013–14
school year, the graduation rate for public high schools was 82 percent—an all-
time high. Asian/Pacific Islander students had the highest graduation rate (89
percent), followed by White (87 percent), Hispanic (76 percent), Black (73 per-
cent), and American Indian/Alaska Native (70 percent) students.50 The prevailing
explanation for their success is that the cultural values of some Asian students
are congruent with the academic culture of schools. Although this may be true,
it alone is not sufficient to explain their success; it is also problematic because it
paints the entire Asian American population with one wide brush. Some sociopo-
litical factors are at play in these statistics. The fact that the parents of South Asian
students are the most highly educated among all immigrants is also a factor. For
instance, on average, Asian Americans have a higher level of education than any
other ethnic group in the nation. In 2015, 54 percent of Asians in the U.S. held
a bachelor’s degree or higher, up from 38 percent in 1995, according to the U.S.
Census Bureau. This is also greater than the overall rate of 33 percent for the total
population of people holding bachelor’s degree or higher. In addition, Asians and
non-Hispanic whites were more likely to hold a bachelor’s degree or higher when
compared with blacks and Hispanics.51
However, the level of education depends to a great extent on categories of
Asian ethnicity. In California, a report found that 20 percent of Pacific Islanders in
the state eventually drop out of high school. Hmong have a 45 percent rate of not
attaining a high school diploma, with Cambodia and Laotians at a 40 percent drop-
out rate in California.52 As we can see, national identity and cultural groups are
multifaceted categories, and the sociopolitical context of educational achievement
cannot easily be separated from other issues, such as social class, parents’ level of
education, and students’ access to higher education.
Confronting Myths to Address Discontinuities

Stacey Lee’s research points to the limits of the cultural explanation of academic
success among Asian American students. First, it does not account for within-
group differences in achievement. She points out that the cultural theory seems
plausible for high achievement, but it does not explain low achievement, neglect-
ing the question of why some Asian American students do poorly in school.
Other problems with the cultural explanation include considerations of why some
Asians struggle with academic achievement in their own country where they are
engulfed in their home culture, and why studies of specific Asian ethnic groups
show low achievement in some countries but not in others. Lee’s work also sends
a strong caution against the “model-minority stereotype” that falsely perpetuates
the assumptions that all Asian and Asian American students do well in school. She
points out that the stereotype is used to silence claims of racial inequality, and it
hides the problems faced by some Asian American students. It also influences the
way many Asian students view themselves and their achievements.53
Nicholas Daniel Hartlep’s research also refutes the model minority stereo-
type: He asserts that the stereotype often goes unrecognized because it is hidden
behind ideologies of meritocracy, ahistoricism, and racial color-blindness. These
perspectives perpetuate the cultural discontinuities for students from a wide range
of Asian and Asian American experiences by diminishing the unique histories
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and contemporary situations of each specific community, and certainly of each

individual student and family. As the recent data underscore, the South Asian
American community has experienced U.S. schools differently from the Cambo-
dian American community. Having said that, each family and student bring their
own complexities to bear on the outcomes of their schooling as well. Moreover,
the persistence of institutionalized racism can prevent schools from addressing
each student’s learning needs and identities. The academic achievement of stu-
dents who are recent immigrants, as well as those whose families have lived in
the United States for multiple generations, is contorted by what Hartlep calls the
modern societal impact of the model minority stereotype.54
Historical Causes of Discontinuities

The deep-seeded myths and stereotypes that cause cultural discontinuities in edu-
cation highlight the sociopolitical context embedded in the history of U.S. school-
ing. One tragic example is illustrated by the practice, in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, of sending American Indian students to distant boarding
schools. Attending such schools meant that students were physically separated
from their parents and consequently from their cultural connections. The very pur-
pose of these boarding schools was to eradicate students’ Native language and
culture in an attempt to “Americanize” them.55 The dropout rate among these
students was extraordinarily high because of the school-related social and emo-
tional problems they experienced both during and after being sent to boarding
schools. Although the dropout rate of American Indians remains catastrophi-
cally high in some areas, as documented by the Civil Rights Project, it has been
reduced dramatically in cases where secondary education has been returned to
local communities.56
Becoming aware of the sociopolitical context of education is important for
other reasons, too. For instance, in their research on American Indians, Deyhle
and her colleagues have expressed the concern that educators sometimes use the
cultural discontinuity theory to argue only for a culturally compatible curriculum
to solve the dropout problem.57 In so doing, educators may neglect to confront
other more pressing problems in American Indian and Alaskan Native schools,
such as the lack of equitable financing and appropriate resources.
The same concerns apply to students from other non mainstream back-
grounds, as pointed out by Tyrone Howard’s book in which he illustrates case
studies of three schools in which educators were instrumental in increasing the
understanding of race and culture. The result has been that the academic achieve-
ment of young people of color has increased in impressive ways as teachers have
made more rigorous demands of the students.58 Another example of the enduring
messages and complexity of school culture can be found in the case of LGBTQ stu-
dents who may not do well in school. The problem is likely not lack of intelligence
or a cultural mismatch with the school, but rather the rejection they experience in
school as a result of the school’s unwelcoming climate. Changing the curriculum
would probably help, but in some cases, LGBTQ students may decide that drop-
ping out of school is the only recourse they have. In his book Safe is Not Enough:
Better Schools for LGBTQ Students, Michael Sadowski addresses these multifaceted
aspects of classroom and school reform that are required to transform the school
climate for LGBTQ students so they may thrive.59 Rebecca Florentina, in the case
study that concludes this chapter, mentions a number of friends who would have
benefited from Sadowsksi’s research.
These examples demonstrate that cultural incompatibilities are varied and
complex. Research concerning them is vital if we are to grasp how children from
different cultural backgrounds respond to teachers’ behaviors, and what teachers
can do to change how they teach. However, no single solution will bridge the gap
between the school and the home cultures of all students.
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Culturally Relevant, Responsive,

and Sustaining Education
Various approaches and programs have been designed to provide for the par-
ticular educational needs of students from specific cultural groups, and some of
these programs have proved to be extremely successful. A number of examples
of modifications to make instruction more culturally appropriate reveal the rea-
soning behind the approach known variously as culturally compatible, cultur-
ally congruent, culturally appropriate, culturally responsive, or culturally relevant
instruction.60
Research that provides examples of the pedagogy of teachers with students of
diverse backgrounds provides convincing illustrations of how teachers use cultural
knowledge and experiences to overcome some of the debilitating and negative
messages of schools and society. It also documents how the most effective teach-
ers challenge students rather than let them “slide.” Jacqueline Jordan Irvine and
James Fraser describe culturally responsive teachers of African American students
as “warm demanders,” that is, teachers who are affectionate and loving while they
are tough and rigorous in their expectations.61 Gloria Ladson-Billings’s research
of effective teachers of African American students also documents how successful
teachers use students’ culture as a bridge to the dominant culture. The pedagogy
of the effective teachers she describes is empowering because, rather than simply
teach students blind acceptance of the inherent values of the dominant culture,
these teachers encourage students to think critically and work actively for social
justice.62
Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy

Throughout the past 30 years, the terminology and approaches for cultural respon-
siveness have been embraced by many, and have advanced the efforts of criti-
cally minded multicultural educators. Building on those decades of research and
practice, researcher, Django Paris argues for the necessity to change stance, ter-
minology, and practice by offering the term culturally sustaining pedagogy as an
alternative that, he suggests, expresses some of the best historical research and
contemporary practice in multicultural education. He explains:
Culturally sustaining pedagogy seeks to perpetuate and foster—to sustain—linguistic,
literate, and cultural pluralism as part of the democratic project of schooling. In
the face of current policies and practices that have the explicit goal of creating a
monocultural and monolingual society, research and practice need equally explicit
resistances that embrace cultural pluralism and cultural equality.63
Paris expounded on this stance with H. Samy Alim to argue for teaching that
keeps pace with the changing lives and practices of youth of color, while remain-
ing attentive to the constantly evolving global world. Their research continues to
ask questions about the purpose of schooling in a pluralistic society by focusing
on the evolving nature of youth identity and cultural practices, with a commitment
to embracing youth culture’s potential to confront and interrogate imbalance of
power.64 Notably, Gloria Ladson-Billings, who first asserted the terminology “Cul-
turally Relevant Pedagogy” (CRP) in 1995, has welcomed the advancement of cul-
turally sustaining pedagogy as a means to expand her original goals of CRP with
fluid understandings of culture, while deliberately engaging questions of equity
and justice.65
These practices are highlighted by H. Richard Milner’s edited text that dem-
onstrates the critical importance of teachers understanding the context of their
students’ lives and the implications of their own identities and their students’
identities when building productive relationships for learning. The authors in this
collection emphasize the good news that teachers of all backgrounds can learn to
be culturally responsive.66 In addition to considering the competencies of teachers
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who are successful with African American students, these studies document addi-
tional effective practices, including teachers’ use of interactive rather than didactic
methods, and the high standards they set for students.
An illustration in which teachers are effective with students of color, despite
the fact that the cultural identities of teachers and students were not always the
same, is found in research by Jason G. Irizarry. Drawing on a larger ethnographic
study in the Northeast, he highlighted Mr. Talbert (a pseudonym), an African
American teacher who used a variety of practices, including community connec-
tions (sharing personal stories, living in the same community, and knowing what
went on in the neighborhood), language (i.e., supporting various uses of written
and spoken language of students, including Ebonics, or Black English), and music
(particularly rap), to relate to his students, while he also demanded high-quality
work from them.67
Irizarry’s more recent research illustrates the tenets of culturally sustaining
pedagogy as described in his book The Latinization of U.S. Schools: Successful
Teaching and Learning in Shifting Cultural Contexts. Each chapter is co-authored
with Latino high school students with whom he facilitated a Youth Participatory
Action Research (YPAR) project. With a focus on affirming students’ identities
and cultural practices, while harnessing their attention, in rigorous research that
addressed their educational needs and their community’s resources, Irizarry pro-
vides a picture of engaging youth in resistance to systemic oppressions while
becoming agents of change.
These dramatic examples focus on one cultural group in a school, but changes
in instruction and curriculum that reflect the multicultural character of most
schools are also possible. For example, most schools favor a highly competitive
and individualistic instructional mode in which only some of the students may
be successful. By combining this style with a more cooperative mode, the learn-
ing and cultural styles of all children can be respected and valued. The lesson is
that, although all schools cannot become fully culturally compatible because of the
range of diversity in the student body, they can become multiculturally sensitive,
culturally sustaining, and critically conscious of their learners’ needs.
A Critical Appraisal of Culture-Specific

Accommodations
Culturally sustaining pedagogies should not be confused with culture-specific
accommodations. Many schools are multicultural, with students from diverse eth-
nic, social class, and linguistic backgrounds. There are few schools with totally
homogeneous populations. Even within a so-called homogeneous group, cultural
experiences, expressions, and identities will certainly be embodied in a variety of
ways. For these reasons, and in spite of their usefulness, culture-specific accom-
modations are limited by several factors. First, the diversity of the student popula-
tion in most schools mitigates culture-specific modifications. Designing a school
to be culturally compatible with just one group of students, even if it is the most
numerous group, might jeopardize students of other backgrounds—that is, if
schools change their instructional strategies to be compatible with students from
just one ethnic group, these strategies might not work for students from other
backgrounds.
Another problem with making educational choices that are solely culturally
compatible is that it may lead to segregation being posited as the most effec-
tive solution to educational failure. Although segregation might sometimes be
warranted, the truth is that our history has amply demonstrated that it often
leads to inequality. When speaking of culturally dominated groups, “separate
but equal” is rarely that; on the contrary, segregation generally means that pow-
erless groups end up with an inferior education because they are given the few-
est material and emotional resources for their education. Nevertheless, although
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U.S. courts in the second half of the twentieth century upheld integration as a
positive goal to strive for because it can lead to increased educational equality,
racial, ethnic, and social-class segregation have continued to be the norm. In
fact, segregation is today more prevalent than it has been in decades. And when
schools are desegregated in name, sometimes they are segregated in other ways,
especially through tracking in gifted and talented, special education, and other
such programs.
We need to distinguish among different kinds of segregation. Segrega-
tion imposed by a dominant group is far different from the self-segregation
demanded by a dominated, subordinate group whose members see through the
persistent racism behind the veneer of equality in integrated settings. This is
the reasoning behind Afrocentric, American Indian, Latino, or other culturally
based schools. Even in these cases, however, culturally separate schools may
effectively isolate themselves from receiving some of the benefits of the pub-
lic school system that might help them meet the needs of the children they
serve. Although qualitatively different from segregated schools because disem-
powered communities develop them, culturally homogeneous schools are not
always effective. There are numerous cases of students of culturally diverse
backgrounds who have been successfully educated in what might be considered
culturally incompatible settings. Thus, other factors unrelated to cultural con-
flict must be involved.
Another problem with culturally congruent education is the implication that
all students from a particular group learn in more or less the same way. This asser-
tion is problematic because it essentializes culture, which can lead to generaliza-
tions and stereotypes that get in the way of viewing students as individuals as
well as members of groups whose cultures are constantly evolving. That is, these
accommodations often negate the reality of hybridity, an increasingly diverse and
complex student body.
In spite of all these caveats, it must be recognized that our public schools are
not providing many students—particularly Latino, African American, American
Indian, and Asian American students living in poverty—with the education they
deserve. Until they do so, we need to find ways to help these students succeed,
and culturally sustaining pedagogy offers hopeful strategies for all schools. None-
theless, if such programs or schools are based on the notion that culture is static
and unchanging, they will not be culturally sustaining—and therefore are bound
to be ineffective.
Conclusion
This chapter discussed how culture can influence learning in crucial ways. Using
learning-style research, educators began to understand how students of differ-
ent backgrounds might differ in their learning preferences. More recent method-
ologies of ethnographic investigation regarding learning preferences have yielded
important findings that can also help teachers and schools recognize the pos-
sible impact of culture on learning. Modifications can be made in communica-
tion style, program design, and instruction to support the learning of students of
diverse backgrounds. The chapter ended with a review of culturally sustaining
pedagogies, with a critical analysis of some of the problems with culture-specific
accommodations.
Ultimately, however, culture matters. Learning cannot take place in settings
where students’ cultures—broadly defined to include race, ethnicity, social class,
language, and other elements such as urban and youth identity—are devalued and
rejected. Teachers who want to provide all students with a caring and stimulating
environment for learning have to take into account their backgrounds and identi-
ties. This means learning about and from their students and those closest to them,
and making the accommodations necessary to promote their learning.
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To Think About
1. What do we mean when we say, “Equal is not the same”? To help you consider this
question, think about some of the students you know.
2. Can you identify any pedagogical strategies that have seemed to be successful with
particular children? How can you use these with students of various cultures?
3. Given the contradictory messages that children receive from their home and school
environments, it is possible that they will end up rejecting their parents’ culture and
way of life. What can teachers and schools do to minimize this situation?

1. Observe three different students in a classroom. How would you characterize the learn-
ing preferences that are addressed in each classroom? How do they differ? Do you think
these differences have something to do with their gender, race, ethnicity, social class,
or other difference? Why or why not? What are the implications for teaching these
children?
2. What steps can you take to make your classroom more culturally sustaining with the
student body? Consider changes in curriculum, organization, use of materials, and ped-
agogical strategies. What are the ways in which your students’ questions are woven
into their learning, and how are their voices affirmed? Try some of these and keep a
journal of your reflections on the effect they have on students.
3. Think of some of the ways your school can become a culturally welcoming place for
students of various backgrounds. For example, what kinds of schoolwide rituals can be
developed that would make all students feel that they belong? What about parent and
guardian outreach? What can be done in the hallways and on bulletin boards and via
electronic messaging, such as school and classroom websites? Suggest some of these
changes to your principal or department head.
Notes
1. Bonilla-Silva (2014). 24. Coffield, Mosley, Hall, & Ecclestone (2004). See also Willingham et
2. DiAngelo (2016). al. (2015).
3. Alexander (2012). 25. Deyhle & Swisher (1997), p. 266. See also Deyhle, Swisher, Stevens,
4. Neville, Hoang, & Brown (2016) & Galván (2008).
5. Tatum (2007); Howard (2016); Boykin & Noguera (2011). 26. Deyhle (2013).
6. Vygotsky & Kozulin (1934). 27. Ibid.
7. Gutierrez & Rogoff (2003). 28. Manuelito (2005).
8. U.S. Census Bureau (2010). 29. Gardner (2011).
9. Lopez-Torkos (2003). 30. Gardner (2008).
10. Torres-Guzman & de Jong (2015); Martinez-Alvarez (2017). 31. multiple intelligencesoasis.org (2017).
11. Guerra (2016). 32. Gardner (2008).
12. Olsen (2008). 33. Gardner (2009).
13 Noguera (2008). 34. Gay (2010), p. 79.
14. Yon (2000). 35. Tharp (1981).
15. Dolby (2000); Werbner & Modood (2015). 36. Tharp & Dalton (2007). See also CREDE website (http://crede.berkeley
16. Hobbel & Chapman (2009). .edu/research/crede/standards.html).
17. Gorski (2013). 37. Dalton (2008).
18. Gorksi (2013), pp. 50–51. 38. Foster (1997).
19. Gorksi (2013), p. 51. 39. Wheeler (2010).
20. Gorski (2014). 40. Wheeler (2016). See also Rickford (2016).
21. Payne (2005); Jensen (2009). 41. Morrell & Duncan-Andrade (2008), p. 40.
22. Boateng (1990). See also Spring (2016). 42. Emdin (2016), p. 27.
23. Swisher & Schoorman (2001); Willingham, Hughes, & Dobolyi (2015). 43. Emdin (2016), pp. 178–179.
M05_NIET7232_07_SE_C05.indd 153 03/11/17 11:42 AM

44. Emdin (2016), p. 183. 57. Deyhle, Swisher, Stevens, & Galván (2008).
45. Lee (2005, 2007). 58. Howard (2014).
46. Lee's book Culture, Literacy, and Learning: Taking Bloom in the Midst 59. Sadowski (2016).
of the Whirlwind elaborates on the cultural modeling framework. 60. Kutsunai & Au (2013); Gay (2010); Irizarry (2014); Irizarry & Raible
47. Nine-Curt (1984). (2011); Irvine (2003); Ladson-Billings (2009); Wyatt (2009). See
48. Heath (1983). also Irizarry (2011).
49. Heath (2010). 61. Irvine & Fraser (1998).
50. Kena et al. (2016). 62. Ladson-Billings (2009);
51. Ryan & Bauman (2010). 63. Paris (2012).
52. Chang et al. (2010). 64. Paris & (2014).
53. Lee (2009). Also see Lee & (2007); Lee, Wong, Alvarez, & Tewari (2009). 65. Ladson-Billings (2014). Also see Ladson-Billings (2011).
54. Hartlep (2015). 66. Milner (2010). Also see Milner (2015).
55. Adams (1995); Lomawaima & McCarty (2006). 67. Irizarry (2011).
56. Faircloth & Tippeconnic (2010).
Case Studies
F
ifteen-year-old Yahaira León,1 who was finishing ninth grade at Fron-
Yahaira León tier High School in Philadelphia when she was interviewed, described
It’s easier to be myself culture-wise. herself as “half and half” Dominican and Puerto Rican. She continued,
“And I guess I could say I’m American, too. I was born here.” Her parents
were also both born in the United States, specifically in New York City, while
her grandparents were all born in either Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.
Yahaira’s cultural identity and academic perspectives are influenced by her family
life, educational experiences, and sociopolitical history.
The migration of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans from their island nations to
New York and the northeastern United States is part of a larger pattern of migra-
tory experiences among many Latino communities in the United States. In spite of
sharing the Spanish language, a Caribbean heritage, and the quest for economic
opportunities, there are distinct forces at play within each group’s political, social,
economic, and familial experiences.
The Dominican population in the United States is over 1.3 million, making it
the fifth largest population of Hispanics living in the United States, and 2.8 percent
of all U.S. Hispanics. Like Yahaira’s family, the vast majority of Dominicans,
nearly 80 percent, live in the Northeast, and half live in New York. Almost one-
third of the growth in the Dominican community derives from births in the United
States, as in the case of Yahaira and her parents, while the remainder is from
immigration. As of 2008, nearly half of Dominican immigrants (47.4 percent) were
U.S. citizens.2
The share of Dominicans who live in poverty, 23.2 percent, is nearly dou-
ble the rate for the general U.S. population, and higher than most Hispanics
(20.7 percent).3 The struggle to combat poverty marks the daily realities of many
Dominican and Puerto Rican families. Due to their reliance on goods-produc-
ing industries in the Northeast that have suffered from deindustrialization, both
Puerto Ricans and Dominicans struggle with unemployment in far greater num-
bers than other Hispanic groups. In 2008, the mean annual per capita household
income of the Dominican population in the United States was $20,571, lower
than the median earnings for Hispanics, which stood at $21,588, or less than
half the per capita income of the average U.S. household.4 Unemployment is a
common plight within the Dominican community, and the immigration status
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of some workers keeps them in the lowest income bracket. Dominicans have
slightly higher levels of education than the general Hispanic population, with 16
percent of those 25 and older having obtained at least a bachelor’s degree, com-
pared with 12.9 percent of other Hispanics. Ramona Hernandez and Francisco
L. Rivera-Batiz describe this as an “explosive increase of the educational attain-
ment” of U.S.-born Dominicans.5
The Dominican Republic’s long history of political unrest has left its mark on
the economic circumstances, political perspectives, and cultural solidarity of the
people. As it became more difficult to make a living at farming in the Dominican
Republic, people migrated to northeastern cities in the United States to work in
factories and tourist industries. Many Dominicans in the United States are referred
to by social scientists as transnational migrants, that is, those who organize many
aspects of their lives—family, religious, political, and economic—across national
borders.6 While assimilating into the country that receives them, transnational
migrants often also sustain strong ties to their homeland.7 The transnational
dynamic of these immigrants has implications for both the home country and the
host country. For example, as the Dominicans in the United States began to send
money back to communities in the Dominican Republic, the standard of living on
the island nation improved substantially.8 However, due to visa and immigration
status concerns, U.S. Dominicans may not be able to return to the Dominican
Republic as frequently as they desire.
In contrast, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and can travel freely, so patterns
of what has been called circular migration are not unusual for Puerto Ricans, who
frequently move back and forth from the island to the mainland U.S. and back to
the island. This kind of migration stems primarily from the economic dependence
of Puerto Rico on the United States. To explain the formidable economic subordi-
nation of the island, it is often said that “when the United States sneezes, Puerto
Rico catches cold.”
Between 1940 and 1970 alone, about 835,000 Puerto Ricans moved to the
United States, reflecting one of the most massive outmigrations in the century.9
In fact, currently more Puerto Ricans live in the United States than in Puerto Rico:
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 4.2 million Hispanics of Puerto Rican
heritage live in the United States, while 4 million reside in Puerto Rico.10 Also,
although New York City was the primary destination for Puerto Ricans until the
1960s, currently only about 26 percent of Puerto Ricans living in the United States
live in New York; most of the others reside in the Northeast, but a growing per-
centage (about 28 percent) live in the South, primarily in Florida. In addition,
Puerto Ricans are increasingly living in relatively small cities, such as Holyoke,
Massachusetts, the city where Yahaira was born and where she frequently visits
her father’s side of the family.
As a result of the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico became a colony of the
United States in 1898, which helps explain some of the differences between Puerto
Rican migration, or (im)migration, and Dominican immigration.11 In 1952, Puerto
Rico officially attained commonwealth status, although some people maintain
that this is a camouflage for what is, in reality, a colony. After 1900, U.S. absen-
tee landlords—and later large corporations—dominated the economy, displacing
small farmers and creating the island’s economic and political dependence on the
United States. Puerto Ricans were made U.S. citizens in 1917—some say, to coin-
cide with the need for soldiers in the armed forces during World War I, for which
Puerto Rican men were recruited en masse.
Yahaira’s family confronts many hardships against the backdrop of these
sociopolitical histories of Dominican and Puerto Rican communities in the United
States. Due to the constant search for adequate, affordable housing and better
employment by Blanca, her single parent, Yahaira had attended eight different
schools by ninth grade. Blanca’s unwavering hunt for a safe environment, with
access to quality education for Yahaira and her sisters, was a Herculean task
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because of the stratification of U.S. schools by neighborhood real estate taxes.

Yahaira recalls frequent transitions as a pervasive part of her childhood: “We
moved around a lot. I don’t know why, we just moved around a lot. We just had
to keep moving.”
Yahaira has navigated these challenges while achieving steady academic suc-
cess. Although the number of transitions to different schools would impede many
students, Yahaira was consistently upbeat. She said, “I just have a lot of fun learn-
ing ’cause I just liked to learn. I loved school.” The three themes that emerged
from Yahaira’s interview all point to the reasons for her school success: stability
within transition, cultural identity and connection with Mom, and cultural connec-
tion and academic challenge.
Stability Within Transition

School is, like, my home, well, my second home. But I just love being there. I love
reading and learning and everything about it. School was the main place I could
read and write without having to worry about anything.
I went to school a lot of places (laughs). The high school now—the name is
Frontier. It’s in downtown Philadelphia. It’s a very good school. It’s for advanced
students. It’s just, like, advanced for all areas. I’m learning a lot of new things that
I didn’t know and I’m advancing on the things I did. I am meeting more and more
people who I can connect with and I make a lot more friends. I just have a lot of
fun learning. ’Cause I just liked to learn. I always loved school. And well, you
don’t hear many kids saying that, but I do (laughs).
The reason for going to school is to educate your mind. So far, yeah, I am
accomplishing that. It is important to me because nowadays, in this economy, you
don’t get nowhere if you don’t have an educated mind. Without that, I can’t do
nothing. And without an educated mind, I can’t get a job, which [means] I can’t
get money, and I can’t support myself when I get older.
Cultural Identity and Connection with Mom

I’d say I’m Puerto Rican and Dominican because, well, my mom’s Dominican and
my dad’s Puerto Rican. My culture is important because in school they mostly
teach us about the English society, the American society. They don’t teach us the
Hispanic culture or stuff like that, so it’s important that I at least know some type
of my cultural background, something from there. So whatever I can, I learn from
either my family or I try and research it myself.
[What I would like teachers to know about Puerto Rican and Dominican
kids is that] we’re not the same as every other culture or ethnic group. We have
our own ways that should be expressed. We have our own beliefs and customs.
If schools would teach about Puerto Rican and Dominican culture, what I would
like to learn is, basically, the history and how life is over there now. How it
is for the people who have lots of money and compare it to the people who
have harder lives. How the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico came to be
what they are today—from the different main events that have happened in the
history of the countries. I learned a little—just a little bit about it—from my
mom and my grandmother but nothing about it in the schools. As a Puerto
Rican and Dominican teenager, I’m more educated about my culture. Kids my
age who are not Puerto Rican and Dominican might not have the same knowl-
edge of [my] culture.
[The school] does value my culture. In the school I’m going to now it does
. . . on certain levels. Every culture is valued in the school. They have African
American clubs, Hispanic clubs, but it’s not just clubs. The Hispanic club is not
just for the Hispanic kids. Anybody could be in the club. ’Cause when we went
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to the student orientation for the high school, one of the teachers was saying
that in the African American group there’s a Hispanic president for the group.
It’s like they’re all mixed in and it’s not a problem. They all get along together.
I’m gonna try to join a club. Probably the Hispanic one and the African Ameri-
can one.
In ninth grade I was in Mock Trial Club. I didn’t have time to join the cultural
clubs in ninth grade because I was so busy with Mock Trial Club. We met once a
week at the beginning of the year, and then when the competition started, it was
twice a week and on Saturdays. Also, I have chores at home and responsibilities to
babysit my sisters—they’re 12 and 7—’cause my mom works all the time and I’m
the one that has to watch the girls while she works. Next year I’m gonna do Mock
Trial again and try softball.
So far, I’ve seen a lot of my friends who are not as successful as I am. I know a
lot of people who, at my age, don’t really care about school anymore and they’re,
like, “whatever.” I would just tell [new Puerto Rican and Dominican students]
to work hard and worry about getting the work done. Don’t worry about what’s
going on with everybody else at school . . . don’t be up all in the gossip and just
stick to the work and they’ll do fine.
[Now, at the high school] I have all really different friends from the type of
friends I had last year. They are all really into school. They are all really dedicated
to school work and getting things done. They think about college, too.
From my family I’ve learned that not much of my family has graduated.
Because, I mean, that just makes it better for me to graduate and shows the family
that it can be done. I mean it just takes hard work, and that helps a lot because
then all my younger siblings and younger cousins and nieces and nephews . . .
they can see that if they work hard enough, they can do anything.
My mom is involved in my school. She tries her hardest to find out everything
that goes on. Every time there’s a parent–teacher meeting, she goes. When we go
to get our report card, she’s always asking my teachers how I’m doing and exactly
what I do in school. She gets very involved. She likes to know what’s going on. My
mom tells me repeatedly about school . . . doesn’t leave me alone about it. Like
everything I do, whether it’s good or bad, she tells me and tells me over and over
again. “Just fix it, you could do better.” If it’s something good, “You did great.
Don’t worry about it.” ’cause sometimes it gets annoying, her being so involved.
But, yeah, it does matter, ’cause, I mean, without her, I probably wouldn’t have
been so into school and I wouldn’t have liked it so much.
My mom is the person I admire the most in the world ’cause without her, I
wouldn’t be where I am. Without her, I wouldn’t even be able to be independent
or work out things on my own. I wouldn’t be as determined as I am. I think that’s
enough to make her the most important person in my life.
I have always been living with mom, without dad, since I was 4. I live with
my two youngest sisters—they are 7 and 12—and my mother. I am the biggest
sister. They look up to me. I want to teach my sisters to always try their hardest at
everything else they do—to never settle for less.
Cultural Connection and Academic Challenge

I think my favorite was my fourth-grade teacher. She was really nice and she con-
nected very well with the kids in the class. She wasn’t the type of teacher that just
gives you the work, tells you to do it, leaves it at that. Or the type that doesn’t give
you enough work and you’re, like, sitting there the rest of the day doing nothing.
She gave you the right amount of work, let you have the right amount of fun, but
still got everything in all together.
I guess teachers understand my culture. Most of my teachers have either
been African American or Caucasian. So I really haven’t had any Hispanic
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teachers [until ninth grade] to understand really the culture—but they under-
stand some of it, so that’s enough. In the school I went to in eighth grade,
almost every teacher spoke Spanish because almost all the kids there were His-
panic—so they spoke Spanish. Every teacher knew at least some words in Span-
ish but they also spoke English. That helped because the kids who were just
learning English—it was easier for them to communicate with the teachers. In
some schools teachers acknowledged Spanish language and in some schools
they didn’t.
[Something teachers could do better is] involve the culture more into the
learning. Like the strategies they use, the methods. If there was more learned
or taught about the different cultures, that might help. Like my science teacher
[in ninth grade], whenever we had projects, he would bring in movies for us to
watch; he would bring in cultural movies that would help us learn what we were
being taught in the class as well as being able to understand it better through our
culture, help us understand the concepts. My science teacher, each day in the
class, he takes time to get to know the kids in the classroom a little bit more. He’ll
sit down and talk with us on a normal basis. Not teacher-to-student but as in a
friend-to-friend role. His sister-in-law is Dominican, so we had that in common
and I think he knew some Spanish.
The Mock Trial coach—he builds relationships. [The Mock Trial coach and the
science teacher] learn how to talk to the students. They take the time to learn how
life is for each student in the world we are living in. They learn how each student
is different and they support each different thing about each student.
Of all my teachers, I think my eighth-grade teacher [has been the most help-
ful] ’cause he was, like, every time I needed something that had to do with school,
any time I needed help with anything, he found a way to get me help. Whether it
was his subject or not, he’d find somebody to help me and he’d ask my mom—if I
needed to—if it was OK to stay after school and get help. In his class I always got
top grades ’cause it was my favorite class because it was the reading. That helped
a lot.
In my high school, this is a more diverse school. There’s more Hispanic kids
around. It’s easier to be myself culture-wise. A lot of the teachers are more used to
working with the Hispanic kids and Black kids, so it’s better. They’re helping us
learn—make it easier by helping us learn within our culture.
I mean that’s how school’s supposed to be; it’s supposed to be hard, not easy.
I was in the advanced class in my eighth grade—and we was doing algebra and
math and just the basics in reading, science, and social studies. But the math was
a little bit ahead—well, we got more work than the other classes, so that kind of
made it harder, but I still kept my grades up so it was all right.
The first year at the [advanced] high school was actually kind of easy. I just
got through the work really easily; it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. But
that is just normal for me. I wish the teacher would challenge me a little bit more.
I think they should make the work a little harder. I guess it’s kind of hard [for
teachers] ’cause I’m the only one in the class that has it so easy, so it’s kind of dif-
ficult to make things harder for just me and then have the rest of the class have a
problem with it.
I don’t really read magazines ’cause I just think they’re based on nothing.
Most of the magazines now are talking about how girls are supposed to be skinny
and pretty and their faces are supposed to be a certain way and all this crap, and
it’s annoying because the beauty you see when you look at people, it’s not much.
You have to look inside to know, actually know, what the person is. You can’t just
tell by looking at them. So I don’t really look at magazines.
I’m most happy when I’m in my room reading one of my books or watching
. . . no not watching . . . just reading one of the books or drawing or writing or
something.
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I’ve thought about [what I want to be]. When I was younger, everybody used
to tell me be a lawyer because I like to argue and I always have to have the last
word. But as I grow older, I think I’d rather be a teacher because, by being a
teacher, I can do something that I really love doing and I can still work hard and
get what I need to survive. Reading, English language arts are my favorite ’cause
there’s reading and writing and I love to read and write. That’s kind of why I want
to be a teacher, so I can be a reading or writing teacher. Since being in Mock Trial
at the high school, I’m thinking maybe a lawyer. Probably a lawyer.
All the teachers and counselors are talking to us about college. It was very
interesting. I am thinking about being a lawyer and Harvard. I just heard from peo-
ple that it is the most challenging college. I figured since every other grade in school
has been easy, I think I should pick a hard college. ’Cause everybody says it’s one
of the best schools. I don’t know. I’ve just wanted to go there since I was, like, four.
Grades are important to me because with grades—with better grades—I get
more successful results. And with even better grades, I can get scholarships to col-
lege. My mom thinks grades are important. She looks for mostly A’s or B’s. She’ll
settle once in a while for a C but mostly A’s or B’s.
[To be successful later in life] I need to keep doing what I’m doing now. Work-
ing hard to get through whatever I gotta get through.
Commentary
Y
ahaira’s ideas echo themes that Carmen Rolón found in her study of
Puerto Rican girls who achieved academic success.12 In Rolón’s study, it
was first, parents—in particular, mothers—who were vehicles of encour-
agement and achievement. Second, teachers who respected and affirmed stu-
dents’ cultural and linguistic diversity were also significant. Third, Rolón found
that all her participants defined college education as their primary educational
goal. In Rolón’s study, in René Antrop-González’s research, and in Yahaira’s
words, we hear Latinas describe school as a “second home,” or as a “sanctu-
ary.”13 In Yahaira’s case, caring, supportive teachers and a determined mother
motivated her to shape school as an oasis where she could “read and write,
without having to worry about anything.”
Because Yahaira entered kindergarten fully bilingual in English and Spanish,
she was never enrolled in English language learning programs and achieved well
in all school subjects. Despite her fluency in English, she emphasized the link
between teachers’ “understanding the culture” and affirming Spanish language,
whether the teacher knew “at least some words” or was fluent, and “speaking to
kids and parents.” She described teachers who supported her efforts after school
and pointed her toward college. She also noted culturally relevant teaching meth-
ods and the importance of relationships among teachers and students.
Yahaira’s words resonate with Jason Irizarry’s research that describes teach-
ers who are successful with Latino students as “culturally connected.” Irizarry
describes cultural connectedness in teachers as a framework for understanding
that takes into account the development of hybrid identities that emerge as a result
of members of various cultural communities negotiating their identities and forging
new socioculturally situated identities. It also highlights the potential for teachers
who are not members of the same racial or ethnic group as that of their students
to become “connected” and improve their practice.14 Significantly, Irizarry points
out that teachers do not have to racially match their students in order to develop a
cultural connection with them.
Although not all Yahaira’s teachers were “culturally connected,” Yahaira was
flexible in her expectations. Even more important to Yahaira were teachers’ high
expectations. Her desire for rigorous work is congruent with Patty Bode’s study of
urban schools. She found that students felt that teachers should hold high expecta-
M05_NIET7232_07_SE_C05.indd 159 03/11/17 11:42 AM

tions for them. The students articulated an appreciation of teachers who challenge
them by pushing them hard and refusing to let them quit.15 This student attitude
is especially salient in discussions about urban schools where most of the students
are labeled as “failing,” “underperforming,” or “below standard” by state mecha-
nisms such as high-stakes standardized testing and federal policies and laws such
as No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
Yahaira’s efforts to achieve academically deserve commendation because
her success could have been disrupted by her family’s struggles and the frequent
school transitions. The numerous moves may have been less bearable if not for
the close-knit extended family to which Yahaira made frequent affectionate ref-
erences. Collectively, Yahaira’s extended family shaped her strong identification
with her Spanish language and Puerto Rican and Dominican roots as well as her
vision of the future. Her family’s nurturing relationships and challenges with hard-
ships formed her perceptions of limitations and possibilities. Despite the emotional
support of extended family on both sides, Yahaira still faced many of the ten-
sions of urban life in the difficult socioeconomic circumstances common to many
Latino families. Her father’s long periods of absence—due to his difficulties with
the law—rendered his presence in Yahaira’s and her sisters’ lives elusive.
Hard work and determination are, in many ways, Yahaira’s anchors in a
tumultuous ocean of school transitions. She viewed hard work as the way to
graduate, gain admission to college (preferably Harvard), and achieve career
goals. On the subject of her family members and friends who had not graduated
from high school, she said, “I mean it just takes hard work.” While hard work is
an essential ingredient for academic achievement, Yahaira’s statement seems to
overlook the sociopolitical conditions in which many Puerto Ricans and Domini-
cans live. Yahaira seems to have accepted the myth of meritocracy; this is no
surprise because it seems to have worked in her case.
The complicated forces at play within Yahaira’s educational experiences
should not be oversimplified as binary perspectives of a cooperative, communal,
and so-called Latino perspective in opposition to a utilitarian, competitive Amer-
ican mainstream perspective. Her mother instilled in Yahaira an obvious sense
of hard work and determination to achieve and to never settle for less; many
of Yahaira’s teachers drew upon cultural knowledge as a means to academic
achievement. An elaborate web of academic culture and family culture is woven
into her perspective.
Yahaira expressed her Latina identity in intangible but fundamental ways:
her deep feelings for her family, respect for her parents, and her desire to uphold
important traditions such as being with family. She also bore a larger share of fam-
ily obligations than a great many young people from other cultural backgrounds.
This is what is referred to in many Latino cultures as capacidad, or a combination
of maturity, sense of responsibility, and capability. It is a valued cultural trait that
Latino parents work hard to inculcate, particularly in their daughters.
Yahaira is very much a product of the intersecting and multiple influences of
Puerto Rican, Dominican, and U.S. culture (especially youth culture). She, and
many young people like her of various immigrant backgrounds, have created
a new culture, one that has elements of the native culture but is also different
from it. Yahaira was successfully negotiating the mixed and often conflicting
messages of home culture, school culture, and youth culture. Questions remain,
however, about the cost to cultural identity and becoming more fully human
when academic accomplishment is perceived primarily as individual hard work.
For the most part, Yahaira and her mother were left on their own to tap
into some appropriate resources to construct Yahaira’s road to academic success.
From many indicators, she appeared to be well on her way to a successful future.
When we last checked in with her about her activities after freshman year, she
was attending a summer institute at Yale sponsored by the Junior Statesman
Foundation.16 The program develops political and scholarly skills through col-
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lege-level coursework and enrichment activities. Yahaira gained admission to

the highly competitive program through a convergence of her Mock Trial coach’s
dedication, her mother’s assertiveness to obtain a scholarship for the costly
summer program, and Yahaira’s unflagging determination. Such an experience
will certainly provide Yahaira a window into her target—an Ivy League college
career. As a result of such experiences, navigating higher education may be eas-
ier for Yahaira than for other students who do not have a parent or parents with
the single-minded determination of Yahaira’s mother or the consistent support of
teachers like Yahaira’s who saw great promise in her.

1. Yahaira’s perception is that her school mostly teaches about the “English society, the
American society.” If she were describing your school or your classroom, would you be
satisfied with that portrayal? If not, how might you change Yahaira’s experience?
2. How can teachers and schools take advantage of students’ desires to learn more about
their cultural heritages and histories? For example, Yahaira cited her desire to learn
more about “[h]ow the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico came to be what they are
today—from the different main events that have happened in the history of the coun-
tries.” What could be some responses to such a desire?
3. Yahaira fondly remembered one school where every teacher knew “at least some
words in Spanish.” What are the implications for educators regarding language and
learning? How do you feel about trying to pronounce a few words in languages other
than English, even if you are far from fluent? What are some classroom strategies for
affirming multiple languages in school?
4. The Mock Trial after-school program built on Yahaira’s interests and appears to have
deeply influenced her choices about her future. What does this tell us about the role
of after-school programs in student achievement? What is the role of after-school pro-
grams in your school?
5. Yahaira yearns to be challenged more. Can you think of some strategies to encour-
age her academic prowess and challenge her intellectual curiosity? How can teachers
assess whether they are challenging all students?
Notes for the Case Study: Yahaira León

1. We appreciate the collaboration of Dr. Jason Irizarry who interviewed Yahaira León. Dr. Irizarry is
an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership in the School of Education at
the University of Connecticut, where his research focuses on multicultural teacher education and
urban teacher recruitment and retention, with an emphasis on equity for Latino students.
2. Fry (2008).
3. See quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html.
4. Fry (2008).
5. Hernandez & Rivera-Batiz (2006).
6. Guarnizo, Portes, & Haller (2003).
7. Levitt (2004).
8. Ibid.
9. Sanchez (2007).
10. Fry (2008).
11. Because Puerto Rico is under the political control of the United States, the term migration, rather
than immigration, is ordinarily used to refer to the movement of Puerto Ricans to the United
States, but this term is not quite accurate because it refers to movement within the same cultural
and political sphere. Some writers have suggested that the term (im)migration is more suitable.
See Marquez (1995)More recently, the term “Diasporican” has been used, reflecting as it does the
diaspora of Puerto Ricans throughout the United States.
12. Rolón (2000).
13. Rolón (2000), p.154; Antrop-González (2006).
14. Irizarry (2007).
15. Bode (2005).
16. For more information on the Junior Statesman Foundation’s summer programs for high school stu-
dents, see www.JSA.org.
M05_NIET7232_07_SE_C05.indd 161 03/11/17 11:42 AM

About Terminology
Latinos, Hispanics, and Others
T he terms Latino and Hispanic refer to people whose herit-
age is from Mexico, Central and South America, and the
Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands. Some people have definite
both Dominican and Puerto Rican. Whenever possible, these dis-
tinctions need to be made; otherwise, fundamental differences
in ethnicity, national origin, self-identification, and time in this
and strong preferences for the terms Latino and Hispanic, argu- country are easily overlooked.
ing that one is far more accurate than the other. The debate Chicano, a term popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s,
is complicated by the tremendous diversity within the Latino/ is preferred by some people of Mexican origin, while Mexican
Hispanic community itself. Hispanic is more widespread and American is preferred by others. Chicano is an emphatically
well known, while Latino is preferred in some areas of the self-affirming and political term reflecting the culture and reali-
country over others. Unlike the terms European, African, Latin ties of urban, economically oppressed Mexican Americans in
American, or Asian, Hispanic does not refer to a particular con- U.S. society, and it grew out of the 1960s Brown Power Move-
tinent or country (i.e., there is no continent named Hispania). ment. Although used by many scholars and activists, the less
The term Latino, on the other hand, has the disadvantage of political term Mexican American is more common in other seg-
having a sexist connotation when used to refer to both males ments of the community.
and females together. Puerto Ricans, the second largest Latino group after Mexi-
Although Latinos share a great many cultural attributes, cans, also use different terms for specific situations to describe
they are also quite different from one another. A Peruvian and or refer to themselves. For example, while Puerto Rican is the
a Dominican, for example, may both speak Spanish, practice general term used by most people, a growing number of sec-
the Catholic religion, and share deeply rooted family values. ond- and third-generation Puerto Ricans prefer the term Nuy-
However, the native language of some Peruvians is not Span- orican (an amalgam of New Yorker, the preferred destination
ish, and Dominicans have an African background not shared of Puerto Ricans in the early to mid-twentieth century, and
by most Peruvians. These differences, among many others, Puerto Rican). More recently, the term Diasporican has gained
often go unacknowledged when we speak simply of Latinos or popularity because it acknowledges two realities: First, most
Hispanics. Within the context of the U.S. experience, Latinos Puerto Ricans in the United States no longer live in New York,
differ in many respects, including race, social class, level of but are dispersed throughout the Northeast and increasingly
education, and length of time in this country. Each of these fac- throughout the country; and second, the immigration of Puerto
tors may make a dramatic difference in the school achievement Ricans represents a true diaspora because more Puerto Ricans
of children from distinct groups. currently live in the United States than on the island of Puerto
We generally prefer the term Latino, but we have used both Rico.* The term Boricua, derived from Boriquén, the name
terms more or less interchangeably. When the more specific given to the island by the Taínos, its original inhabitants, is an
ethnic name is available, we use neither Latino nor Hispanic. affectionate term for Puerto Rican and is also used quite often.
For example, none of the Latino students in the case studies in
*Diasporican has been popularized by the Nuyorican poet Mari-
this book refer to themselves as Latino, Latina, or Hispanic: Ali- posa. See Valldejuli, J. M., & Flores, J. (2000). New Rican voices: Un
cia Montejo defines herself as Mexican; Paul Chavez uses both muestrario/A sampler at the millennium. Journal of the Center for
Chicano and Mexican American; and Yahaira León identifies as Puerto Rican Studies 12(1): 49–96.
James Karam
P
oised between childhood and adulthood, James was a pleasing com-
bination of practical, responsible, wise adult and refreshing, spirited,
I’d like to be considered Lebanese. eager kid.1 Sixteen years old and a junior in high school when he was
interviewed, his maturity was due in no small part to his role as the respon-
sible male in the household. His mother and father were separated, and he was
the oldest of three children, a position he generally enjoyed, although he admitted
it could be trying at times.
Lebanese Christian, or Maronite, James explained that his father was born and
raised in the United States. His father met his mother while visiting Lebanon and
brought her back to the United States as his bride. She had lived here for almost 20
years and had become fluent in English. Although James’s parents were separated,
M05_NIET7232_07_SE_C05.indd 162 03/11/17 11:42 AM

both were close to their children and continued to take an active part in their
upbringing and education.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Arab Americans are people who can
trace their heritage to 22 countries in North Africa and the Middle East. The 2000
census counted approximately 1.2 million Arab Americans, a sizable increase in
comparison to the 1990 census number of 870,000. However, the Arab-American
Institute Foundation estimates that as many as 3.5 million Americans can trace
their family lineage to an Arab country.2 (As of this writing, the results of the 2010
U.S. Census were not yet available). The problem, however, is that there was no
box for Americans of Arab descent to check off with regard to their ethnic herit-
age; most had to check “Other” or “White,” making them even more invisible than
they already are, a common theme in James’s case study.
The Lebanese community, part of the larger Arab population in the United
States, is little known to the general U.S. population. It is, in this sense, an “invis-
ible minority,” about which more is discussed later. There are scattered communi-
ties of Lebanese throughout the United States, with large concentrations in several
cities, including Springfield, Massachusetts, where James lived. A study of the
Arab community in Springfield, conducted more than four decades ago, reported
that the first Arab settlers from Lebanon arrived in the 1890s. Most were laborers
and worked in the city’s factories, for the railroad, or in peddling businesses. They
were both Christian and Muslim Lebanese and there was little animosity between
them. On the contrary, there was a genuine sense of solidarity and cohesiveness in
the entire community.3
James had attended a Catholic school from kindergarten until third grade
but had subsequently gone to a public school. He was held back in third grade
because his family moved out of the state and he lost a good deal of school time
(this still bothered him a great deal, as he said when he was interviewed). Despite
this setback, at the time of his interview, James was a successful student who gave
a lot of thought to his plans after high school. He worked at keeping his grades
high so that he could get into a good college and was fairly certain that he wanted
to become a mechanical engineer. His fantasy was to become a professional bike
racer, but even if able to pursue this dream, he wanted a college education.
Springfield is a midsize metropolitan city. It is culturally, racially, and eco-
nomically diverse. At the time of his interview, James was attending one of the
high schools in the city, which he described as almost “a little college,” and he
liked all his classes. His classmates reflected many of the cultures and languages of
the world, and the school system was intent on incorporating this cultural diver-
sity into the curriculum in many ways, some more successful than others. When
James was interviewed, bilingual education was still going strong in Massachu-
setts (it was eventually eliminated), so the school system offered a number of
bilingual programs for the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese, Russian, Vietnamese,
and Khmer communities. Some of the other activities, such as cultural festivals
and international fairs, although a promising start, proved to be somewhat super-
ficial attempts at acknowledging the rich cultural diversity of the city, as James
made clear in his interview.
Although he had never studied Arabic formally in school, James was fluent in
both English and Arabic because both languages were spoken at home. His family
attended the Maronite church in the city; the church was established in 1905 and
was influential in encouraging the use of Arabic and the maintenance of Lebanese
culture in the community. The church’s role was not merely to provide a place for
worship; rather, it has served as a haven for cultural pride and observance of tradi-
tions. Indicative of the church’s role, the Reverend Saab, pastor for more than 50
years, made the following statement concerning his parishioners during his investi-
ture as monsignor: “I did not want them to forget their Lebanese heritage because
this is a wonderful thing.”4 Even when assimilation was generally perceived to be
a great value in U.S. society, the Lebanese community was definitely bucking the
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tide. This was apparent in the large percentage of second- and even third-generation
Lebanese in Springfield, both Christian and Muslim, who still spoke Arabic.
In many other ways, however, the Arab American community has accultur-
ated to the U.S. mainstream. In Springfield, Arabic surnames are now almost non-
existent because many family names have been Anglicized. Actually, were it not
for the influence of the church, and to a lesser extent other social and religious
organizations and clubs, assimilation might have proceeded much more rapidly.
The social class structure has changed, too. The Lebanese community in the city
started out as working class, but it is now primarily middle class. In the first dec-
ades of the twentieth century, the Arab community was similar to many other
immigrant communities. It was characterized by large families (an average of
ten children); overcrowded flats; congested sidewalks and doorsteps; and dirty,
unpaved streets.5 Most Arabs in the city now own their own homes and live in
middle-class communities.
This was true of James and his family, too. He, his mother, 14-year-old
brother, and 9-year-old sister lived in a quiet residential neighborhood in the city.
His community, primarily European American, was much more homogeneous
than the city itself. He said the difference between his neighborhood and the city
proper was that there were many trees (“Believe me, I know! I have to rake the
leaves every year,” he said).
Themes that emerged in James’s interview include James’s perception of him-
self as a good student, as “smart,” and his role as apprentice within his family. The
most important theme to emerge, however, was the invisibility of James’s Leba-
nese American culture in his high school, which is the theme we will address first.
The Invisible Minority

[My elementary school teacher, Mr. Miller] I just liked him. . . . He started calling
me Gonzo ’cause I had a big nose. He called me Klinger—he said ’cause Klinger’s
Lebanese. You know, the guy on M.A.S.H? And then everybody called me Klinger
from then on. I liked it, kind of . . . everybody laughing at me. Yeah, it doesn’t
bother me. I don’t care if somebody talks about my nose.
We had a foreign language month in school. They had posters and signs and
everything. Spanish, French, Spain, Italy—they had all these signs and posters and
pictures and stuff all over the school. There was Chinese; they had Japanese; they
had Korean. They had lots of stuff.
[Why didn’t they have Arabic?] I don’t know. . . .
[Another time] they made this cookbook of all these different recipes from all
over the world, and I would’ve brought in some Lebanese recipes if somebody’d
let me know. And I didn’t hear about it until the week before they started selling
them. They had some Greek. They had everything, just about. I asked one of the
teachers to look at it, and there was nothing Lebanese in there.
[Another time, at the multicultural fair], there was Poland, there was Czecho-
slovakia, there was Spain, there was Mexico, there was France. There was a lot of
different flags. I didn’t see Lebanon, though.
I guess there’s not that many Lebanese people in . . . I don’t know; you don’t
hear really that much. . . . Well, you hear it in the news a lot, but I mean, I don’t
know, there’s not a lot of Lebanese kids in our school. There’s about eight or nine
at the most.
I don’t mind, ’cause, I mean, I don’t know, just, I don’t mind it. It’s not really
important. It is important for me. It would be important for me to see a Lebanese
flag. . . . But you know, it’s nothing I would, like, enforce or, like, say something
about. If anybody ever asked me about it, I’d probably say, “Yeah, there should be
one.” You know, if any of the teachers ever asked me, but I don’t know. . . .
Some people call me, you know, ’cause I’m Lebanese, so people say, “Look out
for the terrorist! Don’t mess with him or he’ll blow up your house!” or some stuff like
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that. But they’re just joking around, though. I don’t think anybody’s serious ’cause
I wouldn’t blow up anybody’s house—and they know that. I don’t care. It doesn’t
matter what people say. I just want everybody to know that, you know, it’s not true.
On Being a Good Student

I’m probably the smartest kid in my class. It’s just, like, usually I can get really
into the work and stuff. But everybody else, you know, even the people that do
their homework and assignments and stuff, they just do it and pass it in. You
know, I like to get involved in it and learn it.
If you don’t get involved with it, even if you get perfect scores and stuff, it’s
not gonna, like, really sink in. You’ll probably forget it. You can memorize the
words you know, on a test. But you know, if you memorize them, it’s not going to
do you any good. You have to learn them, you know?
I want to make sure that I get my college education. I want to make sure of
that. Even if I do get into the career that I specialize in college, I still want to get a
college education. . . . I’d love to be an engineer, but my real dream is to be a bike
racer. Yeah, it’s my love. I love it.
When things go bad, I go ride my bike. That’s what I did [once] in the middle
of the night. The faster I ride, the harder I pushed, the more it hurt. It made me
keep my mind off [things].
[I think I didn’t do well in school one year] just because I didn’t try. I thought
it was too easy so I didn’t try. I don’t think [Mom] liked that too much. I said,
“Mom, I wanna go to summer school, you know, just to bring up my grade.” So
she paid for it.
In a lot of the things that I do, I usually do good. I don’t like it when I don’t
finish something or when I do real bad. It makes me want to do better. If I ever get
a bad grade on a test, it makes me want to do better next time.
Some teachers are just . . . they don’t really care. They just teach the stuff.
“Here,” write a couple of things on the board, “See, that’s how you do it. Go
ahead, page 25.” You know, some teachers are just like that.
Maybe it’s not that they don’t care. It’s just that they don’t put enough effort
into it, maybe. . . . I don’t know.
I like going over it with the class, and you know, letting everybody know your
questions. And, you know, there could be someone sitting in the back of the class
that has the same question you have. Might as well bring it out.
[Teachers should] make the classes more interesting. . . . Like, not just sit
there and say, “Do this and do this and do this.” You know, just, like, explain eve-
rything, write things on the board.
Apprenticeship Within the Family

I speak a mixture of both [Arabic and English]. Sometimes it’s just, like, some
words come out Arabic and some words come out English. . . . Whichever
expresses what I want to say the best, I guess, at the time.
We go to a lot of Lebanese parties and gatherings. We go to Catholic-Lebanese
church every week. I always want to go to church. Most of my friends don’t go to
church. A lot of them do, but most of them don’t.
My mother’s really proud to be Lebanese, and so am I. First thing I’d say is
“I’m Lebanese.” I’m just proud to be Lebanese. If somebody asked me, “What are
you?” everybody else would answer, “I’m American,” but I say “I’m Lebanese,”
and I feel proud of it.
Even though somebody might have the last name like LeMond or something,
he’s considered American. But you know, LeMond is a French name, so his cul-
ture must be French. His background is French. But they’re considered Americans.
But I’d like to be considered Lebanese.
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My mother’s really old-fashioned: “You gotta be in early.” “You gotta be in

bed at a certain time.” That kind of stuff. I guess it’ll pay off. When I’m older, I’ll
realize that she was right, I guess. But right now, I wish I could stay out, like, a
little later. I don’t mind it ’cause I don’t think I’m really missing much. There must
be a reason why. I know a lot of kids that can stay out and, you know, they go out
till 12 o’clock, 1 o’clock in the morning. They don’t come back home, and their
mothers don’t even ask them, you know, where they’ve been or whatever. [My
parents are] really loving and caring. . . .
[My parents] basically taught me to be good to people. You know, I’ve never
really been mean to anybody. I don’t like fighting. My mother taught me that,
mostly. [I] wouldn’t want to be a part of any other family, put it that way.
Commentary
U
ntil the events of September 11, 2001, Arab Americans were largely an invis-
ible minority in the United States. James was interviewed in 1989, and at that
time, invisibility was a mark of the community. This became clear not only
through discussions with James but also through a review of the literature. Whereas
much has been written about numerous other ethnic groups in the United States—
even those fewer in number—very little was available about Arab Americans, their
culture, school experiences, or learning preferences. This situation has changed
considerably since 9/11, when Arabs, including Lebanese, inaccurately became
linked with extremism and terrorism by many. Compared with most other groups,
for whom volumes of information are available (although not necessarily accurate,
understood, or used appropriately), Arab Americans still represent a unique case of
invisibility because, when represented at all, it is generally in negative ways.
The reasons for this invisibility are varied. For one, the majority of Arabs did
not come in a mass influx as the result of famine, political or religious persecu-
tion, or war, as have other refugees. Although many Arabs have indeed come to
this country under these circumstances in the recent past, previously their num-
bers had not been conspicuous: Until 2001, Arab immigration to the United States
was a relatively “quiet” one. In addition, Arabs’ problems of adjustment, although
no doubt difficult, had not, until recently, caught the public imagination as had
those of other immigrants. Their children have not faced massive failure in the
schools, as is true of the children of other immigrant groups, and for this reason,
Arab American children have not been the focus of studies as others have been.
Finally, Arabs are not always a racially visible minority, as is usually the case with
Asians, African Americans, or many Latinos. A good number of Arab Americans—
although certainly not all—can “blend in” with the European American population
if they so choose.
Nonetheless, considering the number and diversity of Arabs in the United
States and the news events surrounding the time when James was interviewed
in 1989—when Lebanon was frequently in the news—is reason enough for more
information about Arab Americans. Beyond the issue of conflict, the reality of the
diverse histories and cultures of the approximately 300 million Arabs worldwide
deserves some mention on its own merit.
Although it encompasses different religions, socioeconomic classes, and
national origins, the Arab community is one of the most heterogeneous in the
United States. It is also one of the most misunderstood—shrouded in mystery and
consequently in stereotypes. The popular images of Arabs as rich sheikhs, reli-
gious zealots, or terrorists are gross stereotypes that do little to create a sense of
community among Arabs and non-Arabs in the United States, yet this is some-
times the only “information” the general public has. These are also the images that
James and other Arab American children have to struggle against every day. Yet
Arab Americans do not fit the stereotype: They have a higher level of education
than the general population (46 percent hold a bachelor’s degree, compared to
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28 percent of Americans at large); their household income is higher ($59,012) than

that of the general population ($52,029); and 73 percent are employed in manage-
rial, professional, sales, or administrative fields.6 Although racist stereotypes of
Arabs as barbaric, treacherous, and cruel still persist, teachers have few resources
to deal with these issues. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has
excellent educational resources and information on the Arab American community
(lesson plans for teachers on discrimination and stereotypes, facts about Arabs,
contributions of Arabs to civilization, and many more).7
James experienced firsthand some of the stereotypes of Arab Americans. He
had alternately felt invisible or referred to in only negative ways. Because Mr.
Miller (the teacher who called him Gonzo) joked in the same way with many of
the other students, and because he allowed them to “make fun” of him, too, James
liked this attention. It made him feel special in the sense that his background was
at least acknowledged. In spite of what he said, however, the stereotypes about
his background had probably taken their toll on James. Although he was quite
active in school activities, he was vehement about not wanting to belong to stu-
dent government. “I hate politics,” he said simply.
James was acutely aware of being a good student. He was very confident
about his academic success, and his perception of being a successful student was
important to him. He was proud, for example, of being persistent, a quality he
defined as his best characteristic. At the beginning of his junior year, after summer
school, James had broken his foot while playing sports. It had required surgery,
and he had been on crutches for several weeks. Because he had missed two weeks
of school, he stayed after school every day for a number of weeks, making up
labs and quizzes and other assignments. He was struggling with both schoolwork
and crutches, but his attitude was positive. “I can’t wait to be done with all my
makeup work,” he said, with a touch of frustration. He got through it, though, as
with everything else that he had to do.
James’s favorite teacher was his geometry teacher, the one who he said “takes
the time” and who went over everything in class. She was also the faculty adviser
for the Helping Hand Club, a community service group in the school and neighbor-
hood. James was quite involved in this group, which helped raise funds for indi-
viduals in need, and for charitable organizations. “I like doing that kind of stuff,”
he said, “helping out.”
Other activities also seemed to give James the energy and motivation to keep
up with schoolwork. He played soccer and baseball and was on the swim team.
He became most enthusiastic, however, when talking about his favorite activity,
biking. This sport energized James in many ways. Biking gave him the opportunity
to learn about many things: how “practice makes perfect,” how to develop and
use leadership skills, how it feels to have a setback and not let it be a permanent
loss, how to use a hobby to help relieve stress, and how to hone his interpersonal
skills. Biking was not just a physical challenge but also an important motivation.
James’s room was filled with biking magazines, and he said that the person he most
admired was Greg LeMond, at the time the only U.S. racer who had ever won the
Tour de France and the world championship. “I want to be just like him,” he said.
James’s family played a significant role in the value he placed on education and
the need to persevere. Like other parents, James’s parents had taught him the val-
ues and behaviors they believed most important for his survival and success. In the
case of a family culturally different from the mainstream, this role is especially cru-
cial. Teaching children their culture can be called an apprenticeship. It is a role that
is particularly evident among immigrant families who attempt, often against great
odds, to keep their native culture alive. For families of the dominant culture, their
apprenticeship is usually invisible because their children are surrounded by and sub-
merged in the culture every day. They hear the dominant language, see dominant
culture behaviors, and take part in all the trappings of everyday life—that is, in
mainstream culture. For immigrant families, or even for third- or fourth-generation
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families who have chosen to retain ethnic ties and traditions, the task of their chil-
dren’s apprenticeship is appreciably more difficult. The language they speak at home
is not usually echoed in the general population; their values, traditions, and holidays
are often at odds with those of the dominant culture; and even the foods they eat or
the music they listen to may be absent in the outside world. Because their culture is
simply unacknowledged in many ways, these families are engaged in a terribly dif-
ficult balancing act of cultural adaptation without complete assimilation.
Although certainly not immune from the difficulties inherent in this role,
James had been quite successful at this balancing act. He had a strong and healthy
self-image, not only as a student but also as Lebanese. James loved Lebanese food,
and he had even learned to cook some of it. The only thing he seemed to dislike,
in fact, was Lebanese music, which he called “boring.” His house was filled with
Lebanese artifacts. A Lebanese pennant was prominently displayed in his room,
and his bike-racing helmet had a Lebanese flag on it. James had never been to
Lebanon, but he definitely planned to go “when this war is over,” as he explained.
For the most part, James felt comfortable in two worlds. His apprenticeship had
been a largely successful one. He was proud of his culture; he was bilingual; gen-
erally, he was not embarrassed or ashamed about appearing “different.” He con-
sidered his family to be “the average American family” in some ways, and he
probably considered himself to be an “all-American” kid because he liked to do
what he called “normal teenager stuff.”
In sum, James Karam was successful in forging his family, culture, language,
hobbies, church, friends, and schoolwork into a unique amalgam, which resulted in
a strong self-image and a way of confronting a society not always comfortable with
or tolerant of diversity. This achievement had not made him immune, however, to
the different and distressing issues that arose because of his ethnic minority status.
He had learned, for example, to hide hurt feelings when his culture was disparaged.
He was quiet, preferring to accept invisibility rather than risk further alienation or
rejection. He also learned not to demand that his culture be affirmed. Nevertheless, it
was evident that the uncompromising strength of his family, the support he received
from his extracurricular activities, and his enduring faith in himself would probably
help make the difference between surviving the tension or succumbing to it.

1. What invisible minorities are you aware of? Why would you classify them in this way?
In terms of visibility, how would you classify Arab Americans since 9/11?
2. Why do you think James was reluctant to bring up his feelings of exclusion from school
activities?
3. What advice do you think James would give new teachers about being successful
teachers? Why?
Notes for the Case Study: James Karam

1. We want to thank Diane Sweet for the interviews with James as well as for transcripts and other
extensive information about the Arab American community she was able to find.
2. U.S. Census Bureau (2000). See also the American-Arab Institute Foundation for these and other
demographics and general information about Arab Americans, as well as a discussion of the prob-
lems associated with counting Arab Americans in the U.S. Census (http://www.aaiusa.org).
3. Aruri (1969).
4. Ibid.
5. See www.aaiusa.org.
6. See http://www.adc.org/education/educational-resources/ for demographic data for government and
legal information, educational resources, and lesson plans. See also Arab World and Islamic Resources
(AWAIR) at www.awaironline.org; American-Mideast Educational and Training Services (AMIDEAST)
at www.amideast.org; and the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.–based organization
that serves as a leadership group for Americans of Arab descent at www.aaiusa.org.
M05_NIET7232_07_SE_C05.indd 168 03/11/17 11:42 AM

Hoang Vinh
A
t the time he was interviewed, Hoang Vinh was 18 years
old.1 Born in the Xuan Loc province of Dong Nai, Vietnam,
For Vietnamese people, [culture] is very about 80 kilometers from Saigon, he had lived in the United
important. . . . If we want to get something, States for three years. Vinh’s hands moved in quick gestures as he
tried to illustrate what he had to say, almost as if wishing that they
we have to get it. Vietnamese culture is would speak for him. Vinh2 was very conscious of not knowing
like that. . . . We work hard, and we get English well enough to express himself in the way he would have
liked and he kept apologizing, “My English is not good.” Neverthe-
something we want. less, his English skills were quite advanced for someone who had
been in the United States for just a few years.
When he came to the United States, Vinh first went to Virginia and then to
New England, where he currently lived in a modest house in a residential neigh-
borhood of a pleasant, mostly middle-class college town with his uncle, two sisters,
and two brothers. Everyone in the family had chores and contributed to keep-
ing the house clean and making the meals. In addition, the older members made
sure that the younger children kept in touch with their Vietnamese language and
culture. They held weekly sessions in which the children wrote to their parents;
they allowed only Vietnamese to be spoken at home; and they cooked Vietnamese
food, something that even the youngest was learning to do. When Vinh and his
siblings received letters from their parents, they read them together. Their uncle
reinforced their native literacy by telling them many stories. Vinh also played what
he called “music from my Vietnam,” to which the entire family listened.
Because Vinh’s father had been in the military before 1975 and worked for the
U.S. government, he was considered an American sympathizer. As a result, edu-
cational opportunities for his family were limited after the war. Although Vinh’s
parents could not leave Vietnam, they desperately wanted their children to have
the opportunity for a better education and a more secure future. Consequently,
they sent Vinh and his brothers and sisters to the United States during what has
been called the “second wave” of immigration from Indochina; that is, they came
after the huge exodus in 1975.3 Although Vinh and his family arrived directly from
Vietnam, most of the second-wave immigrants came from refugee camps in Thai-
land, Malaysia, and elsewhere. This second wave was generally characterized by
greater heterogeneity in social class and ethnicity, less formal education, fewer
marketable skills, and poorer health than previous immigrants. During the 1980s,
when Vinh and his family journeyed to the United States, the school-age Asian
and Pacific Islander population between the ages of 5 and 19 grew by an astound-
ing 90 percent. About half of the 800,000 Asian refugees who arrived between
1975 and 1990 were under 18 years of age.4 The Asian population has grown
dramatically since that time. The Census Bureau, in its 2006 survey, estimated the
Asian population, in general, to be 14.9 million, and the Vietnamese population to
be 1.6 million.5
Vinh’s uncle worked in town and supported all the children in every way
he could, taking his role of surrogate father very seriously. Because he wanted
to make sure that all the children benefited from their education, he constantly
motivated them to do better. During the summers, Vinh worked to contribute to
his family here in the United States and in Vietnam, but during the school year,
he was not allowed to work because of the importance that his parents and uncle
placed on his studies (“I just go to school, and, after school, I go home to study,”
he explained). He used the money he made in the summer to support his family
because, he said, “we are very poor.” They rarely went to the movies, and they
spent little on themselves.
Vinh was starting his senior year in high school at the time he was inter-
viewed. Because the number of Vietnamese speakers in the schools he attended
had never been high, Vinh had not participated in a bilingual program. Although
he had done quite well in school, he enjoyed the opportunity to speak his native
language and would no doubt have profited from a bilingual education. Some
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teachers encouraged Vinh and his Vietnamese classmates to speak Vietnamese

during the English as a Second Language (ESL) class to improve their understand-
ing of the curriculum content, but other teachers discouraged the use of their
native language. All of Vinh’s other classes were in the mainstream program for
college-bound students: physics, calculus, French, music, and law. His favorite
subject was history because he wanted to learn more about the United States. He
was also interested in psychology.
Homework and studying took up many hours of Vinh’s time. He placed great
value on what he called becoming “educated people,” one of the central themes in
his case study. Other themes concerned his demanding standards, his attempt to
understand other cultures, and the strength he derived from family and culture.
Becoming “Educated People”

In Vietnam, we go to school because we want to become educated people. But in
the United States, most people, they say, “Oh, we go to school because we want to
get a good job.” But my idea, I don’t think so. I say, if we go to school, we want a
good job also, but we want to become a good person.
[In Vietnam] we go to school, we have to remember every single word. We
don’t have textbooks, so my teacher write on the blackboard. So we have to copy
and go home. So, they say, “You have to remember all the things, like all the
words.” But in the United States, they don’t need for you remember all the words.
They just need you to understand. But two different school systems. They have
different things. I think in my Vietnamese school, they are good. But I also think
the United States school system is good. They’re not the same. They are good, but
good in different ways.
When I go to school [in Vietnam], sometimes I don’t know how to do some-
thing, so I ask my teacher. She can spend all the time to help me, anything I want.
So, they are very nice. My teacher, she was very nice. When I asked her every-
thing, she would answer me, teach me something. That’s why I remember. But
some of my teachers, they always punished me.
[Grades] are not important to me. Important to me is education. I [am] not
concerned about [test scores] very much. I just need enough for me to go to col-
lege. Sometimes, I never care about [grades]. I just know I do my exam very good.
But I don’t need to know I got A or B. . . . I have to learn more and more. Some-
times, I got C, but I learned very much. . . . I learned a lot, and I feel very sorry,
“Why I got only C?” But sometimes, if I got B, that’s enough. I don’t need A.
Some people, they got a good education. They go to school, they got master’s,
they got doctorate, but they’re just helping themselves. So that’s not good. . . . If I
got a good education, I get a good job, not helping only myself. I like to help other
people. . . . I want to help other people who don’t have money, who don’t have a
house. . . . The first thing is money. If people live without money, they cannot do
nothing. So even if I want to help other people, I have to get a good job. I have the
money, so that way I can help them.
Sometimes, the English teachers, they don’t understand about us. Because
something we not do good . . . like my English is not good. And she say, “Oh, your
English is great!” But that’s the way the American culture is. But my culture is not
like that. If my English is not good, she has to say, “Your English is not good. So
you have to go home and study.” And she tell me what to study and how to study
to get better. But some Americans, you know, they don’t understand about myself.
So they just say, “Oh! You’re doing a good job! You’re doing great! Everything is
great!” Teachers talk like that, but my culture is different. They say, “You have to
do better.” So, sometimes when I do something not good, and my teachers say,
“Oh, you did great!” I don’t like it. I want the truth better.
Some teachers, they never concerned to the students. So, they just do some-
thing that they have to do. But they don’t really do something to help the people,
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the students. Some teachers, they just go inside and go to the blackboard. They
don’t care. So that I don’t like.
I have a good teacher, Ms. Brown. She’s very sensitive. She understands the
students, year to year, year after year. She understands a lot. So when I had her
class, we discussed some things very interesting about America. And sometimes
she tells us about something very interesting about another culture. But Ms. Mitch-
ell, she just knows how to teach for the children . . . like 10 years old or younger.
So some people don’t like her. Like me, I don’t like her. I like to discuss some-
thing. Not just how to write “A.” . . . “You have to write like this.” So I don’t like
that. She wants me to write perfectly. So that is not a good way because we learn
another language. Because when we learn another language, we learn to discuss,
we learn to understand the word’s meaning, not about how to write the word.
I want to go to college, of course. Right now, I don’t know what will happen
for the future. If I think of my future, I have to learn more about psychology. If I
have a family, I want a perfect family, not really perfect, but I want a very good
family. So that’s why I study psychology. When I grow up, I get married, I have
children, so I have to let them go to school. . . . I have good education to teach
them. So, Vietnamese want their children to grow up and be polite and go to
school, just like I am right now. . . . I just want they will be a good person.
I don’t care much about money. So, I just want to have a normal job that I
can take care of myself and my family. So that’s enough. I don’t want to climb up
compared to other people because, you know, different people have different ideas
about how to live, so I don’t think money is important to me. I just need enough
money for my life.
Demanding Standards
I’m not really good, but I’m trying.
In Vietnam, I am a good student. But at the United States, my English is not
good sometimes. I cannot say very nice things to some Americans because my Eng-
lish is not perfect. Sometimes the people, they don’t think I’m polite because they
don’t understand my English exactly. I always say my English is not good because
all the people, they can speak better than me. So, I say, “Why some people, they
came here the same year with me, but they can learn better?” So I have to try.
When I lived in Vietnam . . . so I go to school and I got very good credit
[grades], but right now, because my English is not good, sometimes I feel very
sorry for myself. [My uncle] never told me, “Oh, you do good” or “Oh, you do
bad.” Because every time I go home, I give him my report card, like from C to A,
he don’t say nothing. He say, “Next time, you should do better.” If I got A, okay,
he just say, “Oh, next time, do better than A!” He doesn’t need anything from me.
But he wants me to be a good person, and helpful. So he wants me to go to school,
so someday I have a good job and so I don’t need from him anymore.
He encourages me. He talks about why you have to learn and what important
things you will do in the future if you learn. I like him to be involved about my
school. I like him to be concerned about my credits.
Some people need help, but some people don’t. Like me, sometime I need
help. I want to know how to apply for college and what will I do to get into col-
lege. So that is my problem. I have a counselor, but I never talk to him. Because I
don’t want them to be concerned about myself because they have a lot of people
to talk with. So, sometimes, I just go home and I talk with my brother and my
uncle. If I need my counselor every time I got trouble, I’m not going to solve that
problem. So, I want to do it by myself. I have to sit down and think, “Why did the
trouble start? And how can we solve the problem?” Sometimes, I say, I don’t want
them to [be] concerned with my problem.
Most American people are very helpful. But because I don’t want them to
spend time about myself, to help me, so that’s why I don’t come to them. One
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other time, I talked with my uncle. He can tell me whatever I want. But my Eng-
lish is not good, so that’s why I don’t want to talk with American people.
I may need my counselor’s help. When I go to college, I have to understand
the college system and how to go get into college. The first thing I have to know
is the college system, and what’s the difference between this school and other
schools, and how they compare. . . . I already know how to make applications and
how to meet counselors, and how to take a test also.
Sometimes I do better than other people, but I still think it’s not good. Because
if you learn, you can be more than that. So that’s why I keep learning. Because I
think, everything you can do, you learn. If you don’t learn, you can’t do nothing.
Right now, I cannot say [anything good] about myself because if I talk about
myself, it’s not right. Another person who lives with me, like my brother, he can
say something about me better than what I say about myself. Nobody can under-
stand themselves better than other people.
I don’t know [if I’m successful] because that belongs to the future. I mean
successful for myself [means] that I have a good family; I have a good job; I have
respect from other people.
Trying to Understand Other Cultures

I am very different from other people who are the same age. Some people who are
the same age, they like to go dancing, they like to smoke, they want to have more
fun. But not me. . . . Because right now, all the girls, they like more fun [things]
than sit down and think about psychology, think about family. I think it’s very dif-
ficult to find [a girlfriend] right now. If I find a girlfriend who not agree with any
of my ideas, it would not be a good girlfriend. I don’t need [her to be] very much
like me, but some . . . we would have a little in common. It is not about their color
or their language, but their character. I like their character better.
I think it’s an important point because if you understand another language or
another culture, it’s very good for you. So I keep learning, other cultures, other
languages, other customs.
Some [Black] people very good. Most Black people in [this town], they talk
very nice. Like in my country, some people very good and some people very bad.
I have Chinese, I have Japanese, I have American, I have Cambodian [friends].
Every kind of people. Because I care about character, not about color.
Strength from Culture and Family

Sometimes I think about [marrying] a Vietnamese girl because my son or my
daughter, in the future, they will speak Vietnamese. So, if I have an American
girlfriend, my children cannot speak Vietnamese. Because I saw other families
who have an American wife or an American husband, their children cannot speak
Vietnamese. It is very hard to learn a language. In the United States, they have TV,
they have radio, every kind of thing, we have to do English. So, that why I don’t
think my children can learn Vietnamese.
When I sleep, I like to think a little bit about my country. And I feel very good.
I always think about . . . my family . . . what gifts they get me before, how they
were with me when I was young. Those are very good things to remember and to
try to repeat again.
I’ve been here for three years, but the first two years I didn’t learn anything. I
got sick, mental. I got mental. Because when I came to the United States, I missed
my father’s [parents], my family, and my friends, and my Vietnam. So, every time
I go to sleep, I cannot sleep, I don’t want to eat anything. So I become sick. I am
a very sad person. Sometimes, I just want to be alone to think about myself. I feel
sorry about what I do wrong with someone. Whatever I do wrong in the past, I
just think and I feel sorry for myself.
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I never have a good time. I go to the mall, but I don’t feel good. I just sit there.
I don’t know what to do. Before I got mental, okay, I feel very good about myself,
like I am smart, I learn a lot of things. But after I got mental, I don’t get any enjoy-
ment. I’m not smart anymore. After I got mental, I don’t enjoy anything. Before
that, I enjoy lots. Like I listen to music, I go to school and talk to my friends. But
now I don’t feel I enjoy anything. Just talk with my friends, that’s enough, that’s
my enjoyment.
My culture is my country. We love my country; we love our people; we love
the way the Vietnamese, like they talk very nice and they are very polite to all the
people. For Vietnamese, [culture] is very important. I think my country is a great
country. The people is very courageous. They never scared to do anything. If we
want to get something, we have to get it. Vietnamese culture is like that. We work
hard, and we get something we want.
Every culture . . . they have good things and they have bad things. And my
culture is the same. But sometimes they’re different because they come from dif-
ferent countries. America is so different.
[My teachers] understand some things, just not all Vietnamese culture. Like
they just understand some things outside. . . . But they cannot understand some-
thing inside our hearts.
[Teachers should] understand the students. Like Ms. Mitchell, she just say,
“Oh, you have to do it this way,” “You have to do that way.” But some people,
they came from different countries. They have different ideas, so they might think
about school in different ways. So maybe she has to know why they think in that
way. Because different cultures, they have different meanings about education. So
she has to learn about that culture. I think they just think that they understand our
culture. . . . But it is very hard to tell them because that’s our feelings.
When I came to United States, I heard English, so I say, “Oh, very funny
sound.” Very strange to me. But I think they feel the same like when we speak
Vietnamese. So they hear and they say, “What a strange language.” Some people
like to listen. But some people don’t like to listen. So, if I talk with Americans, I
never talk Vietnamese.
Some teachers don’t understand about the language. So sometimes, my lan-
guage, they say it sounds funny. And sometimes, all the languages sound funny.
Sometimes, [the teacher] doesn’t let us speak Vietnamese, or some people speak
Cambodian. Sometimes, she already knows some Spanish, so she lets Spanish
[speakers] speak. But because she doesn’t know about Vietnamese language, so
she doesn’t let Vietnamese speak. From the second language, it is very difficult for
me and for other people.
I want to learn something good from my culture and something good from
American culture. And I want to take both cultures and select something good. If
we live in the United States, we have to learn something about new people.
[To keep reading and writing Vietnamese] is very important. So, I like to learn
English, but I like to learn my language, too. Because different languages, they
have different things, special. [My younger sisters] are very good. They don’t need
my help. They already know. They write to my parents and they keep reading
Vietnamese books. . . . Sometimes they forget to pronounce the words, but I help
them.
At home, we eat Vietnamese food. . . . The important thing is rice. Everybody
eats rice, and vegetables, and meat. They make different kinds of food. The way
I grew up, I had to learn, I had to know it. By looking at other people—when my
mother cooked, and I just see it, and so I know it.
We tell [our parents] about what we do at school and what we do at home
and how nice the people around us, and what we will do better in the future to
make them happy. Something not good, we don’t write.
They miss us and they want ourselves to live together. They teach me how to
live without them.
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Commentary
H
oang Vinh’s experiences in the United States closely parallel those of other
Asian refugees in some respects, but they were quite different in oth-
ers. His case study gives us many lessons about teachers’ expectations,
demands on Asian students, and the anguish of cultural clash and language loss.
Vinh was emphatic about wanting to become “educated people,” which he
explained as wanting to know about other people and about the world, and also
wanting to be able to get along with, and help, others. Grades were not as impor-
tant to Vinh as doing “the best you can.” He was convinced that there is a big dif-
ference—not just a semantic one, but a cultural one as well—in what it means to
be “educated” in the Vietnamese sense and in the United States. His explanation
is a good example of what many Asians believe to be one of the main differences
between U.S. and Asian cultures. Although U.S. culture is rich materially, it often
lacks the spirituality so important in most Asian cultures. In one of the very first
resources on Vietnamese culture prepared for teachers after the end of the Viet-
nam War, Tam Thi Dang Wei wrote, “A very rich man without a good education is
not highly regarded by the Vietnamese.”6
Although Vinh remembered his teachers in Vietnam with some fear because
they were strict and demanding, he also recalled them with nostalgia. He noticed
many differences in the educational system in the United States—some positive,
others negative. He appreciated, for example, being allowed to use his native
language in class and the individual help he received from teachers. Mostly he
talked about how he loved working in groups. He mentioned one ESL teacher,
his favorite teacher, who often had students work in groups, talking among them-
selves and coming up with their own solutions and answers. Most of the topics
they discussed were related to their lives in the United States, their culture, and
their adaptation.
Much of the conventional wisdom concerning the traditional learning styles
of Vietnamese students emphasizes their passivity and reliance on rote memoriza-
tion, but Vinh’s case dramatizes how important it is to interpret such ideas cau-
tiously. For one, there is great diversity among all Asian groups and even within
groups. Vinh’s predilection for group work, for example, may demonstrate how
the form of education is not as important as the process. That is, group work in
this case is the means used to facilitate dialogue, which is so important in learn-
ing a second language and learning in general. However, as Vinh’s case study
indicates, the process may be the crucial factor because it is based on the students’
own experiences and engages them meaningfully in their education.
Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian immigrants generally have a substan-
tially higher level of education than other groups, even well-established ones.
Their high literacy rate has a significant impact on their schooling in this country.
Asians in U.S. schools typically spend much more time on homework than other
groups, and literacy and educational activities are undertaken at home as well as
at school. The effects of Vinh’s family background and early school experiences
were evident in his attitudes toward school and in his study habits.
To avoid giving the impression that all Vietnamese students are as concerned
with educational success as Vinh was, it must be noted that Vinh was quick to
point out that one of his best friends, Duy, was “very lazy.” Vinh said that Duy did
all of his homework but only at school and in a haphazard way. Vinh stated that,
although Duy was very smart and had a “very good character,” he did not care
about learning in the same way as Vinh did. Duy had long hair, spent many hours
listening to music or thinking about girls, wanted to be “cool,” and acted in what
Vinh said was “an American way.” Unlike Vinh, Duy had a job after school and
liked to spend his money at the mall.
Both Duy and Vinh, in different ways, shatter the “model-minority” ste-
reotype. According to this image, all Asian students excel in school, have few
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adjustment problems, and need little help. This stereotype is widely resented by
many Asians and Asian Americans. It is not only inaccurate, but can also lead
teachers to believe that all Asian American students are cut from the same cloth
(notwithstanding the fact that the Asian American community in the United States
is extremely heterogeneous).7 The model-minority myth is often used as a standard
against which all other groups are measured, and it may contribute to the intereth-
nic hostilities, already common in schools, that are occurring with more frequency
in communities, too. This myth also helps to discredit the legitimate demands for
social justice made by other, more vocal groups. The model-minority stereotype
additionally overlooks the great diversity among Asian Americans, diversity that
is apparent in ethnicity, class, and language, as well as their reasons for being in
the United States and their history here. It may place severe demands on students,
through teachers who have unreasonable expectations of their academic abilities.
Vinh was extremely hard on himself, and much of this self-assessment was
tied to his limited English. The use of the English language as a standard by which
to measure one’s intelligence is not unusual among immigrant students, who often
feel frustrated and angry by the length of time it may take to learn the language.
Vinh did not consider himself to be a successful student, often contrasting his
academic success in Vietnam with his struggles as a student in the United States.
The tremendous traumas refugees suffer when leaving their country and fac-
ing the challenges of a new society are well known. One of the results has been
a dramatic incidence in mental health problems among refugees. There is evi-
dence that refugees who are unaccompanied minors like Vinh are especially at risk
because they experience more depression and other problems, such as withdrawal
or hyperactivity. These problems may be caused by guilt, homesickness, aliena-
tion, and loneliness, which are sometimes aggravated by the hostility and dis-
crimination they face as immigrants. Considering the pivotal role of the family in
Vietnamese culture, particularly the importance of parents and elders in general,
Vinh was bound to suffer mental distress when, at the improbable age of 15, he
had the formidable task of relocating, along with his siblings, to a foreign country
and culture and assuming the role of an “elder” in dealing with a new society.
The result was almost inevitable: He became sick. He talked about this period of
missing his parents and extended family members and “my Vietnam” with great
melancholy.
Although his culture and family provided tremendous emotional support for
Vinh, they went largely unacknowledged by the school. Vinh felt that teachers
needed to learn about his culture and be sensitive to the difficulty of learning a
second language at an older age. Adjusting to his new country posed many chal-
lenges for Vinh: learning a new language and writing system; becoming famil-
iar with a new and very different culture; and grieving the loss of parents who,
although still living, were no longer with him. In such cases, even an apparent
adjustment may be deceiving. For example, a study of a group of Cambodian refu-
gee children found that, as they became more successful at modeling the behavior
of U.S. children, their emotional adjustment worsened. In addition, the feeling
of being different from other children increased with time in this country.8 The
problems of adolescence are aggravated by immigrant and minority status. Young
people like Vinh have a double, sometimes triple, burden compared with other
youth. Continuing to rely on his culture was one way Vinh tried to survive this
difficult adjustment.
Newcomers must also learn to live in a country that is extremely pluralistic,
at times uncomfortably so. The result can be confusion and uncertainty about
other cultures outside the mainstream. Immigrants are quick to pick up mes-
sages about the valued and devalued cultures in a society. Their preconceived
notions about racial superiority and inferiority may also play into this dynamic.
The lack of awareness and knowledge of other cultures and their experiences in
the United States can worsen the situation. Given no guidance by schools through
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appropriate curricula or other means, new students are left on their own to inter-
pret the actions of others. In addition, immigrants are often the target of racist
attitudes and even violence by other students.
All these factors help explain how some attitudes brought by immigrants and
then nurtured by prevailing racist attitudes and behaviors in society are played out
in schools and communities. Vinh was no exception. His experience with African
Americans is an example. He explained that, on several occasions, he was jumped
and robbed when he lived in Virginia. Being a newcomer to the United States, he
was perplexed and frustrated by this behavior and came to his own conclusion
about why the incidents occurred. Vinh saw differences between the Black students
in the first school (in Virginia) and those in the mostly middle-class town (in New
England) in which he lived at the time he was interviewed. The former, he said,
were “very dirty, smoked a lot, and played their music very loud.” When asked
why he thought this was so, he reflected, “I think that depend on the culture. . . . I
don’t understand much about Black culture.” He added, “Not all Black people [are
dirty and loud]. . . . There are good and bad in every group,” a cliché often used to
soften the impact of gross stereotypes. Vinh was obviously grappling with the issues
of race and stereotypes and tried very hard to accept all people for “their character,”
rather than for the color of their skin or the language they speak. In spite of some of
his negative experiences, he had made friends with some of the African American
students in the New England school (“Some of them is very cool and very nice”).
Schools are expected to take the major responsibility for helping children
confront these difficult issues, but often they do not. Given the changing U.S.
demographics and the large influx of new immigrants, the rivalry and negative
relationships among different groups of immigrants and native-born students will
likely be felt even more in the coming years. Inter-ethnic hostility needs to be
confronted directly through changes in curriculum and other school policies and
practices. Students such as Vinh clearly need this kind of leadership to help them
make sense of their new world.

1. Does Vinh’s definition of “educated people” differ from yours? If so, how?
2. Vinh resented the false praise he received from some of his teachers. Some students,
however, seem to need more praise than others. What does this situation imply for
teaching in culturally diverse schools?
3. Vinh had trouble asking his teachers and counselors for help. Knowing this, what can
schools do to help students like Vinh?
4. In light of Vinh’s inter-ethnic experiences and his perceptions of other cultures, what
can schools do to help students from different ethnic and racial groups understand one
another better?
Notes for the Case Study: Hoang Vinh

1. We are grateful to Haydée Font for the interviews and transcripts for this case study. When she con-
ducted these interviews, Haydée was a graduate student in multicultural education at the Univer-
sity of Massachusetts Amherst; she later worked in the development office at several universities.
2. The Vietnamese use family names first, given names second. The given name is used for identifi-
cation purposes. In this case, Vinh is the given name and Hoang is the family name. Accordingly,
whereas in U.S. society, John Jones would be known formally as Mr. Jones and informally as
John, in Vietnam, Hoang Vinh would be known both formally and informally as Mr. Vinh or Vinh.
3. See Takaki (1998); Zhou & Bankston (2000).
4. Kiang & Wai-Fun Lee (1993).
5. See the 2006 American Community Survey (ACS) from the U.S. Census Bureau. Available at http://
factfinder.census.gov.
6. Tam (1980).
7. Chang & Au (2007, 2008); Chou & Feagin (2008); Lee (2009).
8. This and many related studies are documented in Portes and Rumbaut (2006).
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Rebecca Florentina
R
ebecca Florentina, 17 and a senior in high school, wore
her green hair very short.1 Sporting pierced ears and pride
And all we can do is hope to educate teachers rings, from time to time, she also wore a T-shirt that said,
because there’s kids in middle school getting “I’m not a dyke, but my girlfriend is.” Rebecca identified as butch
lesbian and “came out” in her high school five months before she
beat up in the hallways because of it, you was interviewed.2 It wasn’t a big public announcement, according
know? to Rebecca. Instead, she came out when she and her girlfriend Ste-
phie started going out. She said, “We would just walk up to some-
body and say, ‘This is my girlfriend now.’ So that’s how I came out. I didn’t come
out like, ‘Hey, I’m lesbian!’ I came out as ‘Hey, this is my girlfriend. Now figure it
out.’” Rebecca was just as direct about everything else in her life.
As one of two children (her sister was a sophomore in college) living with a
divorced mother, Rebecca appreciated her mother’s open-mindedness about her
identity, her grades, her decisions about college, and her life in general. “Do what-
ever you want as long as you are happy” is the advice she said that her mother
always gave her.
A life-long resident of West Blueridge, a small city in Massachusetts known
for its liberal attitudes about sexuality, Rebecca didn’t contemplate ever moving.
She felt safe there, she said, especially as a lesbian. She could hold hands with
her girlfriend as they walked down the street and nobody noticed, or at least they
didn’t say anything. For almost a year, she had been involved in Rainbow Youth,
a place where LGBT youth went to talk and socialize, a place where, according to
Rebecca, she could hang out with her “second family kind of friends.”
Rebecca said she also felt safe in her high school, which she characterized as
“mostly accepting.” A large comprehensive high school with nearly a thousand
students, the school is primarily White and middle class: About 10 percent of the
students are Latino, and fewer are African American. According to Rebecca, most
of the graduates from her high school went to college.
Rebecca was particularly close to a several teachers in her high school because
they had been great supporters of the Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) student group.
This club, which had been in existence for several years, is just one of an estimated
200 throughout Massachusetts formed as a result of the Massachusetts’ Governor’s
Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth. The movement has spread to many other
states: According to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN),
there are now over 4,000 GSA groups around the country.3 The Massachusetts
Commission was formed by then Governor William Weld in reaction to a federal
report on the epidemic of youth suicide among lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual,
and questioning youths. An alarming statistic unearthed by the 1989 federal report
was that one-third of all youth suicides were carried out by gay and lesbian youths.4
Feeling safe in school for LGBT youth has been largely influenced by the presence
of GSAs. One large study found that LGBT students in schools with GSAs were
three times as likely to feel safe being “out” at school and were much less likely to
hear homophobic remarks, compared to students in schools without GSAs.5
The Massachusetts’ Governor’s Commission issued its landmark report in
1993.6 The first of its kind in the nation issued by a state’s department of educa-
tion, it made many recommendations for making schools safe and welcoming for
gay and lesbian youths. Four of the recommendations were adopted by the Mas-
sachusetts Board of Education:
1. Schools are encouraged to develop policies protecting gay and lesbian students from
harassment, violence, and discrimination.
2. Schools are encouraged to offer training to school personnel in violence prevention and
suicide prevention.
3. Schools are encouraged to offer school-based support groups for gay, lesbian, and het-
erosexual students.
4. Schools are encouraged to provide school-based counseling for family members of gay
and lesbian students.
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Also, in Massachusetts, students cannot be discriminated against on the basis

of sexual orientation if they want to start a GSA, and schools must respond to all
requests for the formation and funding of GSAs as they do to requests to form other
extracurricular clubs. As a result of these recommendations, many high schools
have received training and support for both students and staff members, and they
have started to make a positive difference in the climate of high schools through-
out the state. The GSA in Rebecca’s school was quite active, providing gay and
lesbian students with a nurturing environment at the high school. Unfortunately,
several years later in 2002, Jane Swift, the acting governor of Massachusetts, elim-
inated funding for this program due, she asserted, to severe budget constraints
and a bad economy. Given this sociopolitical climate, it is no surprise that an
obvious theme in Rebecca’s interview was the mixed messages she received about
safety. It was clear that she was always on guard and that the greater safety she so
yearned for was at times elusive. Other themes that emerged were Rebecca’s sense
of responsibility to educate others, her perseverance and personal motivation, and
her “invisibility” as an Italian American.
Mixed Messages
I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I feel safe here. I feel exceptionally safe here.
I take pride in West Blueridge, so it’s my community, I guess. It’s where I feel
the safest. It is what I love. I wouldn’t dare move somewhere else. I love it here,
but I also don’t feel as safe when I go other places, no matter where I go. So even
the town down the road, you know? I’ll think twice about holding my girlfriend’s
hand on the streets there. But when I do it in West Blueridge, there’s no questions
asked. We do it. I mean, who would want to leave a place that makes us feel that
safe? There’s no fear.
I just think that because it’s West Blueridge we get treated so much better
than people in other schools. I mean it’s obvious, you know? People have gotten
killed. [In other places] the comments are like, “Go somewhere else.” And people
doing double takes and looking at us and giving us weird faces.
I’m in the school’s GSA [Gay-Straight Alliance], and that’s one reason, you
know? The school has a GSA. On a regular basis, there’s probably six who go
every Friday, which is when we meet, but there’s another six or seven who come
whenever they can. Not all the time. There’s no trans people as far as we know. I
think there’s two guys, and the rest are female. Our GSA is having a speaker come
in. It’s an optional thing. We couldn’t make it mandatory. If anybody wants to
come, there’s going to be a speaker. We’re doing a whole week on gay rights and
awareness. It’s our Awareness Week. It’s going to be during the school. So we’ll
have rainbow voices. We’ll have pins, things like that. We’re doing “101 good
things about being gay” kind of thing. We’re not doing health class–type things.
We’re doing positive outlook. We’re not saying, “This percentage are into drugs;
this percent have AIDS.” It’s kind of like all the good things. We’re just making it
a happy time. . . . I don’t think [any parents have objected]. I think, in West Blu-
eridge, if you don’t approve of the lifestyle, you don’t say it because you’re going
to be offending a heck of a lot of people.
We’ve gone around and asked teachers to put “Safe Zone” stickers on their
door[s]. The majority of them actually have them on their doors. And the teachers
don’t mind. There’s a couple that are kind of iffy. [But] everybody’s like “It’s West
Blueridge.” That’s all you have to say, so you don’t really get too much [criticism]. . . .
I have a psychology teacher who says “heterosexually speaking,” so he’s not
implying that everybody’s straight. He’s the only person who does it. It made me
feel so much safer when I had a different teacher say, in his class the first day,
“There will be no swearing, there will be no slurs like ‘faggot’ or whatever in my
class.” I have [had] two teachers in four years of high school that have ever said
something like that, and that was both this year. I have my band director who
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says, “All you should be in this room is happy. And leave everything outside. This
is a safe place. Let’s be happy. Let’s play music.”
[When we “came out”] I don’t think we had a bad reaction. My friends were
awesome. I didn’t lose a single one, you know? So it was pretty cool.
[In the high school], the climate is like, if you’re generally like everybody else,
you’re fine. But if you’re totally opposite of what everybody else looks like and acts,
you’ll get shoved into a locker or something, or told to shut up. But when I walk
down the halls, it’s fine. There are some groups of people that, you know, you’ll
walk more quickly by. I don’t like to call them cliques, but there are people who
congregate in little sections of the hallway. But who doesn’t, you know? I do it, too.
But our school is, like, it’s West Blueridge, so it’s accepting. That’s what I like
about it. Most of the teachers are great. It’s very open.
[Students] never say slurs. [They don’t say “that’s disgusting” or anything like
that], but you can tell they’re thinking it. You can just tell. And we’re, like, okay.
But that doesn’t . . . that happens like once every two weeks. It’s not a big deal,
you know? And we’re not going to stop being who we are.
I’m in band, and everybody there knows about me and my girlfriend because
we’re both in band. And they’re all cool with it. And if they’re not, they don’t say
anything. But, like, I wear my sweatshirt all the time. And I’ll be reluctant to wear
this [t-shirt that says “I’m not a dyke, but my girlfriend is”] in the halls; like, if
I’m walking in the halls and some guy who’s got his hat twisted up all weird and
baggy pants, I’m gonna be reluctant to do that, I think, alone. Because if I go in
the bathroom or something, I don’t wear this shirt when I’m alone in school.
I don’t feel totally safe. But I feel like I have the privilege of feeling more safe
than everybody else does. So I’m thankful for what I have, and I just take precau-
tions because that’s just me.
You hear [“faggot”] and, like, you can’t do anything about it really. It gets
said; I probably hear it once every week. I don’t know if the teachers hear it. Some
girl said, “Oh you faggot” in one of my classes. But I don’t know if he heard or
not. . . . I think if you had to hold your tongue in class without saying that stuff,
it would help a little bit. But when you get out in the halls, it’s a totally different
atmosphere. People act basically the opposite of how they act in class. It’s, like,
second nature, you know? They kind of just say it all the time. It makes me angry.
I mean, there’s nothing you can do, really. I don’t think they could do anything.
You’re not going to stop the kids from doing something they want to do. If I’m in
the hall and some other kid’s in the hall, and there’s no teachers, he can hit me if
he wants. Or she.
I think that’s all we can do, and I don’t think for some people it will help because
if you have this one mind-set, you’re not going to change it if you don’t want to.
[What advice would you give to a new lesbian student in your school?] “Join
the GSA!” Here are my friends. They’re nice, you know? You’ll definitely have
accepting people who will never turn anybody away. That’s why I love them so
much. (pause) I don’t know. Just don’t broadcast it, you know? I think we go as
far as any straight couple, speaking of myself and my girlfriend. But we don’t
make out in the halls. That’s our personal whatever . . . we don’t want to do that.
But I don’t think we would even . . . because we would get crap for it. I’d just say,
“Be who you want to be, and if they don’t like it, that’s their problem.” But most
of the people won’t mind it.
Educating Others
[I want teachers to know that LGBT students] are just like everybody else. I mean,
everybody sees it as somebody who’s different and not normal. But it’s just your
sexuality. I don’t identify myself as, like, “Hi, I’m Rebecca and I’m a lesbian.” It’s,
like, this is me, and this is my sexuality. That’s as far as I’m going to go with it. I
mean, I’ll wear a shirt or something. I’m proud of who I am.
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It’s the teacher who wants to learn from the students, and not just the stu-
dents who learn from them, that makes a great teacher, and I love that. I would
fire the teachers who yelled at their students because I have teachers who refuse
to do that, and the environment is much better. Patience is just taught by being
patient yourself. And (pause) I have such great teachers right now I can’t think of
anything bad [to say about them].
My girlfriend and I were mentioned in a newspaper article about gay and les-
bian students. And my history teacher, who is just this guy who goes skiing, kind
of a jocky guy, said, “That was a great article. I’m happy about you guys.” I like
the teachers who pay attention to what you’re doing, no matter who you are.
They’re, like, “I saw you in the paper.” They’re not just there to give you a grade,
like, “Here’s a test.” They actually get involved, not to the point of obsessed, but
just enough. It was a great feeling because now I know he doesn’t discriminate
against me, and he accepts me and he thinks I’m a good person. That’s incredible
to have.
My psychology teacher’s class . . . I’m the third [lesbian student], and we’ve
opened his eyes. Now he’s this amazing person. Before he was ignorant. Now he’s
incredible.
And all we can do is hope to educate teachers because there’s kids in middle
school getting beat up in the hallways because of it, you know? I think with high
school, it’s just more accepting, and when you go to middle school before high
school, it’s awful for some reason. Kids are just more active.
The health class, at least in the high school, looks at same sex whatever or
queer whatever in a derogative way. The curriculum says, “Here’s these lesbian
people, and we should accept them,” something like that. It’s not, like, “Here’s the
great things about being gay.” It’s, like, “Here’s all the things that happen and that
people think of them.” And I don’t even think it’s that accepting. It’s just, like,
“There are people who are gay.” And that’s the whole curriculum.
So I think if you want to educate people better, it’s get the health teachers to
put better curriculum for teaching about same sex, transgender, anything, you
know? Because it’s looked at in a negative way instead of a positive way.
The psychology book refers to obese people as abnormal. Our teacher actually
commented on that and said it was awful. But we don’t have enough money for
new books. So we can’t get new ones. It makes a lot of rude comments. There’s
two things about homosexuality in the psychology book. One is we don’t know if
it’s a choice or not, and I don’t know what the other one is. You know, “There are
these people” and that’s it for psychology. It’s sad.
I came out to my psychology class to make an educational thing out of it. Prior
to that, they knew me . . . they’re not my friends, but they’ve known about me.
And then I told them this, so how can they judge me? I’ve got a lot of kids who—
when my psychology teacher goes, “your little friend”—turn around and make a
face at me and say [whispering] “Why can’t he just say lesbian?” And I never had
that before, and I think it’s great. And I have people leaning across from me in the
class say [whispering] “My mother’s a lesbian.” And I don’t think they would do
that without [my] coming out. And I think it’s great that they can tell somebody.
If I can help them, I think that’s what I want to do. So if this makes things more
normal for them, and more commonplace, then do it, you know?
My English teacher lets the kids read books that are very liberal and very
queer friendly [for example, with lesbian characters]. And I think that’s great . . .
or a poem that’s written by a lesbian author . . . and giving kids books . . . you
know? But he’s one [teacher] out of a lot.
[Advice for teachers?] Be open-minded, I think, and be inclusive of every-
body. It’s hard to be politically correct in everything, every second, in every word
you say. But there are some teachers you just don’t want to approach sometimes
because they are very closed.
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Perseverance and Motivation

I like the fact that my mother said, “Do whatever you want as long as you are
happy.” Because even though I kind of messed up in high school and middle
school and couldn’t get into a really great college, I still was self-motivated, and I
found it in myself to do what I wanted to do, instead of her telling me what to do.
So I respect that. I think that’s a great way to raise a kid.
[In elementary school] behavior-wise [I was good]. Interested in work, no. I
wasn’t interested in working hard. That didn’t happen until later on in high school.
That was always my issue. I was always in for recess because I didn’t do my work.
I’m in ensembles outside of school, and I do all that. The school doesn’t offer
very much music education, so I kind of find my places elsewhere. Since that’s what
I’m interested in, rather than playing sports, I have to find [it] somewhere else.
Right now I’m looking at college. The only reason I started doing well in school
was because I went to the state university and I heard their band. I realized that I
wanted to do that. So in order for me to get there, I would have to pick up my aca-
demics. [I realized this] at the very beginning of my junior year. That was my fuel for
getting through the next two years. If you want to play music, you need to do this.
It’s not me necessarily interested in academics because I’m not. I just have a different
mind-set, you know? Artist-type people have that. And they’d rather be doing some-
thing else. Intellectual people would rather be sitting there with their books. And so,
I see it as a way to do what I want, so I have to get through it in order to do it.
I think I did it on my own. I mean, if you go in the guidance office, they’re
like, “Take the SATs, and do good in school, bye.” Whatever happens, happens.
Teachers at least in my high school, you get whatever grade you want. They don’t
care; if you get an F, you get an F. They’re not saying, “You need to go to college.
And you need to do this. Here’s how much effort you put into this.” I got scared
about not being able to go to college. I knew I wasn’t going to have much of a
future if I didn’t. So I scared myself.
And I did it all myself. I can honestly tell you that cuz I did. And nobody told
me I would get into the state university, but I did. Nobody told me I could get into
the department of music, and I’m on the waiting list for that. I wasn’t rejected.
I did it myself because I wanted to. The school—it didn’t help. The school says,
“Do whatever you want. We’re not responsible for you in that way. Get whatever
grades you want. Let your parents deal with it.” They’re not, like, “Here’s what
has to happen.” I don’t know if they have the time, though. I don’t know if I want
to blame them for that. They have so many kids, you know?
[I’m successful] because I had a guidance counselor tell me, “There’s no way
in hell” basically—she didn’t say that, but you could see it in her eyes—”You’re
never going to make it into the state university. You don’t even have a shot. Go
to community college.” You could read it in her face. She was, like, “I don’t think
this is going to happen here.” And from day one of junior year I said, “I’m going!”
[Recently] I called the admissions office, and they sent me a letter not rejecting
me from the music department, which meant that I had to get into the university
first, in order for them to send me that letter, so it means I got in. I haven’t got my
acceptance letter, but I basically know they’re not messing with me. They sent that
because I got in. And the second thing is that I wasn’t supposed to walk into the
music department at the state university, which is very, very good. And to be able to
pull it off and be worthy of them at least putting me on the waiting list because they
can only take 12 people. They only took, like, five because they already had a cer-
tain amount in their studio. I wasn’t supposed to do that. I’ve been playing for three
and a half years. I’ve been playing seriously for nine months. And I did that, and I
think that’s cool, and I did it all by myself, and that’s why [I’m proud] (laughs).
As my psychology teacher puts it, I’m very self-actualized. He said I’m one of
the people he’s ever met at my age who’s so self-actualized. This shouldn’t be hap-
pening. I should be conforming to everybody else. He admires me and tells me I’m
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great because I can be who I want to be and not care what anybody else thinks.
I like that because I’m happier because of it. Everybody else is hiding something.
Ethnic Invisibility
[How do you identify racially or culturally?] White, or what are you talking about?
Well, my culture, I mean, I’m Italian. I don’t know if you want that. I mean, that’s
important to me. It’s important to me and my mother, and my grandfather. [But it’s not
important in my school]. [Is there an Italian student group in your school?] No! (laughs)
Definitely not! You’re not going to find something like that. (pause) I wish there was.
The only thing I can tell you is that when my psychology teacher told me—I
told him that I was Italian—he told me he loved me because he’s Italian! I mean
he’ll speak Italian in class.
[For holidays], we’ll just make the basic eggplant parmesan, stuffed shells, or
manicotti [pronounced in a distinctly Italian accent]. It’s fun. My mom’s into that.
My grandfather was a sheepherder in Italy for, like, seven years. [I admire]
my grandfather because he was an orphan. Both of his parents died when he was,
like, three. Put in an orphanage, never got a formal education, but still remained
happy and healthy. He’s still doing construction work at age 82. He made the best
out of what he had. I’ll always admire somebody for that. And he loves being Ital-
ian. He loves everything about his culture.
He’s the only one in my family who would say, “I like your [green] hair.” He’s
82, and he’s telling me that.
Commentary
B
eing gay or lesbian in school today is not as daunting a challenge as it once
was. For one, more people are writing about what it means to be gay in school
(as either a teacher or a student), and there are far more resources than ever.7
Also, since the 1990s, there has been more legal recourse to counteract the discrimi-
nation faced by LGBT students.8 This does not mean, however, that it is easy, and it
is clear in Rebecca’s case study that, no matter how “safe” and how “accepting” a
school or even an entire town might be, there is ample reason for LGBT students to
feel insecure or even in danger. For example, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Educa-
tion Network (GLSEN), in its most recent report on safety in U.S. schools, found that
nearly nine out of ten LGBT students experience harassment in school. On the other
hand, they also reported that supportive school staff members, more inclusive policies
and practices, and Gay-Straight Alliances all made a positive difference, both in creat-
ing a safe environment and in promoting higher achievement among LGBT students.9
Rebecca’s inconsistent comments about the use of slurs in her school are a
good indication of mixed messages about safety. Although she felt quite privileged
compared to LGBT students in other places, she was still careful about whom she
came out to. She appreciated the efforts of some of her teachers to support gay and
lesbian students and the GSA, but she was also clear that some teachers were “iffy”
about supporting them. Although she mentioned that most people in her school
were fairly nonchalant about LGBT students, she was aware of the strong negative
feelings some of them had about gays and lesbians. Even in describing what was a
relatively painless “coming out,” Rebecca was quick to point out that she didn’t lose
even one friend as a result—something she wouldn’t have to point out if she had
“come out as Italian,” for example. So, in spite of her constant references to “It’s
West Blueridge, so it’s accepting,” Rebecca would tell a new student not to “broad-
cast it.” Clearly, she knew that, in many ways, it was still unsafe to be a lesbian.
Related to the issue of LGBT identity in school was Rebecca’s commitment
to educate others. Ironically, Rebecca had reversed roles with some of her teach-
ers, becoming in essence their teacher, at least as far as LGBT issues are con-
cerned. One teacher, she said, was “ignorant,” but he had become “incredible”
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and “amazing” because she and other lesbian students had been able to reach
him. Although it is admirable that Rebecca had taken on this role, it is also an
indication of how far schools and teachers still need to go in understanding LGBT
students. It is reminiscent of the role, often unwelcome, played by students of
color who feel they must educate their teachers about their identities.
Calling herself “self-actualized,” Rebecca was clearly proud of herself and of
what she had accomplished. She got into the college of her choice by her own
wits and determination without relying on teachers, guidance counselors, or any-
body else to help her. In fact, it was precisely because of a guidance counselor’s
skepticism about her ability to get into college due to her grades that Rebecca had
decided to prove the counselor wrong.
Rebecca was confused when asked about her cultural identity. “White, or what
are you talking about?” was her initial response. Unlike Rebecca, most young peo-
ple of color immediately identify in racial or cultural terms. In this, Rebecca is typi-
cal of many other White students who have not had to identify racially because they
are perceived as “the norm.” Nonetheless, as quickly became apparent later in the
interview, Rebecca was proud of her Italian heritage and wished that it, too, could
be part of her school experience, demonstrating that being safe relates not just to
sexual orientation but to all aspects of identity. Rebecca’s interview, however, also
underscored the complicated nature of ethnic identity. Half Italian and half Polish,
Rebecca identified strongly as Italian; her sister, however, identified as Polish. In
Rebecca’s words, “She took to the Polish side, and I took the Italian side.”
It is imperative that teachers develop a more nuanced understanding of cul-
ture in terms of sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, social class, disability, lan-
guage, and other markers of identity. As in the case of Rebecca, it is evident that,
as our schools become more aware of the presence of LGBT students, we have a
great deal to learn about being responsive to a large number of students who, until
recently, have felt the need to remain “in the closet.” Young people with courage
and willpower like Rebecca are making a difference in many schools. As more
teachers become advocates for all students, we will not need to count as much on
students like Rebecca to learn to do what is right.

1. What responsibilities do teachers have to their LGBT students? Does this responsibility
extend to elementary schools as well? Why or why not? What do, or would you, say to
people who insist that LGBT issues have no place in school?
2. What are the advantages of a GSA? If you teach at a secondary school, does it have a
GSA? If not, would you consider starting one? Why or why not?
3. Do you know of any LGBT students in your school? What is your perception of how
they do academically? How do they feel? How do you know?
Notes for the Case Study: Rebecca Florentina
1. We are grateful to John Raible who interviewed Rebecca and assisted in identifying the themes
and an analysis of them. John is assistant professor, Department of Teaching, Learning, and
Teacher Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His interests include exploring the inter-
sections between identities, families, schools, and communities.
2. For the purposes of convenience, and because Rebecca most often identified simply as a “lesbian,”
that is the term generally used in this case study. For other students who identify as lesbian, gay,
bisexual, or transgender, the acronym LGBT is used.
3. The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is the leading national education
organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. For all its resources and informa-
tion, go to http://www.GLSEN.org.
4. Gibson (1989).
5. Sadowski (2006).
6. The Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth (1993).
7. See, for example, Miceli (2005); Campos (2005); Baker (2002).
8. Buckel (2000).
9. See GLSEN (2009) for the organization’s most recent report on school safety for LGBT students.
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6 Linguistic Diversity in U.S.
Classrooms
L
anguage is intimately linked to culture. It is a primary means by which
people express their cultural values and the lens through which they view
the world. It should come as no surprise, then, that the language practices
that children bring to school also invariably affect how and what
they learn. Yet even in the field of multicultural education, native-
language issues are sometimes overlooked or downplayed.
This situation is apparent in, for instance, the lack of terms
concerning linguistic diversity in the field. Terms that describe
discrimination based on race, gender, and social class and other
biases are part of our general vocabulary (racism, sexism, ethno-
centrism, anti-Semitism, classism, ageism), but it was not until a
few decades ago that a comparable term was coined for language
discrimination, though this does not mean that language discrimi-
nation did not exist. Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, by coining the term
linguicism to refer to discrimination based specifically on lan-
guage, helped to make the issue more visible.1
This chapter explores the influence that language differences
may have on student learning. How teachers and schools view
language differences; whether and how they use these differences
as a resource in the classroom; and different approaches to teach-
ing students whose first language is not English are all addressed
in the discussion that follows.
Definitions and Demographics

While until relatively recently no specific word existed for lan-
guage discrimination, there have been numerous terms to identify
students who speak a language other than English as their native
language. The term most often used today is English language
learners (ELLs). This term has become popular as a substitute for the more con-
tentious bilingual (more on the controversies surrounding bilingual education later
in the chapter), although bilingual is often a misnomer because many students to
whom this label is applied are not really bilingual but rather monolingual in their
native language, or becoming bilingual in their native language and English. The
terms ELL or ESL (English as a second language), on the other hand, focus only on
“Being Latino, it’s good ’cause a lot of people tell me it’s a good advantage for me to know two
languages. I like that.”
—Alicia Montejo, interviewee
184
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CHAPTER 6 Linguistic Diversity in U.S. Classrooms 185
students’ need to acquire English, rather than on the fact that they already possess
language, although it may not be English. A couple of decades ago, the most com-
mon term was limited English proficient (LEP), an unfortunate acronym to which
many people objected; though it is still in use in some federal government docu-
ments, it has now been largely abandoned. Another term used for this population
is language minority students, which reflects the fact that they speak a minority
language in the United States.
A more recent, and more accurate, term is emergent bilingual, a term popular-
ized by Ofelia García and her colleagues. According to these researchers, emergent
bilinguals are people who are in the process of becoming bilingual. They sug-
gest that by not seeing students’ imminent bilingualism, educators may exacerbate
inequities in the education of children who are becoming bilingual.2 Although no
term is completely accurate or appropriate, in this text we prefer emergent bilin-
gual because it emphasizes that students already speak at least one language other
than English, while they are also on the road to becoming bilingual or multilin-
gual. Given the predominance of the term English language learners, especially
in the research we cite and in government publications, we will also use it in this
text. In some cases, when relevant, we also use the term language minority.
Who are the emergent bilinguals to whom we refer in this chapter? In the
United States, the population of those who speak a language other than English as
their native language has increased dramatically in the past several decades. The
number and variety of languages spoken in the nation is over 380—from Urdu to
Punjabi to Yup’ik—although by far the largest number (about 60 percent) speak
Spanish. In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the number of people age 5
and older who spoke a language other than English at home had increased by 140
percent in the previous 30 years, currently reaching 20 percent of the entire popu-
lation, while the nation’s overall population grew only by 34 percent.3
Because native language and national origin are different concepts, we need to
differentiate between emergent bilingual students and the larger category of immi-
grant students. Not all immigrant students are limited in their English proficiency,
nor are all students who are English language learners immigrants. In fact, there
are many English language learners who are citizens. This includes Puerto Ricans,
for example, who are U.S. citizens whether they reside in Puerto Rico or in the
States, or people of other backgrounds whose families have been here for several
generations. There are also immigrants for whom English is a native language
(Jamaicans, for instance).
The growth of the population that speaks native languages other than Eng-
lish is also reflected in public school enrollments. There are nearly 5 million ELLs
enrolled in grades pre-K through 12, roughly 10 percent of total public school stu-
dent enrollment, and nearly 80 percent of ELLs are Spanish-speaking. Among the
states, California enrolls the largest number of English language learners, followed
by Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois. At the same time, the greatest growth
in the percentage of students with limited English proficiency has been in states
that previously had very low numbers of such students, including South Carolina,
Kentucky, Nevada, Delaware, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia,
and North Carolina. The population of children of immigrant families is growing
more rapidly than any other segment of the population, but most are U.S. citizens:
Nearly 80 percent of language minority students were born in the United States.4
The demographic changes indicated by these statistics are part of a larger trend
of immigration to the United States, which, since the late 1970s, has been respon-
sible for a remarkable shift in our population. The reasons for this trend are varied,
from a worsening economic situation in many countries, to a rise in the number of
refugees from countries where the United States has been involved in wars (as has
been the case in Iraq and Afghanistan) or other acts of aggression (as had been the
case previously in Central America and Southeast Asia). Unlike the earlier massive
wave of immigration at the turn of the twentieth century, the greatest number of
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immigrants now come from Asia and Latin America. These changes in the popula-
tion of the United States have profound implications for education.
Language Diversity in U.S. Schools: A Brief History

In our nation, linguistic diversity has commonly been viewed as a temporary, if
troublesome, barrier to learning. As a result of this thinking, the traditional strat-
egy in most schools historically was to help students rid themselves as quickly as
possible of what was perceived as the “burden” of speaking another language.
After students learn English, the thinking has been, learning can then proceed
unhampered. Forgetting their native language is seen as a regrettable but neces-
sary price to pay for the benefits of citizenship.
The notion that children who do not yet speak English lack language alto-
gether is a prevalent one in the United States, and it is linked with the mainstream
perception that cultures other than the dominant one lack significance in the U.S.
context. Nevertheless, school policies and practices concerning language have by
no means been uniform. Rather, they have ranged widely from “sink or swim”
policies (i.e., immersing emergent bilingual students in English-only classrooms)
to the imposition of English as the sole medium of instruction, to allowing and
even encouraging bilingualism. Bilingual education was widely practiced in vari-
ous states: Before 1900, for example, at least 600,000 children, or about 4 percent
of students enrolled in public and parochial elementary schools, were being taught
in German/English bilingual schools. Smaller numbers were taught in Polish, Ital-
ian, Norwegian, Spanish, French, Czech, Dutch, and other languages.5
Generally, however, being fluent in another language, even if one is also flu-
ent in English, has been viewed with suspicion, at least in the case of immigrants.
Where language issues are concerned, everyone has gotten into the fray. James
Crawford quotes President Theodore Roosevelt, a spokesperson for the restrictive
language policies at the beginning of the twentieth century that were a response to
the huge influx of primarily East European immigrants to the United States, as say-
ing: “We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language;
for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of Ameri-
can nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boardinghouse.”6 Roosevelt’s
views were widely shared by people who felt threatened by the new wave of
immigrants.
Unfortunately, such views are not limited to the past. Negative views of lan-
guage diversity still hold sway today for any number of reasons, from the massive
number of new immigrants crossing our borders to the incidents of September
11, 2001, and beyond. As a result of negative views and policies concerning the
use of languages other than English in the United States, the language rights of
substantial numbers of people have been violated, from prohibiting enslaved Afri-
cans from speaking their native languages to the imposition of “English-only” laws
in a number of states.7 Restrictive language policies have also found their way
into schools. Joel Spring provides compelling historical examples of the strategy
of linguistic “deculturalization” used in the schooling of Native Americans, Puerto
Ricans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans.8
Language Diversity, the Courts, and the Law

Although frequently addressed as simply an issue of language, it can be argued
that using students’ native language in instruction is a civil rights issue because,
without it, millions of children could be doomed to a future of educational undera-
chievement and limited occupational choices. Contested and often contradictory
issues—for example, the U.S. creed of equal educational opportunity for all, along-
side the fear that English might be supplanted as our national language—have
made the choice of appropriate strategies for teaching English language learners
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a thorny issue for teachers and administrators. The zigzag of support for native-
language instruction in the United States reflects this tension, and such has been
the case since even before the United States became a nation. For a fascinating
history of language diversity in the nation and efforts to deal with it, see James
Crawford’s many books and monographs on the topic, as well as his informative
website (http://www.languagepolicy.net).
How language diversity has been addressed, nationally and internationally,
says a great deal about the status of nondominant languages in particular soci-
eties. The proposal for a Universal Declaration of Children’s Linguistic Human
Rights places linguistic rights on the same level as other human rights.9 This pro-
posal includes the right to identify positively with one’s mother tongue, to learn
it, and to choose when to use it. Although these rights may be self-evident for lan-
guage majority children (in the United States, “language majority children” refers
to native English speakers), they may not be so apparent for those who speak a
language that carries a stigma, as is the case with the languages spoken by most
emergent bilingual students in the United States.
As our nation has become more linguistically diverse, issues of language have
become even more salient. Due to the efforts and advocacy of families, community
members, and educators, the Bilingual Education Act of 1967, signed by President
Lyndon Johnson, provided financial incentives to school districts to support Eng-
lish language learners. Some of the first programs to be awarded these funds initi-
ated programs in bilingual education. The funds were limited, however, and the
number of English language learners was increasing, creating a need for support
in more schools. A few years later, in 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the
connection between native-language rights and equal educational opportunity. In
1969, plaintiffs representing 1,800 Chinese-speaking students sued the San Fran-
cisco Unified School District for failing to provide students who did not speak Eng-
lish with an equal chance to learn. They lost their case in San Francisco, but by
1974, they had taken it all the way to the Supreme Court. In the landmark Lau v.
Nichols case, the Court ruled unanimously that the civil rights of students who did
not understand the language of instruction were indeed being violated. Citing Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Court stated, in part:
There is no equality of treatment merely by providing students with the same facil-
ities, textbooks, teachers, and curriculum; for students who do not understand
English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education. Basic skills are
at the very core of what these public schools teach. Imposition of a requirement
that, before a child can effectively participate in the educational program he must
already have acquired those basic skills is to make a mockery of public education.10
Although the decision did not impose any particular remedy, its results were
immediate and extensive. By 1975, the Office for Civil Rights and the Department
of Health, Education, and Welfare issued a document titled The Lau Remedies,
which served as the basis for determining whether school systems throughout the
United States were in compliance with the Lau decision. This document provided
guidance in identifying students with limited proficiency in English, assessing their
language abilities, and providing appropriate programs.
The Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) of 1974 was also instrumen-
tal in protecting the language rights of students for whom English is not a native
language. This law interprets the failure of any educational agency to “take appro-
priate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its
students in its instructional programs” as a denial of equal educational opportu-
nity.11 In both the Lau decision and the EEOA, bilingual education emerged as the
preferred model for teaching emergent bilingual students in the 1970s and 1980s.
The first state to mandate bilingual education was Massachusetts, which in
1971 passed the landmark Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) Law, requir-
ing all school districts to provide students who did not speak English with
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native-language instruction as well as English as a Second Language (ESL) for

a maximum of three years, as long as there were at least 20 students who spoke
the same language. Many states followed suit, modeling their laws after the Mas-
sachusetts law. In 1980, President Carter proposed federal regulations requiring
bilingual education, but shortly after becoming president, Ronald Reagan’s admin-
istration canceled the proposed regulations and began reducing federal aid for the
education of English language learners. A period of retrenchment in both financial
and moral support for bilingual education followed. From the 1990s into the new
millennium, many bilingual programs around the nation were eliminated.
Closely related to the issue of bilingual education has been the equally conten-
tious issue of whether English should be the official language of the United States,
a topic that has been in and out of the news for nearly 40 years. In 1983, U.S.
English, an organization promoting English as the official language of the nation
and the only language permitted in schools, was founded (https://www.usenglish
.org). As a result of its lobbying efforts, during the 1980s and 1990s, many states
passed laws making English the official language, though the organization has
been unable to pass legislation at the federal level. In 1998, the controversy sur-
rounding native-language use resulted in the passage of California’s Proposition
227, in which bilingual education was replaced with “Structured English immer-
sion” (SEI), a program in which students are separated from their English-speak-
ing peers and placed in classrooms where they learn English, including some of
their academic content in English. Arizona followed suit with Proposition 203 in
2000, and Massachusetts with Question 2 in 2002. (A similar proposition failed in
Colorado in 2002.)
When President George W. Bush took office, he signed the No Child Left
Behind law in 2002, effectively repealing the Bilingual Education Act of 1967. The
Office of Bilingual Education was renamed the Office of English Language Acqui-
sition, or OELA (see http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/index.html).
Many state and city departments of bilingual education followed suit, reflecting
a rejection of bilingual education as the sole or preferred approach to educate
students for whom English is an additional language. As a result, the number of
students in bilingual programs dropped precipitously during these years: After the
passage of Proposition 227 in California, for example, the number of emergent
bilingual students in bilingual programs went from 60 to 8 percent.12 Neverthe-
less, research has generally found that the elimination of bilingual education has
led to further erosions in student learning. Patricia Gándara and Megan Hopkins,
for instance, pulled together research on the effects of restrictive language policies
in California, Arizona, and Massachusetts. Their research refutes the claim that
bilingual education inhibits student learning and instead concludes that restrictive
language policies often create a chilly climate for English language learners.13
Another court case with implications for English language learners is Horne v.
Flores. Brought by Nogales, Arizona, parents of ELLs in 1992, the case dragged on
for many years before making its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The suit charged
that the state had violated the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) by
neglecting the education of ELL students. Subsequent rulings mandated increased
funding for ELL students, but state education officials protested, claiming that the
mandates were too rigid and were not keeping pace with changing policies, includ-
ing No Child Left Behind (NCLB). In 2009, the Supreme Court, in a sharply divided
decision, overturned the decision and sided with state education officials, agreeing
that the state should determine its own requirements regarding the instruction of
ELLs.14 The case was finally dismissed in 2013, with Arizona claiming the state
had done all that was legally required.
Recently, changing sensibilities about language diversity in California, home
to the country’s largest number of ELLs, led to a reversal of previously restric-
tive policies regarding bilingual instruction. Following the passage of Proposition
227 in 1998, state policy had limited bilingual education to students whose native
M06_NIET7232_07_SE_C06.indd 188 03/11/17 11:44 AM

language is English or to English language learners whose parents were forced to

annually plead for a waiver of the requirement that instruction be provided only in
English. In November 2016, voters approved a statewide initiative, Proposition 58,
with 73.5 percent of the vote (see http://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2016-gen-
eral/sov/2016-complete-sov.pdf, p. 12). The measure continues the requirement
that schools promote English language proficiency, but opens the door for parents
to request a variety of bilingual and dual-language immersion programs without
the previous restrictions. The proposition had strong voter support in all of Cali-
fornia’s 58 counties, including conservative, rural areas of the state. The Proposi-
tion 58 vote, coupled with the increasing popularity of dual-language immersion
programs as well as the growing number of students adding a Seal of Biliteracy to
their high school diplomas, may signal a more positive trend in public attitudes
toward language diversity.15
Although not directly linked to language diversity, other court cases have
focused on immigrant students, a closely related issue. For instance, in 1982, in its
Plyler v. Doe decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute denying
funding for education to children who were undocumented immigrants and, at the
same time, struck down a municipal school district’s attempt to charge an annual
tuition fee for each undocumented student. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that
the law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which
guarantees all people in the nation, regardless of status, equal protection under the
law.16 This means that all children in the United States—native or foreign-born, legal
or undocumented—have a right to an education in our schools. The decision was a
tremendous victory for all immigrant students, whether ELLs or not.
Linguistic Diversity and Learning

All good teachers know that learning should build on prior knowledge and expe-
riences. In the case of emergent bilingual students, this means that their native
language can be a strong foundation for future learning. If we think of language
development as the concrete foundation of a building, it makes sense that it needs
to be strong to sustain the stress of many tons of building materials that will be
erected on top of it. This is analogous to what takes place when English-speaking
students enter school: They use the language they know as a foundation for learn-
ing the content of the curriculum. Because English-speaking students know the
majority language, this is usually a seamless process. For English language learn-
ers, however, not knowing English is a tremendous disadvantage, not because
their native language is ineffectual for learning but because schools do not gener-
ally view languages other than English as a resource for learning. Extending the
metaphor further, it would be as if the strong foundation that had been created
were abandoned and the building materials were placed on top of a sand lot across
the street. Needless to say, the building would crumble quickly.
Because bilingualism is often viewed in a negative light, school policies have
generally focused on transitioning to English as soon as possible. In the United
States, the prevailing view about knowing languages other than English is that,
among culturally dominated groups, bilingualism is a burden, yet among middle-
class and wealthy students, it is an asset. It is not unusual to find in the same high
school the seemingly incongruous situation of one group of students having their
native language stripped away, while another group of students struggles to learn
a foreign language, a language most of them will never use with any real fluency.
In contrast to negative perceptions of bilingualism, a good deal of research
confirms the positive influence of knowing more than one language, and these
benefits begin very early in life. In studying 7-month-old babies raised in bilin-
gual households, Agnes Kovacs and Jacques Mehler at the International School for
Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, found that bilingual babies are precocious deci-
sion makers who demonstrate enhanced cognitive control.17 At the other end of
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the life span, neurologists have found that bilingual brains stay sharp longer than
monolingual brains. Specifically, a team of Canadian researchers studied people
being treated for dementia and found that those who were bilingual reported a
later onset of the symptoms of dementia—specifically, about four years later—than
those who were monolingual.18 In addition, a meta-review of the benefits of bilin-
gualism concluded that bilingualism is reliably associated with increased attention
control, working memory, metalinguistic awareness, and abstract reasoning, all
of which, naturally, can contribute positively to academic success.19 Also, in their
review of research studies concerning the adaptation and school achievement of
immigrants of various backgrounds, Alejandro Portes and Rubén Rumbaut came
to a striking conclusion: Students with limited bilingualism are far more likely
to drop out of school than those fluent in both languages. That is, rather than
being an impediment to academic achievement, bilingualism can actually promote
learning.20 The benefits of bilingual education have also recently been explored
in a National Public Radio report touting “6 Potential Brain Benefits of Bilingual
Education.”21 And the New York Times, in an article in its Sunday Review section,
commented on “the bilingual advantage,” specifically, the idea that being bilingual
improves the brain’s executive function. The article concludes:
Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on
your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding
against dementia in old age.22
Most recently, the highly respected American Academy of Arts and Sciences
released a report underscoring the need for Americans to learn languages other than
English because “proficiency in English is not sufficient to meet the nation’s needs
in a shrinking world, nor the needs of individual citizens who interact with other
peoples and cultures more than at any other time in human history.”23 Suggesting
that learning other languages should begin as early in life as possible, the report
also advocates that the nation “support heritage languages already spoken in the
United States, and help these languages persist from one generation to the next.”24
Given all the research cited above, it appears that our nation may be heading
toward a more positive understanding of bilingual education. Yet, in spite of such
persuasive evidence, schools often disregard emergent bilingual students’ native
languages and cultures for what they believe to be good reasons: Because they
link students’ English language proficiency with prospective economic and social
mobility, teachers and schools may view English language learners as “handi-
capped” and thus urge students, through both subtle and direct means, to abandon
their native language. For example, teachers and administrators often ask parents
to speak only English to their children at home, they punish children for using their
native language in class, or they simply withhold education (by teaching them only
English and no other academic content) until the children have mastered English,
usually in the name of protecting students’ futures. The research, however, contra-
dicts the common advice given to the parents of emergent bilinguals to “speak Eng-
lish with your children at home.” Abandoning one’s native language can lead not
only to individual psychological costs and communication breaches within one’s
family, but also to a tremendous loss of linguistic resources to the nation.
Understanding Language in a Sociopolitical Context

Language diversity needs to be placed within a sociopolitical context to understand
why speaking a language other than English is not in itself a handicap. The prob-
lem has often been articulated as one of not knowing English, as if learning English
were the solution to all the other difficulties faced by emergent bilingual students,
including poverty, racism, poorly financed schools, and lack of access to excellent
education. Lack of English skills alone, however, cannot explain the poor academic
achievement of these students because confounding English language acquisition
M06_NIET7232_07_SE_C06.indd 190 03/11/17 11:44 AM

with academic achievement is simplistic at best. Learning English is, of course,

important and necessary for all students; this is a given. But English fluency alone
does not guarantee academic success: One need only look at the academic achieve-
ment of English-speaking students of language minority backgrounds who do
poorly in school. Rather than supporting the suppression or elimination of native-
language use at home and at school, the research reviewed here supports promot-
ing native language literacy as a way to enhance learning English more effectively.
If this is the case, the language dominance of students is not the real issue; rather,
the way in which teachers and schools view students’ language may have an even
greater influence, either positive or negative, on their achievement.
Consequently, we want to emphasize that educating emergent bilingual stu-
dents is not simply a question of following a set of prescribed strategies. Although
learning new approaches and techniques may be very helpful, teaching students
successfully means, above all, changing one’s attitudes toward the students, their
languages and cultures, and their communities. In the words of Lilia Bartolomé:
As progressive educators, we must not forget that our work with linguistic-minority
students—most of whom are not White and come from low socioeconomic status
backgrounds—is political work and not purely a pedagogical undertaking.25
This means understanding the sociopolitical context of society and educa-

tion because anything short of this will result in repeating the pattern of failure
that currently exists. Fortunately, as Jim Cummins has eloquently stated, “[G]ood
teaching does not require us to internalize an endless list of instructional tech-
niques. Much more fundamental is the recognition that human relationships are
central to effective instruction.”26
Bilingual education has always been controversial, but the major issue may be
more about power than about language because this approach challenges conven-
tional U.S. educational wisdom that native language and culture need to be forgot-
ten in order for students to be academically successful.27 Also, because bilingual
education generally represents the class and ethnic group interests of traditionally
subordinated groups, it defines education as an emancipatory proposition. Thus,
the issue is not so much whether bilingual education works, but rather the real
possibility that it might, thus subverting the ideology that speaking or learning in a
language other than English is detrimental to students’ futures. As a result, in spite
of its sound pedagogical basis, bilingual education is, above all, a political issue
because it is concerned with power relations in society.
Although it is a political issue, we need to emphasize that bilingual education
is also a pedagogical issue. Successful bilingual programs both in the United States
and around the world have demonstrated that students can achieve academically
while they learn rigorous content through their native language. This contradicts
the conservative agenda, which calls for an English-only education and the return
to traditional curriculum and pedagogy. In fact, fluency in English, although nec-
essary, is no guarantee that students of language minority backgrounds will suc-
ceed in school or later in life. If this were the case, all language minority students
who have never been in bilingual programs or who were mainstreamed into regu-
lar English-only classes years ago would be doing quite well academically, but
as we know, this is far from the case. Research by Alejandro Portes and Rubén
Rumbaut found that the students they studied from nationalities that speak Eng-
lish best (including West Indians and Filipinos) are not necessarily those who earn
the highest incomes or count the highest number of managers and professionals
among their ranks. On the other hand, Chinese and other Asians and Colombians
and other Latin Americans, with relatively low fluency in English, earn consider-
ably more. English language fluency, then, is not the only explanation. In some
cases, according to Portes and Rumbaut, the way in which immigrants have been
received and incorporated into the society also matters a great deal.28
M06_NIET7232_07_SE_C06.indd 191 03/11/17 11:44 AM

SNAPSHOT
Liane Chang
Liane was a ninth-grade student at a compre- to France because he couldn’t return to Poland.
hensive high school in a midsize town in the Then he married my Grandma, so my dad is
Northeast. With a European American father French-Polish.
and a Chinese mother, Liane felt fortunate Somewhere else, people might think I’m
not American because I don’t look like the typi-
that her efforts to learn Chinese, her mother’s
cal American, but here, in this school system,
native language, were supported in her school.
it’s sort of the opposite. Being different makes
Her experience points to the power of a school
you cool, and you can have your own individu-
experience that can support students in main- ality and you can differentiate yourself from
taining or reclaiming their family language. different people. It’s sort of a good thing, here,
to be different—and I’ve never had someone be racist about my
different cultures—except when you are really little, you know, the
I f I look at how my different ethnicities have influenced my

education, I would have to say that it has impacted my confi-
dence in expressing my cultures to others. When people ask me
rhyme when they pull back their eyes? But that’s little-kid stuff.
In seventh grade, I went to China with my Chinese teacher.
It was a really good chance to see it . . . to be in an environment
to tell them how I identify, I reply, “Eurasian” [and] their reaction
where I was actually a minority—being American—instead of being
is always a very positive comment, the sort of thing that could
in an environment where everybody’s similar, you feel not part of
start a whole conversation. I think that being Eurasian is about
their culture because it is so different from what you are used to.
the coolest identity a person could have. Many might think that it
My language skills were new then. I knew basic questions of sur-
would be embarrassing to be anything other than what is said to
vival. The experience was really overwhelming at times, but really
be “American,” but through my teachers’ and peers’ influence, I
exciting, too. We went to visit a Chinese high school, and we were
see it as an opportunity to be an individual.
each set up with a Chinese student, and we tried to communicate
Now I am learning Chinese in school. I felt that, since I am
with, and ask them about their life. Actually it was the school that
Chinese, I should learn the language so that, when my mom and
my mom’s dad went to when he was in China. Isn’t that neat?
I go to China, I can understand and speak the language also. My
In seventh grade art, I completed a project about myself,
love of the Chinese language has always been great throughout
expressing various symbols that had meaning [for me]. Though I
my childhood. I used to dream and wonder what it would be like
did not have many symbols, each of them represents a lot about
for me to speak a different language, and my inspiration came from
my life and heritage. For example, the flags that I put on my
my mother’s conversations with her Chinese friends, either on the
collage symbolize more than my heritage. They symbolize the
phone or in person. Late at night, right before I was tucked into
people who come from there and are a big part of my life.
bed, my mother would always say goodnight to me in Chinese.
In my picture, I have the flags of my heritage flowing out of my
My lesson on how to say “Thank you” in Chinese was useful
fingernails like smoke. There are a total of three: the Chinese, French,
when I went to Chinese restaurants or people’s homes. Many trips
and Polish flags. The Chinese flag represents my heritage on my
yearly to New York City’s Chinatown were also a great inspiration in
mom’s side. Both of her parents were born in China and immigrated
my early childhood. This language and culture inspired me to choose
to Taiwan during the Chinese Revolution. On the other hand, in my
to learn the language through my middle and high school world lan-
painting, my dad is both French and Polish. Polish and French are a
guage programs. Now that I’m learning Chinese, it’s like I’m more
big part of my family. Last of all, I have an American flag for the back-
related to my mom. It gave me more of a personal connection with
ground of my project. This, of course, represents the place my sister
my mom . . . something that I’ll always share with her. She can help
Jillian and I were born. Since it is the biggest part of my life, it is the
me because she understands it, and [it is] just something between her
largest in the collage. I am proud to be American and that is the most
and me . . . very special. It can be very, very difficult at times because,
important thing of all that I symbolized in the project.
when she corrects me, it doesn’t seem like I know the language very
much. But she helps me in a way that I can’t be helped at school, and
Commentary
she gives me a new outlook on the language. It’s a neat experience.
My grandparents on the European side of me are the only Liane’s snapshot can help us think about what it might mean
grandparents I have ever known. They have taught me hard work to have more school systems support students’ identities by
ethics and frugality that they learned through their daily lives. From offering courses from various language groups and even trips to
these cultures, I have received what my grandparents learned the countries where those languages are spoken. Although not
through generations and have passed down to my parents and every language can be offered and trips are out of the question
myself. And because these were the only grandparents I have ever for many schools, it is intriguing to see how Liane’s experience
known during my life, their stories and memories were also passed
was made so much more positive by studying Chinese. Not only
to me to treasure and to pass on to other generations. Through their
was it one of the languages of her heritage, but learning Chi-
hardships growing up in Europe during World War II and their few
choices, I feel that I can appreciate my opportunities here to receive
nese also promoted a closer relationship with her mother. This
a good education. During World War II, my grandpa in Poland was approach can be adapted for other language minority students
captured by the Germans and forced to do manual labor, but he did in our schools, that is, those who enter school without English
not have to go to a concentration camp. When he got out, he went and will become our future leaders.
M06_NIET7232_07_SE_C06.indd 192 03/11/17 11:44 AM

Approaches to Teaching Emergent Bilingual Students

Given the dramatic increase in the number of English language learners in the
country over the past several decades, every classroom in every city and town
has already been, or will soon be, affected. This reality belies the conventional
wisdom that only specialists need to know about and teach these children. This
responsibility can no longer fall only on those teachers who have been trained spe-
cifically to provide bilingual education and ESL services, but must be shared by all
teachers and all schools.
What do all teachers need to know to become better teachers of emergent
bilingual students? How can you best prepare to teach students of different lan-
guage backgrounds and varying language abilities? Fortunately, more attention is
being paid to these questions than has been the case in the past. Several excellent
resources can help teachers who are ESL or bilingual education specialists, as well
as regular classroom teachers who teach young children or adolescents, and who
teach everything from reading and writing to content knowledge. One recently
revised book, aptly titled What Teachers Need to Know About Language, by Caro-
lyn Adger, Catherine Snow, and Donna Christian is particularly pertinent.29 In the
following sections, we suggest a number of steps that teachers and schools can
take to educate English language learners effectively.
About Terminology
Asians/Pacific Islanders
A n incredibly diverse array of groups is included in the category
of Asian American and Pacific Islander, including Chinese,
Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Filipino, Native Hawaiian,
cultural cluster. Language, religion, family structure, social class,
educational opportunities, and social mores are endlessly varied.
These labels also fail to account for mixed-race or mixed-
Pakistani, and Indian, among others. One designation could not heritage students. This language is limiting when referring to
possibly be sufficient to cover them all because they differ not the experience of multiple cultural experiences in Asia, such as
only in history and culture, but also in language and national ori- Chinese-Cambodian families or Korean-Japanese families. It is
gin. Asians also differ in social class, length of time in the United also inaccurate for U.S. students such as Liane Chang, who identi-
States, and immigrant and educational background, and these dif- fies as Eurasian as a result of her mother’s Chinese background
ferences invariably influence the educational achievement of the and her father’s Polish and French ancestry. We have met other
children in these groups. The term Pacific Islander is now used students with mixed Asian and European backgrounds who
together with Asian to provide a more specific overarching term describe themselves as Amerasian or Asian American. Other stu-
for a number of groups. It is preferred by most Asians and Pacific dents in our case studies and snapshots express their Asian iden-
Islanders to the outdated and exotic term Oriental or even East tities in various ways: Gamini Padmaperuma called himself “Sri
Indian, but still fails to account for all differences. Lankan by nationality” and “an American.” Savoun Nouch names
It is also common to hear Asian groups referred to by regional himself as “Cambodian and proud,” but notes his difference from
labels that attempt to subdivide groups according to both geo- “somebody living in Cambodia” and “difference from other Amer-
graphic roots and culture. For example, East Asian typically refers ican families.” Our classrooms also hold students whose hybrid
to Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans, while the term South Asian usu- ancestry includes Puerto Rican and Cambodian or Thai and Greek
ally includes Indians and Pakistanis. Furthermore, Southeast Asian among many other combinations.
distinguishes Vietnamese, Filipinos, Cambodians, Thai, Laotian, as The key here is to refuse to think of all students of Asian
well as ethnic minorities in the region, such as the Hmong. These heritage as a monolithic group. Furthermore, it is unfortunately
categories can be useful in an attempt to reclaim cultural heritage still common for some teachers in U.S. classrooms to describe
and to resist mainstream U.S. habits of lumping the whole popu- children of Asian heritage as all “looking alike” and to perpetu-
lation under the term “Asian.” However, these regional labels can ate the model minority myth, both very damaging practices.
also be problematic and cause overgeneralizations. For example, Learning about students’ backgrounds and how they identify
the subregion of East Asia holds 38 percent of the Asian popula- their heritages can help teachers use the most appropriate ter-
tion, which is also 22 percent of all the people in the world. Clearly, minology and also reinforce awareness about each student’s
there are wide spectra of diversity within each national border and unique learning strengths and needs.
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Understanding Language Development and Second-

Language Acquisition
All teachers need to understand how language is learned—both native and sub-
sequent languages. This knowledge is often reserved for specialists in bilingual
and ESL education, but it should become standard knowledge for all teachers. For
example, Stephen Krashen’s important early work on second-language acquisition
and his recommendation that teachers provide students for whom English is an
additional language with comprehensible input—that is, cues that are contextu-
alized in their instruction—is useful for all teachers who have English language
learner students in their classrooms.30 In addition, teachers who have not special-
ized in bilingual education or ESL can learn a great deal from their colleagues who
teach emergent bilinguals, as evident in a piece Sonia has recently written.31 Like-
wise, related knowledge in curriculum and instruction, linguistics, sociology, and
history are all helpful for teachers of emergent bilingual students. Consequently,
all teachers should have:
• Familiarity with first- and second-language acquisition.
• Awareness of the sociocultural and sociopolitical context of education for
emergent bilingual students.
• Awareness of the history of immigration in the United States, with particular
attention to language policies and practices throughout that history.
• Knowledge of the history and experiences of specific groups of people, espe-
cially those who are residents of the city, town, and state where you are
teaching.
• The ability to adapt curriculum for students whose first language is other than
English.
• Competence in pedagogical approaches suitable for culturally and linguisti-
cally heterogeneous classrooms.
• Experience with teachers of diverse backgrounds and the ability to develop
collaborative relationships with them to promote the learning of emergent
bilingual students.
• The ability to communicate effectively with parents of diverse language, cul-
tural, and social class backgrounds.
Unfortunately, however, many teachers have not had access to this kind of
knowledge during their teacher preparation or even in their professional develop-
ment after becoming teachers. If this has been your experience, you may need to
acquire this knowledge on your own. You can do this by attending conferences
in literacy, bilingual education, multicultural education, and ESL; participating in
professional development opportunities in your district and beyond; subscribing to
journals and newsletters in these fields; setting up study groups with colleagues to
discuss and practice different strategies; and returning to graduate school to take
relevant courses or to seek an advanced degree.
Developing an Additive Bilingual Perspective

Additive bilingualism refers to a framework for understanding language acquisi-
tion and development that adds a new language, rather than subtracts an existing
one.32 This perspective is radically different from the traditional expectation in our
society that immigrants shed their native language as they learn their new lan-
guage, English. Many educators and others are now questioning whether it needs
to be this way. Additive bilingualism supports the notion that two is better than
one—that English plus other languages can make us stronger individually and as
a society.
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What You Can Do

Accept Students’ Identities
E ven little things can make a big difference. For example,

learn to say each child’s name correctly. Don’t change
Marisol to Marcy or Vinh to Vinny. As simple as it may sound,
face, some of them readily accede to having their names
changed so that they can fit in. Although learning many names
in different languages may be time-consuming and sometimes
this basic rule of respect is violated daily in classrooms across difficult, it is a first step in demonstrating respect for students’
the nation. Given the pressure to conform that all students identities.
The challenge is that many teachers do not speak the native languages of
their students. Nevertheless, all teachers, even those who are monolingual Eng-
lish speakers, can create a learning environment that supports and affirms the
native languages of their students. A good example comes from researchers David
Schwarzer, Alexia Haywood, and Charla Lorenzen, who suggest, for example, that
teachers tap into some of the resources available in students’ native languages by
creating a multiliterate learning community with the help of students, their fami-
lies, elders, and other community members. Some of the ideas they suggest for
doing this include:
• Using literature in students’ native languages.
• Learning some key words in students’ home languages.
• Creating audio recordings of greetings, simple conversations, songs, and stories
in students’ first languages.33
Additional ideas for developing an additive perspective that benefits all learn-
ers, not just English language learners, can be found in a helpful book by Yvonne
Freeman, David Freeman, and Reynaldo Ramirez, Diverse Learners in the Main-
stream Classroom.34 In this book, researchers and teachers share their ideas about
using technology, multiple intelligence theory, mathematics, and social studies,
among other resources and content, to develop an additive perspective in teaching
mainstream, emergent bilingual, and gifted students, as well as those with special
needs. Nurturing native language literacy is supported by research demonstrating
that the skills students develop in their native language are usually transferred
easily to a second or third language. This being the case, how can bilingualism
continue to be viewed as a deficit?
Consciously Fostering Native-Language Literacy

Teachers can promote native-language literacy in other ways as well. They can,
for example, make a commitment to learn at least one of the languages of their
students. When they become second-language learners, teachers develop a new
appreciation for both the joys and the struggles experienced by emergent bilingual
students—including exhaustion, frustration, and withdrawal—as they are learning
English. This was what happened to Bill Dunn, a veteran teacher who decided to,
in his words, “come out of the closet as a Spanish speaker.” He realized that, after
teaching for 20 years in a largely Puerto Rican community, he understood a great
deal of Spanish, so he decided to study it formally and to keep a journal of his
experiences. Though he had always been a committed and caring teacher, putting
himself in the place of his students helped him understand a great many things
more clearly—from students’ grammatical errors in English to their boredom and
misbehavior when they did not understand the language of instruction.35 It also
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made him, he said, a better teacher. For example, he developed more targeted
pedagogical strategies for teaching his students as well as a renewed respect for
what they experienced as English learners, and also a deeper understanding and
appreciation of their families.
The responsibility to create powerful learning environments for English lan-
guage learners should not rest on individual teachers alone, however. Entire
schools must also develop such environments: For instance, they can make a con-
scious and concerted effort to recruit and hire bilingual staff members who can
communicate with parents in their native languages. They can provide profes-
sional development opportunities and rewards so that teachers are motivated to
learn a second language. Another important strategy is for administrators to sup-
port respectful outreach efforts to the families of English language learners.
Program Models for Teaching Emergent Bilinguals

Many emergent bilingual students receive some level of service to help them learn
English, although it is still the case that in too many classrooms, children are left
to “sink or swim” if they do not speak English. This happens especially in cases
where they have not previously been part of the school’s population, or where the
school system has no specialized staff members. Following are brief descriptions
of services for English learners, ranging from those that least support native lan-
guage literacy to those that promote it most enthusiastically.
Structured English Immersion (SEI)

Structured English immersion (SEI) has become a widely used model for teaching
English language learners. In this model, students are usually placed in a separate
classroom where they learn all their content in English until they are proficient
enough to be “mainstreamed” to a regular classroom.
English as a Second Language

The prevalent model for teaching emergent bilingual students is some version of
ESL, or English as a Second Language. Students are either separated from their
peers in “newcomer” classes, or they are removed from their regular classrooms
to receive ESL instruction for part of the day. As a result, often they are excluded
from specialized classes such as art and music where, ironically, they might be
able to express their learning on a more level playing field. Although they are
learning English, students in ESL programs may be languishing in other subject
areas because their education consists mainly of learning English until they can
function in the regular English language environment.
Bilingual Education
There is a dizzying array of models and definitions of bilingual education,36 but in
general terms, bilingual education can be defined as any educational program that
involves the use of two languages of instruction at some point in a student’s school
career. This definition is broad enough to include many program variations. For
example, a child who speaks a language other than English, let’s say, Vietnamese,
may receive instruction in content areas in Vietnamese while at the same time
learning English as a second language. In the United States, a primary objective
of most models of bilingual education is to develop proficiency and literacy in the
English language.
Transitional Bilingual Education

The transitional model is probably the most common version of bilingual education.
In this approach, students receive content-area instruction in their native language
while learning English as a second language. As soon as they are deemed ready
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to benefit from the monolingual English language curriculum, they are “exited” or
“mainstreamed” out of the program. The rationale behind this model is that native-
language services should serve only as a transition to English; consequently, there
is generally a limit on the time a student may be in a bilingual program—usually,
three years.
Developmental or Maintenance Bilingual Education

As in the transitional approach, in this more robust version of bilingual education,
students receive content-area instruction in their native language while learning
English as a second language. The difference is that the primary objective of this
approach is to develop students’ fluency in both languages, or biliteracy, by using
both for instruction. Thus, there is generally no limit on the time students can be in
the program. The longer the students remain in the program, the more functionally
bilingual and biliterate they can become. Students in these programs can eventually
receive equal amounts of instruction in English and their native language.
Two-Way or Dual-Language Education
Two-way bilingual education, also called dual-language or two-way immersion
(TWI), is an approach that integrates students whose native language is English
with students for whom English is a second or additional language. The goal of
this approach is to develop bilingual proficiency, biliteracy, academic achievement,
and positive cross-cultural attitudes and behaviors among all students. Because all
students have considerable skills to share with one another, this approach lends
itself to cooperative learning and peer tutoring, among other collaborative strategies.
There is generally no time limit, although some two-way programs are part of exist-
ing transitional programs and therefore have the same entrance and exit criteria, at
least for the students who are learning English. Two-way programs hold the promise
of expanding our nation’s linguistic resources and improving relationships between
majority and minority language groups. Given the fact that the majority of language
minority students in the United States are Spanish speakers, most two-way immer-
sion programs are Spanish/English programs.
Results of the two-way model have been very positive. In a longitudinal study
of students who had been in two-way immersion (TWI) Spanish/English pro-
grams, researchers Elizabeth Howard, Donna Christian, and Fred Genesee found
impressive levels of performance in reading, writing, and oral language in both
English and Spanish. Students, both native English speakers and native Spanish
speakers, had very high levels of English fluency, and while native English speak-
ers scored lower on reading Spanish than native Spanish speakers, their oral Span-
ish proficiency was quite high.37
But how does dual immersion actually work? Diary of a Bilingual School by
Sharon Adelman Reyes and James Crawford helps answer that question. Not just
a research study, this book also powerfully and concretely documents the benefits
of two-way bilingual education, or dual immersion. Depicting a year in the life of
a second-grade two-way bilingual classroom in the Inter-American Magnet School
in Chicago, the book uses a mix of narratives and analysis to demonstrate how
children become bilingual while also learning academic content.38
All of the program models detailed above have been reviewed and investigated
for many years. Most of the research over the past several decades has found that
bilingual education is generally as or more effective than other programs such
as ESL alone not only for learning content through the native language, but also
for learning English. This finding has been validated by many studies and meta-
analyses over the years.39 An apparently counterintuitive finding, it can never-
theless be understood if one considers that students in bilingual programs are
educated in content areas in their native language along with structured instruc-
tion in English. Students in bilingual programs build on previous, but this may
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not be the case in English immersion programs that concentrate on English gram-
mar, phonics, and other language features out of context, compared to the way in
which real, day-to-day language is used.
Bilingual programs may have secondary salutary effects, which include moti-
vating students to remain in school rather than dropping out, making school more
meaningful, and in general making the school experience more enjoyable. This
was certainly true for Manuel Gomes, whose case study appears at the end of
this chapter. Because of the close-knit relationships between his Crioulo-speaking
teachers and their students, Manuel’s transition to English was far easier than it
might otherwise have been. A related phenomenon may be that bilingual educa-
tion reinforces close relationships among children and their family members, pro-
moting more communication than would be the case if they were instructed solely
in English and, in the process, became monolingual English speakers. This is too
often the fate of promoting English alone.
Bilingual education, ESL, and structured English immersion each have their
proponents as the best way to educate English language learners. An important
longitudinal study comparing students in TBE classes with those in SEI classes
found that both learned equally well. The first randomized study of its kind, this
research is significant because it moves the debate from whether bilingual edu-
cation or SEI is a better approach to instead considering the quality of instruc-
tion, shared beliefs about the capability of students, and the resources provided
to the program.40 For example, a report from the Pew Foundation found that the
states with the largest concentration of English learners also had the most crowded
urban schools and the largest number of students living in poverty. The report also
found that the achievement gap was narrowed in less segregated schools, regard-
less of the program model used.41 This is what it means to understand language
issues within a sociopolitical, and not simply a linguistic context, that is, it is not
only pedagogical approaches that affect student learning. Social class and other
differences, as well as school characteristics, including infrastructure and oppor-
tunities afforded to students, also have an impact on the learning of emergent
bilingual students.
Problems and Challenges

Providing quality education to emergent bilingual students poses a number of seri-
ous problems and challenges. One is that many teachers have not received ade-
quate preparation for teaching these students. As a result, they may know little
about language acquisition or about the historical, cultural, and experiential back-
ground of the students they teach. Another problem with bilingual programs has to
do with the manner in which they usually define success. Bilingual programs, par-
ticularly weak models with a transitional focus, are meant to self-destruct within
a specified time, generally three years. Success in these programs is measured by
the rapidity with which they mainstream students, that is, their very existence is
based on a deficit philosophy. Students’ knowledge of another language is consid-
ered a crutch to use until they master what is considered the “real” language of
schooling, English.
Low expectations of ELL students on the part of teachers and schools are a
related problem. Even in bilingual programs, for example, if there is an empha-
sis on low-level rote and drill, little learning takes place. In contrast, in their
research, Luis Moll and Elizabeth Arnot-Hopffer suggested that when schools
challenge the arbitrary authority of the dominant power structure, in this case,
manifested through English-only and high-stakes testing policies—English lan-
guage learners are successful. In their longitudinal study of a dual-language
school in Arizona, they found that all students in the school, regardless of
their sociocultural characteristics, became literate in both languages. This suc-
cess was due to several factors, including a highly qualified and diverse teach-
ing staff; close and caring relationships between teachers and students; and
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the teachers’ ideological clarity in understanding that teaching is, above all, a
political activity. Consequently, the school was not only successful in produc-
ing biliterate students, a rare achievement in U.S. schools, but it was success-
ful despite the heavy ideological and programmatic pressures in of Arizona to
dismantle bilingual education, a consequence of the state’s English-only pol-
icy, and the current emphasis on high-stakes testing, also conducted only in
English.42
A further issue is that many school districts have many low incidence popula-
tions, that is, groups of students who speak a particular language for which there
may not be a sufficient number of speakers to entitle them legally to a bilingual
program. This is often the case with Asian languages and some European lan-
guages. Providing a bilingual program for each of these small groups would be not
only impractical but also impossible. In this situation, the most common program-
matic practice is some kind of ESL or SEI.
The fact that U.S. schools are extremely segregated is an additional prob-
lem, and this includes bilingual programs. Both bilingual education and SEI pro-
grams separate students from their peers for instruction. This is a particularly
thorny issue in a society that claims to value integration rather than segregation.
Nonetheless, it should be remembered that a great deal of segregation of emer-
gent bilingual students took place before there were bilingual programs (and it
continues even more strongly today in sheltered English and ESL pullout-type
programs). In fact, as we have seen in previous chapters, Latino students, who
represent by far the highest number of students in bilingual programs, are now
also the most segregated population in U.S. schools, and bilingual education
has nothing to do with this. Instead, “White flight,” that is, the tendency for
Whites to move to suburban or other residential areas when African Americans
and Latinos move into the neighborhood; a retrenchment in busing policies (the
dismantling of busing children to different schools for purposes of racial inte-
gration); and, especially, segregated residential housing patterns are largely to
blame. It is also true, however, that in both bilingual and SEI programs there
are numerous opportunities for integrating students more meaningfully than is
currently the case. For example, they can be placed in the same classrooms
for art, physical education, and other nonacademic classes with their English-
speaking peers.
What You Can Do

Accept Students’ Language
A ccept students’ language, including language used by

new speakers of English as well as by those who speak
another variety of it. Overcorrecting can jeopardize learn-
up the message that there are different ways of saying the
same thing and that some are more appropriate than others
in certain settings. In addition, teach students explicitly about
ing. Although all students need to learn Standard English, language so that they are affirmed in their native languages
especially those who have been traditionally denied access and dialects at the same time that they learn what Lisa Delpit
to higher-status learning, it is equally crucial that teachers (1988) has called the “codes of power.”
accept and value students’ native languages or dialects. (For
Flores, N. and Rosa, J. (2015). Undoing appropriateness: Raciolin-
a cogent critique of what they call “appropriateness-based
guistic ideologies and language diversity in education. Harvard Educa-
approaches to language diversity in education,” see the article tional Review, 85, 149–171.
“Undoing Appropriateness” by Nelson Flores and Jonathan Delpit, L. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in edu-
Rosa). Rather than always directly correcting students’ lan- cating other people’s children. Harvard Educational Review, 58 (3),
guage, you can model Standard English so that students pick 280–298.
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Conclusion
Language differences may affect students’ learning in numerous ways. These dif-
ferences are not necessarily barriers to learning, but the history of linguicism in our
society has resulted in making them so. As we have seen throughout this chapter,
there is no single best approach or panacea for the education of emergent bilingual
students. Nevertheless, bilingual education—whether TBE, maintenance, or two-
way—has proven to be an effective program for English language learners because
it is based on a fundamental critique of the “assimilation equals success” formula
on which much of our educational policy and practice is based. In the words of
researchers Patricia Gándara and Frances Contreras, “When our approach to lan-
guage education involves eradicating a student’s native language in an effort to
transform their identities, the results are predictably negative.”43
Although bilingual education represents a notable advance over monolingual
education, it is a mistake to view it as the cure for all the educational problems of
language minority students because even with bilingual education, many children
are likely to face educational failure. The same is true of any educational program
or approach because no approach or program can remedy all the problems, edu-
cational and otherwise, facing language minority students. Issues such as pov-
erty, racism, reception and incorporation of their ethnic group into the society,
and structural inequality are key in explaining student failure to learn. The reality
is that many emergent bilingual students receive an inferior education—whether
“sink or swim,” SEI, or bilingual education—simply because they happen to live
in poverty and attend poorly resourced schools. A more promising approach to
this problem is exemplified in a recent publication from the California Department
of Education: Rather than focus on whether bilingual or SEI should be mandated,
the text considers what we know about the education of emergent bilingual stu-
dents, what teachers need to know to be effective with them, and how to close
the so-called achievement gap.44 While there is no magic solution for all the edu-
cational problems of English language learners, a good place to begin would be to
honor and affirm their native languages, their families, their communities, and the
resources they bring to their education. In the case studies that follow this chapter,
we see the positive impact that doing so can have on their learning.
To Think About
1. Research the English-only movement. Do you consider it an example of linguicism? Why
or why not?
2. The argument “My folks made it without bilingual education, why give other folks spe-
cial treatment?” has often been made, particularly by descendants of European American
immigrants. Is this a compelling argument? Why or why not?
3. If you were the principal of a school with a large population of emergent bilingual students,
how would you address this situation in your school? What if you were a parent of one
of those children, or a teacher? What if you were an emergent bilingual student yourself?

1. If you do not currently speak a language other than English, enroll in a course to learn
one (preferably a language spoken by a number of your students). Keep a journal
of your reflections, noting what you’re learning, what it feels like to be a learner of
another language, whether your relationship with your students changes, and if and
how your teaching strategies change as a result.
2. Ask your students to do a “language inventory”—that is, ask them to find out how
many members of their families speak, or used to speak, another language or language
variety; what language or languages they speak or spoke; and, if they no longer speak
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it, why they do not. Encourage them to interview family members and even to record
them, if possible. Have them bring the results to class and use these recordings as the
basis for a lesson or unit on language diversity in the United States.
3. Investigate your school’s policies concerning the use of languages other than English
in the classroom, on the playground, and in other areas of the school. If there is an
“English-only” policy in any of these contexts, find out how the policy came to be. Ask
other staff members and families what they think about it. If you disagree with the
policy, develop an action plan to address it.
Notes
1. Skutnabb-Kangas defines linguicism as “ideologies and structures 19. Bialystok, Craik, & Freedman (2007).
which are used to legitimate, effectuate and reproduce an unequal 20. Adesope, Lavin, Thompson, & Ungerleider (2010).
division of power and resources (both material and nonmate- 21. Portes & Rumbaut (2001).
rial) between groups which are defined on the basis of language” 22. Kamenetz (2016).
(1988, p. 13). 23. Bhattacharjee (2012).
2. García (2009); Garcia & Kleifgen (2010). 24. Commission on Language Learning (2017), p. ix.
3. U.S. Census Bureau (2010b, 2010c). 25. Ibid.,p. x.
4. Jost (2009). 26. Bartolomé (2008), p. 377.
5. For these and other relevant statistics on English Language Learn- 27. Cummins (2001), p. 73.
ers, see the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisi- 28. Reyes & Kleyn (2010).
tion and Language Instruction website (NCELA) at http://www 29. Portes & Rumbaut (2001).
.ncela.us/. 30. Adger, Snow, & Christian (2018).
6. Crawford (2000). 31. Krashen (1981).
7. As quoted in Crawford (2000), p. 8. 32. Nieto (2017).
8. Crawford (2000, 2008a). 33. For early research on additive and subtractive bilingualism, see
9. Spring (2016). Lambert (1975).
10. Skutnabb-Kangas (1988). 34. Schwarzer, Haywood, & Lorenzen (2003).
11. Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563 (1974). 35. Freeman, Freeman, & Ramirez(2008).
12. Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C.¶ 1703(f). 36. For a more extensive discussion of Bill Dunn’s experience, see
13. Jost (2009). Nieto (2010).
14. Gándara & Hopkins (2010). See also Crawford (2008b). 37. See, for example, Wright, Boun, & García (2015); Baker, Wright, &
15. Horne v. Flores, 08-289 (2009). For a history of the case, see Fis- Cook (2017).
cher (2013). 38. Howard, Christian, & Genesee (2004).
16. California’s State Seal of Biliteracy has been issued to over 130,000 39. Reyes & Crawford (2011).
high school graduates since its initiation in 2012, with over 10,000 40. For a review of the extensive research on bilingual education mod-
seals issued the first year. This number grew to almost 32,000 in els, see Wright et al. (2015); Baker et al. (2017).
2015. Similar programs providing for a State Seal of Biliteracy have 41. Slavin, Madden, Calderón, Chamberlain, & Hennessy(2010).
now been adopted by 24 states. (More information can be found at 42. Fry (2008).
http://sealofbiliteracy.org/.) 43. Moll & Arnot-Hopffer (2005).
17. Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982). 44. Gándara & Contreras (2010).
18. Kovács & Mehler (2009). 45. Dolson & Burnham-Massey (2010).
Case Studies
Manuel Gomes
T
he first thing you notice about Manuel is that he is con-
stantly on the move, as if the engine had started and he
It’s kind of scary at first, especially if you was ready to shift to fourth without moving through the
other gears. Of slight stature and with a somewhat rumpled look,
don’t know the language.
Manuel had an infectious and lively sense of humor and a gener-
ally positive attitude about life.
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Manuel Gomes1 emigrated to Boston with his family from Cape Verde when he
was 11 years old. When he was first interviewed, Manuel was 19 years old and ready
to graduate from high school that year. In many urban high schools, 19 is no longer a
late age to graduate for immigrant and refugee students because they are more likely
to be retained in-grade, to be inappropriately placed in special education, and to be
placed in low academic tracks. That Manuel was soon to graduate from high school
is noteworthy because foreign-born students tend to have a very high dropout rate:
While foreign-born students make up just 11 percent of the total population of stu-
dents in this age group, they make up 33 percent of the dropout population.2
Even before gaining its independence from Portugal in 1975, Cape Verde,
an archipelago of 10 large and several smaller islands off the West Coast of
Africa, had a huge out-migration of its population. Official documents estimate
that close to 180,000 Cape Verdeans emigrated voluntarily between 1970 and
1973, some 20,000 to the United States alone. The process of emigration had
begun with the arrival of North American whaling boats from New England in
the late seventeenth century, so that by the end of the nineteenth century, there
was already a sizable Cape Verdean community in Massachusetts. Currently,
well over twice as many Cape Verdeans reside abroad than live at home. As of
2010, over 500,000 Cape Verdeans lived in the United States (about equal to the
number who reside on the islands), representing the largest Cape Verdean com-
munity outside Cape Verde.3
Having suffered from more than 400 years of colonial neglect under Portugal,
Cape Verde was left in poor economic and social condition. For example, the lit-
eracy rate in 1981 was 14 percent, a dramatic indication of the lack of educational
opportunities available to the majority of the people. After independence, the situ-
ation improved significantly, and by 2009, the literacy rate was 83 percent, one of
the highest in Africa, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs.4 Although the official language of the islands is Portu-
guese, the lingua franca is Crioulo, an Afro-Portuguese Creole.
Most Cape Verdeans in the United States live in New England, primarily in
Rhode Island and Massachusetts, with one of the largest concentrations in Boston.
Manuel’s family, like most, came to the United States for economic reasons.
Although formerly farmers in Cape Verde, they quickly settled into the urban
environment. Manuel’s father found a job cleaning offices downtown at night,
while his mother stayed home to take care of their many children. In Boston, they
lived in a three-decker home with apartments occupied by other members of the
extended family. The neighborhood, once a working-class Irish community, had
become multiracial, with a big Catholic church close by and Vietnamese and Cape
Verdean restaurants up the street. The older homes, the din on the street, and the
crowding all added to the sense of an aging but still vibrant urban community.
Manuel was the youngest of 11 children, and he would be the first in his
family to graduate from high school. For several years, he had been in a bilin-
gual program where the language of instruction was Crioulo. The State Assembly
of Massachusetts passed legislation in 1977 distinguishing Crioulo as a language
separate from Portuguese and required that Crioulo-speaking students be placed in
separate programs from those for Portuguese-speaking students. The result was a
scramble to find Crioulo-speaking teachers and aides and to develop appropriate
materials because few or none existed.
The rationale for placing Cape Verdean students in a separate program was that
students should be taught in the language they speak and understand, not in their
second or third language. A benefit of separating the program was that a strong sense
of community among teachers, students, and parents developed. Some of the teach-
ers and other staff members in the program were intimately involved in the life of
the community, and the separation that often exists between school and home, espe-
cially for immigrant children, was alleviated. Manuel’s participation in the bilingual
program proved to be decisive in his education because it allowed a less traumatic
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transition to the English language and U.S. culture. Nevertheless, he constantly

referred to how hard it had been to fit in, both in school and in society in general.
Boston, like most big cities in the United States, is a highly diverse metropoli-
tan area. It is not unusual to walk from street to street and hear languages from
all over the world, smell the foods of different continents, and hear the music of a
wide variety of cultures. In spite of this diversity, and perhaps in part because of
it, the city is not without its tensions, including diverse economic vested interests
and interethnic hostility. These tensions are evident in many arenas, including the
schools. The attendant problems of segregation, with a long and tumultuous his-
tory in the city, are still apparent. The city’s schools, for example, experienced a
vast decrease in the percentage of White and middle-class students beginning with
court-ordered desegregation in the mid-1970s. Although the Boston city schools
were once highly regarded, they have lost both resources and prestige.
Manuel’s plans for the future were sketchy, but when interviewed, he was working
in a downtown hotel and wanted to use the accounting skills he learned in high school
to find a job at a bank. His positive experience in a theater class as a sophomore, along
with his great enthusiasm and expressiveness, sparked his desire to continue in the act-
ing field. He also talked of continuing his education by attending a community college.
Manuel was excited and proud of graduating from high school but reflected
on the pain and fear of immigration. This is the major theme that characterized
Manuel’s experiences, both as a student and as an immigrant to this society. Role
reversals within the family is another central theme that emerged. Finally, the
mediating role of bilingual education in his success as a student was evident. Each
of these themes is further explored in the following sections.
The Pain and Fear of Immigration

We have a different way of living in Cape Verde than in America. Our culture is
totally different, so we have to start a different way of living in America. It’s kind
of confusing when you come to America, you know.
I liked going to school in Cape Verde ’cause you know everybody and you have
all your friends there. In our country, we treat people different. There’s no crime. You
don’t have to worry about people jumping you, taking your money, or walking at night
by yourself. There’s no fear for that. In Cape Verde, you don’t have to worry about
something happening to your child, or you don’t have to worry about using drugs.
My father and mother used to work on plantations. We used to grow potatoes; we
used to grow corn; we used to grow beans and stuff like that. We had a lot of land.
Every season, we farmed. We had cows. Me and my brother used to feed the cows and
take them to walk and give them water to drink and stuff like that. We used to sell our
milk to rich folks, and I used to deliver [it]. It was kinda fun. These rich people, every
time I’d go there, they’d feed me, which I liked very much [laughs]. They used to give
me cake and stuff like that, cookies. We’d have a lot of crops and we’d give some away
to poor people, those that don’t have any. We had a lot of friends and stuff like that.
When we came to America, it was totally different.
In Cape Verde, they have this rumor that it’s easier to make a living up here.
So everybody wants to come up here. They have this rumor that once you get
here, you find money all around you, you know. So, when you’re, like, coming
up here, they make a big commotion out of it: “Oh, you’re going to America, rich
country,” and stuff like that. So they think once you come here, you got it made . . .
you’re rich. People in our country actually think that we’re rich here, that we are
filthy rich, that money surrounds us—we eat money!
I was disappointed in a lot of ways [when we came here], especially with the
crime, especially with the kids. They don’t respect each other; they don’t respect
their parents. It’s very different here. It’s very tough.
I was afraid. I had people jumping me a few times, trying to take my wallet
and stuff like that. It’s a scary situation. It didn’t really bother me, but like what
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got to me, is, if they try to start a fight with you, you go to tell, like, a teacher, they
couldn’t do nothing about it. That’s what got to me, you know?
It was a few students. I know this kid, this big Black kid. He tried to fight me,
like, three times. Then I had a brother that was going to the same middle school,
so he had a fight with my brother, my big brother. After that, it calmed down a
little bit, you know?
Kids might try to stab you if you probably step on them. That happened to
me once. I stepped on this kid’s sneaker once, and he tried to fight me. He said,
“What you doing?” I said that I’m sorry and he said, “That’s not enough,” and he
tried to punch me. He didn’t, but he was very furious.
You gotta get used to it. That’s why a lot of Cape Verdean kids, when they
get here, they change. They become violent, like some of the kids in America. So,
it’s sad. It’s very hard for the parents. The parents are not used to that, and it’s
happening [to] a lot with parents in our neighborhood. It’s happening to our fam-
ily. I have a cousin, and his mother tried to commit suicide because her son was
dealing drugs and hanging with the wrong crowd, with all these hoods. The son
almost died because someone beat him up so bad. And it’s sad, you know?
They try to be strict about it, you know. But with kids, they try to copy kids
that were born here. They try to be like them. They try to go out and do the stuff
that they’re doing. It’s like teen pressure, you know? So, it’s very hard, you know?
You want to fit in. You like to fit in with the crowd. If you hang with the wrong
crowd, you’re going to be in big trouble. You just change . . . and you’re going to
be a person that you don’t want to be. You’ll probably end up in jail.
I been here eight years, and I never hang with the wrong crowd. I’ve never
used drugs in my life. I’ve never smelled cigarettes. So, I really hate when I see
other kids doing it. It’s sad when you see especially your friends doing it. So I had
to say, “Go away. I don’t want that life.” So I had to separate from them. I had a
hard time finding friends that wasn’t doing that stuff like they were doing. It’s very
hard if you hate what your friends are doing.
Start learning the language was hard for me. And then start making friends because
you gotta start making new friends. When American students see you, it’s kinda hard
[to] get along with them when you have a different culture, a different way of dressing
and stuff like that. So kids really look at you and laugh, you know, at the beginning.
It was difficult like when you see a girl at school that you like. It’s kind of dif-
ficult to express yourself and tell her the way you feel about her, you know? When
you don’t even know the language, it’s kind of hard. I had a hard time. It’s kind of
scary at first, especially if you don’t know the language and, like, if you don’t have
friends there. Some people are slow to learn the language and some just catch it
up easy. It wasn’t easy for me . . . like, the pronunciation of the words and stuff
like that. Like, in Portuguese and in English, they’re different. It’s kinda hard, you
know?
I don’t think I want to be an American citizen. To tell you the truth, I don’t like
America at all. [Well], I like it, but I don’t like the lifestyles. It’s different from my point
of view. What I’m thinking of doing is work in America for 10 years and go back to my
country because America’s a violent country. It’s dangerous with crime, with drugs.
Role Reversals Within the Family

Because they don’t speak English, I have to go places with [my family] to translate
and stuff like that. So I’m usually busy. We have a big family. I have to help them out.
If I felt like I had support from my family, if they only knew the language. . . . If
they were educated, I could make it big, you see what I’m saying? I would’ve had
a better opportunity, a better chance.
I’m very happy about [graduating]. It means a lot to me. It means that I did
something that I’m very proud [of]. It feels good, you know? And I’d really like to
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continue in my education because, you know, I’m the first one. And I want to be
successful with my life. I just wanted to help them, you know? I wanted to be the
one to help them. They didn’t support me, but I wanted to support them.
I took [my father] to the hospital. Then I found out that he had cancer. I didn’t
wanna tell him. The doctor told me that he had cancer. I didn’t wanna tell him
because he hates to get sick and he hates to die! He hates to die. If you tell him
he’s gonna die, he’ll kill you before he dies!
This happened when I was in school, so I was missing school a lot. I was the
only one that was able to understand the language. It actually got to the point that
I had to tell him. It was, like, sad when I had to tell him because it’s very hard to
tell him that he had cancer.
My mother’s proud of me. My father is, too. It was tough for me when I found
out that my father had cancer because, you know, I really wanted to graduate. I
just want to show him that I can be somebody, you know? I actually did this, try
to graduate from high school, for him.
Bilingual Education as Linguistic and

Cultural Mediator
A Cape Verdean person is usually, he looks like he’s a nice person, educated, you
know? Not all of them, but like 70 percent of Cape Verdeans, they look educated.
They’re not violent. You can tell someone is Cape Verdean . . . if he starts pointing
at you. That’s a sign that he’s Cape Verdean automatic. If he starts staring at you,
he’s Cape Verdean. We have problems when we look at American people. They
might think we are talking about them and stuff like that, so we have to change
that behavior. We have to get used to not pointing at people and not looking at
them very much because American people are not used to people staring at them.
What we do in our country, we observe people. It don’t mean nothing to us
Cape Verdeans. It’s just normal. But if we do it to an American person, it makes
that American person nervous, I guess, and he would ask you, “What are you
looking at?” or “Why are you looking at me?” and start questioning and probably
start trouble with you.
It’s normal to us. That’s why other people got to understand that not eve-
rybody has the same culture; not everybody is the same. So some people don’t
understand. Like a Spanish [Hispanic] person, what he usually do, they use their
body in a different way. With [Hispanic people], what they do, they point with
their lips. They go [demonstrates puckering of the lips]. So, that’s different. Other
cultures, they might use their head; they might use their eyebrows.
It’s good to understand other people’s culture from different countries. Amer-
ica is made up of different countries, and we all should know a little bit about each
one’s cultures.
I think [teachers] could help students, try to influence them . . . that they can
do whatever they want to do, that they can be whatever they want to be, that they
got opportunities out there. Most schools don’t encourage kids to be all they can be.
What they need to do is try to know the student before they influence him. If
you don’t know a student, there’s no way to influence him. If you don’t know his
background, there’s no way you are going to get in touch with him. There’s no
way you’re going to influence him if you don’t know where he’s been.
You cannot forget about [your culture], you know? It’s part of you. You can’t
forget something like that. . . . You gotta know who you are. You cannot deny
your country and say, “I’m an American; I’m not Cape Verdean.” That’s some-
thing that a lot of kids do when they come to America. They change their names.
Say you’re Carlos—they say, “I’m Carl.” They wanna be American; they’re not
Cape Verdean. That’s wrong. They’re fooling themselves.
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I identify myself as Cape Verdean. I’m Cape Verdean. I cannot be an American

because I’m not an American. That’s it.
[Describe yourself as a student] I’m not a genius [laughing]! [But] I know that
I can do whatever I want to do in life. Whatever I want to do, I know I could make
it. I believe that strongly.
Commentary
M
anuel was eloquent in expressing his concerns as an immigrant and stu-
dent, concerns related to his academic success and his motivation for
graduating and possibly continuing his education. But behind the some-
times forced enthusiasm he displayed, Manuel’s voice was also tinged with sad-
ness at what might have been. His expression changed when talking about his
early experiences in Cape Verde. In spite of the obviously difficult circumstances
of going to school (where he was in a crowded, one-room schoolhouse with many
other students of all ages and where he said that corporal punishment was a com-
mon practice), Manuel had, over the years, idealized his experiences there. He
seemed to have forgotten the harsh life he had in Cape Verde, although he did
admit that he did not like farming. In spite of the difficulties, life there was, at least
when he reflected on it years later, easier and more predictable. Manuel often con-
trasted the crime and violence in the United States with his romanticized memo-
ries of a bucolic childhood in Cape Verde.
With obvious pain, Manuel described what it was like being perceived as
different by his peers when he first arrived in the United States. For example,
other kids would call him names and ridicule him. The situation changed after he
reached high school, but those first years were indelibly etched in his memory.
The distress caused by immigration is multifaceted. Not only do immigrants leave
behind a country that is loved and an existence that is at least familiar, if not comfort-
able, but they also leave a language and culture that can never find full expression in
their adopted country. In addition, they are transported into a situation that, although
it may offer many exciting possibilities, nonetheless is often frightening and new.
Hence, Manuel was ambivalent about his experience in the United States.
Several of the painful incidents that Manuel described focused on inter-ethnic
rivalries and violence. This situation is a guarded secret, especially at many urban
schools. School officials, perhaps fearful of being labeled racists, are reluctant to
confront the prejudicial behaviors and actions of one group of students toward
another, yet the issue is real and becoming more apparent all the time. Racial ste-
reotypes and epithets are commonplace, voiced by even the most seemingly sensi-
tive students. For example, Manuel’s comment about a “big Black kid” reinforces
the negative stereotype of African Americans as frightening and violent.
Manuel was the linguistic and cultural broker in his family because his was
the public face that interacted with the greater community. Immigrant children
routinely experience role reversals with their parents as a result of their parents’
lack of English fluency and knowledge of U.S. customs. Based on their extensive
studies of immigrant children, Alejandro Portes and Rubén Rumbaut explain:
“This role reversal occurs when children’s acculturation has moved so far ahead
of their parents’ that key family decisions become dependent on the children’s
knowledge.”5 Manuel’s role as translator was especially prominent when his
father developed cancer a few years before and he was placed in the extraordinary
position of being the one to tell him that he had cancer. This experience had a
great impact on Manuel, especially because the cancer was considered terminal.
Although his father recovered from the cancer against all the odds, the experience
left Manuel shaken. His grades also suffered during that period.
When immigrant students play the role of family interpreter and arbiter, the result
may be the transfer of authority and status from parents to children, which in turn
can lead to further deterioration of traditional roles and therefore produce conflict at
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home. In addition, teachers not accustomed to this kind of adult responsibility often
interpret students’ absences and lateness as a sign that their parents do not care about
education or that the students are irresponsible. Frequently, just the opposite is true.
Immigrant parents are not oblivious to the benefits of education, but they often need
support in attending to their basic needs. Here is where the school, as an advocate of
children and their families, can step in. The school can help locate needed services
or suggest ways to attend to family needs without keeping the children out of school.
There may also be different perceptions of family involvement among immigrant
parents. Manuel’s parents, for example, rarely visited his school. This is not surprising:
Parent involvement in schools in most countries is minimal because, in most places,
the feeling is that, after children begin school, it is the school’s responsibility to educate
them. The parents, in essence, hand over their children to the school, trusting that the
school will take over, at least in terms of their education. To jump to the conclusion
that these parents do not care about education is to misread the families’ intentions.
Manuel said that the bilingual program at the high school provided a safe
environment for him and other Cape Verdean students. It was a rather large pro-
gram, much larger than the one at the middle school, and most of the teachers and
some of the other staff members were Cape Verdean, too. Cape Verdean students
in the city had a strong identification with this high school and looked forward to
attending it. In fact, it was always one of the more constructive and distinguishing
characteristics of this particular urban school. That the bilingual program acted as
a linguistic and cultural mediator was evident in many of Manuel’s comments. For
example, Manuel was extremely perceptive about culture and its manifestations.
This perceptiveness is a common by-product of bilingual programs, in which
culture and language become a natural aspect of the curriculum. The descrip-
tion of how his Latino classmates use their lips to point rather than their fingers
demonstrates Manuel’s sensitivity and sophistication in understanding nonverbal
cues. Many teachers, even those who work with students from different cultures,
fail to pick up these sometimes subtle cues.
The significance of the bilingual program in Manuel’s life cannot be over-
emphasized, and this has been true for many Cape Verdean and other language
minority students. The bilingual program helped Manuel retain his language and
culture and, with it, ties to his family and community. It gave him something to
hold on to. Even this kind of program, however, is not enough if it is not part of
a larger whole that affirms the diversity of all within it. It and other bilingual pro-
grams like it become tiny islands in a sea of homogeneity and pressure to conform.
Unfortunately, Massachusetts voters eliminated bilingual education in 2002.
However, in 2017, the previous restrictions imposed on biingual programs were
eased so that immigrant students might again be able to count on the support that
bilingual education provided in the past.
Manuel also spoke fondly of the theater workshop that he took as a sophomore
(a project that was also, sadly, eliminated shortly thereafter). Although it was not
part of the bilingual program and all the skits were in English, it focused on issues
that were relevant to immigrant and language minority students. Manuel recalled
with great enthusiasm a monologue he did about a student going to a new school, a
situation he could identify with because it was so reminiscent of his own experiences.
One of the ways Manuel dealt with finding a place to fit in was by joining
and becoming very active in a fundamentalist Christian church. As Manuel so elo-
quently expressed it, “That’s the place I belong to. I fit there. I felt that God had
moved there. Jesus got hold of me. He said, ‘Calm down.’” A number of issues
were apparently influential in leading Manuel to this particular church. It was
about this time that his father developed cancer and Manuel became immersed in
his role as “the man of the family.” It was also around the time that he decided
to drop some of his friends (as he said, “It’s very hard if you hate what your
friends are doing”). In looking for something to keep him on track, as the bilingual
program and other cultural supports had done previously, he looked toward the
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church community. Although Manuel had been raised a Catholic, the local Catho-
lic church was unappealing to him because it had made few accommodations to
its newest members, many of whom were immigrants who spoke little or no Eng-
lish. His new church, however, seems to have gone to great lengths to welcome
Cape Verdeans, and Manuel felt he had finally found a place to fit in.
The tension of fitting in was well articulated by Manuel when he pitted being
Cape Verdean against being American. He did not perceive the possibility that he
could be both Cape Verdean and American. That is, if he identified with being
American, he felt he was abandoning his culture and country; on the other hand,
if he chose to remain Cape Verdean, his possibilities in U.S. society might be lim-
ited. These are hard choices for young people to make and are part of the pain of
living in a culture that has a rigid definition of “being American.”

1. Consider some of the ways in which Manuel’s experiences as an immigrant were fright-
ening and painful. What can teachers and schools do to help?
2. What might account for Manuel’s highly developed sensitivity to cultural differences?
What can teachers and schools learn from this?
3. It is probable that school authorities and teachers assumed that Manuel’s family was
wrong in keeping him home to attend to family business during his father’s illness. What
do you think? What could the school have done to accommodate his family’s needs?
4. Do you understand why Manuel felt reluctant to identify himself as “American”? How
would you approach this issue if he were one of your students?
Notes for Case Study: Manuel Gomes

1. We are grateful to Carol Shea for the interviews and transcriptions used, and for many valuable
insights gained, in the development of this case study. After over 30 years in urban education,
mostly at Madison Park High School in Boston as an English and theater arts teacher and then as
a school counselor, Carol is now involved in counselor training and in developing resources and
support programs that assist young men and women in meeting their personal and educational
needs.
2. See Child Trend Data. Available at http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/?q=node/300.
3. See https://cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cv.html. The 2010 U.S. Census
counted Cape Verdeans as a separate category.
4. West Africa: Combating World’s Lowest Literacy Rates (2009).
5. See Portes & Rumbaut (2001), p. 53.
Alicia Montejo
W
hen she was first interviewed, Alicia Montejo1 was fin-
ishing ninth grade at Red Rock High School in greater
[M]y sister uses the word Hispanic or Latina; Denver, Colorado. After her mother’s death three years
I’m Mexican: I am really Mexican. earlier, she had moved several times. For about 18 months Alicia
had lived with her stepfather, who served as her legal guardian, in
the midsize Texas border city where she was born and raised. She
later moved to Colorado with her older sister, who became her legal guardian just
six months before this interview.
Being Mexican, speaking Spanish, and experiencing economic struggles were
inseparable realities central to Alicia’s life, both at home and at school. Alicia
attended preschool through sixth grade in a south Texas school district with a
student population that was 98 percent Hispanic and 93 percent economically
disadvantaged. The district also lists the K–12 population as 51 percent limited
English-proficient.
The school that Alicia attended for her freshman year is a public high school
that had been created during massive districtwide reform as part of the Colorado
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Small Schools Initiative (CSSI),2 which was funded by a grant from the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation.3 The school district, serving 5,700 students, trans-
formed one large high school into seven distinct, small high schools, offering stu-
dents a choice of enrollment. In Alicia’s case, Red Rock High School met some
of the district’s objectives to create “personalized secondary learning environ-
ments that challenged and engaged students, supporting high standards for all.”4
However, it fell short in challenging Alicia to her fullest potential. The built-in
option to transfer to one of the seven new high schools within the district appealed
to Alicia, who said that she hoped to move to another school where she “could be
pushed harder.”
That Alicia was doing well in school demonstrates that she was beating the
odds for English language learners living in poverty. Poverty has been, and contin-
ues to be, a major problem among Latino youths, including Mexican Americans.
As of 2008, 29 percent of Latino/Latina children lived in poverty, a percentage that
most likely increased during the severe recession of 2009–2010.5 Complex socioec-
onomic circumstances, combined with severely unequal schooling conditions from
preschool through high school, create devastating and enduring consequences
for Mexican American and other Latina/Latino youth. Among many factors that
conspire to perpetuate this situation are teachers’ low expectations and brutally
underresourced schools.6 English language learners are especially vulnerable: For
example, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, ELLs are woe-
fully behind their peers, even among former ELLs, in reading and math.7 In addi-
tion, a report from the Pew Hispanic Center found that, even though the number
of Hispanic college graduates has reached an all-time high, about 41 percent of
Latinos 20 years of age and older in the United States do not have a regular high
school diploma, compared with 23 percent of African American adults and 14 per-
cent of White adults.8
When examining the data corresponding to those who make it through high
school, the dropout rate—or what some activists and researchers have called the
pushout rate—is holding steady.9 Tara J. Yosso’s analysis of the data on the K–12
educational pipeline revealed that, for every 100 Chicana/Chicano students enter-
ing elementary school, only 44 graduate from high school. Her study also showed
that for every 100 Chicana/Chicano students, only seven graduate with a bach-
elor’s degree, two earn a master’s, and one earns a doctorate degree.10
Within this sociopolitical context, three themes emerge from Alicia’s case
study. These three themes tell us a great deal about her perspective on lan-
guage, education, and her Mexican heritage. The role of Spanish language in
shaping her identity is pervasive throughout these themes: interconnectedness of
language, identity, and learning; family, respect, and expectations; and desire for
academic challenge.
Interconnectedness of Language,
Identity, and Learning
My dad and my mom, they came from Mexico. They moved here before I was
born, but I was born here; Mexican American. All I say is that I am Mexican; my
sister uses the word Hispanic or Latino; I’m Mexican: I am really Mexican.
Being Latino, it’s good ’cause a lot of people tell me it’s a good advantage for
me to know two languages. I like that. Sometimes it’s frustrating. I know English,
but not perfect English. Sometimes it gets frustrating that you don’t know what
something’s called in English.
By the time I was in first grade, I already had all my English. The school did
have a program [for English language learners], but I didn’t have to go to it. It
worked out for me pretty good. Nobody at home taught me. I just learned from my
friends in preschool and my teachers. My parents, they didn’t speak English, so I
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guess I pushed myself really hard to learn English. My parents were pushing me
really hard to learn English, they were, like, “You gotta learn it!”
I remember my pre-K teacher ’cause she helped me a lot. She taught me
English. She spent time with me after school and everything. I had no friends
then, and my teachers made me feel good. They were there for me and they
helped me out. There was this one time where I didn’t really know much English,
but my friend next to me, she had to do her homework and she spoke pure Span-
ish [meaning only Spanish, no English], and I helped her out. That made me feel
really good that I helped other people out with what they didn’t know and what
they did know. But still, I get frustrated sometimes when my friends need help or
whatever and I don’t know to help them out.
Now, in Colorado my friends are a little different. There are a lot of Mexican
people here, but not as much as there were in Texas. There’s mountains. You
could see some of the mountains from here. There’s different kinds of people, like
African Americans, Latinos, White people, Asians. In Texas, I had friends from
other kinds of groups, but mostly Mexican. In Texas, almost everybody spoke
Spanish. Here in Colorado, some people speak Spanish, but lots don’t. Here, the
Mexicans come from lots of different [regions in Mexico]. In Texas, everybody was
from the same place. Here, even some of the Mexicans don’t speak Spanish.
A lot of White people do not know Spanish. White people don’t know how
to pronounce stuff in Spanish, or they don’t know Spanish at all. And they
have a hard time communicating. Then there’s some kids at our school that
know pure Spanish, and they want to communicate with them but they can’t.
It’s probably frustrating for them to not be able to talk to each other—commu-
nicate to other people that know a different language or something. But I can
talk to everybody.
[If I could give advice to the school] I would tell teachers to help the Mexican
kids who don’t speak English. Help them a little but don’t leave them behind, and
don’t do the work for them. Have a special class for them at one point in the day
at least, but mostly regular classes. Then have a time when they can learn and use
Spanish, and flash cards with the different languages—and learning how to speak
better English—and learn in English and Spanish, both languages in school.
If a new Latino student came to our school, I would tell them not to give up.
I mean, if they only know Spanish, not to give up. Just to try and understand as
much as you can, or try to ask somebody that speaks both languages. It might be
frustrating for them not to understand what their teachers are saying, but don’t
give up.
What I would advise teachers is to learn Spanish so they can teach [ELL Latino
students]. Latinos that know pure Spanish, they get frustrating just to sit there and
not be able to know what the teacher’s talking about. They just sit there and they get
a worksheet. They don’t know what to do with it and they have to ask somebody.
It would be frustrating. And then the [bilingual] students [in the bilingual program]
might not be able to explain to them right, and they get frustrating. Tell teachers just
not to get frustrated with students that speak Spanish or other languages. Just try
your best to communicate with them. The school does have teachers come in and
translate the lessons for the Mexican kids, but all I saw was one for that one class.
When teachers understand our culture, they speak to us in Spanish. Mr.
Thomas, my humanities teacher, he knows Spanish ’cause he’s married to a Mexi-
can woman. He talks to everybody in Spanish! The people that know Spanish
come to him and he tells me to translate to them something that I need to help
them with, like a worksheet. You can tell if a teacher understands our culture by
other stuff, too. Like in the art room, there’s, like, Mexican stuff put up and all
that: Mexican flag, Mexican paintings.
To get to know my culture, I would tell teachers to understand my language.
Take a course or something; take courses. The other way they can learn about our
culture is by asking us about it. Ask us.
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Family, Respect, and Expectations

The person that I most admire is my sister. She went through a lot when she was
small. She married a good husband. He doesn’t do drugs, he don’t cuss, he don’t
smoke or nothing. He’s got a nice job. He’s respectful to her. She made a lot of
good choices. Like when she was a teenager, she didn’t get pregnant or anything
‘til now that she’s married and she got a nice job. She really made a lot of good
choices. Her and her husband. They act like my parents.
My mom talked to me about me growing up and having a good life. Not to let
myself go with any guy or whatever, not to have sex: to protect myself. Nothing
is holding me back from getting a good education, unless I get pregnant, which
I probably won’t. I’m scared for that. But nothing’s keeping me back. I’m more
into school than that. Right now, I wouldn’t be ready for a kid. I want to go on in
school. I want to go straight to college and get a career and after I have a career
and then maybe have children. One of my friends just had a baby and she’s really
struggling. I wouldn’t want to be like that. I’m gonna do the same thing my sister
did. I’m gonna wait till I grow up, have a nice job, and then think about babies.
My family taught me just to value school. Value what I have. All my family
is positive about school. Since my dad was Mexican, he didn’t really have many
chances—he’s like a construction [worker] or something like that. He told me that
Mexicans don’t have a lot of choice in work ’cause they’re not legal from the United
States. Doing good in school is to get a chance to do stuff that most of my family
hasn’t been able to do: to get a good job and have money, be able to raise a family.
From my family, I learned respect and manners. Well, my mom passed away in
2002; she’s not here with us anymore. But she was really positive about school. My
dad, he works—he’s still alive but he’s working off in a place [far from here]. They
just tell me to get an education, to grow up and have a good job and a good family.
I was a good student when I was younger and I still am. My family, they taught
me well. How to be respectful and everything, and how much school is important.
Sometimes I think about ditching, but I don’t, ’cause I’m a really good student. I
have to do my work ’cause school is important to me. I know I complain a lot, but
it is important to me. I’m friendly. I am respectful, most of the time. I help other
people when they need help and if I know how, I’ll help them. Pretty much, I’m
responsible. Not all the time, but I’m responsible. But when I’m having a bad day,
or when teachers really get on my nerves, that’s when I’m not that respectful. I
talk back or I ignore them. I just tell them, “Leave me alone,” “Don’t talk to me,”
or I’ll just don’t talk to them. I’ll listen to them, but I won’t talk to them. And you
can tell right away whenever I have that look or whenever I roll my eyes.
My sister, she’s very positive about me going to school. She wouldn’t want me to
drop out or anything like that. Her husband, he’s the same way. They’re really posi-
tive about school. He tells me stories, like, to get a good job. ’Cause not a lot of peo-
ple have that chance to get an education and have a good job. People [who drop out]
are usually [working] at Burger King or McDonald’s or something, or a grocery store.
My sister is involved in the school. She works at a school. She’s a teacher’s aide
with four-year-olds in the preschool. She likes it. She’s thinking of getting a degree
and her own job, I mean her own classroom for herself where she’s teaching. She
wants me to go to college. She’s told me before and she talks to me about it a lot.
[She asks about] what colleges do I want to go into, or whatever. My sister and her
husband, they’re there whenever I need help. They’re fun to be around. But my
sister’s a little bit uptight because she’s never had to take care of a teenager.
Grades are important to me. I don’t like a C or below. I love to make my family
happy. Making them feel good, letting them know that I do good in school and that I
try to keep my grades up high. Grades are important at home. My sister and her hus-
band, they would want a B or above. They would prefer an A. They’ll talk to me and
they’ll help me out with whatever I need, but they would rather an A. But they’re
not too happy with the C’s. I mean they’re OK with it, but they would rather an A.
M06_NIET7232_07_SE_C06.indd 211 03/11/17 11:44 AM

Desire for Academic Challenge

School ended up pretty good freshman year [at Red Rock High School]. It was
pretty good; it could have been a lot better. I liked how we actually could go out
in fieldwork and actually learn stuff, not in school but the actual place where his-
tory happened. I wouldn’t mind getting pushed a little bit harder. When there was
a little bit more of a challenge, I did good. I got A’s, B’s, and C’s. I only got one D
in my whole life. When I got that D, me and the teacher, we kinda knocked heads.
We didn’t work together. I could do better. I could be pushed more.
I want to go to Mountain Academy—they push you a little harder there. They
don’t really get to go out on field trips as much, but I want a new environment. I
want something that’s going to help me a little bit more—push me a little harder.
Mountain Academy is more challenging. I want to be pushed harder. I want to
meet new people. I want to see what’s better for me.
I think [the teachers at Red Rock High School should] maybe get it to the
next level. Mainly, when we wrote stuff, they don’t push you hard. For your last
final grade for the trimester, they would just pick your highest grade and give
you that. Other kids passed when they were just not really doing the work in
class. I feel like I slacked off a bit. I am a talkative person and sometimes I talked
too much.
[In school] we have talked about what we want to do or be, but we don’t
talk much about college. In the future, I see me being a person that actually has
nice work that’s got money. I could support my kids that I have and the family.
Help my family out and everything. Just a nice future. I am thinking of going
into the medical field when I graduate, or the law enforcement field. Nobody
is talking with me about helping me choose classes. [I am hoping to become] a
doctor for children, a pediatrician or else law enforcement, border patrol. . . . I
am not interested in law enforcement as much as I was when I lived in Texas,
but I am still thinking about it. When I lived in Texas, I lived near the bor-
der, and I saw the border patrol trucks all over the place. Now I am thinking a
doctor—helping children.
Commentary
T
he fusion of language and cultural identity became obvious during Alicia’s
interview. Her family and home community deeply influenced the inter-
twined relationship of her mother tongue and distinctive way of life. She
seemed shocked to discover that in Colorado, there are Mexicans who don’t speak
Spanish. As she changed communities and geographic region, the role of her bilin-
gualism changed. Her perspective grew from taking her bilingualism for granted
as intrinsic to everyday life, to perceiving her language skills as a precious asset,
realizing that “some kids lose their Spanish, their own language.” Although she
had been academically bilingual since first grade, Alicia referred to Spanish as her
language and equated knowing it with knowing her culture.
Notably, Alicia referred to the monolingual Spanish-speaking Mexican stu-
dents as “knowing pure Spanish,” meaning that they spoke only Spanish. At no
time in the interview did she use deficit labels commonly heard in school poli-
cies and practices such as “non-English-speaking,” “students without English,”
or “limited English proficient.” She consistently referred to those peers as “pure
Spanish speakers” and supported bilingual education, even though she herself did
not participate in such a program.
In terms of advice for teachers, Alicia urged them to get to know her culture
by learning to understand her language. She emphasized the importance of being
patient with pure Spanish speakers and recommended offering support while still
providing challenge. In addition, she encouraged teachers to “ask the kids.” Her
M06_NIET7232_07_SE_C06.indd 212 03/11/17 11:44 AM

statements echo my (Patty’s) research findings that urban students continually

urge teachers to “just ask kids about their culture.”11 Alicia’s insistence on being
challenged academically also resonates with a great deal of research that has found
that many students view school curriculum as not challenging enough, which con-
tributes to decisions to drop out. For example, in a broad survey of more than
500 students who did not complete high school, 47 percent cited boredom and
irrelevant curriculum as reasons for dropping out, challenging the myth that these
students may be incapable of the work.12
Alicia’s refusal to settle for limited opportunities and to accept stereotypical
messages contributed to the construction of her “counterstory.” Alicia’s words
resonate with the work of researcher Tara J. Yosso, who writes about the “very
serious leaks” in the Chicana/Chicano educational pipeline. The harmful ste-
reotypes stem from a majoritarian story that assumes all people have access to
equal education and that faults Chicana/Chicano students for not taking advan-
tage of that equal opportunity. In Yosso’s work, counterstories point out the bias
in the majoritarian story and reveal the structural, practical, and discursive influ-
ences that facilitate the high dropout (pushout) rates along the Chicana/Chicano
educational pipeline.13
Supporting and working for family and strong identification with, and soli-
darity among, family members are qualities that are held in high esteem in most
Mexican communities.14 Because of the centrality of the role of family in Mexi-
can culture, and Alicia’s perspective as a contemporary Latina and an academic
high-achiever, she may have been zigzagging through multiple cultural inter-
sections in trying to negotiate statements about what is expected of Mexicans.
Straddling the realms of race, class, and gender are especially challenging for a
youth in her position.
Despite the various social and institutional structures that can impede aca-
demic success, Alicia was committed to continuing her academic achievement by
trying to enroll in a different high school that would push her a little harder. Her
statements about the importance of school and grades express her family’s val-
ues and teachings of respeto. Linking the completion of high school with a “nice
future,” she said that she had aspirations to go to college and become a profes-
sional: either a medical doctor or a border patrol officer. While the latter may seem
an ironic choice for a second-generation Mexican American, the social context
reveals a great deal. In her economically strapped community on the Texas border,
one of the only professional opportunities to which she was exposed was driving a
border patrol truck. Her imagined engagement in border patrol also indexes what
Ricardo D. Stanton-Salazar refers to as “playing host to the system.” He argues
that, for many Mexican-origin urban youth, the diminished pool of resources, lack
of institutional support, structured segregation, and cultural alienation lead com-
munity members to reproduce the unequal, hierarchical relations of the racialized,
patriarchal, capitalist society.15
Alicia’s goals are visibly tied to making her family proud and her hope to
adequately provide for a future family. These perspectives point to the urgency
of wide-ranging curriculum choices and the role of expansive career and col-
lege counseling, especially for youth who are first-generation college-bound stu-
dents. Their parents and/or guardians may be unfamiliar with the complexities
of the U.S. educational system. The cultural capital and social fluency required
to be admitted to, and eventually succeed in, a quality college cannot be under-
estimated.
Alicia certainly demonstrated agency through her efforts in planning her edu-
cational future by, for example, actively seeking supportive institutional struc-
tures. It remains to be seen if the structures and cultural processes at her new
school provide the robust academic challenge and collaborative relationships that
would help her succeed.
M06_NIET7232_07_SE_C06.indd 213 03/11/17 11:44 AM


1. How can you support students who speak “pure Spanish” (or any other language),
even if you don’t speak the language or don’t teach ESL?
2. It is obvious that Alicia’s identity is important to her. Besides the examples she gave of
an art teacher’s support for her identity and another teacher’s Spanish-language ability,
what other ways can you think of to support her pride in her culture?
3. Alicia mentioned that there isn’t much conversation in school about going to college.
What can you do, as a classroom teacher, to encourage these conversations?
Notes for Case Study: Alicia Montejo

1. We appreciate the work of Stephanie Schmidt, an art teacher at Bear Creek High School in Colo-
rado, who interviewed Alicia and helped us with assembling many details for the case study.
2. For more information about the Colorado Small Schools Initiative (CSSI), see www.coloradosmall-
schools.org.
3. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation states on its website (https://www.gatesfoundation.org/
What-We-Do/US-Program/K-12-Education): “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed
to ensuring that all students in the United States have the opportunity to receive a high-quality
education.” The Gates Foundation has made a positive impact in many urban communities, yet
questions remain about the use of private money for funding public schools. For a critique of the
current movement to privately fund school reform, using the “small schools” banner, and a cau-
tionary statement about abandoning the social justice concerns of the early small schools move-
ment, see Fine (2005).
4. To protect the participant’s anonymity, the school documents are not disclosed here.
5. Fass & Cauthen (2008).
6. On the topic of unequal schooling among Latinos, especially Mexican Americans, consult Gándara
& Contreras (2010); see also Nieto et al., Rivera, Cammarota, Canella, García, González, Irizarry,
Moll, Pedraza, Perez, Romo & Valenzuela (2010).
7. Vanneman, Hamilton, Anderson, & Rahman (2009).
8. Fry (2008).
9. For more about “pushouts,” see Yosso (2006) and Solórzano, Ledesma, Pérez, Burciaga, & Ornelas
(2003).
10. Yosso (2006), pp. 2–3.
11. Bode (2005).
12. Bridgeland, Dilulio, & Morison (2006).
13. Yosso (2006).
14. Hildago (2005).
15. Stanton-Salazar (2001).
M06_NIET7232_07_SE_C06.indd 214 03/11/17 11:44 AM

7 Understanding Student
Learning and School
Achievement
A
s improbable as it might sound, the words
in this quote at the bottom of the page are
those of a young man who was suspended
and expelled from school on many occasions. A gang
member with a difficult family life, Paul Chavez had
managed to be accepted into an alternative school,
where he was experiencing academic success for
only the second time in his life. As you will see in his
case study, which concludes this chapter, Paul was
resolute about continuing his education and becom-
ing a teacher or counselor to help young people like
himself. Given his background and experiences,
however, few people would have believed that he
was capable of being a successful student. Conven-
tional theories of academic success or failure do not
explain cases such as Paul’s.
This chapter examines a number of theories
about the complex conditions that may affect school
achievement and then considers how these condi-
tions can collectively influence student learning.
After the discussion of these theories, the case stud-
ies of two students who have not been successful
in school, Paul Chavez and Latrell Elton, are pre-
sented. Both of these young men were written off
by their respective schools and teachers as incapable
of becoming successful students. Their cases demon-
strate that learning can take place even in the most
difficult personal and societal circumstances.
Clockwise from top left: Shaun DeOliveira, In what follows, we review explanations of
Rachel Treannie, Trevor Fahey, Sydney Voss-
Kernan in Amanda Davis’s art class. Hull High
school success or underachievement through five theories and practices that
School. Hull, Massachusetts. 2015. address the following issues: (1) caring relationships, hope and healing; (2) teacher
expectations and asset-based pedagogy; (3) communities addressing out-of-school
factors; (4) discipline disparities and restorative justice; (5) youth identities within
school structures. The chapter concludes by pointing out the need to develop a
comprehensive understanding of student learning and school achievement, rather
than relying on only one theoretical explanation.
"There’s so much to learn and that’s all I want to do is just learn, try to educate my mind to see what I
could get out of it."
—Paul Chavez, interviewee
215
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 215 09/11/17 4:06 PM

Caring Relationships, Hope and Healing

An essential component in promoting student learning is what Nel Noddings has
called the “ethic of care.”1 She postulates that whether and how teachers and
schools care for students can make an immense difference in how students expe-
rience schooling. An example of this is found in Rubén Garza’s investigations of
Latino and White high school students’ perceptions of teacher behaviors that con-
vey caring. He found five dominant themes that described what students appreci-
ated about the strategies their teachers used: Teachers (1) provided scaffolding
during a teaching episode, (2) reflected a kind disposition through their actions,
(3) were always available to students, (4) showed a personal interest in the stu-
dents’ well-being inside and outside the classroom, and (5) provided affective aca-
demic support in the classroom setting. Garza examined both the similarities and
the unique experiences between the two student ethnic groups and suggested ways
that teachers can evaluate their own practices of culturally responsive caring.2
This wide view of care in schools underscores the larger structural conditions
that influence student learning. Care is not a single-dimensioned activity or concept.
Rather, it is the full integration of a range of excellent teaching practices that are
demonstrated and understood by students within the student–teacher relationship.
Many research studies have built upon and extrapolated from Noddings’s ethic of
care, and recent research by Jennifer M. Langer-Osuna and Na’ilah Suad Nasir3
argues that an ethic of care can be expanded to encompass sociopolitical implica-
tions, especially in places where classrooms are led by White teachers in increasing
populations of students of color. Studies across the PK–12 spectrum such as sur-
veys of middle school students’ perceptions of physical education classes,4 students’
sense of belonging in school,5 and the cocreation of caring student–teacher relation-
ships6 consistently highlight the importance of creating a caring learning climate.
In research focused on African American communities in a southeastern
state, Mari Ann Roberts investigated how the ethic of care was practiced among a
group of eight African American teachers of African American students. She posits
a framework of culturally relevant critical teacher care that provides a counter-
narrative to current discussions of teacher care as color-blind actions that try to
help all students or are considered just part of good teaching.7 In another study
by Leticia Rojas and Daniel D. Liou, caring is investigated in segregated schools
through the lens of W. E. B. Du Bois’s concept of sympathetic touch. Their find-
ings redefine sympathy as a teacher’s knowledge and belief in students. Teachers
understood the challenges faced by students in school and in the larger society,
and expressed their caring in a social justice stance on educational opportunity
for their students.8 Hence, care does not just mean giving students hugs or pats
on the back. Care means loving students in the most profound ways: through high
expectations, authentic support, and rigorous demands that address the injustices
students grapple with both in and out of school.
In Angela Valenzuela’s research among Mexican and Mexican American students
in a Texas high school, teachers showed their care through close and affirming relation-
ships with their students, high expectations for students’ capabilities, and respect for
students’ families. This was the case in spite of the general context of the school that
provided what Valenzuela called subtractive schooling, that is, a process that divested
students of the social and cultural resources they brought to their education, making
them vulnerable to academic failure. Valenzuela found the problem of “underachieve-
ment” was not primarily about students’ identities or parents’ economic situation,
but rather about school-based relationships and organizational structures.9 Likewise,
Rosalie Rólon-Dow, in a study of Puerto Rican middle school girls, proposes that what
is needed is critical care that responds to historical understandings of students’ lives
and to the institutional barriers they encounter as members of racialized groups. In
this way, Rólon-Dow examines caring at both the individual and institutional levels.10
For these researchers, care has been shown to be of immense significance.
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 216 09/11/17 4:06 PM

CHAPTER 7 Understanding Student Learning and School Achievement 217
Caring as Hopeful Power to Transform Trauma

The concept and practice of care are evident in a burgeoning field of scholarship that
demonstrates how institutional and individual levels of care are required to address
the trauma and toxic stress that besets many communities struggling with poverty
and families of color. Trauma-informed practices have gained substantial attention in
recent scholarship.11 Shawn Ginwright’s research brings a critical multicultural view
to trauma-informed education by demonstrating that activist educators are shaping
caring practices that support interpersonal and community development while also
addressing societal inequities. He suggests that responding with care and hope to
trauma requires educational leaders to also address its root causes. These injustices
include: high levels of unemployment and ongoing socioeconomic struggles of many
communities; civic neglect that many families endure within oppressive social struc-
tures; and exposure to recurring violence—for some in neighborhoods surrounding
schools, and for others who have escaped civil unrest and war to find a home in
our classrooms. Ginwright’s book Hope and Healing in Urban Education highlights
practices that focus on demonstrating care and support for young people through
healing.12 Using case studies, he demonstrates how we may achieve justice in urban
schools by cultivating hope and simultaneously strengthening civic engagement. He
offers portraits of effective practices that guide young people who were previously dis-
connected to re-engage with community and schooling while cultivating healing and
activism. His work deliberately expands beyond the walls of schools into community
organizations to connect the political, economic, and cultural structures that influence
the lives of youth to intertwine community organizing with health and well-being. In
Ginwright’s study, the teachers/activists focused on healing as a central educational
and political strategy, advancing what he calls “the healing justice framework.”13
The research on hope and healing within trauma-informed practices supports
multicultural perspectives because it addresses the sociopolitical context and root
causes of stress in low-wealth communities. It provides a counterpoint to some of
the popular educational discourse about developing “grit” or “character” in chil-
dren; many of those frameworks ignore the structural conditions of inequity that
influence children’s learning.14
Current scholarship within both PK–12 settings and higher education teacher
preparation programs pinpoints caring relationships as part of a collection of
interconnected qualities that supports achievement for students from marginal-
ized communities. H. Richard Milner IV has made recommendations for teacher
education programs to help preservice teachers develop caring relationships with
their students. As part of his multifaceted call to action for teacher education to
confront poverty and race in schools, Milner proposes that teachers’ caring dispo-
sitions need to be built while simultaneously attending to the content of what they
teach, and how they communicate their expectations of students.15 Likewise, Vic-
tor Rios’s research argues for shifting from a culture of control to culture of care,
while also addressing policy and program implications.16 In a TED Talk, through
his role as professor of sociology, Rios illustrates these points through his own
story about a teacher he encountered as a young man when he was close to giving
up on his own schooling.17 “The reason I am here today is because a teacher that
cared managed to reach out and tap into my soul: Ms. Russ.” He continues:
She was the kinda teacher that was always in your business. She was the kinda
teacher that was like, ’Victor I’m here for you, whenever you’re ready.’ . . . She
understood . . . we are only gonna open up when we are ready. She was cultur-
ally relevant, she respected my community, my people, my family. . . . [W]hat do
teachers like Ms. Russ do to succeed? . . . . [I]nvite the souls of the young people—
believe in young people, provide them the right kind of resources. She believed in
me so much, she tricked me into believing in myself.18
Help for kids the educations system ignores, TED.com
He credits Russ with guiding him to graduate on time with his class, and even-
tually go to college. Rios’s research highlights that educators’ caring relationships
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 217 09/11/17 4:06 PM

with students are an essential component of broader policy and program implica-
tions that contribute to student achievement.19 Frameworks on care that require
teachers to take a positive, proactive approach to their students’ achievement pro-
vide a useful backdrop when examining other hypotheses about causes of academic
success or failure discussed in this chapter. Much of the foregoing research also con-
firms the powerful influence of high teacher expectations and asset-based pedagogy.
Teacher Expectations and Asset-Based Pedagogy

Victor Rios’s story underscores that the research on care, hope, and healing is
interconnected with teacher expectations and asset-based pedagogy. Asset-based
pedagogy rejects deficit perspectives and asserts that differences are not deficien-
cies. Instead, student knowledge, experiences, struggles, achievements, and aspi-
rations add valuable assets to classroom relationships, curriculum content, school
culture, and community activism.20 Rios implores educators to rid themselves of
deficit perspectives; value the stories that young people bring to school and help
them refine those stories with skill; and provide adequate resources for students
to achieve. He argues for educators to change their perceptions of youth from “at
risk” to “at promise” by defining students in terms of what they can contribute,
not by what they lack.21 These strategies require an intersection of the care and
hope described previously with a deliberate focus on teacher expectations and
purposeful asset-based pedagogy that is not viewed as an “add-on,” but is instead
practiced as a full approach to teaching and learning. Teachers’ critical awareness
and knowledge about the deleterious effects of deficit perspectives and research
findings of asset-based practices can help shape their expectations of students.
The case studies of Paul and Latrell, which conclude this chapter, are compel-
ling examples of life in difficult circumstances: Both of these young men lived in
poverty with families headed by single mothers, both had been involved in anti-
social and criminal behavior, and both had had negative school experiences. One
might be tempted to write them off because of these circumstances, but as their
case studies demonstrate, both Paul and Latrell began achieving academic success
in alternative schools. Despite the disparities between their life experiences and
dominant group cultural experiences, Paul and Latrell met success with teachers
who communicated high expectations. Teacher expectations and asset-based per-
spectives must be understood within the power of the cultural capital of dominant
groups, and the onslaught of messages that students receive from mainstream
society about what counts as knowledge.
According to Pierre Bourdieu, cultural capital can exist in three forms: dispo-
sitions of the mind and body; cultural goods, such as pictures, books, and other
material objects; and educational qualifications. Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capi-
tal and of the role of schools in determining what knowledge has the greatest
status postulates that because schools primarily reflect the knowledge and values
of economically and culturally dominant groups in society, they validate and rein-
force the cultural capital that students from those dominant groups already bring
from home. This validation takes place through the overt and covert curriculum
and the school climate. Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital posits that the confir-
mation of the dominant culture’s supremacy results in a symbolic violence against
devalued groups.22 The cultural model held up for all is not within easy reach of
all, and only token numbers of students from less-valued groups can achieve it.
If they learn and take on this cultural capital—abandoning their own culture, lan-
guage, and values—they might succeed in a school setting without an asset-based
approach to student diversity. In this way, although few students from dominated
groups are permitted to succeed, the myth of a meritocracy is maintained. A com-
plete education needs to include both the norms and canon of the dominant cul-
ture and those of the dominated cultures because including culturally relevant
curriculum is a valuable way to challenge a monocultural canon.
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 218 09/11/17 4:06 PM

Bourdieus’s theory of cultural capital is helpful to bear in mind when con-

sidering the research on asset-based pedagogies in teacher education, classroom
curriculum, and policy proposals. As can be seen in a range of studies that address
asset-based approaches in multiple contexts, teachers’ beliefs about students mat-
ter. In a study by Francesca A. Lopez of six schools in southern Arizona where 66
percent of the students identify as Latino, the findings reveal that teachers’ critical
awareness was a requirement for socially just expectancy beliefs. That is, when
teachers believed that the students’ language and culture should be integrated into
the curriculum, students’ ethnic and academic identities were supported. Lopez’s
study makes the case that teachers’ development of critical awareness and asset-
based pedagogies must be addressed in teacher education.23
At the classroom curriculum level, Jeremy Hilburn’s case studies of six high
school civics teachers illustrate how an assets-based approach to curriculum in
classrooms with immigrant and native-born students was enriching for all stu-
dents. He examined the ways that civics teachers leveraged the assets of immigrant
students, with a focus on teachers’ perceptions of individual attainment and cul-
tural maintenance for the immigrant students, and also enhancing civic education
for all students with additive acculturation perspectives (drawing from Gibson and
Valenzuela).24 Hilburn’s study focuses on three areas of enhanced instruction: add-
ing comparative and international perspectives, initiating critical civic discourse,
and challenging native-born students’ assumptions. Describing many positive prac-
tices, he also notes these three areas could be expanded with even more variety of
teaching strategies to include all student voices in a culturally sustaining climate.
Hilburn concludes that more research in this realm of asset-based civics classes
may advance teachers’ understandings about immigrant students as colearners
and coteachers, which would position them to also codetermine civic education.25
Asset-Based Perspectives in Policy and Systemic Change

Patricia Gándara examines the potential and promise of Latino students from a
wide policy level and also provides suggestions for teachers’ classroom practice.
She emphasizes that teachers can nurture the assets that students bring to school,
such as their optimistic perspectives and the persistence they have demonstrated
through life’s challenges, while affirming cultural practices and acknowledging
multilingual skills. These practices can maintain Latino students’ engagement and
provide avenues for their authentic contributions to classroom discourse.26 Like-
wise, in Angela Valenzuela’s edited volume Growing Critically Conscious Teachers,
the heavy influence of teacher expectations is underscored by various scholars
who offer curriculum for expanding Latina/Latino achievement.27
The goal of closing the performance gap for students of color leads many
researchers to re-examine the influence of teacher expectations and to argue for
asset-based practices. In an analysis of research that seeks gap-closing perfor-
mance outcomes, A. Boykin and Pedro Noguera discern a number of practices,
techniques, and approaches that they name as “asset-focused factors,” because
these build on assets that students bring to the classroom.28 They elucidate three
asset-focused factors in school achievement for Black and Latino students: inter-
subjectivty, information processing, and interpersonal relationships. Boykin’s and
Noguera’s description of interpersonal relationships interweaves teacher expecta-
tions with much of the research about teacher care. Drawing from a wide body
of peer-reviewed studies, they explain that teacher–student relationship quality
(TSRQ) encompasses several features, such as teachers displaying empathy, sup-
port, encouragement, optimism and the degree to which students perceive teachers
as fair and genuine. Their study reveals compelling evidence that TSRQ influences
the performance of Black and Latino students, predicting academic achievement,
helping to close the gap, and positively affecting student engagement. In sum-
mary, TSRQ is critical for Black and Latino students. Their study concludes with a
range of recommendations, one of which is to focus on assets.29 Paying attention
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to an asset-focused framework means providing conditions in which students will

flourish when teachers and schools build on the personal, social, cultural, and
intellectual assets they bring with them. The appropriate teaching and learning
activities can help students uncover and expand on those assets.
Nonetheless, the pernicious effects of poverty and other out-of-school factors
that influence student learning can negatively influence teacher expectations and
perspectives on implementing asset-based pedagogy. These challenges are addressed
in the third section of this chapter, on communities addressing out-of-school factors.
Out-of-School Factors
It is important to note that the research on asset-based pedagogy, teacher expec-
tations, caring relationships, and hope does not ignore the out-of-school factors
of inequality and the starkly oppressive societal forces at play in the schooling
of many students. On the contrary, the scholarship cites the necessity to address
multiple factors in and out of school to advance student achievement.
Economic and Social Reproduction and Out-of-School Factors

The argument that schools reproduce the economic and social relations of society
and therefore tend to serve the interests of the dominant classes, articulated first dur-
ing the 1970s by scholars such as Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, and Joel Spring,
placed schools squarely in a political context.30 According to this theory, the role
of the schools was to keep the poor in their place by teaching them the proper atti-
tudes and behaviors for becoming good workers and to keep the dominant classes
in power by teaching their children the skills of management and control that would
presumably prepare them to manage and control the working class. Schools, there-
fore, reproduced the status quo; they not only reflected structural inequalities based
on class, race, and gender but also helped to maintain these inequalities.
Economic and social reproduction theorists maintain that the sorting function of
schools, to use terminology coined by Spring, is apparent in everything from physical
structure to curriculum and instruction.31 The sorting function of the schools results
in an almost perfect replication of the stratification of society. Economic and social
reproduction theories help explain how academic failure and success are not unin-
tended outcomes, but rather are logical results of differentiated schooling. They also
help move the complete burden of failure from students, their families, and commu-
nities to society at large, and they provide a macroanalytic, or societal, understand-
ing of schooling. Social reproduction theories are also incomplete, however, because
they generally fail to take cultural and psychological issues into account.
Communities Respond to Out-of-School Factors

Current research seeks more complex explanations of school failure and success
and sheds light on empowering practices rooted in community self-determination.
For example, Alejandra S. Albarran and Gilberto Q. Conchas provide case studies
of community-based organizations (CBOs) that focus on early childhood education
reform to help parents become educational advocates for their preschool children.
They found that CBOs were key in supporting Latina/Latino parents to expand
involvement in their children’s schooling while reinforcing their strengths and
assets. CBOs help families recognize the social capital within their communities by
building bridges to parent-school engagement through clearly articulated respect
for the parents, and the families’ goals to collaborate in their children’s education.
In collaboration with parents, the CBOs designed events and strategies based on
parents’ stated needs, questions, and inclusionary networking. Activities included
festival-style info-and-book fairs, courses offered across a series of evenings, sup-
port groups for new moms, and workshops. Albarran and Conchas found that
these organizations cultivated advocacy, pride, and empowerment by developing
trusting relationships in the communities. In this way, parents came to recognize
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 220 09/11/17 4:06 PM

the CBOs as sources of social capital that elevate the Latina/Latino parents’ cul-
tural wealth and support their children’s schooling.32
Paul Gorski’s research also argues for eradicating the effects of poverty by collab-
orating with local communities. His research reminds educators that the inequalities
with which youth in poverty contend have nothing to do with their desires to learn
or their intellectual capacities. Framing the work of educational justice on a contin-
uum to address the disparities, he describes one end of the continuum as initiatives
that mitigate inequalities—or provide some relief in the immediate term. For Gorski,
the other end of the continuum holds initiatives to eradicate inequalities by address-
ing the root cause, which is poverty.33 He notes that there needs to be a laser focus
on “acknowledging poverty, rather than poor people and their families and teachers,
as the problem to be resolved.”34 His analysis suggests actions and initiatives that
could be implemented in high poverty schools immediately—practices that are com-
monly found in schools of wealthier students. He also gives examples of steps to be
taken along the continuum that forge relationships among schools, community work-
ers, and parents. His research consistently asserts that when collaborating with local
communities, it is essential to fight for justice alongside them—not in place of them.35
Gorski’s work emphasizes that to truly expand educational access and opportunity
for economically disadvantaged youth and their families, collaborative, intersec-
tional, cross-issue efforts on the part of all people and organizations are required.
Out-of-School Factors (OSFs) and Policy Proposals

Examining social and economic inequities, and their resulting negative educational
consequences, can assist in ascertaining how schools are effective or ineffective
within the broader social picture. David Berliner makes the argument that out-of-
school factors (OSFs) caused by poverty alone place severe limits on what can be
accomplished through educational reform efforts.36 Making the case that schools
in these economically depressed communities face greater challenges than schools
in economically stable communities, Berliner asserts that efforts to improve educa-
tional outcomes are unlikely to succeed unless policies are implemented to address
six OSFs that significantly affect learning opportunities: (1) low birth-weight and
nongenetic prenatal influences on children; (2) inadequate medical, dental, and
vision care; (3) food insecurity; (4) environmental pollutants; (5) family relations
and family stress; and (6) neighborhood characteristics.37
A report from the Economic Policy Institute also proposes long-term invest-
ment in policies that would ameliorate two long-term concerns regarding the
national economy: the rise in income inequality and the sluggishness in economic
productivity. Economic researchers on educational and health interventions as a
way to address these issues emphasize the need for wide-angle sociopolitical per-
spectives in solutions to student achievement. These researchers argue that these
investments should include (but not necessarily be limited to):
• Expanding public funding for home visits by trained nurses to help expectant
parents make healthy choices both before and after childbirth.
• Providing resources necessary to ensure all families can access high-quality
child care with well-trained, professional staff qualified to provide early child-
hood education. High-quality programs will aim to nurture children’s cognitive
and socioemotional development and allow all children to enter their formal
schooling years at comparable levels of preparedness.
• Providing resources to ensure the professionalization of early childhood caregivers
and teachers. This means providing enough resources to attract and retain well-
credentialed staff and to close earnings gaps between early childhood workers
and other workers with similar skills and credentials (including K–12 teachers).38
National policy must be leveraged because, undeniably, many students face a
multitude of difficult problems, and schools as they are currently configured and
organized cannot be expected to solve them all. To address this reality, a task force
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 221 09/11/17 4:06 PM

of educational researchers reconvened in 2016, seven years after they drafted the
policy agenda titled “The Broader, Bolder Approach to Education” (BBA). That
policy report had named poverty as the major root cause of disparities in educa-
tion, and included proposals to develop systems and structures at the policy level.
In 2016, the group revised and expanded its call to policy makers and communi-
ties.39 The task force and its policy statement provide an example of how research,
policy, and communities intersect to improve the schooling and social and eco-
nomic circumstances of young people. Since the BBA was first launched, many
school districts and communities have embraced it as a framework of comprehen-
sive goals, and some case studies can be found on the boldapproach website.40 The
federal grant program Promise Neighborhoods supported several communities’
efforts to take action, yet a great deal more needs to be done to accomplish these
goals.41 To mitigate the impact of poverty on children’s education, BBA posits that
the following three areas of children’s lives must be aligned: (1) out-of school-
experiences; (2) in-school experiences; (3) school community connections.42 Pedro
Noguera, one of BBA’s chairs, consistently argues that because poor children typi-
cally attend schools that are overcrowded, underfunded, and staffed by inexperi-
enced teachers, schools need to be viewed as an integral part of the solutions.43
The conclusions of the research reviewed in this section emphasize the pow-
erlessness of schools working alone to achieve educational equity without con-
comitant massive social reforms. The research also argues that educational reform
efforts that do not take into account the social and economic conditions outside
schools can be only partially successful. Notable success is achieved on local levels
when community organizations and neighborhood coalitions engage with schools
to forge collaborative and self-determined pathways for families and students to
engage in education. Considered in this way, OSFs must be addressed in order to
affect student learning, school structures, and school achievement. Many school
practices can also influence achievement, such as choosing between discipline dis-
parities and restorative justice, a subject addressed below.
What You Can Do

Build Collegial Relationships for Solidarity Rooted in Research
Y ou may have the experience of a colleague saying some-

thing that rings of stereotyping and misinformation, for
example, “Well, you know, Puerto Ricans, as a culture, do not
about, for example, the children’s literature and cultural
resources created by Edwin Fontánez of Exit Studio as terrific
curriculum supplements.* Many teachers learn a great deal of
value education.” As upset as you may be, a full-blown confron- cultural information from the children’s resources they use in
tation will not solve the problem. Let your colleague know that their classrooms. At another time, bring up some educational
you are uncomfortable with such a pronouncement, but that research that helps teachers support the academic achievement
you want to talk more about the issue. Set a time and date for of Puerto Rican students, such as the book Puerto Rican Stu-
a meeting so you can transform your emotional reaction into a dents in U.S. Schools edited by Sonia Nieto.† Also refer to the
research-based educational dialogue. His or her perspective has more recent volume Diaspora Studies in Education, edited by
developed over time and thus will take some time to change. It Rosalie Roón-Dow and Jason Irizarry, that examines the educa-
is also unlikely that any single retort or conversation will change tion of Puerto Ricans through the lens of a wide range of schol-
your colleague’s viewpoint, so start with a small challenge, ars who bring their Puerto Rican perspectives to the research.‡
such as “Oh, I am surprised to hear that point of view. It doesn’t
*See Edwin Fontanez’s Exit Studio website (http://www.exitstudio
match up with the families that I know. Did you read about that
.com/) for books, CDs, and videos about Puerto Rican culture.
somewhere? Because I would like to know more.” †
Nieto, S. (Ed.). (2000). Puerto Rican students in U.S. schools. New
Try to keep your conversations rooted in research and York: Routledge.
experience. For example, at an opportune moment, share some ‡
Rolón-Dow, R., & Irizarry, J. G. (Eds.). (2014). Diaspora studies in
anecdotes about your positive experiences with Puerto Rican education: Toward a framework for understanding the experiences of
families in the school. At another time, share your excitement transnational communities. New York: Peter Lang.
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 222 09/11/17 4:06 PM

Discipline Disparities and Restorative Justice

The out-of-school factors described in the previous section, combined with the
structural inequities of school encountered by many youth of color, can lead to
school resistance, meaning that students who develop a critical consciousness
may end up actively resisting education. Such students are often branded and
punished as loudmouths and troublemakers. Although some drop out—or get
pushed out—others choose to stop participating actively in the “game” of school.
They might still show up, but they may adopt a passive or passive-aggressive
stance. Others end up cutting many of their classes. Students who do continue
coming to class may “dumb down” their own critical responses to the curricu-
lum or to their teachers’ pedagogy because they know instinctively that being
seen as too smart or too much of a leader is potentially dangerous. Teachers,
on the other hand, are often frustrated by apparently disinterested youth who
look bored and disengaged even in honors classes, or who allow themselves to
engage only minimally and only with the more interesting and inventive strate-
gies used by creative teachers. As a result, many capable and critically aware
students are intellectually “on strike,” even though they may be physically pre-
sent in school.44
Resistance, Discipline Disparities, and the

School-to-Prison Pipeline
The lifelong deleterious effects of schools’ responses to resistance can have irre-
versible consequences in these times of hyper-surveillance of youth, resulting
in what has come to be known as the school-to-prison pipeline. Marian Wright
Edelman and the Children’s Defense Fund have thoroughly documented that
young Black men in the United States are incarcerated in the juvenile justice
system at four times the rate of White youth.45 Numerous studies have cor-
roborated those statistics and pointed out how school disciplinary policies
such as “zero tolerance”—that is, a harsh and rigid response to student mis-
behavior—and practices such as suspension and expulsion have contributed
to the astonishing rate at which young people are funnelled from classrooms
into incarceration.46 Researcher Daniel J. Losen, director of the Center for Civil
Rights Remedies (CCRR) at the Civil Rights Project/Projecto Derechos Civiles
(CRP), has built on years of scholarship to advance research and policy reform
on school discipline disparities and what he calls “excessive exclusion.” In a
recent book, he collected the research of lawyers, researchers, and teachers who
examined the atrocities evident in the data and set forth case studies illustrating
effective practices for positive interventions.47 He and his colleagues consist-
ently tie policy to practical application in schools while highlighting racial jus-
tice and disability rights.
Discipline disparities that point to implicit racial bias are well documented.48
This is nowhere more powerfully documented than in Ta-Nehisi Coates’s insight-
ful recounting of his youth, which vividly narrates his encounters, perceptions,
and lived struggles with racial disparities in school and on the streets, bringing
their reality into full focus for many readers outside the realm of educational
research and law.49 Christopher A. Mallet’s scholarship in the field of social work
also sheds light on the historical punitive paradigm and its disproportionate effect
on Black and Latino children from low-income families, and children with dis-
abilities.50 The situation has continued to gain attention over the past two decades,
since 2000, when the Harvard Advancement Project and Civil Rights Project, in
consultation with attorneys, psychiatrists, academicians, educators, and children’s
advocates, published a multidisciplinary review that reported zero tolerance pol-
icies are unfair and contrary to the developmental needs of children and often
result in their criminalization.51
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 223 09/11/17 4:06 PM

In 2016, the American Bar Association published a report on racial and ethnic
justice that made numerous recommendations, including (1) training for educators
on implicit bias; (2) guidelines for schools to reduce referrals to law enforcement
and for the analysis of school codes of conduct to reduce ambiguity that can lead
to racial disparity. They also cite the “Stand Up for Each Other Model” (SUFEO) as
first implemented in Massachusetts and re-applied in New Orleans and Chicago;
they additionally recommend the implementation of restorative justice programs
to reduce exclusionary practices.52
Restorative Justice Practices in Schools

Much of the research literature points to restorative justice practices as an alterna-
tive to punitive and exclusionary discipline policies. (We offered some resources
about this in Chapter 4’s What You Can Do: “Create Inclusive Disciplinary Prac-
tices). Restorative justice is a framework that brings together people who are
harmed with those who have done the harming to restore respectful, peaceful
relationships and build community. This practice is gaining momentum in school
disciplinary practices as an alternative to punitive responses.
While there are many resources that provide training and “how-to” imple-
mentation plans, it is important to note that restorative justice is a philosophi-
cal stance that requires embracing by all staff members within the whole-school
culture, before implementation with students. The shift for some school per-
sonnel from punishing perspectives to proactive restoration will require educa-
tion, dialogue, role-play, and a collegial environment that invites questioning.
One review of research literature on restorative justice practices concurred
with these points. The report found that experts underscored the importance
of viewing the implementation of restorative justice in schools as a process
that can take considerable time, and those responsible for implementing the
restorative justice program need a clear understanding of the current school
climate.53
Fania E. Davis, the executive director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth
provides eight tips, summarized here, for schools to consider in deciding whether
to transform to a school culture embracing restorative justice:
1. Assess need. Ascertain the number of suspensions or expulsions, thus investi-
gating disparity in school discipline practices based on race or disability.
2. Engage the school community. Dialogue with staff, parents, students, and
community members about their perspectives on discipline practices and
outcomes.
3. Hire (or train) a restorative justice coordinator. If possible, it is ideal to bring
a full-time restorative justice coordinator to the school. If that is not possi-
ble, provide training for administrators, deans, and counselors to assume the
related responsibilities.
4. Begin a training plan. Professional development takes time and commitment,
so lay out a plan for a series of training sessions.
5. Schoolwide implementation. Dedicate two days of introductory training before
the school year begins, and follow up with ongoing work with staff and youth
in the school.
6. Institute restorative discipline. Begin to use restorative alternatives for disci-
plinary infractions. Develop a database to document restorative interventions
and outcomes.
7. Involve students in peer restorative practices. Train students to promote and
facilitate circles.
8. Be sure to evaluate. Review and analyze data quarterly. Survey teachers, stu-
dents, and administrators.54
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What You Can Do

Engage in Collaborative Research to Promote Teaching as Intellectual Work
I n addition to building personal, collegial relationships, take

action for building schoolwide awareness among your
peers. Suggest to your principal, department chair, or cur-
findings of their article or chapter section, and what the impli-
cations may be for your particular school community, thereby
co-constructing a wider range of group knowledge.
riculum director that a forthcoming faculty or department Even if this seems like an untenable request of your
meeting be dedicated to reading some educational research administration, ask anyway. How do you know unless you
about student achievement. It is most effective to allow time try? If the first level of administration, let’s say, the principal,
for reading and discussion within the meeting time frame rejects the idea, try another level (department head, grade-
because many teachers may not have time to read in prepa- level chair, team leader, districtwide curriculum director, or
ration for the meeting. This chapter is filled with cross refer- superintendent). If your attempts to organize “sanctioned”
ences to books, chapters, and articles about particular topics. in-school study-group discussions fail, try an after-school
You may choose a single article or a book chapter. For a voluntary group. Whether the study groups are voluntary or
more comprehensive view, such as the one provided by this assigned, be sure you document the time and get profes-
chapter, break the faculty into small groups and assign each sional development points or credits for all participants.
group a short article or portion of a chapter to read. Regroup These strategies may be applied to a range of educational
the whole faculty and ask each group to report on the research topics.
SNAPSHOT
Nini Rostland
Nini Rostland* is a 15-year-old freshman at Avery High School Being of mixed heritage is kind of difficult sometimes
in a midsize college town in the Midwest. She describes herself because it’s hard finding where you fit in. For me, for a while I
as racially and ethnically mixed. Her mother is Black South didn’t really know what kind of people would accept me. Now I
African and her father is Polish American. Her family moved find people who accept me just as I am, not for trying to be like
them. Now I try to hang out with people who are of all different
from South Africa to the United States when she was in kin-
races. I hang out with the Black people, the mixed people, the
dergarten, so most of her education has been in U.S. public
White people, Asian, everything. I don’t like to be classified as
schools. This snapshot of Nini emphasizes that many students
a certain thing. The Black people treat me like I’m one of them.
of mixed heritage negotiate labels, assumptions, and expecta- I find that Black people are more accepting of people in their
tions with friends and teachers in school settings. group. More of the White people are, like, “You’re not rich and
you’re not White, so you can’t be in our group.” Most likely, if
I t kind of makes me mad that they always try to put people into
a certain box. You have to check a box every time you fill out a
form. I don’t fit in a box. Especially these days, more people are
you are mixed with some Black, the group of Black people will
accept you.
Some of my friends would say that you can be attracted
getting more and more racially mixed. I don’t identify myself as to both, that White people can like you, mixed people can like
Black or as White. I usually put “both” or “other,” because I’m not you, and Black people can like you. My closest group of friends,
either; I’m both. there’s a foursome of us, and we all became really close over
My cultural identity is really important to me. It makes me the summer at this camp for people of mixed heritage or of other
mad when people say, “Oh, you are not White.” Well, I know I’m ethnic backgrounds. And over that camp we have become really,
not White. I’m not Black either. People automatically assume that best friends. That was in seventh grade. So for two years now,
I’m not Caucasian, and they are automatically, “You’re Black.” we’ve all been really close. And three of my friends are . . . like
And I’m, like, “Not necessarily.” It makes me mad sometimes. me: mixed with Black and White, and my other friend is African.
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 225 09/11/17 4:06 PM

It’s difficult because you don’t really fit anybody’s expecta- government and that kind of stuff from my dad. From my mom
tion. I think expectations may be holding me back a little bit. I I’ve learned ethnic pride. I’m really proud of my heritage. My
think when people see me, they assume, “Oh, she’s Black.” They mom is South African and she came through a lot just so that
automatically assume, “Oh, she’s not going to achieve well.” That she could be here. I know a lot of history about what happened
is kind of holding me back because it’s sort of like a psychologi- in South Africa and what my mom and my brother both lived
cal thing where you think, “Well, if that’s what people expect you through. They’ve told stories about what happened to them and
to achieve,” then you kind of think, “Oh, I might achieve that.” I’m stuff like that. But my parents don’t really know what it’s like to
trying to turn that around, and be, like, “Well I can achieve any- be of mixed heritage.
thing I want to.”
I think school in some ways is kind of like mainstreaming.
Commentary
It’s what we are all forced into doing when we’re young: You
have to go to school, you have to get an education, you have to Racial, ethnic, and cultural identities are constantly under
go to college so you can get a good job. But really, I think if you construction, and adolescence is an especially vulnerable time
look back at history, the people who went out of the way of the for this formation. Messages from peers, family, popular cul-
expectations of society, they were the ones who went on to be ture, and school strongly influence a young person’s perspec-
really great. I understand that there is a good reason why I should tives on his or her cultural heritages, identities, and school
go to school because I don’t want to be working at McDonald’s engagement. In spite of the challenges presented by mixed her-
my entire life. But I also think that it’s important that I be able to itage, Nini appears to possess a strong sense of identity and
explore other things.
an appreciation for her background. Her parents provide her
School’s really not that challenging to me. One of the
with familial, historical, and cultural knowledge, and she has
classes that I actually learn something in and enjoy is art class
because I am learning a lot of new techniques. But most of my formed powerful bonds, through a summer camp experience,
other classes are just memorization, and I’m really not learn- with a small group of peers with similar roots. Simultaneously,
ing anything from it. I have found very few teachers who actu- she struggles with feelings of acceptance within certain groups
ally teach classes in an interesting way that makes me really and the threat of negative anticipations. The tensions she expe-
want to work. But when I see all the stuff that my mom did, riences around racial identity extend beyond peer groups and
it makes me feel like my mom went through a lot harder stuff are felt in teacher expectations, too. Can schools offer the level
than I have ever went through, so I should try my hardest at of affirmation that the summer camp provided while simul-
what I’m doing right now. One way that I think school is really taneously creating a robust academic atmosphere? Can we
important is through my mom. Because I have seen that to get develop learning communities that help students and teachers
to where she came from, she had to put in a lot of effort and
cross racial boundaries to cultivate more full individual selves
go through a lot of high-level schooling just so that she could
within deeply connected communities? If, as Nini says, “[t]hese
come to the U.S.
Both of my parents taught me about each of their heritages. days, more people are getting more and more racially mixed,”
I can just identify with that because that’s me. I learned about what are the implications for developing learning communities
my dad’s Polish background because his parents are Polish and that affirm multiple histories and multiple forms of cultural
they make a lot of Polish dishes. We even went to a traditional knowledge?
Polish dinner where they made Polish meals and stuff like that.
My dad has told me about some of the traditions they had when *We appreciate the work of Dr. Carlie Tartakov, who interviewed Nini and
he was younger. Also, from my dad I’ve learned about social provided background information for the snapshot, and that of John Rai-
issues and what’s going on in the world. I learn so much about ble, who helped transcribe the interview.
While the empirical research is conclusive that Black and Latino children,
especially boys, are suspended and expelled at a much higher rate than their
White peers, the research on whether or not restorative practices prevent suspen-
sions and expulsions—or which specific actions are linked to prevention—is less
clear in the empirical literature.55 However, it is startlingly obvious that shifting
the school culture from punitive perspectives to practices that enhance trust, com-
munity building, emotional well-being, physical safety, and civic responsibility
makes sense and supports the multicultural goals of this book for student learning.
Decisions about discipline practices can have enduring effects on student identi-
ties, which is the fifth and final theme of this chapter.
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 226 09/11/17 4:06 PM

About Terminology
Mixed Race/Multiracial/Multicultural/Multiethnic
M any young people and their families are refusing to accept
rigid categorizations based on one culture, race, or other
kind of social grouping. The hybridity that we discussed in this
American father. Elsewhere in this book, we have featured other
students who illustrate the porous boundaries of racial labels
and identify as racially mixed. Linda Howard describes herself
chapter is a growing phenomenon in the United States and, as biracial, naming her parents as “Black and White Ameri-
indeed, around the globe. The great increase in the number of can.” Also, Yahaira León identifies as “half and half,” referring
mixed-race, bi-ethnic, multi-ethnic, biracial, and multiracial peo- to her Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage. She points out
ple, and their insistence on identifying as such, is a reminder that how important it is to recognize both portions of her ancestry.
words cannot totally describe the multifaceted identities of human Liane Chang calls herself Eurasian, and Jasper Quinn describes
beings. Of the 2010 estimated U.S. population of 308,745,538, his combined Native American ancestry as “Paiute, Swinom-
approximately 1.7 percent reported two or more races in their ish, [and] Visayan.” Yet the 2000 U.S. Census was the first one
responses to the U.S. Census. in history where individuals were instructed to “mark one or
While racial, ethnic, and cultural groups have been inter- more boxes” when identifying their racial heritage, though laws
mingling throughout history, in the recent past, it was common against interracial marriage were struck down back in 1967.
to hear biracial and multiracial labels applied only to individuals While teachers should always take cues from their students
of African American and European American heritage, and often on what language is most descriptive and precise to describe
those labels were demeaning and oppressive. Institutionalized rac- the students’ identity, it is especially critical that teachers listen
ism and the social stratification of race embodied in the one-drop carefully to students of mixed heritage. Many multiracial stu-
rule dictated that individuals with any African ancestry be catego- dents and their families have been discouraged from embrac-
rized as Black. Now, as a result of the civil rights movement and ing their multiple heritages or, at worst, have been made to
subsequent legislation, it is much more common for students and feel ashamed. Acknowledging students’ multiple backgrounds
families to proudly claim their multiple ancestries. In the snapshot allows students to be more fully themselves and to be affirmed
about Nini Rostland, she refers to herself as “racially and ethni- in their totality. Choosing terminology that students and their
cally mixed,” with her Black South African mother and her Polish families claim is a step in affirming their entire identity.
Student Identities Within School Structures

In this section, we address student identities within school contexts, against the
backdrop of the research we have already reviewed in this chapter.
The disciplinary disparities described in the previous section prompt calls for
transformative action when attending to student identities within schools, espe-
cially with regard to disciplinary procedures. However, it is important to first ask
what causes students to resist education and otherwise engage in behaviors that
might ultimately jeopardize their chances of learning, or increase their chances of
involvement with school disciplinary procedures and sometimes the legal system?
There is no simple answer to this question, but one element that contributes to
the constellation of reasons is a school climate that rejects students’ identities and
fails to engage them in meaningful work. This is nowhere more evident than in
the case studies that appear at the end of this chapter. Both Paul and Latrell are
eloquent in describing how their backgrounds were not reflected in their school
structures and curriculum. Latrell, especially, had perceived few positive messages
in his school experience.
This is echoed in Victor Rios’s poignant descriptions of the criminalization
from a young age of Black and Latino boys, which fuels his call for building a
“Youth Support Complex” as a counter-narrative to the prison industrial com-
plex.56 His analysis exposes the means through which boys of color are labeled
and marked by the criminal justice system for even minor school infractions.
The labeling process contorts youth identities and strips away self-determination.
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Rios’s conclusions point to the need for youth to understand the sociopolitical
bias within the system in order to resist it and avoid its entanglement. Similar
conclusions are asserted by Jason G. Irizarry and John Raible, who argue that
youth may benefit from explicit teaching to develop understandings of the prison
industrial complex, analysis of implicit bias, and rejection of the conflation of race
and criminality.57 These straightforward teachings about the hierarchies and privi-
leges embedded in school identities help students cultivate critical consciousness
and analysis of systemic racism and other forms of oppression, which in turn may
affirm their identities.
An example of affirming identity that boosts academic achievement is illus-
trated in a case study of successful school engagement for Black and Latino
boys through an out-of-school time program. Researchers Irene I. Vega, Leticia
Oseguera, and Gilberto Q. Conchas found that this program maintains school
involvement, academic performance, and a heightened sense of belonging among
students with a wide range of student profiles—some low-achieving and some
high-achieving—through what they call “a discourse of brotherhood.”58 Spe-
cifically, the Palmview Male Cooperative Program promotes peer bonding and
builds attachment to the larger school community because the notion of brother-
hood implies a relationship beyond an organizational structure. It implies “fam-
ily, intimacy, integration, unconditional support, and other powerful sentiments
that when internalized by students, transform their academic trajectory into a
collective struggle.”59 In this way, the program disrupted the process of school
dropout among the most disengaged of students, while simultaneously main-
taining engagement among the high-achieving boys of color, through strategies
wrapped in the discourse of brotherhood, such as race-conscious recruitment and
a peer-run structure. Their study holds implications for how educators can think
about school engagement, student identity, peer mentoring, and out-of-school time
to influence in-school performance.
Racial Opportunity Cost and a Re-Examination of “Acting White”

School engagement, identity, and academic success have also been investigated
by Terah T. Venzant Chambers and Kristin Shawn Huggins in their study of racial
opportunity cost, the price that students of color pay in their pursuit of academic
success.60 Based on interviews with high-achieving students who identify as Afri-
can American and Latina/Latino, their study reveals five interrelated school fac-
tors that both alleviated and exacerbated students’ racial opportunity cost, with
a specific focus on school culture and the ways school leaders may influence it.
The students described the White-normed, racialized cultures of their high schools
and how school culture shaped their experiences as they negotiated the dominant
norms of their school days. The research findings point to the critical influence of
school culture and emphasize the importance of school leaders in creating sup-
portive, whole-school cultures to foster school engagement and academic achieve-
ment for all students.61
This research by Chambers and Huggins expands outward from the now
classic ethnographic studies by Signithia Fordham, in which she examined the
dynamic dubbed as “acting White” for some students of color,62 which built on
her research in the 1980s with John Ogbu.63 It has been more than three decades
since Fordham’s ethnography chronicled the struggle of African American students
to navigate identity construction among peers and families within competing mes-
sages about what counts as knowledge in school. In the ensuing years, Fordham
clarified her research because she argues that her work and the notion of “acting
White” have undergone widespread distortion, often misunderstood through over-
simplification. She highlights the role of ethnography and qualitative research here
as a means to examine patterns of human behavior, rather than numerical data.64
She reminds educators that her anthropological study of academically successful
students at overwhelmingly Black “Capital High” found that “all Black students
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were alienated by the mismatch between the culture of their community and that
of the school.”65
Fordham explains that this contextualizes what she understood most of the
students at Capital High to be suggesting in their statements about what it meant
to “act White.” According to her, they experienced schooling in “a racialized, capi-
talist system,” compelling us, ultimately, to consider whether performing White-
ness or Blackness fuels the strangeness of “acting White.”66
More recent ethnographic studies take a sociological view of the ways in
which culture and identity are understood and enacted by urban students. Pru-
dence Carter cautions against creating master narratives that try to speak about
all members of cultural groups as if each student in these groups had identical
experiences and perspectives.67 For instance, she points out that recent research
has shown that African Americans subscribe to the basic values of education as
much as Whites do, or in some cases, even more so. Nearly all of the participants
in Carter’s study agreed that education is the key to success. They believe in the
so-called American dream that education may bring good jobs, home and car own-
ership, and intact families. After interviewing 68 youth from low-income commu-
nities who identified as African American or Latina/Latino, Carter challenged the
framework of oppositional culture as previously described by Ogbu and Fordham.
She paid close attention to the ways in which culture was discussed and how it
influenced student engagement and achievement:
Students use culture as a vehicle to signal many things, ranging from the sty-
listic to the political. The oppositional culture framework, however, ignores the
full spectrum of why and how culture becomes a social and political response
to schooling by discounting the positive values and functions of these students’
culture.68
Carter highlights the positive cultural assertions of youth that contribute to

their success, and she argues that their ethno-racial cultures are not adaptations
to the limits created by a dominant culture. Instead, she maintains that focusing
on a student’s culture as a maladaptive response to social marginalization ignores
the roles and values of nondominant cultural practices in the lives of these youth.
Nurturing, mentoring relationships within schools are significant for students’
development of multiple forms of social capital that may contribute to educa-
tional success. As such, Gilberto Q. Conchas suggests that concentrated efforts are
needed to reduce ethnic segregation and equalize the access that all students have
to mentoring and encouragement. He also points to structural models that sup-
port sociocultural processes that can develop a high-achieving academic culture of
success, citing the benefits of smaller, intimate school-within-a-school structures
and small learning communities. His findings note that school structures directly
contribute to differing patterns of school adaptation within and between racial
groups.69 Some institutional arrangements are much better at creating a supportive
cross-ethnic community of learners, while the sense of exclusion and competition
in other programs contributes to racial tensions in schools.
In another study, Langer-Osuna and Nasir investigated the themes of dehu-
manization and rehumaninzation in an extensive review of research on stu-
dent race, culture, and identity. They point out that as the notion of identity has
been more thoroughly investigated, the scholarly and social understandings of
identity have noted it as a dynamic, shifting concept, rather than a fixed trait.
Langer-Osuna and Nasir emphasize it is crucial to include discourses of power
that heighten critical perspectives to transform school structures and student–
educator relationships. As educational research moves forward, it is essential to
ask how schools—as sites of identity work—can promote healthy development
and academic achievement for all students despite social stratifications in society.
Examining and developing new policies and practices at the levels of states, dis-
tricts, schools, and classrooms that foreground theories of learning and identity
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 229 09/11/17 4:06 PM

development can guide classroom practice. Well-researched theories of curriculum

and learning can inform innovative curriculum that develops both academic and
racial/cultural identities simultaneously.70
Student identity matters. It matters because it is shaped and shifted through
both exterior forces and internal messages. Educators need to pay critical attention
to the ways in which students choose to display—or hide—their developing identi-
ties in order to support all students in cultivating academic identities that are more
fully human and expressive of who they really are.
Conclusion
No simple explanation accounts for student achievement or failure. As we have
seen in this chapter, all the theories reviewed here provide analyses that can help
educators understand, and respond to, all students in ways that enhance their iden-
tities and their learning.
The significance of caring relationships hope and healing and among stu-
dents and their teachers has taken on great significance in the recent past.
Awareness of the tremendous difference that teachers and school structures
can make in the lives and futures of young people is growing. Through their
expectations with asset-based pedagogies, teachers can affirm students’ identi-
ties, believe in their intelligence, and accept nothing less than the best, which
has proven to be inspirational for young people, even if they live in otherwise
difficult circumstances. With the support of policymakers, community efforts
can work toward mitigating the effects of poverty and other out-of school fac-
tors. These perspectives underscore the need for structural changes in schools
to take a comprehensive view of the multiple policies and practices described
here. For example, we know that restorative justice (or discipline disparities)
deeply influences youth identities. It is evident that out-of-school factors also
impact teacher expectations and their commitment to practice asset-based peda-
gogies. We know that perspectives of caring and healing span across all these
practices. These theories are deeply intertwined in the messiness of everyday
life in schools, and must be engaged within the socipolitical context of students’
multifaceted and complex identities.
It is clear that no single explanation of academic achievement is sufficient to
explain why some students succeed in school and others fail. Rather, we need to
understand school achievement as a combination of personal, cultural, familial,
political, relational, and societal issues, and this requires an understanding of the
sociopolitical context in which education takes place.
To Think About
1. Think about a teacher in your school who demonstrates caring relationships that culti-
vate hope and healing. What are the specific actions that the teacher takes to establish
this stance of caring?
2. Think about a student in your classrooms who might be contending with challenging
out-of-school factors. Do you know whether this student’s family has gained access to
community supports? Have you spoken with the professionals in your school, such as
school nurses, guidance counselors, and social workers, who may be able to help lever-
age resources? How can you share your concerns in ways that are respectful, maintain
confidence, and help circle resources around this family?
3. You and a group of your colleagues need to determine why a particular student has been
doing poorly in your classes. Can you name some assets this student brings to the class-
room? How can you try out some asset-based pedagogies in your classrooms? How might
that shift your expectations and that of your colleagues?
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1. If you teach in an elementary school, plan a visit to the homes of your students to
get to know their families. Use the occasion to find out about the children: what
they like and what motivates them to learn. Ask the families about some of the
culturally enriching activities they are engaged in within their communities. If you
teach in a middle or high school class in which you have many students, thus mak-
ing home visits difficult, ask students to describe some of the activities they do
with their families. How can you use what you’ve learned to create a more cultur-
ally affirming classroom?
2. Think about a teacher who has made a difference in your life. Try to get in touch with
her or him. Tell that person how she or he influenced you, and ask for advice on how
you can have the same impact on your students. How can you apply what you have
learned from this activity to your own teaching?
3. Get together with a group of colleagues to discuss how to cultivate asset-based
approaches to teaching students in your school. What qualities of language, family
knowledge, regional conditions, national differences do students bring to your school
that might help you work toward curriculum change? Decide on a plan of action for
your classrooms to assist one another to build more asset-based pedagogies into your
lessons and unit plans.
Notes
1. Noddings (2013). See also Noddings & Brooks (2017). 31. Spring (1989).
2. Garza (2009). 32. Albarran & Conchas (2016).
3. Langer-Osuna & Nasir (2016). 33. Gorski (2014), p. 137.
4. Zhao & Li (2016). 34. Ibid., p. 137
5. Ellerbrock, Kiefer, & Alley (2014). 35. Ibid., p. 139.
6. Cooper & Miness (2014). 36. Berliner (2009).
7. Roberts (2010). 37. Ibid., p. 1.
8. Rojas & Liou (2017). 38. Bivens, García, Gould, Weiss, & Wilson (2016).
9. Valenzuela (1999, 2004). 39. Ladd, Noguera, Reville, & Starr (2016); Ladd, Noguera, & Payzant
10. Rólon-Dow (2005). (2017).
11. Chafouleas, Johnson, Overstreet, & Santos (2016); Sly (2016); 40. http://www.boldapproach.org/, accessed 2017.
Walkley & Cox (2013). 41. To learn more about Promise Neighborhood grants awarded by
12. Ginwright (2016). the U.S. Department of Education, see https://ed.gov/programs/
13. Ibid., p. 29. promiseneighborhoods/index.html.
14. For “grit,” see Duckworth (2016); for “character,” see Tough (2012). 42. To access the case studies, go to http://www.boldapproach.org/
15. Milner (2015). topics/.
16. Rios (2017). 43. Noguera (2004).
17. TED (2015). 44. For these insights, we are grateful to Dr. John Raible of the Univer-
18. Ibid. sity of Nebraska-Lincoln.
19. Rios (2017). 45. Newell & Leap (2013). See also Edelman (2007).
20. Campos, Delgado, & Huerta (2011). 46. See Bahena, Cooc, Currie-Rubin, Kuttner, & Ng (2012). Also go to
21. Rios (2011, 2017); TED (2015). the Advancement Project’s website for information on its “Ending
22. Bourdieu (1986), p. 246. See also Bourdieu & Passeron (1977). the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track” program (http://safequality-
To learn how Bourdieu’s work continues to influence current schools.org/, accessed 05-17-2017.
research, see Roberts (2009). 47. Losen (2015). See also Skiba, Mediratta, & Rausch (2016); Losen
23. Lopez (2017). & Martinez (2013); Losen (2011). Consult Wald & Losen (2003)
24. For early research on additive acculturation, see Gibson (1997). |for earlier research that provides the framework for the school-
For subtractive schooling, see Valenzuela (2005). to-prison pipeline data and policy proposals.
25. Hilburn (2015). 48. Ford (2016).
26. Gándara (2017). 49. Coates (2015).
27. Valenzuela (2016). 50. Mallet (2016a, 2016b).
28. Boykin & Noguera (2011). 51. Advancement Project and Civil Rights Project of Harvard Univer-
29. Ibid. sity (2000)(http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/disci-
30. Bowles & Gintis (1976); Spring (1989). pline/opport_suspended.php).
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 231 09/11/17 4:06 PM

52. Redfield & Nance (2016). 62. Fordham (1996).

53. Fronius, Persson, Guckenburg, Hurley, & Petrosino (2016). 63. Fordham & Ogbu (1986)
54. Davis (2014), accessed 2017. 64. Fordham (2008).
55. Lacoe & Steinberg (2017). 65. Ibid., p. 223.
56. Rios (2011). 66. Ibid., p. 224.
57. Irizarry & Raible (2014). 67. Carter (2005), p. 8.
58. Vega, Oseguera, & Conchas (2016), p. 55. 68. Ibid.
59. Ibid., p. 71. 69. Conchas (2006).
60. Chambers & Huggins (2014). 70. Langer-Osuna & Nasir (2016).
61. Ibid.
Case Studies
S
peaking in an earnest and intense tone, Paul Chavez1 thought
Paul Chavez carefully before sharing his thoughts about the importance
I don’t want to speak too soon, but I’m pretty of school, the “hood,” and his family. Paul was 16 years old
at the time of his interview, and he had already lived a lifetime full
much on a good road here.
of gang activity, drugs, and disappointment. The signs were evi-
dent, from his style of dress to the “tag” (tattoo) on his arm, to his
reminiscence of “homeboys” who had been killed. Describing himself as Chicano
and Mexican American, Paul was the third generation in his family to be born in
Los Angeles. He did not speak Spanish but said that both his mother and grand-
mother did, even though they, too, were born and raised here.
Paul lived with his mother, two brothers, and two sisters. Another brother, 21,
was not living at home. His mother was trying to obtain her high school equiva-
lency diploma; she had failed the test once but was studying hard to pass it the
next time. She and Paul’s father had been separated for about four years, and Paul
described the entire family as “Christian.” His mother was a church leader, and
his brother was a Bible study leader. Even his father, a recovering alcoholic, who
had lived on the streets for years and spent time in prison, was living in what Paul
called a “Christian home,” probably a halfway house.
The one-family homes in Paul’s East Los Angeles neighborhood mask the
poverty and despair that are easier to see in other economically depressed neigh-
borhoods, with their high-rise tenements and projects. Here, the mostly Latino
families struggle to maintain a sense of community in the well-kept homes on
small lots. However, signs of gang activity are apparent in the tags on buildings
and walls. Paul said that an outsider suspected of belonging to another gang was
likely to get jumped merely for walking down the street.
School problems began for Paul when he was in third or fourth grade, and
he had been suspended on numerous occasions for poor behavior. The problem
was not lack of ability (his teachers always felt that he was smart), but rather lack
of interest. He was more interested in belonging to a “school gang,” a group of
young boys looking for boys in other classes to fight. In spite of the lure of gangs,
he remembered fifth grade as the best year he had experienced in school, and he
attributed this to Ms. Nelson, the most caring teacher he had until he went to his
current school. Paul already wore gang-affiliated attire, and he had a reputation as
a troublemaker, but she did not let this get in the way of her high expectations of
him. It was in her class that he became interested in history, and he recalled being
fascinated by the American Revolution.
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By the time Paul began junior high school, peer pressure, family problems,
and street violence brought the situation to a head. Seventh and eighth grades
were his worst years. He was expelled in eighth grade, and he was told by school
authorities to attend an alternative school in another district. But he refused to go
and instead stayed home for six months. By ninth grade, he was heavily involved
in gang activity, joining the 18th Street Gang, a gang with thousands of members
not only in Los Angeles but also in other cities and even in other states. Thirteen
of his cousins were or had been in the same gang, as was his older brother, so the
role of gang as “family” was even more relevant in his case. An uncle and a cousin
had both been killed as a result of their gang activity.
Encouraged by his mother, Paul tried to enroll in another program but was
again expelled after a few months. Then he heard about and applied to the
Escuela de Dignidad y Orgullo (School of Dignity and Pride), a high school for
students who had dropped out of other schools. With a large Chicano popula-
tion, the school was characterized by a multicultural curriculum with a focus on
Chicano history, and it relied on student and staff involvement in its day-to-day
operations. All talk of gangs was discouraged, and the staff tried hard to create
a different kind of community, one not affiliated with gang culture. The staff
included counselors, a psychologist, a probation officer, and several teachers.
Paul had not been formally arrested, but because of his previous problems, he
agreed to a voluntary placement with the probation officer, just to “keep me on
the right road,” he said.
The new road Paul had taken was far from easy for him, however. He had
also been expelled from Escuela de Dignidad y Orgullo, and it was only after trying
another program and then spending several months on the street that he had real-
ized he wanted to return. All of his friends had quit school, and he feared ending
up like them. He had been accepted at Escuela once again and had done well since
returning two years before. At the time he was interviewed, Paul was spending
most of his time at school, doing homework every day when he got home, and
working after school at the local city hall, a job that the school had found for him.
Paul described Escuela as different from any other he had attended because all of
the staff members cared about and encouraged the students and because Chicano
culture and history were central to the curriculum, making it a more exciting place
to learn.
Paul’s philosophy at this point was to take life one day at a time because the
lure of gang life was still present. He had not yet quit the gang, and it was obvious
that he was at a crossroads in his life. The next several months might determine
which direction his life would take: either an escalating life of crime on the streets
or a promising future of education and work.
Paul’s case study highlights two goals he had had for a long time: to be
respected and to make something of himself, two goals that are frequently at odds.
Another theme is his determination to “make it better,” and the third is the impor-
tance of family support.
“Everybody’s Gotta Get Respect”

I grew up ditching school, just getting in trouble, trying to make a dollar, that’s
it, you know? Just go to school, steal from the store, and go sell candies at
school. And that’s what I was doing in the third or fourth grade. I was always
getting in the principal’s office, suspended, kicked out, everything, starting from
the third grade.
My fifth-grade teacher, Ms. Nelson, she put me in a play and that, like, tripped
me out. Like, why do you want me in a play? Me, I’m just a mess-up. Still, you
know, she put me in a play. And in fifth grade, I think that was the best year out
of the whole six years [of elementary school]. I learned a lot about the Revolution-
ary War, you know? The fifth grade was a grade I’ll always remember. Had good
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friends. We had a project we were involved in. Ms. Nelson was a good teacher.
She just involved everyone. We made books, this and that. And I used to like to
write, and I wrote two, three books. She did pretty nice things. She got real deep
into you, just, you know, “Come on, you can do it.” That was a good year for me,
the fifth grade.
My most troubled years [were] my junior high years. Seventh grade, first
day of school, I met this guy and then, from there, we started to form. And every
junior high, you’re gonna have a group, okay? You’re gonna have a group that
you hang around with. And it got to we just started always starting trouble in
classes. Whatever period we had, we just started trouble in. And me, I have a
great sense of humor, right? I can make people laugh a lot. So then I was always
getting kicked out of the classroom. And so what that got me was kind of, I
guess popular, right? Where girls were always around me. I had a big group. But
I was always the one clowning, getting in trouble. So it kind of like set a path for
me where I was, like, all right, so I clown and get popularity. All right, I under-
stand now the program.
I [wasn’t] in a gang, but I was dressing pretty . . . still gang affiliated. And
so people looked like, “Well, where you from?” “I ain’t from nowhere.” And that
kind of like got me to want to be from somewhere so I could tell ’em, “Well, I’m
from here. . . .” Those were the years in seventh grade, and I was fighting with
eighth graders. I’d be in a dance, a little Oriental kid would come up to me and she
goes, “I know you, you’re Paul,” this and that. They would know me. It made me
feel good.
Being in a gang, you think about who you’re retaliating, you know, just
another Chicano brother. And that’s kind of deep. Well, why you’re gonna be
from a neighborhood [gang], have pride, this and that, and take out your own
Raza,2 you know? So that kind of always caught me in my mind. You see a lot of
your own people just going down because of your neighborhood. And it’s a trip.
And you got a lot of homeboys that come out from the system, the jails, and it’s
real segregated in there, you know, the Blacks and Chicanos. And they even got
the border brothers, the ones from Mexico who don’t speak no English. They’re
even separated from the Chicanos, the Sureños, that’s right from South L.A. Okay,
they’re paranoid in there, and everybody is, like, “What’s up with the Blacks? It’s
on, it’s on. We’re gonna have a war.” And everybody, then they turn little things
into big things. So it’s really just a race war going on in the inside, and they bring
it out to us.
It has a great hold on you, and it’s, like, I talk to my cousin. He’s still into it
real deep. I’m not really. Don’t get me wrong: I’m from the neighborhood, but I’m
not really deep into it. You know what I mean? But it’s, like, I talk to ’em. “Yeah,
we were with the homeboys on the Eastside, blah, blah, blah, this and that,” and
I’ll be like, “Damn,” and I think, “I wish I was there getting off on drinking and
shit.”
I had a cousin, he was 16 when he passed away. He was my cousin . . . family
. . . from [the] 18th Street [gang], too. And what happened, see, he passed away
and that’s another tragedy. It’s just, you see so much. I’m 16, and I see so much.
First his dad passed away and then my cousin . . . my uncle and my cousin. And
you think, “Man, all this because of a gang!” And there’s times when you just sit
and you think, you sit and you think, and you say, “Why? Why? Why? What is
this?” But you don’t know why, but you have it so much inside of you. It’s hard;
it’s not easy to get rid of. I don’t want to get rid of it, but you just got to try to
focus on other things right now. I’m from a gang and that’s it, and just ’cause I’m
from a gang doesn’t mean I can’t make myself better.
But me, I do care. I have a life, and I want to keep it. I don’t want to lose it.
I have two little sisters, and I want to see them grow up, too, and I want to have
my own family. So, I got the tag. I got a big 18 on my arm where everybody could
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 234 09/11/17 4:06 PM

see it, and that’s the way I was about a year ago. You know, man, if you would be
talking a year ago I’d be, like, “I’m from the neighborhood.” I’d be talking to you
in slang street, all crazy, you know? Now I’m more intelligent.
I try not to get influenced too much . . . pulled into what I don’t want to be
into. But mostly, it’s hard. You don’t want people to be saying you’re stupid.
“Why do you want to go to school and get a job?” I was talking to my homeboy
the other day, so [he said] “[S]chool? Drop out, like. . . .” “Like, all right, that’s
pretty good. Thanks for your encouragement” [laughs]. See, they trip like that, but
they just mess around. That’s just a joke, but it’s, like, you just think about things
like that. I guess your peers, they try to pull you down and then you just got to be
strong enough to try to pull away.
I got to think about myself and get what I got to get going on. Get something
going on, or else nobody else is going to do it. It’s where you’re starting to think
a little different. You sort of know what’s happening. All they’re thinking about is
partying. Nothing wrong with it, but I got to try to better myself.
Making It Better
I guess in a lot of ways, I am [successful] . . . a lot of things I’m trying to achieve.
Starting something, already you’re successful, you know? But finishing it, it’s
gonna make you more complete . . . successful and complete. Got to have your
priorities straight. Get what you got to get done, and get it done, and just be happy
when you’re doing something.
I came to this school, and it was deep here. They got down into a lot of stud-
ies that I liked, and there was a lot going on here. But see, I was me, I was just a
clown. I always liked to mess around, so they gave me chance after chance. I took
it for granted, and they kicked me out. They booted me out, right? So I went back
to that other school and it was like, “This thing is boring. Nothing going on.” And
so I called over here and I go, “I need another chance to get back into school.” So
they gave me another chance and that’s why I’m here right now, ’cause they gave
me a chance.
They get more into deeper Latino history here, and that’s what I like. A lot of
other, how you say, background, ethnic background. We had even Martin Luther
King. We had Cesar Chavez. We had a lot of things. I never used to think about
[being Chicano] before. Now I do . . . being Brown and just how our race is just
going out. You know, you don’t want to see your race go out like that.
[Mexican American], it’s what you make it, you know? Let’s say I’m Chicano
and I dress like a gang member. They’re gonna look at you like one of those crazy
kids, you know, Mexican kid, Chicano kid. But if you present yourself nice or
whatever, it really depends how your outer appears. Like, people say it’s just from
the inside, but it’s really what’s on the outside . . . how you look on the outside,
like tattoos and that. So it’s, like, I get discriminated because of a lot of things, and
I can’t really pinpoint it. So it’s, like, I don’t really know if it’s ’cause I’m Brown or
if it’s ’cause of my gang tattoo, so I can’t really pinpoint. But for me, as far as me
being Chicano, it’s prideful, it’s pride of your race, of what you are.
[Chicano young people] have some pretty trippy insights of life. It’s like they
know how to talk to people, and they know how to give presentations, you know
what I mean? Like what we’re doing right now [referring to the interview]. A lot of
the things they say is pretty deep.
[In this school], they just leave the killings out and talk about how you
can make it better, you know what I’m saying? Try to be more of the positive
side of being a Brown person, that’s what I’m talking about. A lot of the other
alternative schools you can’t go because of your gang. It’s all gang affiliated.
Every single alternative school is gang affiliated. This is the only one where it’s
all neutral.
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[To make school better I would] talk about more interesting things, more
things like what I would like, students would like. And I would just get more
involved . . . get more people involved. Get things going, not just let them vegetate
on a desk and “Here’s a paper,” . . . teach ’em a lesson and expect them to do it.
You know, get all involved.
Put some music in the school. I mean, put some music and get some like draw-
ings. Get a better surrounding so you feel more like the ’hood, you could learn
more, you’ll feel more comfortable. This [school] is pretty good, but if you had
somebody kicking it, put like a character on the wall or something . . . yeah, like
a mural or something, it would be more like a more comfortable setting to work.
Try to find out what we think is important. Try to do the best you can to try
to get it. The kids want it, they’re gonna use it. If they don’t want it, they’re not.
I remember the Diary of Anne Frank. I was pretty deep into the Nazis and Jews,
and so that was pretty cool.
I think [multicultural education] is important because that goes back to seg-
regating. You got to get to know everybody more better. If you understand them
better, you’re gonna get along better. So, yeah, I think that would be good.
I’m getting out all I can get out [from this school]. There’s so much to learn
and that’s all I want to do is just learn, try to educate my mind to see what I could
get out of it. Anything I can, I’m gonna get out of it.
I was here when they barely opened this school. I brought my mom and my
dad, and we had a couple of kids here and the staff here. What we did was wrote
all the rules, just made an outline of how the school was gonna be: People are
gonna get treated right, what you could wear. Everything was done with each
other, you know? It wasn’t just talked about with the staff and brought to the stu-
dents. It was the students and the staff.
[What would have made school easier for you?] If you had asked me that ques-
tion a year ago, I would have said, “No school!” School would have been made
easier if it wasn’t so early in the morning [laughs]. But school, it will be better if
more activities [are] going on. People wouldn’t just think of it as a routine. People
got into it really where it really meant something. But it’s both on the students’
part and the teachers’ part. It takes both.
The classes [should have] more better learning techniques. It’s an advanced
age. We got a lot of computer things going on. Get a lot of things going with com-
puters and a lot of things that are going to draw the eye. Catch my eye and I’m
gonna be, “Oh, all right,” and gonna go over there and see what’s up.
I think they should get more of these aides, assistants, to be parents, okay?
’Cause the parents, I notice this: A parent in a school is more, like, they got love.
That’s it, they got love and they give it to you. They give it back to more students.
I think they should get more parents involved in the school to teach. Get more
parents involved in the classroom, too. Parents have a lot of things to say, I would
think, about the schools.
[Teachers should] not think of a lesson as a lesson. Think of it as not a lesson
just being taught to students, but a lesson being taught to one of your own family
members, you know? ’Cause if it’s like that they get more deep into it, and that’s
all it takes. Teach a lesson with heart behind it and try to get your kids to under-
stand more of what’s going on. And don’t lie to your students, saying, “Everything
is okay and ’just say no to drugs’; it’s easy.” Let them know what’s really going
on. Don’t beat around the bush. Let them know there’s gangs, drugs. “You guys
got to get on with that. That’s for kids. Do what you got to do and stay in educa-
tion.” They’re starting to do that more now. Try to get a dress code going on. I
never used to like that, but that’s a pretty good idea, you know? But not really a
strict dress code, but just where you can’t wear gang attire.
Now I take every chance I get to try to involve myself in something. Now
it’s like I figure if I’m more involved in school, I won’t be so much involved in
the gang, you know? . . . It’s what you put into it, what you’re gonna get out of
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it. That’s just the kind of person I am, where if I can’t do something just to trip
myself up, I want to do this. You know, just so I can learn it more real good and
show ’em that I can . . . try to make an example out of myself, of everything I do.
[Good grades] make you feel good, getting A’s. See this gang-member-type
man getting A’s. I get pretty good grades. I get A’s, B’s, and C’s. That’s better than
all F’s on report cards that I used to get, all failures in all six subjects.
After, when I get my diploma, it’s not the end of school; it’s the beginning.
I still want to learn a lot more after that. I basically want to go to college. That’s
what I want to do. Get more schooling so I could learn more.
Probably I would want to be either a teacher, a counselor, something like
working with youngsters to share my experience with them, you know? ’Cause
I know there’s a lot of people out there who talk down to youngsters, you know
what I’m saying? Instead of talking with them. And just try to understand what
they’re going through.
I mean, you can’t get a teacher, put ’em in a classroom with a bunch of kids
from the neighborhood, and the teacher lives in [another neighborhood] and
expect to understand. I have problems at home, a lot of problems. And to come
into school and for a teacher to come with a snotty attitude, I’m gonna give it
back. That’s the way it is.
I don’t want to speak too soon, but I’m pretty much on a good road here. I’m
pretty much making it. Trying to make something out of myself. I’m on that way,
you know . . . I’m going that way.
You can’t talk about next month, at least at this time. I’m just today, get it
done. That’s it. The best I can.
And I just, I’m tripping out on myself. I don’t believe I’m doing this. But
I don’t really like to build myself too high . . . because the higher you are, the
harder you’re gonna fall. I don’t want to fall.
Family Support: “I Had a Love That Kept

Me Home”
I like kids. I like kids a lot. They see me and, “Gee, that guy is scary. He’s a gang
member. . . .” This experience the other day when I was at work: I was working in
[a daycare center], and I walked in and the kids were looking at me like and whis-
pering. And this one kid, this Oriental kid, came up and we started playing. The
next thing I know, she was sitting on my lap and all these kids just started coming
towards me. And they know: They could feel I love kids.
You need to educate your mind. Somebody gets born and throw ’em into the
world, you know, they’re not gonna make it. You get somebody, you born ’em,
you raise ’em, you feed ’em and encourage ’em, and they’re gonna make it. That’s
the reason for going to school. A lot of it, of my going to school, is ’cause of my
mom. I want her to be proud and to say that I made it.
My mom used to run with gangs when she was young. My mom and my
father both belonged to gangs. They’re out of it. They don’t mess around no more.
I learned a lot of morals from my mother. Respect, how to respect people. If
my mom wasn’t in church, she wouldn’t be there for us, I don’t think. She would
be trying to find a way to seek to comfort herself, you know what I mean?
My mom, she’s real strong and real understanding. Not strict, but more under-
standing, you know? She don’t really compromise with me. Usually what she says
is what she says, that’s it. My mom, I wouldn’t change nothing, nothing [about
her]. My dad, I would just have him be there for me when I was younger. I could
have turned out different if he was there, you never know.
It’s hard for me to talk to my mom or my dad, but I talk to my mom about a lot
of things like girlfriends, things that happen. Like when homeboys die, I don’t go
talking to nobody else but my mom. My homeboy just passed away about a month
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ago or two months ago, and I just remember I was in my mom’s room. My mom
was ironing and I just started crying, and I don’t cry a lot. I started crying and I
started telling her, “I hurt, Mom. I don’t know why, but I hurt so much.” ’Cause I
had been trying to, how do you say, run from it, I’d been trying to put it off, like my
homeboy’s gone, ’cause we were pretty close. So I was like, “It hurts, Mommy.”
She said, “I know, in your gut.” So we talked. We get pretty much into it.
She dropped out in the tenth grade, and she was pregnant. And she says, “I
want you to do good. Don’t be like me, going back to school when it’s already
kind of late, you know?” It’s never too late, but you know what I’m saying. She
was like, “Just learn now, Paul. Do it the first time right and you won’t have to do
it again.”
My mom wants me to go to school basically so I could have a good house and
home when I build up my family, and so we won’t have to be five people living in
a three-bedroom home, with not that much money to live on, you know?
My mom makes a good living, not in money but in moral standards. We’re
happy with what we’ve got and that’s just the bottom line. So I go to school for
my mom, try to help her and try to help me.
My mom, she’s not really [involved in school]. She’s too busy doing her own
thing. She gets out of school, makes dinner, cleans the house, goes to church,
comes home, irons for my two sisters. She doesn’t really have time for all this.
She’ll come in and she’ll talk to my probation officer, talk to Isabel [a staff mem-
ber], different people, yeah, pretty much involved when she can be.
You’re gonna realize that you got to learn from day one and education will
never end. It’s only when you stop it. I realize that now. But see, me, I never
really had somebody to push me. My mother pushed me, and my mom, she just
got tired. “Paul, you’re too much for me.” My father, he never really pushed me.
He talked to me. That was, like, “Education, Paul, education,” you know? And
getting letters from my dad in jail, “Stay in school,” and that’s all. He said some
pretty deep things, understanding things to me. And my dad always knew the
right words to say to me that kind of encouraged me. And my mom. They both
encouraged me.
If it wasn’t for the family, the love I get from my family, I would look for it in
my homeboys. I never had to do that. I just wanted my homeboys to party. A lot
of my friends, they go to homeboys to look for just to kick it with somebody. See,
me, I had a love that kept me home, that kept me in my place.
I remember I used to just take off from Friday night to Monday morning, come
home. My mom be worrying all night, “Where is this guy?” and I was in the street.
And that was like every weekend. ’Til now, I stay home every day and I’m just
going to school. . . . I come from work, do my homework, whatever. Go to work,
come home, go to church, ’cause I go to church with my mother.
My mom, she’s really proud of me. My friend was telling me that she was at
church, at Bible study, a gathering at home of church people. And [my mom] was
crying. She was proud. [My friend] said, “Your mom was talking about you, and
she was crying. She’s real proud.” And that’s my mom, she’s real sensitive. I love
my mom so much it’s even hard to explain. And she thinks . . . she tells me, “You
don’t care about me, Paul,” this and that, ’cause like it’s hard for me. . . . It’s hard
for me to show my feelings.
Commentary
L
uis Rodríguez, author of Always Running, La Vida Loca, whose experiences
parallel Paul’s in many ways, describes gangs as young people’s search for
a sense of belonging.3
Looking back on his own youth and fearing for the future of his son, who
was following the same path, Rodríguez wrote his book to encourage people
to understand that gangs, in spite of providing belonging, respect, and protec-
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tion to their members, represent an unhealthy and self-destructive response

to oppression. Gangs emerge when communities are deprived of basic human
rights. According to Rodríguez, few young people would choose gangs if they
were given decent education, productive jobs, and positive channels for social
recreation.
Schools may unwittingly contribute to young people’s gang involvement by
failing to provide the strong cultural identity and support that students need. In
fact, James Diego Vigil has suggested that neighborhoods and schools interact in
ways that can interfere with the learning of many Chicano students. According
to him, understanding this connection can help educators create a more positive
school experience for Chicano students. Vigil suggests that schools can develop
a balanced strategy of prevention, intervention, and suppression.4 For exam-
ple, prevention would focus on strengthening families and addressing some of
the conditions that lead children to street life and gangs. Intervention would
address students’ behavioral problems, and suppression would confront the
most destructive behavioral aspects of gang culture. However, suppression can
also unintentionally lead to creating school dropouts. For instance, dress codes
may appear to be neutral rather than targeted at only gang members, but these
dress codes may drive gang members out of school. Even in the early grades,
when Paul began to dress like a gang member, teachers’ negative reactions—if
not specific dress codes—made him feel that school was not a place for him.
That is why he so vividly remembered Ms. Nelson, the one teacher who treated
him kindly despite his attire.
The yearning for respect, which is, after all, just another word for a sense
of competence, is what Paul described when he talked about joining first what
he called a “school gang” and later the full-fledged street gang. Young men and
women in desperate economic straits are turning, in ever larger numbers, to la
vida loca, or the crazy life of gangs. In 1991, when Paul was interviewed, Los
Angeles alone was estimated to have 100,000 gang members in 800 gangs. In
that peak year for gang activity, nearly 600 youth were killed, mostly by other
youth.5
Constance L. Rice, co-director and civil rights lawyer for the Advancement
Project, a policy, communications, and legal action group, has called for policies
and actions to move away from suppression and incarceration-only approaches
to a comprehensive public health approach that reduces the attractiveness of
gang ideology and to holistic wraparound safety programs that keep children
out of the reach of gangs and other dangers. As this book goes to press, how-
ever, the regions of Los Angeles neighborhoods that are gripped by gang activity,
known as hot zones, are far-reaching.6 Rice reports that despite spending billions
of dollars and arresting hundreds of thousands of juveniles over the past three
decades, Los Angeles has continued to see a rise in the number of gangs and
gang members.7
The rage felt by young people when their dreams are denied or suppressed
is turned inward, resulting, for example, in drug abuse or suicide, or it is turned
outward. The unspeakably violent actions of Chicanos against their own Raza, so
poignantly expressed by Paul, is an example of the latter. Rodríguez describes this
violence as emanating too often from the self-loathing that is the result of oppres-
sion: “And if they murder, the victims are usually the ones who look like them,
the ones closest to who they are—the mirror reflections. They murder and they’re
killing themselves, over and over.”8
Nevertheless, blame for gangs and for other manifestations of oppression
in our society cannot be placed on schools. The issues are too complicated for
simplistic scapegoating; they include massive unemployment, a historical leg-
acy of racism and discrimination, and a lack of appropriate housing and health
care, among others. In addition, families struggling to survive on a daily basis
can seldom do much to counteract the lure of gangs and drugs, with their easy
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money and instant popularity, that influences so many of their children. As

Paul said, his mother, try as she might, just got tired: “Paul, you’re too much
for me,” she said.
Although schools can neither do away with gangs nor put a stop to the vio-
lence taking place in communities across the United States every day, they can
make a difference. Paul was quick to place the responsibility for his past on his
own shoulders, rather than blaming teachers. When he thought more deeply about
it, however, he also recognized that particular teachers and schools did make a
difference. This is nowhere more evident than in the case of Ms. Nelson or the
teachers in his alternative school.
Chicano parents and their children often have high aspirations, but unless
these are somehow incorporated into the culture of schools, they will make lit-
tle difference. For instance, Alejandro Portes and Rubén Rumbaut, in their exten-
sive research on various immigrant communities, found that the strengths of these
communities are frequently disregarded by schools. In the specific case of Mexican
Americans, they concluded that “[i]n many Mexican families, the only thing going
for the children is the support and ambition of their parents. These aspirations
should be strengthened rather than undermined.”9 This finding compels us to shift
the focus to the context and structure of schools, rather than only on the short-
comings of students and their families. In other words, policies and practices need
to be reviewed to make education more engaging and positive for all students.
Schools need to develop strategies that use a more culturally congruent approach,
rather than an approach based on culture as a deficit.
Paul’s suggestion that his school hire more parents as school aides because
they “got love and they give it to you” reminds us of the powerful influence of
family on Hispanic/Latino culture. Even families in difficult circumstances want
the best for their children but often are unaware of how to provide it for them. His
father’s insistence on “Education, Paul, education,” if unaccompanied by struc-
tural support to help him stay in school, is of little help. Paul clearly understood
this when he said that, although his parents supported him, they never really
pushed him.
Paul Chavez was fortunate to be in the alternative school he was attending, and
it seemed to be serving as a safeguard to keep him at some distance from his gang.
The policies and practices of his school were geared toward creating a positive
learning environment: There was no tracking, staff interactions with students were
positive and healthy, students were involved in the school’s governance, there were
high expectations and demanding standards of all students, and their languages and
cultures were an integral part of the school’s curriculum. Nevertheless, an insight-
ful observation by Vigil is worth noting here. Alternative schools, he says, may
replicate street gang culture by concentrating a critical mass of gang members in
one place. Thus, these schools can act as “temporary warehouses,” or in the words
of some of the gang members quoted by James Vigil, as “preparation for prison.”10
One cannot help but remember, however, that at the time of his interview,
Paul was only 16 years old, a tender age, and he had so many difficult situations
and easy temptations still facing him. In spite of Paul’s strong motivation and elo-
quent insights, his school’s caring, his mother’s love and strict discipline, and his
growing realization that gang life is no solution to the problems facing Chicano
youth, he still had a long and hard road ahead of him.

1. What can teachers and schools learn from Paul’s fifth-grade teacher Ms. Nelson? Give
specific suggestions.
2. What support services do you think are needed in schools such as those in Paul’s
neighborhood? Why?
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 240 09/11/17 4:06 PM

3. Look at the recommendations that Paul made to improve schools. Which ideas make
sense? Why?
4. Why do you think Paul never contemplated being Chicano before? What kinds of eth-
nic studies would be important for students at different levels?
Notes for Case Study: Paul Chavez

1. We are grateful to Dr. Mac Lee Morante for the interview and background information for Paul’s
case study. Dr. Morante is a bilingual school psychologist for the Anaheim City Schools and also
works as a counselor at Santa Ana College in California.
2. Raza refers to people of Mexican and Mexican American origin.
3. Rodríguez (2005), p. 250. Added to reference: Rodríguez, L. (2005) Always running, la vida loca:
Gang days in L.A. New York: Simon & Schuster.
4. Vigil (1999, 2007).
5. Rodríguez (2005).
6. See the Advancement Project at http://www.advancementproject.org.
7. See Rice (2010).
8. Rodríguez (2005).
9. Portes & Rumbaut (2001), p. 280. See also their most recent research in Immigrant America: A Por-
trait (4th ed.) (2014).
10. Vigil (1999).
Latrell Elton
A
t the time he was interviewed, Latrell Elton,1 a 16-year-
old African American young man, was finishing his sopho-
I wanna do positive stuff now. I wanna do more year of high school in Atlanta, Georgia. After starting
something positive with my life. at his local high school, the district transferred him to Bowden
County Alternative High School, a school for students who had
been expelled from their home schools. While the alternative
school claimed to develop self-esteem, self-discipline, trust, lifelong learning, and
respect for others, Latrell’s description of his experience there raises many con-
cerns about the gaping divide between a school’s mission and the messages, both
explicit and implicit, that students receive from the school’s policies and practices.
Latrell reported that the alternative school is 100 percent segregated: “The
school is—all it is—is Black. The students are all Black and the teachers are all
Black,” aligning it with Jonathan Kozol’s description of Apartheid schools.2 Within
this environment, Latrell’s narrative pointed to three distressing themes: his school
experience as resembling prison, the detrimental messages about his racial identity,
and his low expectations for the future.
Prison Analogy
We’re in school, but it ain’t like the regular school. When you go in the school,
they check you tucked in your shirt. And then you gotta go through the metal
detectors. When you go through the metal detectors, they search you. After they
search you, you go on to the cafeteria—you sit down. Goin’ through metal detec-
tors at school, I don’t feel uncomfortable with it. Well, truly it shouldn’t be hap-
penin’ but I don’t be feelin’ uncomfortable with it, you know what I’m saying?
Every day we go in school, they searchin’ us like we prisoners and stuff. I put my
own self in a predicament to go to that school. I didn’t really wanna go. But they
were, like, “Well Mr. Elton, we can’t let you in school until you go and do a year
in there.” And I was, like, “All right. I’ll do what I gotta do.” The main thing I’m
focused on is trying to get up out that school. As soon as I get up out that school
I’ll be a happy person.
We ride on a bus that have two Bowden County motorcycle mans right here.
They have marked police in the front, one in the middle, and one in the back, and
they have each marked police on each bus. Man, make me feel like I’m in jail. Like
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I’m just a prisoner, like I’m a bad person. My bus have burglary bar windows.
They got cameras on there. You can’t get up out your seat.
Detrimental Messages and Racial Identity

I’m African American. Y’all don’t want to hear what I got in my blood. I got the
N-word in my blood. ’Cause I’m just, I just don’t like sitting down, I can’t stay
seated. I just wanna run around, get my energy out. It’s negative. Right now I’m
trying to control it at school. When I was in [my previous] school, I used to run
around, can’t sit down in class, sit on top of the desk, cut. But now I don’t. I sit
down.
I feel like Black folk these days, we doin’ stupid stuff, we wanna kill each
other over little stupid stuff like a car. We wanna go out here and break into
houses. To tell you the truth, the whole jail system is made for us only. That’s
why they build jails and welfare: for Black people. ’Cause they know what we’re
gonna do. [Black people] put themselves in a predicament, I ain’t gonna lie.
Say, for instance, a Black person would have got shot right here and we call
the ambulance. You know how long it’s gonna take them? About an hour to 35
minutes just to come. Just to come. Oh, this Black person, they got shot. That’s
one less Black person we got to worry about on the street. One person we ain’t got
to do nothing for. But if it’s like a mixed person being shot, they be on the scene
in less than five minutes. You hear the sirens and everything. You got helicopter,
news, and everything.
About my neighborhood, I would tell you: Be safe. Be careful. Don’t trust
nobody around here. People around here, they steal, they’ll lie to you. Everything.
They’ll do everything around here. People around here, they just don’t care. Like,
you trying to cross the street, they won’t slow down. They’ll just keep flying by
you. Just go on.
The community people are all Black folk. That’s what all it is. That’s what
I said, nothing but Black folks all on the street. They like this because they ain’t
been in no real life, you know what I’m saying? With people who got quieter
streets, who like respect, like neighborhood watch. We ain’t got no neighborhood
watch. It’s just people out there doing stupid stuff. Where I’m from, when we had
neighborhood watch, they wouldn’t be doing what they doing now.
Future Expectations
I hope when I get out of Bowden Alternative School, I can go ahead and go back
to regular school. And when I get on to regular school, first thing I’m gonna be
looking for is basketball tryout. When I find out when they having basketball try-
out, I’m gonna stay after school. I’m just gonna play basketball. And when I play
basketball, I’m gonna try and go pro. I’m trying to go to the top. Trying to be the
best I can be in basketball. My teacher told me I could be a comedian. I got jokes.
I got some jokes. I could joke. I’m gonna try and be a comedian, too, if basketball
don’t happen.
I see all these folks out here, they be like, “Yeah cous’, do this, selling drug
gonna get money.” Selling drugs ain’t gonna get you nowhere. Drug money don’t
last long. And then drugs get you locked up and stuff. I wanna do positive stuff
now. I wanna do something positive with my life. I don’t wanna keep on doing
no negative stuff. Can’t keep on doing that. It just ain’t right. ’Cause I see all this
money, there’s money out here. I tell people, there’s money out here. You got cars
you can wash—you even got—even yards to cut grass all day, you know what I’m
saying? I don’t like cutting yards, but I cut ’em. Only why I cut ’em is because,
sometimes when I’m feeling broke and I got more to cut.
It make me feel good about myself [to have a job cutting grass] ’cause I know
I ain’t gotta go out here and ask nobody for no money, you know what I’m saying?
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’Cause I don’t want my momma see me in a couple more years on the street ask-
ing folks for 50 cents. I want her to see me coming in a car. So clean. With a big
old house, with a bag full of money. Just say, “Momma, for all the years of hard
work you put me through, there you go, right there. There you go, a brand new set
of car keys, there, got you some house keys, there you go.” See my momma there,
up in the house. I got big plans for when I get out of school.
’Cause if I keep on putting my mind on right things, positive things, I ain’t got
to worry about no nigga still trying to get through my brain and trying to make me
mess up. ’Cause right now, since I been in these sports and stuff, it’s helped me
out a lot. Because I know I’m with safe people. People who I really can trust. Peo-
ple who I ain’t gotta worry about got illegal drugs. I know I ain’t gotta worry about
all that. I’m on the right track. I can do this and that to make my life positive.
Now, since I’m in the alternative school, they’ve been helping me out a lot,
a way, way lot. ’Cause I’ve got after-school tutorial, and we got more help after
school. I’m a good student right now. I consider myself a good student. [What
makes me a good student right now is] my behavior, the way I done calmed
down. Going to school on time. Getting A’s. Passing all my classes. I ain’t got to
worry about none of this. Last year, [at my previous school] I didn’t have nothing
but stress. I didn’t know what to do with my work. Until I met this lady named
Miss Kathy. So when I met her, I showed her my report card and I talked to her
about getting me a mentor. And then when she had found me this mentor, and
ever since, I been coming home with good grades, passing. Look, yo, I show her
every Tuesday, look at my progress report. You see, I done did good. I done finally
learned something. I don’t worry about falling asleep in class, not doing no work.
I used to fall asleep every day in class.
In literature class now, my average is a D. It’s between a C and a D. By the
end of the semester, I’m hoping to have A’s, A’s, A’s, A’s, A’s by paying attention,
doing what I’m doing every day all day. Working. Trying not to go to sleep.
The school I went to before, I went there and I just kept causing trouble. I had
so many friends that I knew from middle school, you know what I’m saying? They
trying to tell me, “Do that. Go do that, mess with that right there.” But like I told
my mom when I get out that school system and stuff I ain’t got to worry about it.
Gotta be a grown man. I can make my own decisions, do what I wanna do. I ain’t
gotta worry about people telling me what to do, and I just be free.
Commentary
L
atrell is a bright, perceptive young man who was painfully aware of the rav-
ages of institutionalized racism in his community. His poignant comments
address both the responsibilities of school structures and the limits of the
school’s reach within underresourced and overexploited communities. Latrell said
he was “not uncomfortable” about entering the school through metal detectors,
implying that he viewed it as a necessary reality.
He equated having the “N-word in my blood” with struggling to conform to
classroom expectations, apparently having absorbed the bigoted message that stay-
ing seated and overcoming restlessness are racial traits. It is evident that Latrell’s
perspective of his racial identity and cultural group had become skewed by experi-
ences of racism, marginalization, and violence.
While Latrell’s hopeful outlook on the future was courageous, it also pointed
to a lack of adequate guidance and academic preparation for professional goals. In
the overwhelming shadow of American popular culture, it has become the norm
for many young people, especially young men of color, to dream of becoming
professional athletes or entertainers. While these are noteworthy possibilities that
should not be dismissed, both are exceptionally competitive careers, considering
the percentage of individuals who actually secure personal and financial success
in such pursuits. Strong guidance and career counseling services in some schools
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 243 09/11/17 4:06 PM

help students with such aspirations follow their hearts and prepare for a colle-
giate trajectory that supports their vision. For example, thoughts of pursuing a
career that might be related to his interests in comedy and sports such as sports
medicine, sports management, physical education, theater studies, entertainment
management, or entrepreneurial endeavors did not even appear in Latrell’s vocab-
ulary. Regrettably, he is not alone.
In Gilberto Conchas’s research of successful programs for urban youth of color,
he found a common thread among the low-income African American males in the
school that he studied. Even in a highly successful program that boasted strong
graduation rates and consistent levels of matriculation into two- and four-year col-
leges, low-income African American males placed higher value on athletic fame
than on their collegiate path. Conchas writes, “They knew college was important
but they really wanted to play football or basketball or perhaps become enter-
tainers.”3 Conchas’s research illustrates that, although these particular low-income
African American males were provided with the social and academic support sys-
tems essential for college, “their perceptions of social mobility were seemingly no
different than the general stereotype.”4 Despite the tenacious power of negative
stereotypes, Conchas concludes that schools can take steps to counteract the nega-
tive consequences of linking racial identity and academic performance. He insists,
“We must remain critical of larger historical and structural forces that impact Afri-
can American youth’s perceptions of the opportunity structure.”5
By indicting systemic social injustices, Latrell was perceptive about the oppor-
tunity structures that limit students’ life options. He linked standard-of-living dis-
parities to institutionalized oppression. In his daily life, he witnessed the slow
response of emergency services as a reflection and reinforcement of the pervasive
messages about the disposability of Black people. He perceived the lack of coop-
eration among members of his community as a response to the constraints of liv-
ing immensely unequal lives.
Many urban schools recognize the toll that inhumane socioeconomic condi-
tions have taken on minority students’ perceptions of themselves and their racial
identities. Some school administrations have implemented self-esteem programs
and attempted to include culturally affirming curriculum. While such efforts may
be commendable, they are insufficient shields against the forces of historically
rooted racist beliefs and structures of racism. Reflecting on the myriad methods
of self-esteem-building tactics that have become commonplace in many urban
schools, Jonathan Kozol asserts,
We are in a world where hope must be constructed therapeutically because so

much of it has been destroyed by the conditions of internment in which we have
placed these children. It is harder to convince young people that they “can learn”
when they are cordoned off by a society that isn’t sure they really can.6
Kozol’s assessment concurs with Latrell’s: “They like this because they ain’t
been in no real life.” Yet this is Latrell’s real life, and it is the real life of his family,
his peers, and his neighbors.
The poetic nuance of Latrell’s phrase exposes his feeling that having a dif-
ferent kind of life was unrealistic or even otherworldly. Despite his indictment of
institutional inequities and community challenges, Latrell’s perspective is explic-
itly hopeful. He recognized that mowing lawns pays less than selling drugs, but
he deliberately chose cutting grass as a means of resisting the prevalent opportuni-
ties for drug dealing. He saw the analogies to prison in his school structures but
yearned for academic success. He revealed an awareness of his responsibility in
achieving higher grades, but it is unclear whether the adults in his world were
hearing his hopeful voice. What will it take for Latrell and his peers to attend a
U.S. urban school where the notion of metal detectors seems foreign and out of
place? Why does it seem only imaginary for Latrell to engage in a rigorous cur-
riculum that promotes fluency in multiple academic disciplines, with participation
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 244 09/11/17 4:06 PM

in co-curricular activities that promote healthy athleticism and artistic accomplish-

ments and with teachers and guidance counselors supporting achievable, fulfilling
academic goals?

1. Conchas’s research suggests ways that schools can create structures to counteract the
negative consequences of the linkage between racial identity and academic perfor-
mance. How might a small group of dedicated teachers embark on changing structures
in schools? Identify the stakeholders the group would have to bring onboard to effect
change.
2. What perceptions of Latrell do you think most teachers would have? What information
would you share with those teachers to advocate for Latrell’s participation in rigorous
academics, arts, and athletics? What support structures would you build to help Latrell
be successful?
3. Imagine you are Latrell’s teacher. How does your memory of your high school experi-
ence compare to Latrell’s? How do the communities and neighborhoods in which you
grew up compare to Latrell’s? What can you do as a teacher to learn about the realities
of your students’ daily lives? Does it matter?
Notes for Case Study: Latrell Elton

1. We want to thank Vera Stenhouse, PhD, for conducting the interview with Latrell. Vera is currently
a researcher at Emory University, where her research explores how new teacher preparation pro-
grams educate teachers to work with diverse students. Vera also provided follow-up information
about Latrell’s school to add depth to the case study.
2. Kozol (2005).
3. Conchas (2006), pp. 113–115.
4. Ibid., p. 56.
5. Ibid., p. 59.
6. Kozol (2005), p. 37.
M07_NIET7232_07_SE_C07.indd 245 09/11/17 4:06 PM

PART
III
Implications of Diversity
From left: Keel Brissett, Lenira Monteiro,
for Teaching and Learning
in a Multicultural Society
Siddarth Sitaraman,in Lily Friedling’s art
class, Amherst-Pelham Regional Middle
School, Amherst, Massachusetts. Self por-
traits. Graphite on paper. 2016.
“We want our classrooms to be just and caring, full of various conceptions of
the good. We want them to be articulate, with the dialogue involving as many
persons as possible, opening to one another, opening to the world.”
—Maxine Greene
“The Passions of Pluralism: Multiculturalism and the
Expanded Community,” Educational Researcher, 1993
P
art III analyzes the experiences of the young people interviewed in the case
studies and snapshots by placing their stories in the broader sociopolitical
context of schools and society. It also reviews some of the changes that can
be made in schools and classrooms, based on the lessons young people can teach
us through their experiences and insights. Students, although rarely consulted, are
eloquent in expressing their own needs, interests, and concerns. It is in this spirit
that their stories, desires, hopes, and goals are presented.
Chapter 8 explores conditions and experiences that students in the case stud-
ies and snapshots perceived as central to academic and social success. This explo-
ration describes how young people, in their own words, define success; what
they believe helped them achieve; and what held them back. The major purpose
of this discussion is to explore what teachers and schools can do to provide suc-
cessful academic environments for all students. Chapter 8 also includes a mul-
ticultural teaching story about an elementary school teacher who demonstrates
caring and support for learners who bring a wide variety of home languages to
her classroom.
Chapter 9 presents three case studies of curriculum in a wide array of struc-
tural models that deal with a range of grade levels, content, topics, and skills. The
chapter honors teachers’ ingenuity and intellectual prowess in developing curric-
ula specific to their learning communities. Rather than advocating any one single
model, the examples are presented in the hope that educators will find inspiration
247

248 PART III Implications of Diversity for Teaching and Learning in a Multicultural Society
to design their own units. Chapter 9 also features a multicultural teaching story
about a high school math teacher who believes every student can succeed.
Chapter 10 addresses three major conditions that promote learning among
students: maintaining and affirming cultural connections, supporting extracurricu-
lar activities and experiences, and developing positive learning environments in
schools. In this chapter, the seven characteristics that define multicultural educa-
tion are developed further in a model ranging from tolerance to affirmation, soli-
darity, and critique.
Three major ideas are addressed in Part III. One is that complete assimilation
as a prerequisite for success in school or society is a dubious notion at best, and a
counterproductive one at worst. The stories of the students in the case studies and
snapshots are striking examples of this tension. These young people embody tre-
mendous strength and resilience, and they want to do well and succeed in spite of
sometimes overwhelming odds. But the conflicting experiences they have had in
school also attest to the difficulties they have encountered.
A second significant idea discussed in Part III is that schools need to accommo-
date their policies and practices to students’ needs and realities if they are to be safe
and nurturing learning environments. When schools do not provide the structures
needed for learning and affirmation, they can become places of defeat and despair.
The third significant idea illustrated in Part III is that classroom curriculum
can affirm students’ identities while rigorously advancing academic achievement in
preparation for life in a multicultural society. Myriad models of curriculum design
can be adapted within the multicultural perspectives asserted in this book, as dem-
onstrated by the three curriculum examples described in Chapter 9.

8 Learning from Students
T
he voices of the students in the case studies and snapshots in this book
are testimony to the vitality and spirit of youth. Despite a variety of condi-
tions that might severely test the mettle and aspirations of others in similar
circumstances, these youth have demonstrated a staunch determination to suc-
ceed in school and in life. Most define themselves as successful
students, and they are proud of this fact, so understanding the
insights of these particular students can be enlightening for edu-
cators interested in providing effective learning environments to
all young people. Students who have not been as fortunate also
have important messages for us because they challenge our pre-
vailing assumptions about learning and teaching.
In this chapter, four major issues that emerged from the case
studies and snapshots are reviewed:
1. A redefinition of success and achievement
2. Pride and conflict in culture and language
3. The key role of activities outside academics in sustaining stu-
dents’ enthusiasm and motivation for school
4. The intertwined roles of family, community, and school in
providing environments for success
Redefining Success and Achievement

Many young people have a conception of education that is dis-
tinct from that commonly held by schools. For instance, the role
of hard work in becoming educated was mentioned by most of
the students. During his interview, Kaval Sethi said that intel-
ligence, rather than hard work, was rewarded in his school. He
said, “I don’t think school is fair for people who are not as intel-
Listed clockwise from top left: Ruthie
ligent as other people. . . . It is very rigid.” Others also made it
Weinbaum, Deylin Uysal, Yabanex Toro- clear that intelligence is not an innate ability or immutable quality—something
Rodriguez in Lily Friedling’s art class, that one is born with—as it is often defined in U.S. society. Intelligence is, in
Amherst-Pelham Regional Middle School,
Amherst, Massachusetts. Self portraits.
fact, something that one cultivates, studies hard to attain, and eventually achieves.
Graphite and collage on paper, 2016. Being smart is a goal, not a characteristic. Being smart is also the result of family
and community support and the quality of care shown by teachers and schools. In
this sense, intelligence is within everyone’s reach.
“To keep us from forgetting our culture’s language, schools could still have reading sessions in our cul-
ture’s language. I think that would help the Asian students.”
—Savoun Nouch, interviewee
249
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Grades are a major indicator of academic success in our schools, and their
importance has increased in the current climate of accountability and high-stakes
standardized tests. Grades were significant for most of the students we inter-
viewed, but contrary to what many teachers and schools might believe, academ
ically successful students may not consider grades to be as meaningful as other
manifestations of their success. Many of the students we interviewed mentioned
being satisfied with a grade for which they worked hard even if it was not the
best grade. Yahaira Léon’s science classes, which were far more demanding than
other classes but in which she did not get as high a grade, were nevertheless
her favorites. Many students exhibited a desire to fulfill their potential as human
beings and as family members more often than concern about the quality of their
future jobs. For Hoang Vinh, going to school had one purpose: to become edu-
cated. He considered a good job to be secondary. Yahaira said, “The reason for
going to school is to educate your mind.”
A word needs to be said, however, about the vague or romantic ideals some
female students tend to have regarding their future. Alicia Montejo and Linda
Howard talked about dual and seemingly contradictory career goals: Alicia wanted
to be either a medical doctor or a border patrol officer, and Linda, a teacher or a
world-famous singer. Particularly for females, the reality of limited choices in the
past, and the continuing sexualization of their identities, have an impact. These
young women may have selected what seems to be a glamorous choice or one that
could wield social power. Besides culture, language, and social class, gender also
mediates what students may consider realistic goals for their future.
Pride and Conflict in Culture and Language

One of the most consistent, and least expected, outcomes to emerge from our
interviews was the resoluteness with which young people maintained pride and
satisfaction in their culture and the strength they derived from it. This does not
mean that their pride was sustained without great conflict, hesitation, or con-
tradiction. Because young people’s positive sense of cultural identification chal-
lenges the messages and models of an essentially assimilationist society, it creates
its own internal conflicts, but the fact that almost all of the students mentioned a
deep pride in their culture cannot be overlooked. Most students volunteered that
their culture helped them in many ways and that they felt proud of their cultural
identities. Daniel O’Carroll had a different perspective from his self-described
identity as a straight white male: “It never really clicked in my head that white
people had a culture until middle school or high school as I started learning more
about social justice, and people actually talked about White culture.” He dis-
cussed fairness and how that helped him understand the historic role of White
privilege.
Many of the young people understood that their culture was not just what
they do, but also who they are. They seemed to understand intuitively that their
heritage informed and enriched them, but they were also clear that it did not
define them. For many, strong self-identification was understood as a positive
value. “You gotta know who you are,” is how Manuel Gomes expressed it. At
the same time, they resisted essentialist notions of identity. They understood, to
a much greater extent than most adults, that they were cultural hybrids. “I mix
a lot of American values into my culture” is how Kaval described this hybridity.
Delaliah Rogers explained, “I say I am African American and Hispanic because
Honduras is Hispanic. . . . Teachers and students assume I am Black.” Her state-
ments point out that her school environment did not recognize her cultural
hybridity. We have written elsewhere, with colleagues Eugenie Kang and John
Raible, about young people’s growing awareness of the multiple influences on
their identities and cultures. These influences draw from categories of race and
identity but do not adhere to stable, fixed notions or labels.1 The young people
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CHAPTER 8 Learning from Students 251
described in the case studies and snapshots defined culture as an active, dynamic
interplay of their home, school, youth, traditional and contemporary cultures,
and more, as created and recreated identities. Within this theme, we noted
four ways in which students spoke about pride: (1) conflict and ambivalence,
(2) self-identification and conflict, (3) creating new cultures, and (4) identity and
learning.
Conflict and Ambivalence

Pride in culture was neither uniform nor easy for these young people. In the snap-
shot of Eugene Crocket, he speaks about the difficulty of being “out” concerning
his gay dads when he was in middle school: “I wasn’t ashamed, but more embar-
rassed. I don’t know . . . I didn’t want people to think of me as different.” He went
on to explain the conflict: “At home everything is normal, like everyone else’s
family. Going out in public is a little more different.” The experiences of other
students in the case studies and snapshots are similar in their negotiation between
love for family and comfort in family culture, and confrontation with mainstream
expectations. As Jasper Alejandro-Quinn said in his interview, “The teachers who
I know—they do not understand my culture.”
Students’ feelings of conflict and ambivalence illustrate Pierre Bourdieu’s the-
ory of cultural capital and of the role of schools in determining what counts as
knowledge, which we explained in Chapter 7.2 Schools validate—or invalidate—
the cultural capital that students bring from home through curriculum and school
climate. A symbolic violence is waged against devalued groups through the sanc-
tioned curriculum and cultural models that require students to abandon their own
culture, language, and values in order to succeed.
Some examples of the symbolic violence suffered by the students we inter-
viewed help illustrate this point. James Karam’s Lebanese culture was missing
from all school activities, although other, more “visible” cultures were repre-
sented. Rashaud Kates longed for the presence of African American historical
figures in his school curriculum. Nadia Bara, a Muslim American, and Kaval, a
Sikh, both mentioned that their cultures were nearly nonexistent in their schools
before September 11, 2001. After that date, they became visible, but mostly in
negative ways. The invisibility of Native American content in Jasper’s and Vie-
na’s school curriculum is another example of the devaluation of knowledge. As
a result, some students may perceive that what is not taught is not worthy of
learning.
In contrast, the language and culture of Manuel were highly evident in his
high school, and teachers often referred to them explicitly both in curricular and
extracurricular activities, giving them even more status. Liane Chang, whose mid-
dle school offers classes in Chinese, felt affirmed in her desire to become fluent in
the native language of her mother. In her mind, teaching a language visible in the
community makes a statement about the importance of that language to the entire
community. The schools of these two students demonstrate, in a concrete way,
respect for students’ identities. In the case of Manuel, the bilingual program was at
least partly responsible for his success. Savoun Nouch, whose case study appears
at the end of this chapter, and Paul Chavez, although originally not successful in
school, became empowered by the multicultural curriculum at their alternative
schools.
Although they learned to feel proud of themselves for many things, including
their culture, their dexterity in functioning in two or more worlds, and their bilin-
gualism, several of the students interviewed also learned to feel ashamed of their
culture and of the people who reflect it. They faced what they saw as irreconcil-
able choices: denying or abandoning their identity to succeed, or holding onto it
and failing in school and society.
Sometimes students blame their families and communities for perceived
failures while absolving the school of almost all responsibility. Latrell Elton
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sometimes used words to describe his community that either victimized or blamed
people for their failure: “They [Black people] put themselves in a predicament,”
and “doin’ stupid stuff,” some of the very words used by those outside the Afri-
can American community to criticize it. Although demanding accountability from
one’s own community is necessary, the critical analysis that must accompany it
is missing. Latrell’s case, however, is complex. For instance, he did not place
all of the responsibility on his own community. He also considered the role that
social structures, schools, and teachers play by having low expectations of Black
students. Nini Rostland’s comments concurred with Latrell’s perspective: “I think
expectations may be holding me back a little bit. I think when people see me, they
assume, ’Oh, she’s Black.’ They automatically assume, ’Oh, she’s not going to
achieve well.’”
Nini’s snapshot provides a window into negotiating identity as a multiracial
youth. In school, she often felt that neither her Polish American identity nor her
African heritage was recognized. Assumptions based on her appearance were
exacerbated by institutional racism. The strong influence of her family, friends,
and summer camp environment supported her assertions of multiple perspectives,
but her interview also revealed the weight of always being a boundary crosser and
cultural bridge between different groups. Some students who are not supported
as strongly as Nini may try to ignore or disregard cultural identity, an unfortunate
and ultimately counterproductive strategy.
Others for whom the conflict is simply too great drop out, either physically
or psychologically, or are expelled. Paul and Savoun both dropped out of school.
For many students who drop out, or get pushed out, the reason is not that they
are incapable of doing the work, but that the school is an unaffirming place. For
example, in a now classic extensive review of literature on the education of Ameri-
can Indian students, Donna Deyhle and Karen Swisher concluded that the major
reason for leaving school was students’ perceptions that the school curriculum
was disconnected from their lives.3 In the ensuing 20 years since that study, some
progress has occurred, but school curriculum and climate remain causes of con-
cern to American Indian students and families. According to a report published in
2016 by the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Educa-
tion (WHIAIANE), there is still a great deal of work to be done to transform school
climate. WHIAIANE collaborated with tribal leaders and communities to conduct
a series of nationwide “Listening Sessions” from which they made the following
recommendations to schools and districts to address the unique and culturally
related academic needs of American Indian/Alaskan Native students to ensure
that they receive an excellent education: (1) support Native American languages;
(2) promote positive discipline; (3) address teacher and school staff attitudes and
behavior; (4) address negative student attitudes and bullying; (5) promote cul-
tural awareness; (6) analyze mascots and imagery; (7) address access and equity
challenges; and (8) appropriately identify students with disabilities. These eight
recommendations align with the research we have cited in this book, and with the
assertions of the young people in the case studies from a wide variety of cultural
affiliations and identities.4
For example, although they were also committed to completing their educa-
tional journeys, it was certainly the case for Jasper and Viena Alejandro-Quinn that
the curriculum did not reflect their cultural identities. Sandy Grande, an American
Indian scholar, proposes what she calls Red Pedagogy, that is, a pedagogy that
pays particular attention to contemporary students’ multifaceted identities in
order to assertively address their realities while also providing a cogent analysis of
colonialism. Thus, Grande argues for an examination of the ways in which the
processes and procedures of schooling are informed by power, and for teachers to
develop pedagogies that disrupt the effects of that dominant power.5
As we have seen, most of the young people in the case studies have strug-
gled to remain true to themselves, but the process of fitting into a culture different
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from their family culture is a complex one. The students are also challenging the
dichotomy between being culturally different from the majority and succeeding
academically.
Self-Identification and Conflict

Another conflict that some of the students in the case studies and snapshots
expressed was an inability to identify both as American and as belonging to their
cultural group. Their sense of pride in culture precluded identification with the
United States because, for some of these students, claiming both meant denying
their background or being a traitor to it. Why some young people make this choice
is no mystery. Ethnicity in the United States, according to Stanley Aronowitz,
has been viewed as a temporary condition that some experience on the way to
assimilation.6 This being the case, it is no surprise that Manuel, for example, was
emphatic about saying, “I’m Cape Verdean. I cannot be an American because I’m
not an American. That’s it.”
Later in this chapter, Christina Kamau marked out her identity when she
said, “I’m not Black American, I’m African and I came from Kenya.” Yahaira,
who was born in the United States, as were her parents, stated, “I’d say I’m
Puerto Rican and Dominican.” She continued, “And I guess I could say I’m Amer-
ican, too. I was born here.” Our society has forced many young people to make
a choice, and the students in the case studies and snapshots sometimes made it
in favor of their heritage and family culture only. Considering their youth and the
negative messages about ethnicity surrounding them, this is a courageous stand,
but it can also be a limiting one. The consequences of such a choice probably
affect what they think they deserve and are entitled to in our society. Having
no attachment to the dominant society, they may also feel they have no rights,
including the right to claim their fair share of society’s power and resources, or
even to demand equality within it. Exclusive identification as a member of their
cultural group may also exacerbate the conflict of feeling separate, different, and,
consequently, powerless.
But are these the only choices? Fortunately, recent research is pointing in a
healthier direction. In their longitudinal research among young people of vari-
ous immigrant backgrounds, Alejandro Portes and Rubén Rumbaut came to the
conclusion that the most positive path to identity was what they called selective
acculturation, that is, a process by which children of immigrant backgrounds
acculturate to the host society in a measured and careful way, while at the
same time maintaining ties with their ethnic communities. Portes and Rumbaut
explain that preserving fluent bilingualism is linked with higher self-esteem,
higher educational and occupational expectations, and higher academic achieve-
ment. They emphasize that children who learn the language and culture of their
new country while maintaining their home language develop a better under-
standing of their place in the world. These understandings prevent them from
clashing with their parents as often or feeling embarrassed by them because
they are able to bridge the gap across generations and value their elders’ tradi-
tions and goals.7
The preservation and intersection of languages, cultures, and identities were
also salient themes advanced by the 26 immigrant youth interviewed by Judith
Blohm and Terri Lapinsky. Their book emphasizes the diverse ways in which
students claim their identities inside and outside the home, and it offers curricu-
lum and activities to affirm them.8 Another example of the tension felt in making
choices can be seen in the snapshot of Gamini Padmaperuma, who sometimes felt
pressure to identify in one way or the other. Gamini wrote about his identity for a
project done in my (Patty Bode’s) art class, in which students developed identity
portraits, both in written form and graphically. Gamini’s portrait accompanies his
words.
M08_NIET7232_07_SE_C08.indd 253 03/11/17 11:47 AM

SNAPSHOT
Gamini Padmaperuma
At the time of his interview, Gamini was an eighth-grade as the other American parents. But my parents are working
student in a midsize town in the Northeast. His parents really hard for us. My mom has a long ride to work because
speak Singhalese, their native Sri Lankan language. In spite the job is better-paying so she and my dad can earn enough to
of his youth, Gamini powerfully articulated the struggle to send me and my other two brothers to go to college. They work
so hard for us.
learn Singhalese in the United States, a society with a strong
I’ve lived in the U.S. all of my life, and I consider myself an
and growing monolingual stance. In his snapshot, he pon-
American, but the Sri Lankan culture has been weaved into my
dered the problems and promises of crossing cultures in U.S.
life since I was young. Every so often my family will have religious
schools. ceremonies so my brothers and I can experience the traditions
from the “Old Country.” I can’t speak Singhalese, which is the
I n art class, we have been working on a portrait of our hands as

a painting, in unison with curriculum of other classes. Our hand
paintings are supposed to give a visual image of how we identify
official language of Sri Lanka, so when I travel there I generally
can’t speak to some of the kids who haven’t learned English yet.
When I traveled there two summers ago, it was the first time I
ourselves. was surrounded by people who are like me, but I could not really
As one first looks at my painting, they will see the following: communicate with them. I got to stay with my relatives, and I
an American flag on the left side of a road, on the other side of actually spent a day in the Sri Lankan school [co-ed now] where
the road is the Sri Lankan flag, and handle bars of a bike with my my mom had gone. It is a very big difference. I really noticed
hands on it. The handlebars of the bike with my gloved hands how teaching is a lot stricter there and the kids take it a lot more
on it represent my passion for biking. I like biking because it’s a seriously. But I also now see how we take for granted the things
place where I can get away from everything and just concentrate we have in our school here, like lots of textbooks, and even the
on one thought, whatever that may be, while still paying attention classroom and the building. It also taught me so much about cul-
to the road ahead. tures and societies. Educationally, I feel like I should start work-
My cultural background has played an influence on my ing harder and live up to my parents’ expectations. It made me
educational experience since the beginning of my schooling: think a lot.
Sri Lankan by nationality, I have seen how it has made me more I have been trying to learn the language. I can understand
conscious about my culture. I realize who I am, what makes me what my parents are saying because they talk [Singhalese] to one
different from many of my peers, and how that relates me to my another, and I have picked up words, but I feel ashamed that I
surroundings. can’t speak [it]. Especially when I see some of my other friends
Being Sri Lankan hasn’t really affected how my teachers who speak their language with their parents. It makes me feel
treat me, but rather what is expected of me from myself and that I should really work on that. There are kids who are born
my family. In Sri Lanka, when I was traveling there, I realized here, and they can speak their parents’ language.
how valued academics and an education are. There, it is the See, when I was younger, I knew English, and I didn’t
highest priority of any child, not sports, not being popular, but care about my parents’ language. I wouldn’t want to go to the
totally focused on learning. My parents didn’t leave those values grocery store and start talking to my mom in Singhalese, like
behind; they still would expect me to succeed in school, which if she asked me to go get milk. I knew what she was talking
is an expectation of myself as well. But in Sri Lanka, a given stu- about, but I felt embarrassed, I felt weird because people start
dent’s social status, in school (i.e., how “cool” or popular [a stu- looking at you and wonder about your language and stuff. But
dent is]), isn’t important. But in the American culture, kids tend to now I see my cousin, who lives in England, but he lived in
take school for granted, and they’re more concerned about what Sri Lanka for a year, and he is learning the language. I am pretty
they wear and how popular they are. amazed because he can come back and speak Singhalese.
When I look at my parents, I see how far they have come. It makes me wish I could do something like that. A lot of
Coming from Sri Lanka to America is a big thing, so I should Sri Lankan kids tend to lose the language when they go to
not shame my parents—they’ve worked so hard. If I blow American, English-speaking schools. You speak it at home,
off school, it would really upset them. This poses a problem but then you go to school in kindergarten and it just goes out
between myself and my parents, for they have trouble under- the window.
standing how important it is to spend time with friends, and But if you look at my painting, you see that the road I’m
doing school work. Well, I can do both. The schools my parents headed on splits, one towards America, one to Sri Lanka, and
had gone through—the school that my dad went to was an all one in the middle. It represents a choice I have to make. Should
boys’ school since he was in kindergarten through high school, I turn onto the road and take a bite of Americana? Should I turn
and the school that my mom went to was an all girls’ school. So towards Sri Lanka, continue Buddhism, learn about the language,
my parents aren’t so comfortable with how in America we have have the culture take a larger portion of me? Or should I take the
boys and girls going to the same school. Like, sometimes when middle path? I don’t know where it leads. Is it rough? Is it tough?
I have a girl over, just like as a friend, they aren’t as comfortable I don’t know.
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Commentary
Most students of cultural backgrounds different from the domi-
nant one, particularly adolescents, make choices about how
much of their culture and language to embrace and how much
to be influenced by those around them while shaping a self-
image. They may do so consciously or subconsciously, but they
do choose. Do Gamini’s choices have to be “rough” or “tough"?
Can we create a school environment and a society where Gam-
ini and other students like him feel proud to speak their fam-
ily’s language—where they can create a new road, rather than
face difficult choices between America or home culture, or try to
forge a path between the two on their own?
Gamini’s painting described in this snapshot
The way the young people in our case studies and snapshots sustained cul-
ture can be enlightening to educators. In more than one case, they maintained
their “deep culture,” particularly values and worldviews, although they may have
abandoned more superficial aspects, such as food and music preferences. These
modifications are a function of not only clashing messages from school and home
but also young peoples’ involvement with a peer culture, with its own rituals and
norms. Although peer culture acts as a primary assimilating structure of our soci-
ety, we should not assume that all students of culturally diverse backgrounds have
completely abandoned their family’s culture simply because they act like other
young people their age.
Creating New Cultures

Identity is constantly being negotiated and renegotiated by young people. Gamini
Padmaperuma presents a good example of this negotiation. The snapshot of him
and his accompanying painting graphically demonstrate how complicated identity
can be, but even adolescents of similar backgrounds have starkly different senses
of their personhood. For instance, a volume coedited by Clara Park, A. Lin Good-
win, and Stacey Lee advances a comprehensive perspective of how “American
identities” are differently shaped by Asian and Pacific Americans.9 Similarly, an
exploration of how adolescents negotiate their multiple identities, and what teach-
ers and schools can learn from them, is described in a book edited by Michael Sad-
owski.10 Throughout the chapters in the book, various authors demonstrate why
identity matters so much to adolescents.
That young people are involved in creating new cultures is evident in the
remarks of all the students depicted in the snapshots and case studies. Their native
cultures do not simply disappear, as schools and society might expect or want
them to. Rather, aspects of the native culture are retained, modified, reinserted
into different environments, and recast so that they are workable in a new society.
In creating new cultures, young people also need to choose from an array of
values and behaviors, selecting those that fit in the new society and discarding
or transforming others. Jabari Mahiri makes the case for the concept of “micro-
cultures” that can expand conceptualizations of student identities. He argues for
perspectives that allow for more nuanced and complex personal/cultural position-
ing and affinities that might deconstruct the more constraining categories of race.
Furthermore, he points out that these micro-cultures are often (though not always)
enabled and enacted digitally through youth’s new literacies in technology.11
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Research by K. C. Nat Turner also speaks to new media and students’ inventive
identities. Turner advances the concept of multimodal media production (MMP) as
the wide range of digital forms—narrative modalities—that youth use to express
themselves, understand the world in which they live, are entertained, and defend
themselves. He argues that digital forms, such as documentaries, video essays,
digital stories, rap, digital video poetry, music videos, computer games, public
service announcements, youth radio, and websites develop critical literacies while
students imagine future selves that are collaborative, self-confident, college-going,
and resilient.12
The process of creating new cultures is neither conscious nor planned. This
is not just a phenomenon in the United States. For example, in an extensive
study of over 7,000 immigrant youth from diverse cultural backgrounds living in
13 countries, researchers investigated how immigrant adolescents adapt at the
intersection of two or more cultures. They found that most youth adapt in dif-
ferent ways, following four distinct patterns during their acculturation: an inte-
gration pattern, in which youth orient themselves to, and identify with, both
cultures; an ethnic pattern, in which youth are oriented mainly to their own
group; a national pattern, in which youth look primarily to the national society;
and a diffuse pattern, in which youth are uncertain and confused about how to
live interculturally.13 Another more recent study by Christine Brigid Malsbary
discusses “hyper-diverse contexts” to describe schools that serve combinations
of the following student populations: multilingual; multiracial; U.S.-born and
immigrant/transnational, and students of varying economic class backgrounds.
The term hyper-diverse context helps describe the complexity of environments
where various identifications, affiliation groups, languages, socioeconomic back-
grounds, and legal stratification of immigration experiences are present. Mals-
bury found that students created a vibrant and (mostly) inclusive multilingual
and transcultural community of practice.14 She determined that youth’s inter-
action across cultural, religious, class, and linguistic differences was deeply
beneficial to developing social and political awareness, and to their community
engagement and multilingualism. She calls for educational research, school poli-
cies, and pedagogy to learn from these youth practices to promote transnational
literacies. Students whose values and behaviors differ from the mainstream are
inevitably involved in this transformation every day. Whether children or adults,
students or workers, they are directly engaged in changing the complexion,
attitudes, and values of society. In the process, they may experience the pain
and conflict that the young people in our case studies and snapshots articulated
so well.
The point to remember is that U.S. society does not simply impose its cul-
ture on all newcomers. The process is neither as linear nor as straightforward
as those who claim complete success for the process of Anglo-conformity might
have us believe,15 but neither has the result been a truly pluralistic society.
Although the United States is, in fact, multicultural, it is sometimes so in spite
of itself; that is, our multiculturalism is not necessarily the result of a con-
scious goal. For the most part, our society still reflects and perpetuates Euro-
pean American values and worldviews, but it has always also reflected, albeit at
times poorly or stereotypically and against its will, the values of less respected
and dominated groups. Latino heritage, for instance, can be seen in innumer-
able ways, from architecture in the Southwest to the myth of the cowboy.
Jazz, widely acknowledged to be the greatest authentic U.S. music, is primarily
African American in origin.
What is “American” is neither simply an alien culture imposed on dominated
groups nor an immigrant culture transposed indiscriminately to new soil. Neither
is it an amalgam of old and new. What is “American” is the result of interac-
tions of old, new, and created cultures. These interactions are neither benign nor
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smooth. Often characterized by unavoidable tension and great conflict, the crea-
tion of new cultures takes place in the contexts of the family, the community, and
the schools.
Creating new cultures is made even more complicated by schools that, con-
sciously or not, perceive their role as needing to shape all students to fit the
middle-class, European American model. “They want to monoculture us,” says a
student in a video of successful Hispanic students in a Boston high school speak-
ing about their identities and their schooling.16 As we can see in the case studies
and snapshots, students of diverse backgrounds respond in numerous ways to the
pressures of an assimilationist society that is attempting to do away with differ-
ences. By refusing to accept either assimilation or cultural rejection, they force us
to look at new ways of defining success.
Identity and Learning

Students pick up competing messages about language and culture from teach-
ers, schools, and society. This was evident in the remarks of the students in our
case studies and snapshots. One of the messages to emerge can be stated as fol-
lows: Culture is important, something that most of the students are proud of and
maintain. However, students also learn that culture is unimportant in the school
environment.
The notion that assimilation is a prerequisite for success in school or soci-
ety is contested both by the research reviewed here and by the case studies and
snapshots. The experiences of these young people call into question the often-
cited claim that students who are not from European American backgrounds have
poor self-images and low self-esteem. It is not that simple. In fact, schools and
society may be complicit in creating low self-esteem. That is, students do not sim-
ply develop poor self-concepts out of the blue; self-concepts are also the result of
policies and practices of schools and society that respect and affirm some groups,
while devaluing and rejecting others. Although young people might partially inter-
nalize some of the many daily negative messages about their culture, race, ethnic
group, class, sexual orientation, and language, they are not simply passive recipi-
ents of such messages. They also actively resist negative messages through more
positive interactions with peers, family, and even school. The mediating role of
families, communities, teachers, and schools helps to contradict detrimental mes-
sages and to reinforce more affirming ones.
A review of literature by Sabrina Zirkel and Tabora Johnson traces the history
of “damage” imagery in educational research regarding the study of Black iden-
tity. Their findings demonstrate that Black people in the U.S. often have a strong,
positive racial identity and that the influence of a strong, positive Black racial
identity includes greater resilience, coping with discrimination, higher academic
performance, and greater commitment to education. Yet their study demonstrates
that the simple idea that it is possible and beneficial for Black youth and adults
to develop and possess a strong, positive racial identity has been challenged time
and again in the social science literature. Zirkel and Johnson call for educators
and researchers to be reflective about our own deeply held beliefs about Black
identity when we seek explanations for the outcomes of Black students in U.S.
schools.17
The conclusion that sustaining native language and culture nurtures academic
achievement turns on its head not only conventional educational philosophy, but
also the policies and practices of schools that have done everything possible to
eradicate students’ identities, they maintain, so that all students can succeed in
school. We suggest that the opposite is true: School policies and practices that
stress cultural knowledge, build on students’ native-language ability, and empha-
size the history and experiences of the students’ communities would be much
more productive.
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What You Can Do

Become Knowledgeable About Arab and Arab American Students
C reating classrooms that affirm and expand understanding

of students’ cultural identities is essential. For example,
considering the dilemmas faced by the Arab American stu-
provide engaging content and historical overviews in first-
person narrative with compelling illustrations. Teens of all
backgrounds and religious affiliations find these books spell-
dents in two of this book’s case studies—James, a Lebanese binding and informative. Arab in America by Toufic El Rassi
American, and Nadia, a Syrian American—the effort to learn is an eye-opening autobiographical view of life as a middle
more about Arabs and Arab Americans is especially necessary. school and high school student growing up in U.S. class-
Peers and teachers misunderstood their identities, and Nadia rooms.† Other suggested readings are a set of compara-
is explicit about the devastating stereotypes that emerged after tive graphic novels written by Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis:
the events of September 11, 2001. Because the discrimination The Story of a Childhood and Persopolis 2: The Story of a
and bigotry faced by Arab Americans have increased in the Return. These two autobiographies describe the author’s life
ensuing years, it is clear that all students in all classrooms will as a young girl under the Islamic Revolution in Iran (a non-
benefit from expanding their understanding of Arabs and Arab Arab state).‡
Americans as well as learning more about Muslim communi-
ties. As you will see in Nadia’s case study, however, the iden- Using Film and Digital Visual Culture
tity of Arabs is complex and often misconstrued. Keep in mind
Every teacher of elementary and middle school knows the
the research of Gary C. David and Kenneth K. Ayouby, which
power of multimedia in the classroom. It is critical, how-
articulates the following three areas of concern in the portrayal
ever, to use sources that provide accurate information in
of Arab Americans in classroom materials: conflating, essen-
an engaging way. Cultural Safari, by the non-profit Kaur
tializing, and normalizing cultures. Conflating occurs when
Foundation, is a 17-minute video aimed at educating school-
ethnic-racial and religious categories that should be distinct
children, teachers, and school administrators about what
are used interchangeably, such as conflating the Middle East
it means to be a Sikh American. It comes with a resource
with the Arab world. The Middle East includes non-Arab coun-
guide.§ One of the characters in the DVD asks, “Did you
tries such as Iran, Israel, and Turkey, although all three have
know the word Sikh means ’student—seeker of knowl-
Arab populations as well. The League of Arab States includes
edge’?” The DVD is scripted to answer questions raised by
22 countries. Essentializing occurs when some cultural, social,
teachers about Sikh Americans. It was produced after exten-
or religious trait mistakenly defines all Arabs. Normalizing is a
sive research conducted among educators and administra-
twofold process that presumes to “rehabilitate” Arab Ameri-
tors at the national level.
cans (1) to become just like everyone else and (2) to embody
positive traits. The problem here is that it is rooted in a premise *David, G. C., & Ayouby, K. K. (2005). Studying the exotic in the class-
of negative assumptions that fail to recognize the marginali- room: The portrayal of Arab Americans in educational source materi-
zation of Arab Americans by mainstream culture. David and als. Multicultural Perspectives 7(4): 13–20.
†
Ayouby recommend selecting materials that limit their scope to El Rassi, T. (2007). Arab in America. San Francisco: Last Gasp Pub-
address one topic at a time: Arabs, Arab Americans, or Islam, lications.
‡
not all three at once. Materials that try to cover all topics tend Satrapi, M. (2003). Persepolis: The story of a childhood. New York:
Pantheon. Also see Satrapi, M. (2004). Persepolis 2: The story of a
to conflate or essentialize the groups.*
return. New York: Pantheon.
§
Graphic Novels Kaur Foundation. (2008). Cultural Safari [DVD]. http://www.kaurfoun-
dation.org/about-DVD.php.
High school teachers of social studies and English language
arts can integrate graphic novels into the curriculum to
Beyond Academics
In nearly all of our case studies and snapshots of students who were success-
ful in school, significant involvement in activities beyond academics emerged as
a key component. Whether through school-related organizations, hobbies, reli-
gious groups, or other activities, students found ways to support their learning.
Although the activities promoted learning, they often had little to do with academ-
ics. Students spoke about activities beyond academics in four meaningful ways:
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(1) keeping on track, (2) shielding against peer pressure, (3) developing critical
thinking and leadership skills, and (4) creating a sense of belonging.
While such activities take place in a range of settings, from organized or struc-
tured formal programs to extended family gatherings or neighborhood settings, the
role of organized after-school programs for youth development cannot be overstated.
A burgeoning field of research is documenting the influence of these community
activities on young people’s lives. Robert Halpern’s research describes the histori-
cal development of after-school programs and emphasizes their critical role, espe-
cially in the lives of children from economically strapped communities.18 Similarly,
in a study of a math and science enrichment program, Annie Bouie outlined the
successes that can spring from focusing on the inherent strengths and resilience of
young people’s cultures and communities.19 More recently, Nancy L. Deutsh20 has
presented case studies of after-school programs that promote positive youth develop-
ment. The research and practice of these community workers and others point to the
growing importance of after-school programs and their relationships to schooling.
Keeping on Track
One way in which activities outside school help is by keeping students on track
because such activities focus students’ attention on the importance of school while
simultaneously providing some relief from it. This finding is consistent with other
research. A study that reviewed the history of interscholastic athletics and its influ-
ence on students concluded that involvement in school sports teams is beneficial
to both students and their communities.21 In another study, extracurricular activi-
ties in high schools that included clubs, sports, and performing events were linked
to both academic achievement and college attendance.22
In the case studies and snapshots here, extracurricular activities also had a
definitive influence, and these extended beyond simply sports. Rashaud, for exam-
ple, spoke about his membership in Future Business Leaders of America. This
after-school group engaged in community service in children’s hospitals and nurs-
ing homes. In addition to a sense of fulfillment, these activities provided a frame-
work for understanding the role of the business leader beyond that of someone
who focuses on making money. Involvement in the Gay/Straight Alliance was sig-
nificant in carving out a place where Rebecca Florentina and other LGBT students
could feel at home. Melinda Miceli’s research documents the social and political
impact of the Gay/Straight Alliance. She emphasizes the role of the first student
leaders who created these organizations within their communities as vehicles of
change within schools.23 GSAs have been the topic of recent research and con-
tinue to play an important role in students’ sense of belonging at school.24 Another
recent study found the role of both sports and performance art/clubs in middle
school to promote positive social identities, behavioral engagement, and higher
letter grades. Such after-school activities taught Rashaud, Rebecca, and their peers
essential life skills, and it also gave them the impetus and energy to educate others.
Many researchers have documented the important role of the arts in co-
curricular, extracurricular, and after-school activities in developing rich multicul-
tural student expression. An edited volume by Herbert Kohl and Tom Oppenheim
features provides a wide range of essays by well-known celebrities of the fine and
performing arts who co-authored each chapter with an educational researcher.
The chapters tell stories of the earlier school life of each artist to document the piv-
otal role of teachers, both in-school and out-of-school, who made a difference in
their life trajectories.25 A collection of essays by the late Maxine Greene provides a
critical account of the role of the arts in social change. She argued that unleashing
students’ imagination and artistic expression asserts multicultural student voices,
while developing skills in academic disciplines.26 To illustrate the power of the arts
in after-school communities, researchers Shirley Brice Heath and Laura Smyth,
in collaboration with Milbrey Mclaughlin, created a documentary film and guide-
book. The film and book present four case studies of high-quality after-school arts
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What You Can Do

Widen Horizons by Acknowledging What You Do Not Know
T hink about the students who you are currently teaching,

and ask yourself: Do any of them have cultural experi-
ences or backgrounds with which you are unfamiliar? Pick
least one print source as a resource, for example, read a
related book or an article. Also, take at least one field trip
that immerses you in each family’s culture: Visit a community
two students who may represent cultural or social groups of event, a performance, or the students’ family. Perhaps you
which you have little knowledge. For the purpose of example, can also visit an arts event, go to a Tibetan cultural gather-
we’ll use two groups that Eugene Crocket mentions in his ing, attend a political rally or meeting to support gay mar-
snapshot in Chapter 9: Tibetans and lesbian, gay, bisexual, riage rights, or take each student’s family out for ice cream or
and transgender (LGBT) people. another family favorite treat.
Make a KWL chart for each of the two students you have After you fill in “what I learned,” choose two other stu-
selected: what I know, what I want to know, what I learned. dents’ families and start with two new KWL charts. Continue
Make a plan to fill in the charts within one month. Use at this practice throughout the year.
programs that defy stereotypical public perceptions of urban youth.27 Other pro-
jects directly integrate school curriculum with after-school life through the arts. An
example can be found in the inspiring work of a project called Through Students’
Eyes (TSE), which was founded by experienced teachers in urban schools who
collaborated with photographers and community activists. Students in the TSE
project use “photovoice” and visual sociology methods to document their answers
to three questions: (1) What is the purpose of school? (2) What helps you succeed
in school? (3) What gets in the way of your school success? This image-based
activity about their after-school lives helped engage students in writing activities
in their English language arts classroom.28
Shields Against Peer Pressure

Research demonstrates that students are highly responsive to peer pressure when
making decisions. The negative peer pressure to which students are subjected can
be very difficult to resist, but most of the students in the case studies were suc-
cessful in doing so. One reason was the activities in which they were involved,
which, for some, shielded them against negative influences. This was described
vividly by Paul, who had not yet totally succeeded in resisting the pressure to
be in a gang but nevertheless said, “Now it’s like I figure if I’m more involved
in school, I won’t be so much involved in the gang, you know?” As you will see,
Savoun also explained the role of peers in his past choices: “I was unwilling to
focus on my education life. I chose friends over education, and one thing led to
another and I dropped out there.”
For other students as well, involvement in community activities took up
nonschool time, acting as a preventive strategy for discouraging less productive,
although at times more alluring, activities. This was the reason, for example, that
Manuel dropped some of his friends; at just about the same time, he joined a
church in which he became deeply involved. Jasper’s enthusiasm about attending
powwows, Linda’s devotion to music, and Avi’s insistence on honoring the Sab-
bath can be understood in this way, too.
Developing Critical Thinking and Leadership Skills

Extracurricular, co-curricular, after-school, and community activities also contribute
to the development of important skills, such as critical thinking and leadership quali-
ties. Through a theater workshop based on students’ experiences and ideas, Manuel
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was able to analyze and critique his own experience as an immigrant to this country.
This workshop gave him a place to reflect on his experiences more deeply and to
articulate consciously and clearly the pain and fear that he felt in his first years here.
Other examples of empowering activities include Yahaira’s work with the mock trial
after-school program, and Jasper’s video workshop with Native Lens. These activi-
ties tapped into and expanded their academic interests, which in turn influenced
their choices about school coursework, future college paths, and possible careers.
James’s involvement with bicycle racing, his self-proclaimed first love, con-
sumed both his time and attention. Before his bike accident, he was riding 40
miles per day. His involvement in bicycling extended beyond racing itself, how-
ever. He subscribed to all of the related magazines, got his racing license, and was
actively recruiting others interested in the sport to start a biking club. He was also
planning to approach local bicycle merchants with the idea of obtaining financial
support to sponsor the team. Gamini expressed a similar attachment to biking, an
activity that helped him sort out his thoughts.
Avi’s work in the synagogue is another powerful example of how out-of-school
activities can develop leadership skills. Not only did his involvement in the temple
require a great deal of study and sacrifice, but it also made him a role model for
others in his community. The same was true of Nadia’s involvement in her mosque
and of Kaval’s work in the Gurudwara, the Sikh house of worship. Vanessa’s work
with a peer education group helped her develop important leadership qualities and a
growing critical awareness of and sensitivity to issues of exclusion and stratification.
Belonging
The feeling of belonging, so important for adolescents, is also a benefit of partici-
pating in extracurricular activities offered by schools, or out-of-school activities in
the community. Young people seek to fit in and belong in any way they can. Some
meet this need by joining gangs or taking part in other harmful activities, where
they feel part of a so-called replacement for family. For many young people, the
satisfaction of belonging is particularly evident in activities related to their ethnic
group. Paul and Savoun were notable exceptions to participation in outside-of-
classroom activities. Transportation, finances, and obligations to care for his sis-
ters prevented Savoun from joining the football team at his former school. Paul
and Savoun succumbed to the lure of some of the only “extracurricular” activi-
ties in their neighborhoods—gangs and criminal activity—yet when provided with
more positive outlets, they blossomed.
Barbara Comber and Annette Woods discuss “belonging” in the context of
school for very young children entering kindergarten, who are required to learn
new institutional practices and ways of being with their bodies and minds. These
authors posit that belonging is not a simple matter of transition or school readi-
ness. Moreover, it is much more than facilitation of students and materials on the
part of teachers. Their research argues that explicit, specific, and focused attention
is required to create socially just spaces where all children can learn to belong.
Only then can children engage with belonging in diverse ways.29
The role of faith communities in young people’s lives also needs to be under-
stood in a cultural context. For many people with deep connections to religion, their
spiritual lives are not an add-on or an extracurricular activity. The youth groups
or committees that emerge from religious communities may be extracurricular but,
in many cases, they have inextricable connections with cultural identities. Khyati
Joshi’s research on the experiences of second-generation Indians offers a framework
for understanding the relationships of ethnicity and race to religion in the United
States. Joshi argues for educational curricular reforms and, more broadly, for rec-
ognition of religion as a form of social identity. She reminds educators that religion
and race remain intertwined in how we approach identity, and can cause barriers to
educational opportunity.30 In this context, young people’s activities in their religious
communities may be significant factors in the development of their identity.
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These are valuable illustrations of how extracurricular activities in school,

as well as activities outside school, including hobbies and religious and cultural
organizations, support student learning. Rather than detracting from students’
academic success by taking time away from homework or other school-related
activities, such involvement helps young people by channeling their creative and
physical energy. In some cases, the activities may also have academic benefits.
Family, Community, and School

Environments for Success
Successful students are surrounded by messages that encourage success, including
direct and indirect support from family and friends; activities that enhance, rather
than detract from, success; and teachers and other school staff members who dem-
onstrate their care. Students noted two major ideas when explaining environments
for success within the intertwined roles of family, community, and school: (1) the
crucial role of family and (2) teachers, schools, and caring.
The Crucial Role of Family

The ways families support children in their learning are complex and sometimes
not what one might expect. Non–middle-class families, in particular, may not have
much experience with academic involvement or achievement, but they do what
they can to help their children in other ways. One way that families demonstrate
their support for academic success is through high expectations. Education was
highly valued by the families of all these students, regardless of their economic
background. In fact, in some instances, working-class parents and parents living in
poverty had even more hope in education than middle-class parents, for obvious
reasons. They could not always help their children with homework or in learning
English, and because they often lacked the “cultural capital” valued in society at
large, they could not pass it down to their children. As a result, the ways they
manifested high expectations were sometimes indirect, but the messages they ver-
balized to their children were clear. Vinh said his uncle supported him by saying,
“Next time, you should do better.” Alicia explained, “Doing good in school is to
get a chance to do stuff that most of my family hasn’t been able to do.” Rashaud
told us about his parents’ concern: “It matters to me because, if they didn’t care, I
wouldn’t care. Since they do, I really do. I really want to make them proud.”
Family messages that communicate high expectations, although powerful, are
not always enough. Many of the young people described in the case studies and
snapshots had great respect and appreciation for their families and understood the
sacrifices that had been made on their behalf. Nevertheless, this appreciation did
not always make their school experiences any easier or more tolerable. Because
their parents were not always able to give them concrete help and tangible guid-
ance, students sometimes lacked a sense of direction. Manuel put it most poign-
antly when he said, “If I felt like I had support from my family, if they only knew
the language. . . . If they were educated, I could make it big, you see what I’m say-
ing?” Although parents’ inability to speak English is not a liability in itself, it can
become one if the school does not provide alternative means for student learning
through structures such as bilingual programs and homework centers.
In spite of the lack of support they receive, families who lack formal education
and have limited experience with the means for achieving academic success fre-
quently do a great deal to prepare their children for school. They often compensate
by providing other critical help to their children. In the case of students from differ-
ent linguistic backgrounds, parents and other family members frequently maintain
native language use in the home, despite contrary messages from school and society.
Such language use helps students develop literacy and prepares them for school. The
more students are able to use language in a variety of ways and in diverse contexts,
the more they replicate the literacy skills necessary for successful schoolwork.
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Maintaining native-language communication at home also implies nurturing

cultural connections through activities such as family rituals and traditions, not to
mention the even more meaningful underlying cultural values that help form young
people’s attitudes and behaviors. Savoun put it plainly: “I would never want to leave
my culture or my language; I always want to learn more.” “Apprenticeship” in their
families, and the consequent learning of culture, language, and values, are a primary
way in which children receive and internalize the message that they are important.
This is a crucial message for teachers to understand. Although the children in their
classrooms might not have the specific skills called for in school, they do have atti-
tudes, skills, and capabilities that can be tapped to advance their learning.
Encouraging communication within the family is another way parents support
the academic success of their children. The importance of talking with their parents
about issues central to their lives was mentioned by a number of young people.
Alicia recalled significant conversations with her mother, when she was still alive,
about “protecting herself,” sexual responsibility, and the importance of school.
Yahaira stated that she talked to her mother about “almost everything,” including
school achievement. As you will see in Nadia’s case study, Nadia described each
member of the family as forming a piece of the “puzzle” and communication as
central to maintaining this close connection. For Vinh, even long-distance commu-
nication was meaningful. He wrote to his parents weekly and was, in turn, revital-
ized by their messages. Linda’s description of shared dinnertime in her family is a
moving expression of the value of communication.
In numerous ways, academically successful students in the case studies and
snapshots made it clear that they dedicated their school success to their parents
almost as a way of showing their gratitude for the sacrifices their parents made for
them. These young people frequently mentioned that their parents were the moti-
vating force behind their success, even if the parents did not always completely
understand or appreciate what it meant. For example, Paul was inspired to return
to school by his mother’s own return to school. Gamini said that he wanted to
do well for his family because of all they had sacrificed for him and his brothers.
More than one student mentioned making her or his parents happy. This focus on
parents’ happiness, not what one might expect from contemporary, sophisticated
adolescents, is a theme that emerged time and again.
Students in the case studies and snapshots often described their parents in
remarkably tender and loving ways. From Yahaira’s “my mom is the person I
admire the most in the world,” to Vanessa’s “they’re caring and they’re willing to
go against the norm,” students made it clear that they had warm, close-knit rela-
tionships with their parents, which had a significant influence on their lives and
in the formation of their values. Viena said, “I think my parents have filled in that
gap that my school does not do.” Savoun described his affection for his family thus:
“It’s been great to be a member of my family. Sometime they don’t understand me,
but I still love them.” Linda said that her parents were “always there for me, all the
time” and even that she understood the “twisted reasons” for their rules and limits.
This is not to say that parents whose children are not successful in school have
not provided affirming environments. There are a multitude of complex reasons
why students are successful in school, and a close and warm relationship with
parents is only one of them. Notwithstanding the caring and loving environments
that parents may provide their children, their children may still be rebellious,
alienated, or unsuccessful in school. A good example is Paul, who maintained
that, “If it wasn’t for the family, the love I get from my family, I would look for
it in my homeboys. . . . I had a love that kept me home.” While earnestly stat-
ing this, Paul was still engaged in the gang. Latrell expressed his sincere desire
to avoid drug dealing and “negative stuff” so he could make his mother proud.
His interview demonstrated the many forces that he had to negotiate to accom-
plish his goal of a positive future. Although relationships with their parents and
other family members were obviously prominent in the academic success of these
students, their families were not always involved in the school according to the
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In her classroom near Columbus, Ohio, Dr. Renee Spanos Klein teaches a lesson with
her first-grade-authors on the process of selecting a title for their stories. This group of
twenty-six students sits clustered on a colorful carpet where they are sharing ideas for their
story-titles with a partner. The room is alive with a creative hum. When it is time to turn
their attention to the full-group instruction, they listen intently as each six-year-old author
eagerly states their story titles and explains why they included certain words in the title.
Of these twenty-six first grade students, more than two-thirds are students of
color, half are English language learners: most of them Spanish speakers, some
Multicultural Arabic speakers, and others Ukrainian speakers. As each student scrambles to
the front of the carpet to assume the role of the speaker, the other twenty-five
Teaching Story students respectfully attend to the speaker. They raise their hands to take turns
praising the inventive ideas, and pose questions to help stretch one another’s
thinking. Renee facilitates by helping make certain each
student’s voice is heard, while simultaneously instructing
them on note taking strategies to capture the good ideas in
their writers’ journals.
Renee describes her approach to teaching first grade
writing as “culturally relevant writing pedagogy."† She
is emphatic that each moment of each lesson is infused
with clear scaffolding of skill growth while also honoring
student voice. Renee creates a caring learning community
in the classroom by aligning her teaching with the ten-
ets of equity pedagogy, culturally relevant pedagogy and
the integration of students’ funds of knowledge into the
curriculum.
Funds of Knowledge and Achievement

in Writing
Renee consistently emphasized the critical interplay of
engaging funds of knowledge as a means to advance aca-
demic skills.
I did a lot of intentional teaching and breaking it down
for them, the scaffolding and building of skill – hitting that
“zone of proximal development.” Funds of knowledge is
good – AND you also have to show them - teach them -
strong writing skills; you cannot leave it at what you know
about their family.
An example of this is vibrantly illustrated in a family
history project that organically emerged from some other
activities, and Renee explains how it became a big story-
writing project.
Students were invited to bring an artifact to school,
like something they loved to play with or something they
cared about: a stuffed animal, a game and other things.
Dr. Renee Spanos Klein and That was a starting point. They were sharing with buddies in talking and writing.
It became evident that we were learning a great deal about their families through
Teacher Caring* the stories they were telling about these objects. Some students were also bringing
in photographs. The idea of family became very important – they talked about
what happened in that picture, what was going on – or they just used it as a springboard to
tell us all about their families.
From a Funds of Knowledge perspective, I wanted the students to learn more about their
own families – and I want to learn about their families. So, this idea to do a family history
project emerged through experiences within our classroom. It was authentic curiosity with the
students. They wanted to learn more about their own families and where they come from.
264
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We decided we would interview a family member, and we worked collectively to develop
the interview questions. I asked them, “What do you want to know about the grown ups at
home? What do you wonder about your family?” These were not interview questions I would
have written – the kids generated these. We ended up with eleven questions, some of which
included things you might expect like: Where was I born? and Where were you born? But
other questions as well, like: Did you eat candy? What kinds? Did you brush your teeth? Did
you take care of yourself? Why do we live in Ohio now?
Their only homework for the whole week was to interview someone at home with the
survey of interview questions we developed. We had 100% participation. Every student com-
pleted it and brought their work back to school.
We discussed “How can we take this information, and put it into a story?” I also com-
pleted the survey with my mom, and you know, my mom emigrated from Greece with her
parents. I showed them as a writer, as an author. This project does not mean I just say,
“Write about your family.” They are learning about me, too. You know, for example now
they know my parents both spoke Greek, as well as English. My Mom’s parents only spoke
Greek.
I showed them how I was going to take my mom’s answers to this interview question
and how that would fit in a story. The whole class worked together with me to make a story
about my mom. We would work on one or two parts each day. We did lots of scaffolding and
each student wrote one or two parts of their story per day. I really felt like there was a pride
within the students with what they were producing. There was an eagerness to share, to write
and to talk. They were so engaged in writing - such a community feeling.
We decided on an ending for our stories by writing about how we feel about the person
they interviewed – the connection they had with that person. Before the families came, in the
students practiced reading the stories to one another and discussed them. So each step of the
way they are talking, listening, reading, writing, talking, listening, reading, writing—it’s
that social construction of learning. The parents and families came to school, and every stu-
dent shared their family stories. We had great parent participation with that!
Building Relationships: Talking, Reading and Writing

The significance of students’ relationships with her, with one another and with their aca-
demic work is generated through deliberate activities centered on talking and listening in
Renee’s classroom. It also becomes evident that innovation is a hallmark of her teaching, but
it is not innovation solely for the sake of novelty.
It has to be meaningful for the kids in the class, it needs to hold something meaningful
for them—excitement or interest—if we are going to ask their parents to engage with them
in their school work—the kids’ desire, excitement and motivation will bring the family into
the school work. If the kids want the family to do it, the family will do it – most of the time.
This kind of changed my thinking as the year went on . . . I kept thinking about the
social construction of learning – so important for children to talk and how it supports
their learning . . . and also for the families and the students to be talking, and me the
teacher talking with the families. I kept focusing on the relationship building and also the
academic development that happens through talking and writing. This led me to look at
writing instruction throughout the day – and the ways students learn at such a young age
to build on their literacy skills. Before children enter preschool, they have already engaged
with, and been exposed to different literacy practices, reading, and writing from their home
environments. What more could I do? I mean building on Funds of Knowledge and also
expanding wide ranges of knowledge?
So, we did a pen pal project with another first grade class in our district. We wrote
letters to the students in the other school, exchanging letters, photographs and writing
stories for one another. So we learned about cultivating relationships through writing.
Eventually later in the school year, we met up with the other class on a group field trip
to a farm. We prepared by reading a lot of non-fiction books about animals and farms–
more stuff to write about to our pen pals. When the field trip day finally arrived, they
continued
265
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Multicultural were on the bus with their pen pal, but they never would have met one another, or cared
about each other without the process of writing as a way to build relationships! This was
Teaching Story a way to build community across the community we live in with other kids we may never
have met.
Dr. Renee Spanos Teacher Inquiry and Research Informing Innovative Practice
Klein and Teacher Several intersecting experiences bring Renee to her reflective classroom practices and dedica-
Caring* tion to culturally relevant writing pedagogy. She cites her multilingual Greek family, growing
up in cities and attending public schools among working class, racially diverse communities
as influential on her perspectives. Yet, she explained that during her pursuit of a master’s
degree for teacher licensure the coursework revealed the “eye-opening idea that not all kids
who work hard get to get ahead.”
She recalled a significant turning point during her master’s studies, and the first diver-
sity course she ever took as an essential step in understanding the sociopolitical context
of schooling. The coursework and grad school community prompted her to reconsider the
meritocracy version of public education and to develop a critical consciousness about a
teacher’s role in social justice work. Renee drew deeply from research-based practices that
emphasized writing workshop, community building and meaning-making, and developed
a hunger to transform her curriculum and tackle the inequities impeding her students’
learning.
That master’s degree led Renee to her job as first and second grade teacher to which
she brought this critical mind-set. She examined the numerous constraints on teachers such
as the constant race against the clock, and the pressures of standardized testing. Despite
“more and more assessment from the state or from the district,” Renee expressed a respon-
sibility to understand the implications of standards-based reforms in her classroom – and
make it work within a culturally responsive curriculum.
After five years of teaching, she pursued a doctoral degree where she could deepen
research about her classroom practice. This led her to dive into research on teacher inquiry
and many of the practices that we hear in this teaching story. While we cannot shape every
teacher’s formative years, this teaching story emphasizes the promising potential for teach-
ers’ engagement in research and inquiry to transform practices, as is evident in Renee’s
reflections:
Teachers should be supported in inquiry-based learning to practice these processes and
feel safe to try stuff with their students.
Learning about students’ funds of knowledge changed me as a teacher. My role shifted;
their role shifted. This changed their role with each other. I knew it was important for
students to be talking as much as possible throughout the day. The structure of the read-
ing groups, reading centers, whether reading big books and reading with each other – or
practicing sight words, they are interacting with each other. It’s all based on this idea that
so much learning is based on talking. My job is just to honor what they are thinking about
the story.
It is essential to start with a caring disposition – deeply listening, honoring, engaging
in an authentic way – making that time to listen to their talking . . . that time leads to the
payoff when they are attempting something that is hard for them. The talking, the listening,
the writing: it is a joyful place to be.
*Renee recently accepted the opportunity to expand her classroom practice into teacher leadership
for the South-Western City School District. She currently weaves her work into two roles as a Literacy
Collaborative Coach and a Reading Specialist. She is also an adjunct faculty member at The Ohio State
University, where she earned her PhD in 2014. We are grateful for the time she gave to this multi-
cultural teaching story. We want to thank Laurie Katz, Professor in Early Childhood Education in the
Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University for introducing us to Renee as a
teacher who embodies the ethic of care.
†
Spanos, R. G. (2014). Learning about funds of knowledge: Using practitioner inquiry to implement a
culturally relevant writing pedagogy. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The Ohio State University.
266
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traditional definition of parent involvement. There were some exceptions, such as

Viena’s and Jasper’s parents, who were very vocal in their children’s schooling.
However, most of the students’ families did not go to their children’s school unless
summoned, did not attend meetings or volunteer in school activities, and were
not members of parent organizations. This was somewhat surprising, consider-
ing the research on the relationship between parental involvement and children’s
academic achievement. The fact that some of these parents did not speak English,
that they themselves had not always had positive experiences in schools, and that
they were inhibited by the impersonal and unreceptive nature of some schools
may be partial explanations. Conflicting work schedules, child-care needs, and
other situations also help explain their non-involvement.
Teachers, Schools, and Caring

Many of the students in the case studies and snapshots here mentioned particular
teachers, programs, and/or activities in school that helped them succeed. The key
role that teachers play in the achievement of their students is not surprising. The
most important characteristic students looked for in their teachers was caring, an
aspect of research that we reviewed in Chapter 7. Students evaluated their teachers’
level of caring by the amount of time they dedicated to their students, their patience,
how well they prepared their classes, and how they made classes interesting.
Students are empowered not only by studying about their own culture but also
by being exposed, through a variety of pedagogical strategies, to different perspec-
tives. Numerous students mentioned this, including Paul, who was empowered
when he read The Diary of Anne Frank in elementary school. It was not only the sub-
ject matter but also how it was taught that made history come alive for him. Viena
mentioned her classroom study of Bless Me Ultima, the story of a young Chicano boy
in the 1940s, as an avenue to learning about others. Several students mentioned the
desire to learn more about world regions and the cultural groups involved in current
events. Several mentioned their desire to know more about the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and the refugee crisis in Syria, while expressing a sincere wish to learn
about the experiences of people in those countries as well as Islamic traditions.
Teachers of the same background as students can also make a difference. Jasper
wondered what it would be like to have a person of color as a teacher for more
than the one and only day that he had a substitute teacher of color. Several recent
studies have pointed to the positive influence that same-group identity between
a teacher and students may have. A study by Sabrina Zirkel, for instance, found
that students with race- and gender-matched role models exhibited better academic
performance, cultivated more achievement-oriented goals, and thought more about
their future, compared to students who did not have such matched role models.31 A
more recent study of kindergarten children found that when students had teachers
whose race/ethnicity matched their own, the students developed more favorable
ratings of externalized behaviors, that is, those behaviors that require discipline
intervention were less frequent.32 However, the fact that the teachers and other
staff members who understand and call on students’ cultures are often from the
same background does not mean that only educators from the students’ ethnic
group can teach them or become meaningful figures in their lives. Having teachers
from students’ ethnic backgrounds cannot be underestimated, but students in the
case studies also named teachers not from the same background who had made an
important difference in their lives. These teachers had either learned the students’
language or were knowledgeable about, and comfortable with, the students’ cul-
tures, or they were simply sensitive to the concerns of young people.
What can teachers and other educators learn from the experiences of the
students in the case studies and snapshots? For one, it is apparent that how edu-
cators view their role in relation to their students can make a powerful difference
in the lives of students. This role definition is not about strategies as much as
it is about attitudes. In the words of Jim Cummins, “The interactions that take
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place between students and teachers and among students are more central to
student success than any method for teaching literacy, or science or math."33
In a related area, the lesson that relationships are at the core of teaching and
learning is reinforced through the case studies. Students mentioned teachers who
cared about them and how these teachers helped to make them feel as if they
belonged. In an investigation by Brandelyn Tosolt about teachers’ caring behaviors,
one teacher demonstrated what Tosolt calls a mixture of interpersonal caring and
academic caring behaviors.34 When students feel connected to school, they identify
as learners, and they have a far greater chance of becoming successful students.
When they feel that they do not belong, identifying as a learner is more difficult.
Finally, educators can learn that there are many ways to show caring through
accepting students’ differences, practicing asset-based pedagogy, and maintaining rig-
orous and high expectations. Also, becoming what Ricardo Stanton-Salazar has called
institutional agents, providing social networks for students, is equally meaningful.
These networks, from information on college admissions to securing needed tutoring
services, are frequently unavailable to culturally marginalized students or those living
in poverty, but they can make the difference in achieving academic success.35 Pru-
dence Carter builds on that notion by calling for “multicultural navigators” who are
fluent in the social and cultural capital of college admissions, scholarship acquisition,
and the like, yet do not totally acculturate, or give in, to the establishment.36
Whether they are in traditional or alternative schools, whether they are from
mainstream or nonmainstream backgrounds, whether or not they speak students’
native languages, all teachers can make a significant difference in their students’
lives. The young people in our case studies and snapshots have provided much
information about how teachers can make this significant difference.
Conclusion
Cultural and linguistic connections can play a key role in students’ academic suc-
cess. In most of these cases, language and culture have been reinforced in the
home and sometimes in the school, too. When reinforced in both settings, the mes-
sage that language and culture are valued is clear and powerful. If they are valued
only in the home, students may develop conflicted feelings about their identities.
The larger society also plays a key role in student learning. If young people
see their culture devalued in things such as political initiatives (e.g., propositions
to limit immigration, abolish bilingual education, or ban gay marriage), they are
certain to develop conflicted attitudes concerning their ethnic group, family, and
social culture. In spite of sometimes harsh attacks on their culture, however, many
successful students have been able to maintain considerable pride in their ethnic
group, family culture, and community. In the process, they reject both the pres-
sure to assimilate and the pressure to give up. They are transforming culture and
language to fit in, but on their own terms.
To Think About
1. What characteristics do you think define academic success? Do these characteristics dif-
fer from how you think most teachers would define it? Do you think your cultural values
influence your definition? How?
2. If it is true that pride in culture and language is important for academic success, what
does this mean for school policies and practices? Discuss policies and practices related
to culture and language that you think schools should reconsider to promote educa-
tional equity for all students.
3. Caring on the part of teachers, schools, and parents was highlighted by a number of stu-
dents. What might teachers and schools do to give students the message that they care?
How would these practices compare with current practices?
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1. The crucial role of families in creating environments for success was highlighted
by many of the students in the case studies, but their families’ roles were often dif-
ferent from those that schools traditionally define as parent and/or family involve-
ment. Develop an action plan for working with parents and/or guardians to develop
environments for success while also respecting their specific contexts. For example,
not all families have computers or access to the Internet, so requiring that they pro-
vide them for their children is unrealistic. Likewise, not all families speak English
fluently, and asking them to do so is probably counterproductive. What can you do
in such cases to encourage families to motivate their children to become academi-
cally engaged?
2. Lead a professional development activity to view the video Breaking the Silence:
Asian American Students Speak Out, a conversation facilitated by Dr. Roberta Wal-
litt. Engage your colleagues in reflection about the messages from the youth in
the film and in developing an action plan to address these same messages in your
school. The DVD is available from Teaching for Change at http://www.teachingfor-
change.org/node/408, where you can download a free study guide to accompany
your discussion of the film.
3. If you don’t already do so, begin a weekly “Letter to Parents and Guardians” in which
you highlight some of the classroom activities their children have been engaged in.
You can ask for their advice on curriculum issues, encourage them to volunteer in the
classroom, and so on. You might also include samples of children’s work in the letters
from time to time.
Notes
1. Nieto, Bode, Kang, & Raible (2008). 21. Bowen & Hitt (2016).
2. Bourdieu (1986). 22. Morris (2016).
3. Deyhle & Swisher (1997). See also Deyhle, Swisher, Stevens, & 23. Miceli (2005).
Galván (2008). 24. Poteat, Heck, Yoshikawa, & Calzo (2016).
4. U.S. Department of Education (2015, 2016). 25. Kohl & Oppenheim (2012).
5. Grande (2015). 26. Greene (2000).
6. Aronowitz (1997, 2010, 2016). 27. Art Show, to be understood as “arts show how,” comprises a dual
7. Portes & Rumbaut (2014). package of resource guide and documentary video. See Laura
8. Blohm & Lapinsky (2006). Smyth and Shirley Brice Heath, ArtShow: Youth and Community
9. Park, Goodwin, & Lee (2003). Development (Washington, D.C.: Partners for Livable Communi-
10. Sadowski (2008). ties, 1999). See also the documentary film ArtShow directed
11. Mahiri (2015). by Shirley Brice Heath and produced for Partners for Livable
12. Turner (2015). Communities and PBS, 1999. For more information, see
13. Phinney, Berry, Sam, & Vedder (2001), p. 12. http://shirleybriceheath.com.
14. Malsbary (2016). 28. Zenkov & Harmon (2009). Also see the Through Students’ Eyes
15. Anglo-conformity refers to the pressures, both expressed and hid- website (http://www.throughstudentseyes.org/TSE/Home.html).
den, to conform to the values, attitudes, and behaviors representa- 29. Comber & Woods (2017).
tive of the dominant group in U.S. society. 30. Joshi (2006, 2016).
16. The excellent video How We Feel: Hispanic Students Speak Out was 31. Zirkel (2002, 2008).
developed by Virginia Vogel Zanger and is available from Land- 32. Wright, Gottfried, & Le (2017).
mark Media, Falls Church, Virginia (http://www.landmarkmedia 33. Cummins (2001).
.com and 800-342-4336). 34. Tosolt (2010).
17. Zirkel & Johnson (2016). 35. Stanton-Salazar (2001).
18. Halpern (2003). 36. Carter (2005).
19. Bouie (2006).
20. Deutsh (2017).
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Case Studies
I
n some ways, it’s hard to believe that Nadia Bara1 was just
Nadia Bara 14 years old when she was first interviewed. Talking about
I could never really stand in other people’s school, her family, her religion, or the joys and difficulties of
being different, she was at once a wise older spirit and a teenager.
shoes but now . . . I kind of feel for the people
A ninth-grader in a high school known throughout the state
that had racists against them because now I as an excellent school, Nadia lived with her mother and father
in Linden Oaks, a comfortable, upper-middle-class suburb in the
kind of know how they feel.
Midwest that boasts the highest yearly median income in the state.
Her sister Layla, 18 years old, was a first-year student at the state university, also a
well-regarded institution in the Midwest. Layla lived on campus a couple of hours
from home but frequently returned home on weekends. Nadia’s mother Sarah and
her husband Omar, both physicians, had lived in the United States for nearly two
decades. Sarah was born in the United States, but while still a child, she had
returned with her family to Syria, where she was raised and completed her edu-
cation, including her medical training. Omar was born in Kuwait and attended
medical school in Egypt. They met and married in Kuwait and came to live in the
United States shortly before the birth of their first daughter, Layla.
The entire family visits Syria for at least two weeks every year to see family
and friends and reconnect with their roots. During these trips, they usually visit
at least one new place, too. They had recently been to Holland, Germany, Austria,
and Maui. These trips had increased Nadia’s motivation to travel, which she loved,
because, as she said, “I love seeing all the different types of people anywhere.”
During her interview, Nadia spoke fondly about her experiences in Syria, while
also describing her status as an insider/outsider both in Syria and the United States.
The Bara family is a close-knit and fairly religious one. They belong to a rela-
tively sizable Muslim community in Linden Oaks, and they try, in the midst of the
fast-paced and post-industrial society of the United States, to live as Syrians and
Muslims. This is not always possible, and Nadia and her sister both spoke of the
tribulations they have faced because of their identities.
Nadia and her family are part of a growing Arab and Muslim presence in the
United States. In 2000, a few years before Nadia was interviewed, the U.S. Census
Bureau counted 1.2 million Arabs in the United States, or about 0.4 percent of the
U.S. population, although Muslims continue to arrive in the United States, and a
growing number of non-Arabs in the United States are converting to Islam.2 Arabs
are a remarkably diverse group, hailing from some 20 countries in the Middle East
and Northern Africa. Most Arabs in the world are Muslims, but Arabs are only
20 percent of all Muslims in the world (estimated to be more than 1 billion in num-
ber). In fact, Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world.3 Nevertheless, only
a quarter of Arabs in the United States are Muslim. Arabs live in many parts of the
United States, settling in places that would surprise many people. According to Diana
Eck, for example, about a century ago, three small communities in North Dakota were
home to an early group of Muslim immigrants, and one of the first mosques in the
country was built in 1920 in the town of Ross, North Dakota. In addition, the Muslim
community in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, goes back more than 100 years. Thus, from the
start, the Midwest has been a destination for Muslims from various countries.4
Reasons for making the United States their destination vary greatly, but eco-
nomic and political reasons account for why many come. Although Arabs are not
new to the United States, the challenges they face have become more apparent in
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the recent past. These challenges include negative stereotyping, racism, discrimi-
nation, and misinformation about their history and culture, a theme echoed by
Nadia. Schools are some of the places where these problems are most visible.
The Bara family chose public schools for their daughters. This decision was
not an easy one to make, particularly because of differences in religion and reli-
gious practices. Both Nadia and Layla have done very well in school. Layla, for
instance, graduated with a 4.0 grade point average (GPA) from the same high
school that Nadia was attending. Nadia loved school and was also doing well
academically, having received a special award for earning straight A’s in eighth
grade. She was involved in many nonschool activities, especially sports (soccer,
tennis, track, and volleyball), as well as school activities, including student coun-
cil, theater productions, and the school newspaper.
As pointed out in the case study of James, the Christian Maronite student,
Arabs and Arab Americans were often “invisible” in schools—until recently. This
invisibility disappeared after the events of September 11, 2001, when Arabs and
Arab Americans became all too visible. This point is corroborated by Amaney
Jamal and Nadine Naber in their thorough research about the racialization of
Arab Americans.5 Nevertheless, Arabs are still frequently invisible in curricula and
in other school policies and practices. Consequently, Islam is the religion about
which most Americans have the least information and the most biases.6
In the case study that follows, we see a young woman who reflects on these
issues in a thoughtful and mature way. The major themes that surfaced in Nadia’s
interviews were: the centrality of family, the call to activism, and belonging and
the challenge of difference, with which we begin.
"I’m Torn Right in the Middle": Belonging and

the Challenge of Difference
I’m Nadia. I’m 14 years old, and I am a freshman at Linden Oaks High School. I
speak Arabic, English, and I’ve been in Spanish since first grade. One of my best
friends is Jewish, and a lot of my friends are Protestant and Catholic, and I have
many Black, White, everything [background of friends] . . . it’s good.
I think the thing I like the most about myself is, I guess, how I can be funny
and make people feel better. All my friends, they say I can cheer people up. I
would much rather be laughing than thinking about bad stuff. I think that’s a good
thing, being optimistic.
I’m Arabic, and my parents are both Syrian. When I come here, you know I
feel like I belong and . . . I mean I feel American, but I also go back to my race,
you know? But when I go to Syria, for some strange reason, I feel like I belong even
more. I’m, you could say, the only Syrian at my school right now, but there’s lots
of other people from the Middle East. But it’s never been a problem, and I don’t
know, at first, after September 11th it was a little shaky, and I didn’t want to tell
people that I was Arabic because you got the weird looks, or when I went to camp
someone asked me, they said, “Are you . . . you kind of look Afghani?” That’s
when it’s a bit of a burden, just when you get singled out. People look at you dif-
ferent when they find out you’re Arabic, especially now. Before it wasn’t [that way]
at all. But now, especially when we’re in restaurants or something as a family, my
parents are talking Arabic, the waitresses will come and [ask], “Where are you
from?” My parents will tell them, and they all give us weird looks like it’s scary.
But I love going back to Syria. It’s one of the greatest places in the world, and
I love to be there, and I love my religion. I love it. I mean it’s just there’s times
when it’s a little hard, but it’s no big deal. Before, I never thought about it very
much. Going to Syria makes it all much better. It’s so fun because you don’t have
to hide anything about your religion there, and you can be completely religious.
It’s great because everyone’s the same.
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Being Muslim and being American is hard because, here, I guess you know
how the traditional Muslims, they wear the hijab over their head? There’s a lot
of stuff that I guess we’re not too religious about, and it’s really hard to be that
religious here when you have friends. I mean, I don’t have a boyfriend. Lots of my
friends are dating, and they all go and that’s what’s a little hard about it. You feel
kind of different and singled out. Sometimes if I wanna go out with friends and
stay ’til eleven [my parents] won’t let me. All my friends stay out ’til twelve, and I
come home at ten. My parents are a lot stricter than all my other friends’ [parents]
and I don’t date and I don’t talk to boys on the phone. I’m not allowed to do that.
Like, it’s a lot stricter, but sometimes I think it’s for the better but other times . . .
I mean, I get frustrated a lot with it because these are the times when everyone is
dating and everyone is going out, and I’m not allowed to go out, like, every day
of the weekend. But I pray and I fast during Ramadan, and we give to charity and
everything like that. It’s just lots of stuff is hard to keep up with when you’re a
teenager growing up in America, trying to be Muslim, and trying to be Arabic, and
trying to be American. Sometimes it’s a lot but . . . I love everything.
A lot of my friends or just people at my school, they’re not that religious, and
they don’t really have much to fall back on. And I guess it’s very humbling maybe,
just to go back and be at home and know that, even if you don’t belong at school
or even if that didn’t work out, you have your religion and you have your culture
and you know that that’s never gonna change. And that makes you who you are.
Going back to Syria, I feel very much at home. But there’s also times in Syria
when I feel like I don’t know as much as everyone there knows and I guess espe-
cially now, this year, when I went back there’s a little more hostility towards . . . I
mean, not my family, but people that we would see on the street if they heard us
talking English. Just because of everything that’s going on in Palestine, there’s a
little more hostility towards Americans I guess. And that’s when it becomes a little
hard, because I’m torn right in the middle, you know? But going to Syria, being
Muslim, in a Muslim group, I’m not the strongest, most religious Muslim, but I
have the beliefs. When you’re in Syria, sometimes it makes you feel bad because
I look around I’m like, “Wow, I’m not religious enough and when I go home I’m
going to be very good,” but then, when you get home, you don’t know what to do
because it’s a back-and-forth thing really.
[In school], the weird thing was they never really asked us our nationality or
anything until [after 2001]. They would ask you in every class, and you had to raise
your hand [saying] what you were and they went through every culture except they
didn’t have Middle Eastern. And so I never raised my hand, and they’re, like, “What
are you?” And I [would say], “Arabic,” and then they would um . . . I mean the
teachers, they never gave me, like, weird looks or anything like that. It’s just some-
times kids are . . . especially after September 11th, everyone’s shaky.
The thing that was really cool is my friends have stuck with me through and
through. They know who I am and they know my family and they’ve known I’m
Arabic and they haven’t changed at all. My friends have stayed the same. My teach-
ers don’t care at all. It’s just every now and then you’ll get a weird look or you’ll get
a weird feeling . . . kind of feel singled out sometimes, but it’s nothing too big at all.
We were on a field trip one time. We were coming back on the bus, and
there’s another boy who goes to my mosque, and he’s made fun of a lot. I don’t
really know why. And a boy that’s normally my friend, he made fun of the other
boy that’s Muslim and he told him (this is after September 11th), he told him
something like, “Well at least, I don’t believe in blowing planes into buildings,”
and I felt bad because Khallid, the boy that goes to my mosque, he didn’t really
say anything, and I was infuriated, so I yelled at my friend. Which was really an
uncomfortable feeling because I hated to yell at my friend, but I was so sad and
hurt that he would say something like that. And I just told him, “How could you
say something when you don’t know?” Now he kind of held a grudge about it, and
we’re kind of friends, but it was just really an uncomfortable feeling to be in that
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situation because Khallid didn’t say anything, and I think he was really just too
scared to get into it.
Most of the time I just tell myself, especially with that boy, he doesn’t know
any better. I feel bad because he’s uneducated . . . it’s kind of like looking at a
German and saying, “Oh, they’re a Nazi.” It’s just stereotypes, and I think that’s
horrible and I just try to tell myself, “Don’t get mad, don’t let it get to you. Just
tell him that that’s not right and try to educate him that that’s completely wrong.”
I think now, after the events of September 11th, it’s become more of an issue.
And the weird thing was when we would learn about racism and just stuff like
that, I never really knew what it felt like, and I could never really stand in the
people’s shoes, but now I kind of feel for the people that had racists against them.
People that I know have been discriminated against, but I haven’t myself as much.
I think now I just have a bigger . . . I’m trying to think of the word, like I feel for
them, I guess, a little more. I kind of know how they feel, and I’m more under-
standing because I’ve been through it, I guess.
I know adults are a lot more smart about the whole thing, and they know that
not all Arab people are terrorists, and I just wouldn’t want [teachers] to associate
everything that I say or do with my ethnicity or with my religion, and I’m not a
representative of it. I know I’m a representative of it to an extent, but what I do
does not portray what every other Arabic Muslim would do. We’re all different,
and no one is the same.
My friend Chelsea, she’s Jewish, Russian. All our lives we never even thought
about me being Muslim and her being Jewish and how anywhere else that would
have been such a big deal, and we never thought about it, and we’ve been best
friends since, like, second grade, and she’s such a great person. Now, after September
11th, when we hear about all this stuff and when we hear about the fights going
on in Israel and Palestine, it’s really hard. But her mom is so open-minded. I love
our friendship because it’s against what everyone would say in the Middle East. It
proves that it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what religion you are, you can
still be getting along well.
The Call to Activism

Just a couple of weeks ago I was confronted by one of the leaders of the mosque to
see if I could teach the little kids, the ones that don’t know . . . like the ones from
Bosnia and the ones that don’t know Arabic hardly at all, if I could teach them
Arabic. I haven’t heard from the lady again, but that sounds like fun. My sister did
that before she went off to college, and she said it was really fun. I like kids.
My dad came to me, and one of his friends had asked him [to speak to me].
They were having a rally for peace in the Middle East. It was just a lot of people from
our mosque trying to put something together, and they wanted a youth speaker, and
I jumped at the chance ’cause I like speaking and I like writing. So I wrote a speech
up in, like, the end of May, and the rally was in the beginning of June, and so I went
and I gave a speech, and it was really great. I got interviewed for the newspaper,
and a different lady came from this world newspaper. She interviewed me, and so
we got a copy of those. It was really fun. I like to get really involved.
Most of the time I hate hearing about what’s going on in Palestine [and] Israel
you know, ’cause it’s heart wrenching. We can’t do much over here to help, and I
feel like the littlest thing [can help]. Just do whatever you can to help, so I jumped
at the chance to do that.
I love being in front of people. Like I love doing speeches, and just being in front
of a crowd is fun for me. When they asked me if I would do that speech, I wanted
to do it so bad, but then I was also, like, “This could be kind of weird, if I’m in the
newspaper and someone sees it.” And I was really hesitant sometimes, but just to
give people a good feeling of what it is to be Arabic and what it is to be Muslim. And
just to show them that we’re not all terrorists and we’re not all radicals.
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The Centrality of Family

My parents are very family-oriented, and they always want us to have a family
dinner hour. Like, especially on Sundays, we all come together, and we just do
something together just like how they grew up. Everything’s family-oriented. We
celebrate [holidays], especially since there’s not very much of our family here.
Everyone’s in Syria. We get as much as we can, especially during our holiday. My
parents try to make it a very big deal, since me and my sister aren’t that religious.
They try and make it a very big deal, so we can get close to our religion, at least
for that part of time. A while ago we had to drive to Florida, and it was a 17-hour
drive, very long drive. I learned so much in that 17 hours in the car with my par-
ents, them talking about their backgrounds with their families and everything. I
guess they taught [my culture] to me in a way that I think I won’t ever forget it.
Instead of a teacher teaching it to you. They love their culture, and they love going
back to Syria, as do I. And so, pretty much everything I know came from them,
and all my religious beliefs came from them.
My sister, I followed in her footsteps a lot. Pretty much, we’re almost the
exact same, but there’s so many things about her that I love. . . . I’m pretty good
at looking at the bright side of things, especially with my sister. So if I’m having a
horrible day, she can just cheer me up right away and the same with [me]. I can
cheer her up in a second. [My parents] want to hear about friends. It’s good to tell
them, but once again you can’t tell your parents everything. . . . I tell lots of stuff
to my parents, and I tell lots of stuff to my sister. It’s good to have that, I guess.
I have learned lots of things [from my parents], most of them when I was
younger, but one of the main ones was be proud of who you are and be confident.
Because when I was younger . . . I mean now I’m starting to not have as much inse-
curities, but I’ve always had lots of insecurities, and they were always there just to
make me feel a lot better about myself and bring the self-esteem up and just make
you feel very good. You know, they always say, “Don’t be afraid of who you are—
be confident. No one’s better than you, but you’re not better than anyone else.”
I’m the youngest and I’ve always had my spot. I guess we’re all like a puzzle.
Without one of us, it’s not the same. Like especially now with my sister gone, it’s
a little harder, so we’re all trying to make up for it, and so I’m trying to mature
a little more because I know that my mom, especially my mom, she’s having the
hardest time with it. They’re not used to that ’cause, where they grew up, you go
to college [and] you come home at the end of the day and you stay at your house.
So they’re not used to this at all, and so it’s hard on them. I guess, like I said, with-
out every piece of the puzzle, it doesn’t go together. So we’re all trying to work
together a bit more, and I’m sympathizing with my parents more, and I’m not
fighting with them as often. I know that I’m needed in the family just as everyone
else is. It really feels good to have that spot, and you know it’s never gonna go
away. . . . We all make a difference.
When we’re all together, we talk about pretty much anything, especially now
we mostly talk about, like, my sister’s college and how everything’s changing.
A lot of the times we talk about what’s going on in the Middle East, although it
hurts. I don’t like to talk about that stuff very much because I feel so helpless,
and I can’t do anything, and my parents get so frustrated, and they watch like
the Arabic news ’cause we have Arabic channels. Arabic news shows a lot more.
They show like a dead person, and they show like what happened when someone
got shot. It’s so, so heart wrenching, and you feel so helpless, and it’s horrible. So
sometimes I get very frustrated, and I don’t want to talk about it, but it’s always
gonna be there, I guess, and so you have to face it. And we talk about school
and we talk about doctor stuff a lot. My parents always have funny stories about
patients, and so it’s fun.
I think that lots of happiness doesn’t just come from grades, but [from being]
with friends and with family.
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Commentary
I
n Nadia’s voice, we hear some of the complexities involved in finding a way
to manage family, school, religion, and other activities. Nadia wore a necklace
with “God is good” written on it; at the same time, she played soccer and
spoke publicly against racism and bigotry. This is a complex balancing act for a
young person of Nadia’s age, but she was nevertheless managing admirably.
It was clear throughout the interview with Nadia and her family that she was
deeply attached to her religion and culture. She was simultaneously living with
the challenges of fitting in and belonging in two very distinct cultural worlds. As a
result, she felt, at times, both comfortable and uncomfortable in one or the other.
Generally, Nadia was comfortable in her school and in her city. At other times, she
felt the sting of discrimination, something that, prior to September 11, 2001, she
said she had not really experienced. When she and her family traveled to Syria,
Nadia sometimes was more at home there than in the United States, while at other
times, she felt like an outsider. Her musings about fitting in were poignant, and
they reflect the experiences of numerous young people of diverse backgrounds in
our society.
School could be a place where these differences are negotiated, but this has
not been the case for Nadia. She mentioned that, before September 11th, no one
had even mentioned Syria or Muslims. Afterward, being Muslim became a negative
thing. When she said “teachers don’t care” that she’s Muslim, she said it in a posi-
tive way, meaning that they didn’t discriminate on the basis of her background. But
neither did they make it part of the curriculum, something that might have helped
Nadia feel more included while also educating other students about her community.
There are several ways in which Nadia was negotiating these dilemmas of
diversity. For one, as we saw, diversity was not an empty concept to Nadia. Her
best friend was Jewish, and she also had an African American friend who was
teaching her to cook soul food. In addition, even at this young age, Nadia was
becoming outspoken about justice and fair play. This was evident in her participa-
tion in Heart Connection at school. She had also agreed to teach Arabic to young
Muslim children. Her willingness, even eagerness, to speak publicly at a rally con-
demning bigotry against Muslims was another indication of her commitment to
social justice.
But it was through her strong family connections where Nadia and her sis-
ter were able to negotiate their identities most powerfully. The Bara family was
a close-knit and loving family that insisted on maintaining certain cultural and
religious values as a foundation for their daughters’ futures. Nadia didn’t like all
her parents’ rules, but it was obvious that, even though she would rather have
stayed out later with her friends, or to have the opportunity to talk to boys on the
phone, she was grateful for her parents’ values. The metaphor of a puzzle, and of
each piece having a particular and crucial place in the puzzle, is a fitting one. She
wanted to “fit in” but not in a cookie-cutter way. Nadia is a unique piece of our
American puzzle, and it is young people like her who can make it work.

1. What do you think Nadia meant when she said that she was “torn right in the middle"?
As a teacher, what could you do about this?
2. Since September 11, 2001, have you noticed any changes in your students’ perceptions
or actions concerning Muslim students? One way to address these issues in the curricu-
lum is to read the book Muslim Voices in School: Narratives of Identity and Pluralism
(edited by Ozlem Sensoy and Christopher Darius Stonebanks). Use some of these nar-
ratives in classroom curriculum or faculty meeting discussions.
3. If you were one of Nadia’s teachers and had seen the newspaper article in which she
was featured, would you have said or done anything about it? Why or why not? If so,
what would you have done?
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Notes for Case Study: Nadia Bara

1. We appreciate Dr. Carlie Tartakov, who located the Bara family and spent a day interviewing the
daughters Nadia and Layla, and Sarah, their mother. Dr. Tartakov also sent information about the
city in which they live and the Muslim community there. In addition, she transcribed all the inter-
views, going above and beyond our expectations. All of these things made the job of developing
this case study a great deal easier than it might have been.
2. U.S. Census Bureau (2000).
3. Hajar (2008).
4. Eck (2001).
5. Jamal & Naber (2008).
6. Eck (2001). See also Henderson, Wood, & Kristonis (2007).
Savoun Nouch
S
avoun Nouch1 said that he had “traveled quite a distance”
to start his senior year at Watershed High School in Provi-
When people look at me as an Asian I say, dence, Rhode Island. His mother arrived in New England as
“No I’m not Asian, I’m Cambodian.” There a refugee from Cambodia, and Savoun was born in New England,
but he and his mother migrated to California when he was a small
are other Asian kids, but I am the only child. He said, “I think of California as my actual home.” His mom
Khmer kid. chose Stockton, California, because of its sizable Cambodian com-
munity (over 10,000 in a city of 285,000 in 1990 when they moved
there). A friend welcomed them into her home when they arrived.
In Stockton, Savoun attended a large city high school with 2,500 students. The
student population was diverse, and according to Savoun, almost 25 percent of the
student body was Asian, primarily Cambodian. The school also included a small
percentage of Native American and Filipino students and more sizable percentages
of White, African American, and Latino students. About 8 percent of the students
were English-language learners. Just over half the students participated in meal-
assistance programs.
The school community struggled with racial tensions that played out in harmful
ways. Savoun described how school gangs dominated his early high school experi-
ences: “My school was very segregated, basically Asians. We Cambodians, we were
the Asians. We got together and we were feuding with other nationalities. Almost
every single day we would get into arguments and it would escalate into a fight
with Blacks and Latinos. Every day. Mostly fistfights, but a few times there were
some weapons. Some people outside of school got wounded or lost their lives.”
The Cambodian population in U.S. schools today is a diverse group in terms
of religious practices, language, education, and more. Some are first-generation
immigrants, recently arrived from Cambodia or Thailand, where many refugee
camps were located. Others are second- and third-generation Americans, with
the perspectives and language common to mainstream American teens. Some
Cambodian families hold Buddhist beliefs close to their daily lives, others are sec-
ular, and still others practice Christianity or other religions.2 In spite of their var-
ied experiences, the Khmer community shares a common tormented history and a
determined resiliency.
More than 30 years have passed since the genocide carried out by Pol Pot’s
regime of the Khmer Rouge. The four years from 1975 through 1979 saw the
death of 1.7 million people by execution, starvation, disease, and overwork in
labor camps. The Khmer Rouge’s “Democratic Kampuchea,” a horrific campaign
of social, ethnic, and racial cleansing, wiped out a large percentage of Cambodia’s
population (estimates range from 20 to 48 percent). Pol Pot tried to exterminate the
Cham, Vietnamese, Thai, and Lao minorities in Cambodia.3 For many Cambodians
in America, the tragedies of that genocide and the efforts to sustain cultural mem-
ory persistently influence daily life.4
The political struggles that created the Cambodian diaspora and the resulting
widespread posttraumatic stress among Cambodians are notable. Political analysts
from the 1970s through today assert that President Richard M. Nixon’s bombing
M08_NIET7232_07_SE_C08.indd 276 03/11/17 11:48 AM

campaign of Cambodia, which was implemented without congressional approval,

set the stage for civil war-torn Cambodia to be relinquished to Pol Pot’s regime.5
Estimates are that between 100,000 and 600,000 civilians lost their lives, and 2
million were rendered homeless by the U.S. bombings, ostensibly done to push
the communist North Vietnamese away from the Cambodian border. Instead, the
Vietnamese moved deeper inside Cambodia, and U.S carpet bombings followed,
inflicting greater devastation on the peasant civilians. To escape the violent chaos
of internal civil war and the bombings, hundreds of thousands of Cambodian peo-
ple fled their country to seek refuge in neighboring countries. These horrendous
experiences led to more than 235,000 Cambodian refugees resettling overseas
between 1975 and 1992; 180,000 resettled in the United States.6
Escaping violence was a theme that shaped Savoun’s life in many ways. His
parents’ escape from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia was echoed by his deliberate
break away from racially motivated gang violence in California. He dropped out of
his large high school and twice made efforts to re-enter school through different
alternative programs. But the gang activity persisted, as he explained:
[I]t was a very rocky road, and I decided that this was not the way life should be
for me. I realized if I stayed, there was nothing there for me. I finally decided to
drop everything and leave.
With the company and moral support of a good friend, Savoun got on a bus
headed for the East Coast and got off by mistake in Providence, Rhode Island.
Because he had a cousin in Providence who welcomed him “with open arms,” he
stayed with her and enrolled in a new high school, with a fresh start.
Because of the history of violence that had affected Savoun and his family, the
major theme that reappeared many times in his interview was a determination to
escape violence. Just as powerful were the themes of family pride and academic
achievement, as well as cherishing culture and language.
Cherishing Culture and Language

It’s great to be Cambodian; I’m proud of it. I love this culture, love everything
about it. You have your culture to “represent"—to cherish. I am different from
somebody in Cambodia; I have the opportunity to learn English and to have more
hope and to have a better life, but I have not been to Cambodia. Identity and cul-
ture [are] important to me. I am proud of my culture because of where I was born
from. Being Khmer has been a big part of my upbringing. I have learned from my
parents my culture, how I was brought up, everything. They have been through a
whole lot of devastating moments back in Cambodia. So what we have now, we
should cherish it. The people in Cambodia don’t have what we have now. [My
parents] really don’t talk about it because it brings bad memories for them. So I
ask them myself, so they answer my questions, but I have to ask.
My mother carried the Cambodian culture a lot with her when she came to
the United States. They worked in the past, grew crops back in Cambodia, near
Phnom Penh. But there’s not a lot of Khmer farmers around here. She wanted
to stay in the Cambodian environment; my neighborhood in California was all
Cambodian people. Every single day she could be there and talk with her friends,
just chat with Cambodian people. They are very isolated from the world. They
don’t really go out that much unless they go to their friends. Mostly all their friends
are Cambodian. They do not interact with other cultures very much.
We are different from other American families. We don’t celebrate holidays as
much as other cultures. That’s a big difference. We do celebrate some, like Thanks-
giving and Christmas, now—and birthdays. Cambodian New Year is the only Khmer
holiday. For me, for my birthday, I would just get a present—no cake; no friends
come over; I did not invite people over. My parents were not into inviting people
over. It was like, “We keep it really simple. Here’s your gift and don’t ask for more.”
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We have our family—we have how our family acts—how we are brought up dif-
ferent . . . So, we act different, we cook different, things like that. For Thanksgiv-
ing, my parents do cook American food. So on a Thanksgiving dinner table, it is a
mixture of Cambodian food and American food: Turkey, with stuffing, and we have
mashed potatoes, Cambodian soup . . . all those things together.
When I was in California, my parents take me to temple [to] get some bless-
ings, and we participate in Cambodian activities. My parents would take me there,
see the monks to get my blessings. I would ask them why. They would tell me to
“vanish all the bad things.” I went to temple once a year. My parents would go
much more often to the temple. I did not like to go for the prayers that much when
I was younger, but when it was Cambodian New Year, I was always there! In the
future, definitely, I would like to go to the temple more on my own, to be more
involved in my parents, to get a good feel for why they go to the temple. . . .
The first person I learned from was my parents . . . to speak Cambodian. I
don’t know that much, but I know enough to speak it. Mom speaks Khmer at
home. When I got to school, [learning English] was a process between elementary
school and toward junior high. I just had to figure out. There were teachers’ assis-
tants who translated English for kids who did not know English. At times, we had
reading sessions where she would actually read in Cambodian, teach the lessons
so we could learn in Cambodian and English. There was a balance of Cambodian
and English when I was growing up. I would never want to leave my culture or
my language; I always want to learn more.
I got the hang of English ever since I hit junior high. I was speaking, like, inter-
mediate English. I was actually speaking a balance of Cambodian and English, but
at junior high there was no more reading sessions, no more culture lessons. None
of it. Basically, I was speaking all English throughout the junior high and the high
school. There was no more of my culture’s language in the school. The only time I
would speak my language was to my family members and with some friends.
As I learn more and more English, I am forgetting my culture’s language right
now. To keep us from forgetting our culture’s language, schools could still have
reading sessions in our culture’s language. I think that would help the Asian stu-
dents. Reading sessions would help . . . because a lot of the students right now,
they are forgetting their culture’s language and they really do not know how to
speak as much as they used to. We would love to learn more. We wish we would.
I just try to speak as much Cambodian at home as possible. When I am at home
and speak to the other people and older people, I only speak Cambodian.
When I lived with my parents, I did a lot of translation. It was hard for me
because I don’t speak Cambodian that well, and when you translate back and
forth, there are words in English that do not translate into Cambodian. I talked to
my parents pretty well. They can understand me. It’s been great to be a member
of my family.
Sometime they don’t understand me, but I still love them. Growing up, it was
a problem. It was hard for them to know what I’ve been through. They think it
is very easy for me because I was born in America, I had the opportunity to go
to school. [But] I had to deal with all these peer pressures. Gang stuff. Stuff they
don’t know anything about. They think it’s a perfect world out there. They seen
hard stuff back in Cambodia.
Determination to Escape Violence

I would describe my neighborhood I live in now [in Rhode Island] as a pretty good
community . . . no violence, a lot of nice people, a lot of Hispanic. But at my old
school [in California] what I remember most was—there was a lot of violence. A lot
of racial issues between we Asians and other cultures such as African American and
Hispanics. You can say that it was gang related. It’s more about who is the boss of
the school, who won the school. I was part of a gang. It’s all about what you are
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going to say and who is going to kick whose ass. I had my peers with me. I had my
friends, so I felt very comfortable. I would say 90 percent of my friends in California
dropped out of school because of gangs and violence. A few got shot, a few ended
up in the hospital, a few got locked up. Only a few are still thinking about life.
Everything got rough for me because I was in a gang. I did not really have the
support that I needed. I was the type of kid . . . I always wanted to play sports,
but, money-wise, the football uniform, and transportation from practice . . . it
was very hard, it would be too hard, and my sisters, I had to look after them after
school. I didn’t have the support from my family, so everything was a big whole
downfall for me because, during my junior year, my average was like less than a
2.0 GPA. I stopped going to school. One thing led to another and I dropped out of
my junior year at Avery High School.
I wouldn’t say [the school administrators and teachers] didn’t try to help me.
It wasn’t really that. They didn’t really have any interventions to help students
with the whole bureaucracy to get kids through. All you had to do was go to
the guidance counselor and they would transfer you. I went to two different high
schools. The first one was a model alternative school. The same thing happened.
My friends were there, and there wasn’t a lot of support. I was unwilling to focus
on my education life. I chose friends over education, and one thing led to another
and I dropped out there.
They are my friends, but they have different goals in life. I feel bad for them.
I moved out here to change. I would hope the same thing for them. I would hope
they could move out here with me. I can’t control another person’s life. When you
are in the gang, [you don’t realize there are] more things than being in a gang. I
think about the future. Like what does life bring to you. There are things like life
and education. You got to get your education, think more about life . . . than gang
bangin’ ’cause that’s not gonna get you nowhere in life.
To get to Watershed High School now, in Providence, my cousin talked to
the co-founder of the school and asked for me to get an interview. I went there
and they interviewed me and ever since then, I fell in love with it. I fell in love
with it because [of] the diversity, how personal the teachers get with you. It is no
typical school. At the interview there are not teachers who interview you; it was
students. That breaks that barrier, like kids-to-kids. I talked to a few kids. There
was no Asians at all, only one girl. Everyone else was different nationalities and I
was so surprised and the way they welcomed me, I was like, “This school must be
very great and there is no one feuding or fighting or nothing.” I was so surprised
there was no one feuding or anything. I was the only Asian kid, and the diversity
was really great because even though I was the only Asian (and lots of—major-
ity was Spanish and African American), [there were] no racial problems at all.
Nobody feuding. I just loved it!
It has changed my whole perspective about school. Going to school here,
because the teachers are so involved with you either at school or at home—always
there for you, ready to talk to you and everything—about your education. They
call me up at home to talk to me.
Family Pride and Academic Achievement

You got to have an education. It is important. In order to pursue your dream, what
you want in life, get your education first. For my family, my parents, it is impor-
tant for other people to see their reputation, how they raised their child to be, to go
to school, and it is the opportunity America gives to you, so get that opportunity
and make it useful. They make a great deal about their reputation, their reputation
for the son they’re raising. They don’t want to have a son who is a bad kid, with
other people talking about them. They want you to be good. If you do bad things,
the community will hear about you. They will often spread rumors, the gossip in
the Khmer community.
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My parents support me being here in Providence 100 percent, and my cousin

supports me being here with her 100 percent. My cousin welcomed me with open
arms. I believe in education 100 percent. My parents want to hear good things,
like if I’m getting my work done, how I’m getting my work done, all the details.
My adviser contacts them and tells them the things they need to know and what
I need to know. I never had my parents back in California participate in what the
teachers had to offer, so this is a very new experience.
It is important to me to be Cambodian in my school. Definitely I stand out
from the crowd because I am the only Cambodian person at my school. One of the
teachers, she tried to learn more about my culture, so then I did a book report and
everything. I wanted to do it on Cambodian and Khmer, on my culture. She tells
me she is very fascinated by my culture. She knows something about the Khmer
Rouge genocide, a little something about it.
The way the school works, they wouldn’t just pass out work and have it
just turned in. It has to be completed and 100 percent revised. So every time she
handed out an assignment, we would continually revise it until it reached its per-
fection. We went through that whole process for the whole entire junior year and
senior year. The way she was, the way she treated us, the way she made that con-
nection—it made me work. She would contact me, out of school, to see what I was
doing. We would have conversations, like friend to friend. That made us bonded
very well and then I opened up.
To improve schools, if they could change the system, the way they teach, that
would be [a] great idea, but even if they can’t change the system, have a good
relationship with the students and be in contact with them, always be in contact
with them. Call them up. And, of course, I would love to learn more about my cul-
ture. If the teachers would make, like, an elective about my culture, that would be
it. Learn more about the history, the war, the whole South East Asian history. The
politics, who and what—a lot of information that is hard to get if you don’t learn it
in school. My mother told me about her escape from Cambodia. It was hard living
in Cambodia. She lived in a refugee camp for a while. That’s about it. But she did
not tell me much about the war.
My adviser helped me plan my future—give me prep for college, looking for
scholarships, looking for college, everything—the whole nine yards. What would
help me be successful into the future is: be more involved with me—I tend to pro-
crastinate a lot. I need someone there telling me I need to get stuff done. My advis-
ers are very hard on me. They call me up at home. But that makes me successful.
[In the future,] I definitely want to go back to California to be closer to my
mom. The person I most admire is my mother because of what she’s been through
in the past and how she’s got me here. I want to go to college first for four years.
So I can at least support my mom when I go back. I don’t want to leave with noth-
ing and go back with nothing.
Commentary
M
aintaining and reshaping cultural traditions is a work in progress for
Savoun. Throughout this text, we caution about the pitfall of essential-
izing culture and the importance of understanding culture as an evolving
process, rather than as a static product. A cultural-historical approach, as defined
by Kris Gutierrez and Barbara Rogoff, illustrates the flexibility of cultural identity
in Savoun’s life.7 Savoun’s identity has evolved through a process of amalgama-
tion of his parents’ perspective as Cambodian farmers and refugees from civil and
international warfare, transplanted to Stockton, California, and living in a primarily
Khmer-speaking neighborhood; his multiple perspectives in urban youth cultures,
with the expressiveness of hip-hop; his experiences in and out of gang affiliations;
and then eventually his reinvigorated affiliation with academic achievement in his
new school. For Savoun, his culture was something to be “cherished,” and yet he
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seemed to be unfamiliar with much of its history, traditions, and religious prac-
tices. While certain Cambodian practices and beliefs may be lost to Savoun, other
new understandings are gained.
A study by Yoonsun Choi, Michael He, and Tracy W. Harachi on inter-
generational cultural dissonance (ICD)—a clash between parents and children
over cultural values—found ICD to be a frequent issue for youth in Vietnamese
and Cambodian immigrant families.8 However, Nancy Smith-Hefner’s research
reveals the efforts of Khmer Americans to maintain and reinvent culture in the
aftermath of the violence of the Pol Pot genocide. In her ethnographic study
of Cambodians residing in metropolitan Boston, Smith-Hefner portrays the
attempts to preserve Khmer Buddhism by the elders in the community. Her
study provides a context for understanding how cultural heritage may influ-
ence the performance of Khmer children in U.S. schools.9 Other researchers
found that the philosophy of Buddhism provided strong support to Cambodian
families in ongoing recovery from the unspeakable experiences and losses they
had endured in Cambodia.10 Roberta Wallitt suggests that, in addition to gain-
ing insights from such studies, more contemporary research is needed. As the
Cambodian population in the United States ages, cultural values and influences
will fluctuate.11
Issues of cultural identity dominated Savoun’s school experiences. He moved
from a school where about 25 percent of the student body was Cambodian to being
the only “Khmer kid” at Watershed High School. As much as Savoun appreciated
his new school, with its personalized approach and supportive infrastructure, he
was conscious of his isolation as the only Cambodian student. The isolation was
underscored by his own—and his teachers’—lack of knowledge about his cultural
history. His comments point out how the refugee experience is often invisible or
misrepresented in school curriculum. Similarly, in Roberta Wallitt’s study, she
found that “one of the greatest sources of alienation was the absence of their his-
tory and culture in the curriculum."12
Despite the absence of other Cambodians and of a culturally specific curricu-
lum in his current high school, Savoun was deeply affirmed and felt a strong sense
of solidarity with his peers and teachers at Watershed. There, he was pleasantly
surprised to learn that racial diversity does not necessarily lead to violence. The
importance of cultivating a safe learning environment that develops racial inclu-
sion is articulated in Savoun’s affectionate description of his new school life: “No
racial problems at all. Nobody feuding. I just loved it!”
In terms of academic achievement, Savoun compared his new school to his
old school and proudly noted that his teachers expected nothing less than perfec-
tion in his final drafts of schoolwork. Teacher communication was another hall-
mark of his experience at Watershed. On multiple occasions, he mentioned that
his teachers “call me up at home.” Likewise, another recommendation from Wal-
litt’s study concerned the essential role that teachers, advisers, and mentors can
play when they develop cultural competency and reach out to support students
through home visits, phone calls, navigation of college applications, and attending
cultural events.13 The effort to reach out to Savoun outside school hours left an
enduring legacy of caring support and high expectations for him.
When we last checked in with Savoun, he had just graduated from Watershed
High School. He was ecstatic about making his family proud through his accom-
plishments and was looking forward to starting community college in the fall “and
then transferring credits to a bigger college.” With the support of his adviser, he
transformed his interest in car repair and auto mechanics into a goal of achieving
a degree in business, with the hope of eventually opening his own car dealer-
ship. The outcome of this vision is still a few years away, but his willfulness to
make sound educational choices, combined with his sincerity to “represent his
culture” by providing for his mother and a future family of his own, appears to
have pointed him toward success.
M08_NIET7232_07_SE_C08.indd 281 03/11/17 11:48 AM


1. Savoun said, “To keep us from forgetting our culture’s language, schools could still have
reading sessions in our culture’s language.” That may not have been possible because
Savoun was the only Cambodian student in his school, but what are some strategies that
could have been implemented in the school to affirm and cultivate his language?
2. Receiving phone calls from teachers left a lasting impression on Savoun. What are the
implications of this information for your classroom practice? How can you integrate
such personal communication with students before and/or after the school day?
3. Almost every school has students who may feel that they are “the only one” of a cul-
tural, religious, ethnic, language, sexual orientation, class, or ability group. How can
you and your colleagues affirm the students’ identities in meaningful ways that make
them feel more “visible” and understood while also challenging them academically?
4. Gang activity affects the school lives of countless students and families in U.S. schools.
What can we learn from Savoun’s case study about the teacher’s role in helping stu-
dents resist gang activity?
Notes for Case Study: Savoun Nouch

1. We appreciate the work of Keonilrath Bun, who interviewed Savoun for this case study. Keo is an
alumnus of Rhode Island School of Design, currently studying computer coding and raising his
daughter with his spouse in Brooklyn, New York.
2. St. Pierre (1995); Jo (2004).
3. Kiernan (2008).
4. Smith-Hefner (1999); see also Him (2001).
5. Kiernan (2004).
6. United Nations, High Commission for Refugees (2000); Robinson (1998).
7. Gutierrez & Rogoff (2003).
8. Choi, He, & Harachi (2007).
9. Smith-Hefner (1999).
10. Crawford, Wright, & Masten (2006).
11. Wallitt (2005, 2008).
12. Wallitt (2005), p. 296.
13. Wallitt (2008).
Christina Kamau
A
s a 16-year-old junior in high school, Christina Kamau1
expressed viewpoints common to many immigrant teens in
If you could just have a chance to go to the United States. At the same time, her individual perspec-
some countries that are suffering and see the tives, based on personal life experiences, are evident. Christina’s
family is from Kenya, where she attended school until fifth grade.
difference . . . you will be so shocked. They moved to Botswana, where she attended middle school in
her early teens. At the beginning of her freshman year of high
school, her family immigrated to the United States—to Shephardstown, a midsize
college town surrounding a large state university in the heart of the Midwest.
Christina’s family is much like many of the over 1 million African immigrants
currently living in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau reports over 50 per-
cent of this population arrived between 1990 and 2000, making African immi-
grants significantly more visible in U.S. schools in recent years.2 In the 1990s, the
highest numbers came from Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Ghana.
The influence of African immigrants in the United States is evident in the cul-
tural, linguistic, political, business, and religious life of big cities and small towns
throughout the country. Larger urban areas such as New York, Washington, D.C.,
Houston, Atlanta, and Chicago are home to the largest numbers of recent African
immigrants, but small towns and suburbs, especially in the Midwest, are more and
more often the destination for families such as Christina’s.
Because culture, language, religion, and political frameworks are so diverse within
the continent of Africa, the sociopolitical contexts of African immigrants vary greatly.
Media coverage of African immigrants often focuses on refugees. The difficulties
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faced by immigrant refugees cannot be underestimated, but within the broad scope
of African immigrant demographics, refugees account for only 10 percent of the
immigrant population admitted to the United States in the 1990s. Of these, more
than 40,000 were Somalis, and approximately 21,000 came from Ethiopia, while
18,500 arrived from the Sudan.3 The children of refugee families bring values such
as a vibrant connection to family and religious communities, steadfast determination
to maintain multiple languages, and strong traditions. In addition, they often have
vivid memories of human suffering in their homelands, which have continuing strife
due to civil wars, human rights abuses, political unrest, corrupt governments, natu-
ral disasters, and the ravages of economic policies gone awry under globalization.
The detrimental effects of these struggles should not be diminished, but there
is a propensity in the West, especially in the United States, to view Africa conde-
scendingly, and as if it were a monolith. The widespread misinformation about
Africa affects mainstream U.S. perspectives on immigrants from the African conti-
nent. For instance, most people in the United States do not know that the majority
of immigrants from Africa are highly skilled professionals who intend to establish
permanent homes in the United States.4 Christina’s father, for example, is a uni-
versity professor, and her mother is a medical student. While the influx of highly
educated immigrants continues, their employment in the United States does not
always match their talents. Their opportunities are limited for a variety of reasons,
including immigration documentation and the fact that university degrees from
overseas are often not recognized here. Many with prestigious credentials work as
cab drivers, restaurant servers, or parking lot attendants, striving for the American
dream through any opportunity that may be available. Frequently, it is more than
economics that motivates this community. In his comprehensive assessment of
contemporary African immigrants, Joseph Takougang points out, “The new African
immigrant is no longer just interested in making money; they are also interested
in building stronger communities and organizing themselves in order to become a
more powerful political and economic force in their respective communities."5
Racism also influences wages and job opportunities. Despite their hard work
and determined outlook, Takougang reveals that, not surprisingly, many African
immigrants encounter racism. Other research corroborates this, pointing out that
many African immigrants do not have a history of experience with race relations
in the United States and are naive about the confrontations with institutional rac-
ism and negative stereotypes.6 The 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo, an African
immigrant from Guinea, by New York City police officers is a tragic illustration
of racist violence and has become a metaphor for the way African immigrants are
perceived and treated by some law enforcement authorities.7
Christina entered U.S. schools in ninth grade within this challenging yet hope-
ful and complex social, political, economic, and cultural matrix. Relocating several
times into vastly diverse cultures and language communities, she cultivated her
perspectives on friendship, learning, and the meaning of academic achievement.
The viewpoints she expressed during her interview highlight three themes: adapt-
ing to new cultures and school structures, preconceptions and stereotypes, and edu-
cational achievement for social action.
Adapting to New Cultures and School Structures

After being in Kenya my whole life, Botswana was difficult. I started to go to a
Christian, American type of school. And the school was way different for me,
honor roll and all this stuff I didn’t understand. There was no corporal punish-
ment, you understand. [I did not know] what detention was. In Kenya, you get
beaten by the teacher and you go home, even though you didn’t do anything
wrong. [Teachers] call your parents most of the times.
But I got used to Botswana. Our teacher was never like one-to-one, and she would
teach a whole class and just gives you books to help yourself. Never checked to see
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who was correct, just give you points for completion. I didn’t understand that because
in Kenya [there is] step by step and explaining. You know what [you need] to know.
When I went to the American-type school in Botswana, I found it very different to be
trying all these different things. The funny thing was, in my math class, they let us use
calculators, which I never did in Kenya. You had to know your times tables and your
subtraction and addition and all your facts. You have to do that on your paper. You
can’t use a calculator to solve those problems. So in sixth grade I was introduced to a
calculator. I was, like, “I don’t know how to do this!” I found it strange and exciting,
too. It made my life easier in school terms because I can do homework much faster
and go play and go do something else. So it was different for me for awhile.
Then, in seventh grade I moved to another school. It was, like, a private school
and it had from elementary all the way to high school. That was different because I
couldn’t speak the same language as everybody else because each country in Africa
has their own languages and their own native language. I spoke Swahili, and then in
Botswana, you speak Botswanan. I couldn’t speak Botswanan. I had to get used to
learning how to interact with other students without them making fun of me trying to
say things. I had to speak in English all the time. That made me practice my English a
lot because I couldn’t communicate with them in any other way except in my English.
To make friends and do all those other things were hard for me because all the
other students were, you know, cliquish. Because they had their own languages
and they knew how to talk to each other without having to speak English, which I
had to do all the time. But school became easier for me because my teacher could
talk to me all the time in English and try to teach me a little bit of Botswanan and
interpret the other students. So that was pretty nice.
When I came here [to the United States] I was really shocked by the high school.
We entered the parking lot, I kept asking Mom, “Are all these cars for the teach-
ers or all for the students?” She was, like, “Yeah, all for the students.” I couldn’t
believe how many students have such nice cars, so many cars, it was so crazy. Also
the building was, like, wow, I always thought high school [was like] in TV and stuff
in movies. I always wonder what it would be like to go to school in America.
School was crazy in the U.S. at first. First, projectors. I have never seen a pro-
jector before in my whole life. I got used to that, I guess, even the markers. Writing
on the board in Africa, we used chalk, chalkboards in Africa. I miss that. I wish we
had that here. Because markers smell strange, I don’t know; it’s hard for me to see
up there with the projector. So I couldn’t understand how you could look there at
your answers, to check your answers to see if your answers are correct.
And at the beginning of the first semester, it was my world studies class, the
teacher says we have to go to the media center, and I don’t know where the media
center is, and I didn’t know what that was. So all of us go, open the door, and it’s
a bunch of kids and computers everywhere! I was, like, cool, ’cause I never seen so
many computers before! It was really hard for me to get used to going to Microsoft
and going, oh, check tool, and check spell, check all these stuff. First day at school,
my teacher said, “You have to research on different regions"; it’s like research on
Hinduism because we’re studying India. He said, “Okay, log on, get your password
and get your stuff and get to the Internet and go to Google and start searching.” I
didn’t know I had a log name. I could see other kids looking at me, wondering, “Why
she is not knowing all these things?” We didn’t have all these stuff. So I started look-
ing for the Internet, so many programs—Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, school print-
ing, and all these stuff. All by myself, was trying to get to the Internet. So the other
teacher kind of sees me sitting. “Okay, I can help you.” By the way, he is Laotian, he
is from Laos, so he told me that he had a hard time. He knows how I feel.
I noticed that on the next day, for my English class, all we did was type up
papers, like every week. Every Friday, double-spaced pages of essay. So I was
used to writing with my hand, all my rough drafts, I could write them. Hand-
writing, you have really good handwriting, good grammar in Africa. But the first
paper, I didn’t know how to type, so I asked. She at least took half of the points
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off because it wasn’t typed. I tried to explain to her, I was still learning. But she
was, like, “You need to get a move on because you have to catch up with these
people.” Now I’m pretty good at typing and stuff and I’m trying to encourage my
sister to get that stuff done because it’s a big deal when it comes to high school. If
you don’t know how to use computers you are in a big trouble because that’s all
we use all the time to research for classes. It is really big deal for us.
Preconceptions and Stereotypes

When I couldn’t get that computer stuff, some girls were calling me an “African
girl” because “an African girl doesn’t know anything.” That’s not really nice of
you to say that. Even the teacher went to her and said, “That’s not really nice for
you to say. It’s not like you who have the privilege to go to Internet every day and
get all these things. She’s still getting accustomed to all these stuff.”
I guess some other people really help me. Like the way my best friend was to the
lunch lady. So I go to the line to get my food first day. I couldn’t understand how this
huge cafeteria, all of us could sit and talk, so noisy! Everybody’s trying to get food and
huge line. She told me, “You gotta move on, you know, you have to get your food.”
I go to line and have my ID card and going to my line and get my food. She tells me
to swipe my card so that we can get my food and get out. And I swiped my card and
it didn’t go through. She was like, “Wait, your card is not yet activated.” I have no
idea how to do that; it was my first day! She was really mean, I could tell. Maybe she
didn’t have a good day. So some girls behind me, some African girls behind me, heard
my accent, “Oh, are you from Africa?” I was, like, “Yes!” They say, “Okay, we will
pay for you.” I am like, “Really? That’s so sweet of you.” They paid for me, and got
out. We sat down and they were, like, “Is this your first day? We could tell, because
the same thing happened to us!” I was like, “Okay” [giggle]. So we have something
common, that’s only my best friends, they are from Ghana. We are good friends now.
I really have a big deal with people calling me Black American. I don’t like
being called that because I noticed that people in our school use that to get sym-
pathy from other people. “Oh yeah, my ancestors struggle for this and that” and
you know what? That’s gone. It’s gone, so you can’t use it now to defend your-
self. Because you are creating another stereotype for you. In our school, there is
very few Black people. And I’m sad for the fact that I’m not being able to interact
with them that well ’cause they are not open to me. They always say, “Oh that’s
African culture.” I think that I have more White friends than Black friends. I can
still talk to them and I always say hi. I always say, “I’m not Black American, I’m
African and I came from Kenya.”
All the teachers are really nice to me. They all are interested about Africa.
Africa is really cool. [They] always ask me, “Is it how we see on TV?” I tell them,
“No, it’s no way. [On TV] it’s like a jungle place. We have CDs, we have cars and
computers; it depends on what level class you come from.” They all are inter-
ested, and for my English class that’s all I did, my life comparing to American and
African. Yeah, even in my speech class, that’s all I did. My teacher was like, “Let’s
learn about Africa,” all the time.
I joined track as an after-school activity. That’s because my coach was, like,
“Are you from Africa, from Kenya?” I was, like, “Yes.” “Well, you have to join the
track [team] for me.” The funny thing is that I have never run before. [laughter]
He found out that I couldn’t run that well, but he taught me, and pushed me, and
it was fun. I met a lot of people; it was a good experience for me.
Educational Achievement for Social Action

Freshmen year, it was not good for me, even my GPA reflected that, and my par-
ents were disappointed. I was really disappointed myself because less than 3.0
GPA was a really big shock for me. All my teachers told me, “You have a lot of
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potentials, just try to get used to the school.” And so, in my sophomore year, I
tried really hard; I did all my homework and always ask questions. Even after
school—I went to school earlier and stayed later than everyone and my GPA was
able to go higher, to 3.8. That was really good thing for me. I’m hoping to do the
same thing this year—try to even get 4.0 GPA.
I just want to get my degree and go help people somewhere. I want to be some-
where in Africa or somewhere in China. Somewhere where I know I am useful to
help people. For me right now, going to school is a really big deal because I want to
help people. That’s the only way for me to get that education through school. For
me, that is the reason for going to school. For me, it’s getting a better education. I
have seen in Africa that people give up. You know, here you can drop out of school
and go to try your GED after a while. In Africa you don’t get to do that. When you
drop out of school, it’s a failure; it’s like an embarrassment to your family.
Also this year, Mr. Gervisay is recommending me to join the model UN, like a
club. I’m really opinionated. Especially like in Mr. Gervisay’s class, he encourages
you to talk about politics, what’s going in the world. Most people would be not
interested, [they say] “Oh, the war, it’s not in the U.S.” How could you be so igno-
rant about something that happened to you? It’s gonna affect you for the rest of
your life, you know. If you could just go, to have a chance to go to some countries
that are suffering and see the difference. You are so sheltered here that you can’t
step away; you will be so shocked.
I have the privilege of being here. For me, being here, my parents always
say, “The land of opportunities, take them.” You know, it’s really hard, for many
people dream to be here. And some of the best schools are here, like the state uni-
versity. [My parents] want me to go to school because I can be a better person. I
can help them raise [my] little sisters, you know, when they are older, look after
myself, and I wouldn’t get that chance if I didn’t have that education to be able to
get a job. Be better myself and be independent.
[For my future] I’m really battling between being a doctor or UN advocate, like
maybe a lawyer. To see the wrongs of all the countries’ policies and those stuff.
I wish I could be, not a secretary-general of the United Nations, but just trying to
see a way of being able to tell other countries, you know, if you did something
wrong, you have to face the consequences. Right now, in the world, any country,
as long as you have the power, you don’t face up to what you did wrong. Because
my parents punish me, you know, when I get something wrong—always have
the consequences, you always have to face it. I notice that other countries don’t
do that, and I always believe in the UN. Bunch of countries always together, you
know, try to make the world a better place. But being a doctor for me would be
fine, to do like doctor’s organizations, Doctors Without Borders. Maybe in Africa,
help a bunch of orphan kids and that would be a good thing. I don’t know—it’s a
hard one, maybe a pediatrician. Because I like kids. But I don’t know.
I guess being the fact that I am an international student, I have to push myself
harder. I have to work harder and to prove that I do have the intelligence as
everybody else and I should get the same opportunity as everybody else, espe-
cially with college. You can be anything. It doesn’t matter what color you are and
what shape, what country, what language you speak.
Just push yourself into being the best you can be, and try to strive the best
you can be. Just remember where you came from. You know, remember your ori-
gin in Africa. You’re not American; you’re African first. Always keep that in mind.
Commentary
C
hristina demonstrated remarkable resilience in adapting to school struc-
tures in various countries and cultures. When she described each school
experience, she eloquently noted a range of approaches to curriculum,
instructional methods, and homework practices. She compared administrative
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policies regarding student behavior, parent involvement, dress code, and more.
She analyzed her school achievement the first year in Shepardstown High School,
considering all those factors, and made explicit adjustments in her approach to her
studies, such as staying after school for help and practicing technology skills.
The importance of having peers in school who share some perspectives was
evident throughout Christina’s interview. From her description of the language dif-
ferences in Botswana and the lunch line rescue by the Ghanaian students in the
U.S. high school, it was clear that immigrant students are often isolated in facing
the academic and social realms of school. Unlike many immigrant students, how-
ever, Christina already spoke English, which established a common ground in aca-
demics and social endeavors. Yet Christina’s language of origin, nationality, African
identity, and more influenced her integration into the school. She emphasized that
there were very few Black students in her school, highlighting racial identity con-
cerns. Some students feel desperately alone despite spending their day in a school
building with hundreds, or even thousands, of other students and adults.
The issue of cultural isolation affects students’ views of school life, and it has
curricular and structural implications. The more teachers get to know students
through the curriculum, the more insight they may gain into students’ perspec-
tives, thereby cultivating authentic connections in relationships and in curricular
adaptations. Judith Blohm and Terri Lapinsky provide several examples of “link-
ing classroom to community” in a book that includes interviews with more than
two dozen teen immigrants.8 As structural remedies, some schools create buddy
systems, ambassador programs, and other safety nets to assist new students, espe-
cially immigrants, in navigating the mystifying structures of the school. Too often,
the quick-fix approach is used. For example, Christina told us, “I had an ambassa-
dor at the first day at school to show me all the classes, and she did help me, but,
like, the second day of the school, she left.”
In addition to the challenge of establishing peer groups, adapting to new tech-
nologies and teaching methods, and navigating surprising new institutional struc-
tures, fighting bias was a major theme in Christina’s school life. The perceptions
of some teachers and peers about the capabilities of an “African girl” did not sway
Christina’s determination to achieve academically, but it did make her feel that
she had to prove herself. Simultaneously, she spoke affectionately of most teach-
ers’ efforts to learn about her heritage and to weave her experiences in Africa into
her schoolwork. When confronted with a so-called positive stereotype—that all
Kenyans are talented runners—she laughed. She demonstrated a graceful capac-
ity to recognize the damaging implications of stereotypes while overcoming the
limits of prejudicial encounters. Such wisdom and stalwart determination are to be
commended, but they most certainly added tremendous weight to the challenge of
adapting to a new school and new culture.
By emphasizing markers of her identity as a Kenyan, and more broadly as an
African, Christina distinguished her language and her continent of origin as pow-
erful affinities, but she also differentiated herself from her African American coun-
terparts. She stressed that she had a “big deal . . . with people calling me Black
American,” pointing to the differences in historical heritage between recent Afri-
can immigrants and African Americans. The dynamic between African American
communities and African immigrant communities is a complex and multilayered
phenomenon.9 A report from the New York Public Library Schomberg Center for
Research in Black Culture observes that for many immigrants from Africa:
[I]dentity as “black” is often perceived as a negation of culture and origin, which Af-
ricans regard as the most important elements of identity. They are keenly aware that
they encounter racism and discrimination as black people; but they generally reject
the imposition of an identity they feel does not completely reflect who they are.10
Despite confronting racism and the implications of being Black in America,

Christina holds a classic view of the American dream. “You can be anything. It
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doesn’t matter what color you are and what shape, what country, what language
you speak,” she asserts. For Christina, this may well be true because of the com-
bination of her family’s social class advantage, their expectations that education
will make her a better person, and their model of academic achievement, among
other factors. Her peer support helps navigate the confusing cultural conflicts, and
the dedication of many teachers advances her academic achievement. From these
sources, and clearly based on her own strength, Christina had resolved to get her
degree and “go help people somewhere.” Christina’s accomplishments and deter-
mination raise the question about how schools can support rigorous academic
engagement of students who are culturally, linguistically, and racially different:
Specifically, how might schools influence all students to view successful education
as a means to serve others and to help fight injustice?

1. Christina described some examples of teachers’ and students’ demonstrating solidarity
with and empathy for her. How might a school encourage these gestures by staff mem-
bers and students, especially toward students who are culturally, racially, and linguisti-
cally different from the majority?
2. What do you think about Christina’s differentiation between African Americans and
Africans? What tensions are revealed in her statements? What is the role of the school
in recognizing and taking action regarding these tensions?
3. The practical aspects of daily school life can be a struggle for any new student. What
makes some of these challenges particularly difficult for international students? How
could Christina’s first experiences with the media center, cafeteria, locker combina-
tions, and the like be made more welcoming? If such welcoming strategies are not in
place in your school, what might you and your colleagues do to call attention to the
need for them, and what suggestions for effective change might you make?
Notes for Case Study: Christina Kamau
1. We appreciate the work of Dr. Carlie Tartakov, who interviewed Christina and provided support
for this case study. Dr. Tartakov is professor emerita at Iowa State University.
2. U.S. Census (2014). See also Takyi (2002).
3. U.S. Census Bureau (2014). See also Arthur (2000).
4. Mutume (2003). See also the United Nations webpage http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/
afrec/vol17no2/172brain.htm. See also Amadu Jack Kaba (2009).
5. Takougang (2003).
6. Lan Do Rong & Brown (2002).
7. Lindsey (2004); Hines (2002).
8. Blohm & Lapinsky (2006).
9. See two chapters in the edited book, The New African Diaspora (2009) edited by Okpewho &
Nkiru Nzegwu: (Eds): Clark’s (2009) chapter, Questions of Identity Among African Immigrants,
pp. 255–269, and Humphries (2009), chapter, Resisting “Race": Organizing African Transnational
Identities in the United States pp. 271–301.
10. Dodson & Diouf (2006). See also the web-based resource produced by the Schomburg Center for
Research in Black Culture, “In Motion: The African American Migration Experience” available at
http://www.inmotionaame.org/
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9 Adapting Curriculum for
Multicultural Classrooms
by Patty Bode
A
question that we hear time and time again is “What does a truly multi-
cultural curriculum look like?” Teachers are swamped with data about
achievement and models of so-called best practices. It can be difficult to
sort out trendy jargon from effective teaching.
When considering the implications of
the previous chapters, it is clear that multi-
cultural education is a multifaceted, complex
process. Nowhere is this process more visible
and palpable than in the curriculum teachers
implement in their classrooms. Many teach-
ers in pre-K–12 classrooms acknowledge the
need to adapt the curriculum and their prac-
tices to meet the needs of their increasingly
diverse student populations. They face many
challenges, however, in developing a multi-
cultural curriculum.
In keeping with our commitment to mak-
ing curriculum culturally relevant to specific
learning communities, we do not provide
specific lesson plans or “canned” curriculum
in this book. Instead, in this chapter, we pre-
sent three cases of curriculum change that
have been successful and engaging. There
Eric Donovan in Amanda Davis’s art class. Hull are myriad ways in which curriculum may
High School. Hull, Massachusetts. 2015. be conceived and designed. We do not advocate any one, single model. The three
approaches described in this chapter include concrete, hands-on examples to pro-
vide educators with both inspiration and ideas for developing a parallel unit on
a similar or different theme or to spin off an activity and add their own creative
questions in a range of content areas. The three cases include:
1. An interdisciplinary unit focusing on specific cultures and geographic regions
across middle school content areas: A study of Cambodia and the Cambodian
American Experience
“The curriculum is never simply a neutral assemblage of knowledge, somehow appearing in the texts and
classrooms of a nation. It is always part of a selective tradition, someone’s selection, some group’s vision
of legitimate knowledge.”
—Michael Apple
“The Politics of Official Knowledge,” Teachers College Record, 1993
289
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2. Expanding definitions of family: A thematic approach in first and seventh

grades
3. LGBTQ literature: Expanding topics for inclusive high school content
One approach to transforming curriculum through a more multicultural per-
spective is the strategy of teaching about a specific geographical region and the
cultural experiences of its people. This approach can develop rich, robust ques-
tions and understandings about specific groups, their histories, and their tradi-
tions. However, if the topic of a certain cultural group is approached as merely
“adding color” to the curriculum, teachers run the risk of stumbling into any one
of a number of pitfalls that run counter to the critical multicultural approach we
have advanced in the previous chapters. Such pitfalls include perpetuating stereo-
types by painting a group of people with a broad brush; exoticizing the “other”
through a shallow tourist approach; or, even more damaging, developing new
pigeonholes by reinforcing a limited understanding of the experiences of a group
of people. Out of concern for these pitfalls and fear of the unfamiliar, teachers may
shy away from presenting a unit about specific cultural groups.
On the other hand, using a problem-posing approach and constructing cur-
riculum with students on topics that both teachers and students want to explore
creates an authentic learning experience. This is not to suggest that teachers enter
blindly into creating curriculum on a random topic or subject area. Some prepara-
tion is always necessary. When teachers announce their own curiosity and model
their own struggle with ignorance, students are empowered to ask previously
hushed questions and uncover misconceptions. An example of such an approach
is illustrated in the first curriculum case.
Curricular Adaptation 1: A Study of Cambodia

and the Cambodian American Experience
When teachers use a problem-posing approach, students who are unfamiliar with
a particular topic, say, Cambodia and the Cambodian American experience, may
feel sanctioned to voice confusions that they might otherwise feel inhibited to
ask—for example: “I thought Cambodians and Vietnamese kids were the same.
How are they different?” “Why did Cambodian families move here to our com-
munity?” Or some students may point to social discrepancies that they feel uncom-
fortable about voicing: “I’m Cambodian and all my relatives are Cambodian, and
we all live together with our relatives in the apartments in town. Why don’t most
White kids live with their relatives?”
Students’ questions can reveal how social structures create stereotypes and
lack of information that may lead to tension, alienation, and conflict. Attentive
teachers can invite those questions and affirm a classroom culture that creates
trustful, respectful dialogue. Such dialogue reveals that many of us are wondering
about these questions and issues, and it also reveals why it is so crucial to use our
academic skills to demystify them. By modeling an inquisitive mind-set that takes
a social justice stance, educators can encourage students to express their curiosity.
Teachers can do this by making statements such as “There is a growing Cambo-
dian community here in our town. The first Cambodian families immigrated here
in the 1970s, yet 50 years later, we study very little about the Cambodian culture
or the experience of Cambodian American families in our school. Do you think it
is worth exploring this community?” Dialogue can help promote academic rigor
directed by a classroom community’s curiosity.
The example of curriculum that follows was developed by a team of teach-
ers of middle school students in an effort to stimulate intellectual growth, deepen
understanding, support curiosity, and affirm the identities of students from all back-
grounds. In addition to describing the curriculum that the team of teachers devel-
oped, this example also provides suggestions for expanding it.1 We hope this sample
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CHAPTER 9 Adapting Curriculum for Multicultural Classrooms 291
curriculum will be viewed within the framework of critical pedagogy and multicul-
tural education. It is one of many models that can be transferred and expanded to
other curriculum units of regional studies and cultural groups, and it lends itself to
continual adaptation by teachers for their specific learning communities.
What We Don’t Know

The team of seventh-grade teachers known as Team C was driven to develop and
implement this curriculum about Cambodia by their concern about the academic
achievement of their Cambodian students. The team included teachers of science,
math, social studies, English, and art and about 100 seventh graders. These teach-
ers noticed that, while there was a small population of Cambodian students (an
average of 8 to 10 in a school of about 630 students), the Cambodian students
expressed their culture in several distinct ways. Team C teachers also noticed,
with distress, that many of the Cambodian students in the school were experi-
encing low academic achievement. The individual teachers on the team brought
a range of philosophies and perspectives to their classrooms, but something on
which they all agreed was that they lacked knowledge about Cambodia and the
Cambodian American experience.
Preparation
Supported by the school system’s staff development funds, the team of teachers
met during the summer to study the topic of Cambodia. They enrolled in a course
called Cambodian Culture, American Soil: Conflict, Convergence and Compromise,
which was co-taught by a Cambodian teacher in their district and his colleague, an
activist in the community.2 In addition to taking the course, the principal also pro-
vided each teacher with copies of the book First They Killed My Father: A Daughter
of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung.3
While many school districts may not support such in-depth staff development,
an alternative approach to a study group could be for teachers to read primary
sources and have book discussions. Such an approach requires commitment of
considerable time and energy, but the results can be transformative.
Whether preparation for curriculum development comes through coursework,
reviewing literature, or field research, there is rarely a moment when teachers
think they know everything they should to embark on creating a curriculum. On
the contrary, thoughtful teachers are intensely aware of the seemingly endless
boundaries of knowledge on any given subject. Rather than avoid the unknown, a
problem-posing teacher launches into the topic by asking the students stimulating
questions. Herein lies the tension between overpreparing structured curriculum,
which may exclude student voices, and including student questions in the actual
development of the curriculum. Teacher preparation as a foundation is essential,
and setting some goals for framing students’ questions is helpful.4
Goal Setting
When setting goals from a multicultural perspective for a curriculum unit about
a geographical region or specific cultural group, teachers need to think beyond
content, facts, and figures to consider the unit of study as intellectual and cul-
tural work. Teachers who plan curriculum with a social justice mind-set bring
far-reaching goals to the curriculum design by considering what ideas will endure
long after the books are closed and years after the students leave their classrooms.
Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe refer to these concepts as “big ideas” or “enduring
understandings” and assert that depth of understanding is developed if these con-
cepts are articulated clearly in the classroom when embarking on a unit of study,
as opposed to content presented as only to be tested at the end.5
A multicultural curriculum with enduring understandings based on a social
justice perspective can help motivate teachers and students to work together
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toward social change. A unit about Cambodia and the Cambodian American expe-
rience could be designed with the following enduring understandings:
• Knowledge about historical events can help us understand current social
conditions.
• War, genocide, and forced migration deeply influence people’s lives for many
generations.
• Recovering, preserving, and renewing cultural identity are an ongoing process
of education, artistic expression, and cultural exchange.
• Awareness of the oppression and resistance experienced by a group of people
can motivate them, and others, to work toward social change.
These enduring understandings could be taught through many content areas within
a range of thematic topics, and they are transferable to other cases of war and dis-
placement. Note that none of these understandings mention the word Cambodia.
Rather, these enduring understandings assert knowledge that is transferable and rel-
evant to life-long learning. In this way, overarching goals such as the ones listed
above can serve as guidelines when teachers get into the nitty-gritty work of plan-
ning objectives for their daily lessons and activities to uncover more specific content.
Team C teachers formulated the following specific objectives for the unit:
• All students will understand the history of Cambodia and its relationship to
the United States.
• All students will develop inquiry about the Cambodian presence in western
Massachusetts: What do we know? What do we wonder? (What is our knowl-
edge? What are our questions?)
• All students will engage in direct involvement with the Cambodian commu-
nity: at the Cambodian community garden, at the Buddhist temple with the
monks, with high school “buddies” from the Cambodian club, and through
other community events.
• The curriculum will affirm the identity of Cambodian students and families.
• The curriculum will build understanding among all students of all backgrounds.
The first two objectives are traditionally academic in nature, pointing to under-
standing history and current events. The academic achievement embedded in the
overarching enduring understandings and in the specific objectives underscores
that multicultural education is basic education, as emphasized in this book’s defi-
nition of multicultural education. Likewise, the editors of Rethinking Schools have
consistently asserted that multicultural curriculum and classroom practice must be
academically rigorous.6 The deliberate intellectual grounding of this unit disputes
the misperception that multicultural curriculum is just about making people feel
good, as detractors may claim. Each of the objectives addresses academic engage-
ment in a variety of ways. Throughout this curriculum, you will see many oppor-
tunities for students to develop and increase academic and life skills.
The Work of Learning

One of the first questions teachers often ask is “How long should I spend on this
unit?” The unit about Cambodia and the Cambodian American experience was
developed and operated as three different schedule plans: (1) events throughout
the school year, (2) intensive study for one to three weeks, and (3) the focus group
week. We will give examples of the activities for the three different schedule plans.
Events Throughout the School Year

While the major framework and implementation of the unit work happened within
a one- to three-week schedule, many other experiences reinforced the overarching,
enduring understandings throughout the year. Team C teachers had a great deal of
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other curriculum on many other topics to complete throughout the year, yet they
viewed the entire school year as having various “pop-up” opportunities for teaching
and learning about the Cambodian experience unit. Some of the activities through-
out the year included visitors and field trips.
Visitors
A Community Member The social studies teacher invited Mr. Mao, a teacher in
the school and member of the Cambodian community, to visit her classes for four
different sessions. The students were captivated by Mr. Mao’s memories of his child-
hood, his family, his village, and his strategies for survival when captured by the
Khmer Rouge. He showed the students how he had to trick the Khmer Rouge soldiers
into believing he was a peasant farmer by demonstrating that he knew how to make
rope from raw fibers. Mr. Mao’s visits emphasized the grim tragedies of surviving
genocide as well as the resilience of human nature. His warm nature and sparkling
wit overcame the seventh graders’ discomfort with the difficult topic of genocide, cre-
ating a community of honest questioners. The personal accounts Mr. Mao related to
the class were reinforced by a series of videos, which the students had viewed previ-
ously about the history of Cambodia and the devastation caused by Pol Pot’s regime.
High School Khmer Culture Club Other guests included high school students
from the district’s Khmer Culture Club. The high school students shared their
experiences as Cambodian American teenagers. They discussed the challenges
of negotiating multiple cultural perspectives and the tension between traditional
Cambodian family structure and mainstream U.S. teen culture. Many of the high
school students had never been to Cambodia; they were born in the United States
or had emigrated as very young children from refugee camps. Their experiences
of Cambodia were vicarious, derived from collective memories of the elders in
their families. Some teens were second-generation Cambodian Americans. Some
were fluent in Khmer and English, and some spoke no Khmer. They articulated the
responsibilities of being bilingual youth in a culture in which most of the adults
with literacy skills had been murdered in the genocide. The challenge of becom-
ing assimilated into the U.S. mainstream while simultaneously maintaining cul-
tural solidarity with their families had often been compounded by their struggles
against institutionalized racism and poverty.
The teens also shared and taught traditional art forms, such as Cambodian
folk dance and poetry, to the middle school youth. In addition, they talked about
their favorite music and forms of entertainment in U.S. popular culture. The high
school students’ visits provided a dialogue and demonstration of the perspectives
of many postmodern youth who are fluent in family language, hip-hop culture,
Standard English, and multiple ways of expressing their academic and artistic
knowledge. By making multiple perspectives visible and embodied, these encoun-
ters expanded the notion of what it means to be Cambodian American.
Master Musician Another visitor, provided through the Cambodian Masters in

the Classroom Program, played traditional Cambodian music and demonstrated
traditional musical instruments to the whole team.7
Field Trips
Cambodian Community Garden In the early fall, the entire team took a trip to the
local Cambodian Community Garden. The vegetables grown in the garden were sold
to restaurants and farmer’s markets to raise funds for rebuilding temples and schools
in Cambodia. The whole team picked vegetables to contribute to the community effort.
Khmer Dance Performance A combination of serendipity and resourcefulness

brought Team C to a performing arts event at a nearby university. The Asian Arts
and Culture Program at the University of Massachusetts was hosting a performance
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of the award-winning Cambodian Angkor Dance Troupe from Lowell, Massachu-

setts.8 Because the teachers were alert to gleaning from the community all avail-
able knowledge related to the Cambodian experiences, and because they were
energetic enough to write grants to fund the trip, all seventh graders, including
Team C students, attended the dynamic dance performance. The Angkor Dance
Troupe features teen Cambodian dancers who are mastering the classical Cam-
bodian traditional dance forms as well as developing hybrid performances that
integrate break dance and other hip-hop forms into their movements. One of the
seventh graders, Eric, who was not Cambodian, made this observation about the
performance: “I wish I was a Cambodian dancer. Those guys can break dance
mad-cool and then they know their culture, too. I wish I had something like that.”
In lieu of a lucky coincidence of a live performance within walking distance of
one’s school, teachers can use videos, DVDs, and websites projected onto a large
screen to bring the performing arts to their students. For example, Monkey Dance is
a documentary film about three teens from the Angkor Dance Troupe coming of age
in Lowell, Massachusetts. The website about the film explains: “Children of Cambo-
dian refugees inhabit a tough, working class world overshadowed by their parents’
nightmares of the Khmer Rouge. Traditional Cambodian dance links them to their
parents’ culture, but fast cars, hip consumerism, and good times often pull harder.”9
The Peace Pagoda and the Nipponzan Myohoji Sangha Buddhist Temple Teach-
ers made connections with the monks at the nearby Buddhist temple10 in Lever-
ett, Massachusetts, where many of the Cambodian families gather for prayer and
meditation as well as for education and celebration. A field trip was planned in
early April so that Team C students could help clean the grounds and plant flow-
ers in anticipation of the annual Cambodian New Year celebration. Snowfall is not
unusual during spring in New England, and it snowed several inches on the day of
the field trip; the gardening plans turned into a snow-shoveling project, which also
included a snowball fight with the monks! In addition to learning about the humor
and snowball skills of the monks (the kind of knowledge that can only be gained
through the spontaneity and dynamism of a field trip), Team C students came to
learn about many of the symbols in the physical space of the temple and the role
of Buddhism in numerous Cambodian families.
Team C scheduled these visitors and field trips between September and June.
The teachers witnessed a sustained interest in the topic of Cambodia and the Cam-
bodian American experience long after the one- to three-week immersion study.
Giving the students some breathing room to consider the topic and the questions
that emerged throughout the school year reinforced the intellectual depth of the
study.
One- to Three-Week Unit

The teachers developed an intensive classroom unit of study that lasted from one to
three weeks. These time frames were flexible, depending on how often teachers met
with their classes and the depth of study on the topic. Because this curriculum was
enacted in a middle school, each Team C teacher taught in a specific discipline.
English Class The English teacher led an in-depth investigation of Cambodian

and Southeast Asian folktales. Students read from children’s picture books (tradi-
tional prose translated into English from the Khmer source) and watched videos of
storytellers. Specific attention was focused on how folktales use humor and meta-
phor to teach lessons. These activities met the state’s framework standards and
were integrated with a wider body of literature about cross-cultural folktales in the
English Department’s curriculum. Students could draw similarities and differences
about the literature while viewing the Cambodian folktales as a means for reclaim-
ing and reinvigorating cultural symbols that had been threatened by extinction in
the aftermath of the genocide.11
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Science Class During the two years that this curriculum was implemented, two
science teachers instructed students. One year, a science teacher led an investiga-
tion of endangered species in Southeast Asia. Students developed research projects
on specific animals and species. They expressed their findings in text and artis-
tic forms, creating oversized classroom books. The books of illustrated scientific
research were donated to the local elementary school, which served a large popu-
lation of Cambodian students. In addition, the seventh graders created bookmarks
depicting a synopsis of their research. They sold the bookmarks in a fund-raising
effort to purchase protected areas of rainforest in Southeast Asia.
Another year, a science teacher integrated his science curriculum with a study
of the local Cambodian Community Garden. While at the garden, the teacher led
groups in measuring the space with global positioning satellite (GPS) devices; stu-
dents worked with partners to map the surface area while learning about technol-
ogy and computation. At school, they visited the computer lab and learned how to
download and analyze the data. These science activities met the state’s framework
and standards for studying ecosystems and using technology for the collection and
analysis of data.
Social Studies Class The social studies teacher engaged the students in an explo-
ration of the refugee experience. They scrutinized the legal and social implications
of refugee status, giving specific attention to the ravages of war and the conditions
that cause a population to be forcibly displaced and become refugees. They devel-
oped questions about the plight of people in many regions, from Afghanistan and
Cambodia to the United States. In addition to studying groups from abroad who
have been named political refugees under U.S. policy, they also critically exam-
ined the history of American Indian groups and compared their status in their
native land as similar to the refugee experience.
Math Class The math teacher worked with concepts of ratio, proportion, and
scaling to compare and contrast the amount of space used in a typical house in
Cambodia with the amount of space in a typical house in the United States. The
math teacher worked with the Cambodian community teacher, who provided
lots of photographs and illustrations of houses in Cambodian villages and cities.
The students designed a scale model of a house that reflected the typical size and
shape of a Cambodian house. Meeting the seventh-grade math standards, they
worked from their individual design of a flat net that could be folded into a three-
dimensional structure.
The math teacher also worked closely with the science teacher on a map activ-
ity. Students divided the maps into sections and analyzed Cambodia’s ecosystems
in science class. In the math activity, they developed an analysis of the total Cam-
bodian population, compared to the population densities in specific areas of the
country. Using computational skills, they created a visual graph to illustrate their
understanding of how people are dispersed regionally. This activity was integrated
with the social studies investigation of the refugee experience to learn what the
population looked like before and after the war.
Art Class In art class, the seventh graders studied the history, architectural
design, and sculptural relief work of the temple of Angkor Wat. Studying the
twelfth-century temple as an example of architectural accomplishment and cul-
tural endurance helped bring alive the intersection of spiritual beliefs, political
struggles, and environmental changes in Cambodia’s history. Students explored
Cambodia’s cultural junctions with India and China through the presence of Hindu
and Buddhist traditions, multiple language influences, and the stories illustrated
by the seemingly endless sculptural murals of the temple.
By studying the symbolism, stories, and astonishing technical prowess
demonstrated in the construction of the temple, the seventh graders gained
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insight into the depth of history and the significance of the temple in present-
day Cambodia. One student exclaimed, “No wonder they put it in the middle of
their flag!”
Continuing with the art exploration, the students, using clay and plaster, cre-
ated their own relief sculptures depicting the animals they studied in science class
and the folktales they explored in English. When some students asked about copy-
ing illustrations of the goddesses that are carved on Angkor Wat, they engaged in
a group discussion about religious iconography and who had the right to appropri-
ate religious imagery. They imagined what it might be like for a classroom to pro-
duce 25 crucifixes or 25 images of the Star of David. They also looked at the work
of some contemporary artists who use religious imagery in their work—whether
reverently or irreverently—and noticed that most of these artists have a personal
connection with the religious images they use. Such open discussions helped stu-
dents make informed, deliberate decisions about whether they chose to imitate the
statues of the goddesses of Angkor Wat.
Focus Groups
After their intensive one- to three-week studies in the separate disciplines—visiting
each teacher throughout their school day as middle school students usually do—
Team C students chose a focus group in which to work. Each focus group worked
in a single discipline for a full school week. Students spent the entire day with
one teacher, working in depth on a single project. After reflecting on the power of
spending a whole week in one classroom with one teacher and the same group of
peers, one seventh grader said (enthusiastically) that it was “just like elementary
school!” Each focus group visited the art room daily to work on a visual art com-
ponent of the focus group project. Students chose from the following focus group
activities:
• The English teacher led a focus group of students to dramatize the folktales
the team had studied. Students made collaborative decisions while directing
plays, memorizing lines, creating costumes, and managing props and scenery.
In art class, they worked on scenery and props for the plays inspired by illus-
trations from the picture books and by their study of Angkor Wat.
• The science teacher led a focus group in the construction of a scale model of
the Cambodian Community Garden. Students used the data from their GPS
activity to re-create the plot of land they had visited on the field trip. To inves-
tigate how to grow certain vegetables, they compared the climate and envi-
ronmental conditions in Cambodia with the conditions in their hometown. In
art class, they used materials and techniques to develop the three-dimensional
effect of the scale model garden.
• The math focus group expanded the scale-model house design and built three-
dimensional houses to reflect their study of the typical architecture of Cam-
bodian houses. They carried their house to and from the art room each day,
adding structural and technical details, surface design, and texture to try to
depict an authentic-looking Cambodian house. In art class, they compared U.S.
houses to Cambodian houses and used images from the book Material World:
A Global Family Portrait, by Peter Menzel, Charles Mann, and Paul Kennedy, to
consider the implications of consumerism in the United States.12
• The social studies focus group decided to write and perform vignettes to dem-
onstrate various refugee experiences throughout the world. Some students
took on the role of the United Nations. Others assumed the role of the Red
Cross and the Red Crescent, some wrote and performed the parts of the refu-
gees, and some pretended to be military guards in refugee camps. In art class,
they worked on scenery, props, and costumes informed by their research pro-
jects and news media images.
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What You Can Do

Teach for Interreligious Understanding in Your Multicultural Curriculum
W hen students have questions about religious diversity,

many teachers shy away from such inquiries by chang-
ing the subject or by stating, “We do not talk about religion in
3. Worries or concerns we have as teachers about
approaching this topic
Then make an action plan to gather resources, become

school because of separation of church and state.” Our book
educated on the topic, and implement some activities in
certainly does not advocate teaching students a religious doc-
your classroom and school. Some resources can be found
trine or suggesting to them how or what they should believe.
at the website for the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious
However, questions about religious difference can be fodder
Understanding (http://www.tanenbaum.org/). The goal of
for academic study and scholarly research. Bringing questions
this center is to foster interreligious education and dialogue.
about religious difference out of secrecy and into classroom
They have an informative resource for grades K–5 called
discussion can promote interreligious understanding, expand
Religions in My Neighborhood,* and it is filled with unit plans
perspectives about religious freedoms in a democratic soci-
and hands-on activities rooted in “big ideas” and essen-
ety, engage students in school by affirming identity, and build
tial questions. This book and others can provide teach-
community. Students do not have to wait to get to high school
ers with practical means for integrating topics of religious
or college to take a course in comparative religions.
diversity into daily discussions that also support academic
Work with a group of colleagues in a collaborative discus-
achievement.
sion to make several lists on chart paper:
*Tannenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. (2010). Reli-
1. Questions about religious diversity that we have heard
gions in my neighborhood: Preparing students for a multicultural and
from students and teachers multireligious world. New York, NY.
2. Epithets or hurtful, prejudicial comments we have heard
from children and adults in our school
Demonstration Day
At the end of the focus group week, Team C students and teachers hosted Demon-
stration Day to illustrate their knowledge, understanding, and questions about Cam-
bodia and the Cambodian American experience. All families, friends, and school
personnel were invited. On a rotating schedule, visitors could enter each classroom
to get a sense of what the students had learned. The science focus group set up
their garden model in the art room, and the math focus group placed their houses in
the garden to create a scale model of a Cambodian village. The students welcomed
visitors and held discussions about contrasting and comparing the environments
and houses in Cambodia to those of the New England valley where they lived. The
English focus group performed miniplays inspired by the Cambodian folktales but
adapted by the seventh graders as “fractured fairytales” to reflect the intersection of
U.S. popular culture, ancient stories, middle school humor, and symbolism of the
Cambodian tales. The social studies focus group also performed their vignettes to
pull their audience members into the experiences of refugees. After each vignette,
the group held a question-and-answer session with the audience, drawing on their
research findings.
The seventh-grade students of Team C completed Demonstration Day with a
feeling of fulfillment and accomplishment. Each student participated fully in the
work of the intensive unit and individually evaluated his or her work. Each sev-
enth grader engaged in self-directed participation within a collective group goal
in his or her focus group. The students increased their skills in every academic
content area, yet the teachers and students realized that there was still much to
learn. Team C teachers asked the students to evaluate the learning experiences.
Students wrote many statements about their challenges, accomplishments, and
achievements. One Cambodian student, Prasour, wrote, “I liked this part of school
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when we studied my own culture. I thought it was awesome. The kids who
aren’t Cambodian thought it was awesome. It just makes you feel awesome to be
Cambodian.”
Develop Your Own Unit

The Team C teachers developed this unit of study in direct response to the experi-
ences in their school. Those who identify and affiliate with the Cambodian com-
munity, as well as those who do not, worked collectively to expand understandings
and academic achievement. Whether or not your school includes students from the
Cambodian community, there is certainly a great deal of value in members of all
affiliation groups learning about these experiences. But don’t stop with Cambodia.
Your School Population There may be other groups of students in your school
for whom you would like to expand understanding within the frame of academic
achievement and artistic expression demonstrated in this unit. We hope the out-
line of this unit might provide some perspectives, frameworks, and activities for
you to adapt to your school. As with the unit we just illustrated, it does not need
to be a large population of one affiliation group for it to be meaningful for all stu-
dents. Does your school have just one family from a region that is unfamiliar to
most? Do some of your students of color only find affirmation with one another,
and find very little reflection in the curriculum? Does the curriculum accentuate
the foreign, rather than the familiar, for students from families that have arrived
in the past few years? For example, the Twin Cities region of Minnesota is home
to the largest population of Somali families in the United States, and Columbus,
Ohio, holds the second largest. Teachers in the regions of the Twin Cities and
Columbus may find useful ideas from this unit for developing a congruent cur-
riculum for the needs of their schools. Other recent arrivals from Syria are settling
throughout California and Michigan—especially in the Detroit region. Teachers in
those communities may draw inspiration from the techniques of these teachers
who rooted their work in academic goals to affirm families, advance student voice,
support teacher research, and expand community understandings.
Curricular Adaptation 2: Expanding Definitions

of Family
Another approach to transforming a curriculum is the strategy of examining a par-
ticular theme from a variety of perspectives. In the curricular adaptation that fol-
lows, we offer a glimpse into a study of family as the theme. The concept of family
has always been both deeply political and intimately personal. The political frame-
work for defining family has become a contentious issue in recent years because of
the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community’s
struggle to gain legal marital status. The voices of political parties and special
interest lobbying groups that claim ownership of the definition of family values
have punctuated the controversy.
This case is divided into descriptions of two approaches to curricular adapta-
tion. The first case examines the topic of family in a first grade, and the second
portion of this case presents a middle school setting.
Why the Topic of Family?

The topic of family is an attractive theme for teachers because it offers many
promising possibilities. The promise lies in the idea that every student, from pre-
school through high school, may be able to tell a story about family and relate
to ideas about family change. Such stories and ideas provide ways for teachers
and students to collaborate and involve every student in the curriculum. If these
attributes are not approached with a critical multicultural perspective, however,
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a curriculum about family can prove to be problematic—even damaging—to stu-

dents. What is often thought to be a “universal” theme requires acknowledgment
of multiple experiences and perspectives, with specific attention to deep-seated
myopic views of the definition of family that may work to support institutional
oppression of some people.
Who Is Included?
For example, families who are headed by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
people have been the specific target of oppressive political campaigns, and they
are frequently ignored or deliberately silenced in school curricula. Also, families
headed by adults who are not married, whether homosexual or heterosexual, are
excluded from traditional definitions of family, and the children of these families
may be questioned about the validity of their family structure. In spite of their
growing presence, families headed by single parents and grandparents raising chil-
dren are still not affirmed in many curricula. Students who have family members
who are incarcerated rarely see a welcome opportunity to share their story, and
some teachers silence them if they attempt to raise the topic. Families caring for
members with mental illness may be reluctant to participate in a classroom invi-
tation to share stories from home. The perspective of children of adoption is fre-
quently omitted in classroom discussions about heredity and family trees. There
are as many pitfalls in approaching family as a theme as there are families in our
schools. How does a teacher develop a curriculum about family that draws from
the strength of one of the most elemental human experiences and simultaneously
lead students to fight oppression, develop critical thinking skills, and affirm all
community members?
When teachers embark on the study of family with clarity about the long-term
goals of the unit, it helps students tap into the shared understanding of human
experience. Long-term goal setting may help avoid activities that exclude some
students from the classroom community. In its most effective form, a curriculum
rooted in big ideas or enduring understandings will lead students to advocate for
human rights for all families.
Avoiding Pitfalls
A common activity in curriculum about family includes students’ researching the
history of their names. While this can be a powerful community-building activity,
it is also rife with difficulties, especially when it is not grounded by an overarching
long-term goal. Many students may know the family story of their name or may
have easy access to it by asking family members who are eager to share the story.
However, many children may not. Children of adoption and children in foster care
may not know the origin of their name and may feel that such an assignment will
lower their status as a classroom community member. Other students may have
painful associations with the history of their name, such as one student we met
who reported that he was named after a family member who had been incarcer-
ated for abusing him.
Rather than discard the assignment about researching one’s name and rel-
egate such potentially robust activities to the “untouchable” category, teachers
may develop a menu of various assignments from which students can choose. For
example, if the big idea of the assignment is to engage in research skills related to
naming and personal history, the menu of activities might include the following:
• Research the name of the street on which you live (or the name of the build-
ing, housing community, or neighborhood; or the building in which your faith
community worships; or the land on which your tribal community lives). Find
out when it was named and why. Tell us something about its history, and if
you choose the place where you live (building, street, housing community,
or tribal community land), find out when your family moved there or started
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living there. Some family moves are exciting and celebratory. Other family
moves may be a response to family and community difficulties, such as eco-
nomic strife, divorce, abuse, natural disasters, or political oppression. Tell us
only what you and your family would like to share.
• Research the name of our school and compare it to the name of another school
in our district that you have never attended. Tell us something about the his-
tory of the school between the time it was named and the time you began
attending the school.
• Research the name of an important person in your family, your religious com-
munity, your tribal community, or your cultural community. Tell us something
about what the name means. Tell us something about the history of the person
between the time she or he was named and the time you were born.
• Research your name and its origins. Find out who chose your name and why.
Tell us something about what your name means. Tell us something about the
history of your family between the time you were named and the time you
began attending this school.
A culminating activity may involve each student creating an artistic repre-
sentation of his or her own name to display as a heading for his or her research
presentations. The artistic representations may provide another way for students
to demonstrate knowledge while simultaneously bringing a unifying activity to
a classroom where students have been engaged in an assortment of research
projects.
The pitfalls and promises of the history-of-your-name activity are examples of
why it is critical to begin a curriculum with big ideas or enduring understandings,
rather than simply planning activities. This curricular activity also exemplifies the
delicate balance inherent in a teacher’s role. Even the most thorough multicultural
curriculum cannot solve the personal crises that some children face. When stu-
dents reveal painful memories or dangerous situations, it is critical that teachers
tap into the resources in the school and community through guidance counselors
and social workers to keep their students healthy and safe.
What follows are examples of curriculum for two different grade levels: one
created by first-grade teachers and students, another created by a middle school
team of teachers.
First-Grade Curriculum Based on Big Ideas in Gina Simm’s

and Susie Secco’s Classrooms
The first-grade curriculum about family stems from the following four big ideas or
enduring understandings and essential questions developed by first-grade teachers
Gina Simm and Susie Secco:
1. There are all kinds of families:
• What is a family?
• How do we know a group of people make up a family?
2. Families have wants and needs:
• What do families need? (food, water, clothing, shelter, love)
• What is the difference between a need and a want?
• What are some things that you must have to survive?
• Is money a want or a need? Are some things “in between”? Do all families
need a way to exchange goods?
3. Responsibilities:
• What are the responsibilities that parents and guardians attend to while
kids are at school?
• What are the responsibilities of each child in the family?
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4. Experiencing change is common to all families. Examples of change are

marriage, divorce, getting older, moving, illness, getting well, death, birth,
adoption:
• Does change happen in all families?
• Why do we like or dislike change?
• Can we prepare for change in families?
With these enduring understandings in mind, the first-grade teachers start each
school year with the integrated social studies unit on family and spend approxi-
mately six weeks incorporating these big ideas into all aspects of the curriculum.
As the year unfolds, they also study other units in specific content areas that rein-
force and revisit many of the enduring understandings that were established dur-
ing the unit on family. The other units in the social studies and science curricula
are anchored in the big ideas concerning the family unit throughout the year.
All Kinds of Families

The teachers deliberately take an antibias approach throughout the six-week unit on
family, as well as throughout the school year, by teaching first graders that there are
all kinds of families. Through children’s literature, the daily calendar, math prob-
lems, and other activities of classroom life, the students consistently see images of,
and learn about, family diversity. Specific attention is given to affirming the particu-
lar families of the children in the classroom while simultaneously expanding the
students’ views of what family can be. Some of the many examples of “all kinds of
families” include families headed by gay dads and lesbian moms; families experienc-
ing divorce; families created or expanded through adoption; single-parent families;
families struggling with financial resources; multi-ethnic and multiracial families;
foster families; families experiencing illness or death; families in which the grand-
parents are raising the children; families with stepparents and stepsiblings; families
from a wide range of different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds; and families
that may be defined as nuclear or so-called traditional families.
Families in the Classroom

In many schools, the practice of bringing family members from all walks of life
into the classroom as helpers and experts has seen more support in recent years. In
a unit about family, this is certainly a dynamic component. Teachers can develop
many creative means for parents, guardians, and extended family members to be
present. However, making all families “visible” and honoring the diversity of their
life experiences are challenging endeavors. To explore the big idea about families
and responsibilities, one teacher developed an activity that meets the challenge.
At the beginning of this activity, the classroom community discusses the idea
of responsibilities. The students complete a series of assignments to explore and
document the responsibilities of adults and children in the family. The assign-
ments are designed to raise awareness of responsibilities but also to make every
child’s family visible and valued in the classroom. The students in the class make
a list of responsibilities that they have in school or “jobs” they need to accomplish.
This simple task expands the notion of what it means to have a “job” beyond a
place of work where one gets paid. Especially for children in families struggling
with unemployment, this broad view of jobs and responsibilities affirms the work
of all family members. The class also makes a list of jobs that kids do at home,
such as making their beds, walking the dog, carrying their plates to the sink, help-
ing to carry groceries, folding towels, and so on.
After developing their understanding of responsibilities, each first grader con-
ducts a family survey by interviewing the adults in the family, asking questions
such as “What responsibilities do you have while I am at school?” “What jobs
do you do, either at home or away from home?” These interview questions allow
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for a range of replies, which may not be true of the more limiting question that
children frequently hear: “Where do your parents work?” The first graders learn
more about what their caregivers do and about the assortment of possibilities of
adult responsibilities; the teacher gains a better view of the complex workings of
each student’s family. The assignment results in adults’ replies, such as caring
for younger children or elders, searching for employment, cleaning or fixing up
the home, taking care of the yard, volunteer work, going to school, resting to go
to the night shift at work, and many more. The students hear about a variety of
places that people call work: the office, the school, the fire station, the bakery, the
construction site, the chemistry lab, the home, the sandwich shop, the hospital,
grandma’s house, the cafeteria, the hotel, and more.
Part of the interview requires the students to ask the adults what they have to
be good at to accomplish their responsibilities. This kind of questioning affirms the
multiple intelligences required for everyday life. Children hear about skills such as
talking to people, knowing when the baby is hungry, using special tools, keeping
things organized, being a good listener, making food taste good, knowing different
kinds of plants, figuring out when a burning building might fall down (in the case
of a parent who is a firefighter), and so on. The assignment continues with stu-
dents’ researching the jobs for which all the children in their home have responsi-
bility. Eventually, they investigate what the adults in their families imagined they
would be when they grew up and how this compares to the adult responsibilities
they now have. Finally, the students spend time drawing, writing, and presenting
their investigations, culminating in imagining several kinds of responsibilities they
would like to have when they grow up.
The work of multicultural education is not only to affirm students about who
they are, but also to challenge them about who they might become. This variation
on a common early childhood activity of “What do you want to be?” is designed
to provide multiple models, unleash the imagination, and expand the possibilities
these first graders envision for themselves. All the while, every family “comes to
life” in the class, even if the adults in the family are not able to enter the class-
room door.
Children’s Literature
The first-grade teachers use children’s literature to emphasize that there is not one
“normal” way to experience family, but rather that diversity is normal. While read-
ing lively and engaging children’s literature such as 1 2 3: A Family Counting Book,
by Bobbie Combs and illustrated by Dannamarie Hosler, students see paintings that
depict families headed by gays and lesbians, including two dads reading a bedtime
story to their children, two moms sharing popsicles with their children on the porch,
and several families gathered in community activities.13 Using children’s literature
that includes encounters with families with same-sex parents deliberately combats
heterosexism in early childhood and provides opportunities to teach explicitly about
human rights for all families. When students learn accurate, respectful language and
vocabulary regarding the LGBTQ community, they are better able to respond to anti-
LGBTQ perspectives.
While the selection of children’s literature that depicts families headed by
LGBTQ people is still limited, it has grown significantly in breadth and depth since
1989, when Leslea Newman wrote and self-published Heather Has Two Mom-
mies.14 For the 20th anniversary of that book in 2009, Newman and many other
authors and publishers expanded children’s literature selections with texts that
affirm families headed by gay and lesbian couples, single people, and LGBTQ par-
ents who have separated. Some recent titles for early childhood literacy activities
that discuss a more inclusive definition of family and that affirm families headed
by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are listed on the websites of the
Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Welcoming Schools
of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.15
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The list of titles in children’s literature that affirm LGBTQ

identity is growing in number. Early childhood teachers and stu-
dents who are engaging in the “dangerous discourse” (which we
discussed in our definition of multicultural education as education
for social justice) use these books and other similar resources.16
Dangerous discourse becomes common practice and unthreaten-
ing when these books are integrated into daily literacy activities
that develop reading and listening skills, motivate class discus-
sion, and make interdisciplinary connections. Along with books
that depict many other kinds of families, a rich children’s liter-
ature collection affirms diverse family structures and questions
those who exclude families headed by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender parents from fully participating in a democracy.
Early childhood is an essential phase of development in which
to address heterosexism by integrating this literature. Children are
on the cusp of what Louise Derman-Sparks called pre-prejudice.
They are asking questions that may be naïve about society’s
oppressions, or they may be ventriloquizing social epithets with-
out understanding the meaning behind the words. First grade is an
Calendar piece from Gina Simm’s and Susie educational stage ripe with opportunity to expand a child’s world.17
Secco’s first-grade classrooms. Design inspired
by Val Penniman’s and Debbie Shumway’s
Calendar Connections. Daily Calendar and Family Concepts
Each day in these first-grade classrooms starts with a morning meeting and calendar
activity. Using a model created by their fellow teacher Val Penniman and school
parent Debbie Shumway, the teachers introduce alphabet skills, vocabulary, math
patterns, and concepts about the current unit through the calendar activity. For the
family unit, the teachers designed daily calendar pieces (using clip art) to delve into
concepts and vocabulary with which the children are familiar, but that they may not
always have the opportunity to use to develop academic knowledge.
For example, on calendar day 4, the alphabet letter is D and the vocabulary
words are difference, dad, divorce, and deaf. By including words such as divorce,
difference, and deaf along with words that may be more typical of a family unit
such as dad, the classroom curriculum is normalizing experiences so children may
engage in academic skill development, while some who are usually marginalized
are affirmed in their family experiences. Simultaneously, other children are chal-
lenged to expand their perspective of families. Integrating vocabulary words such
as divorce and deaf provides a means for students to ask questions and share
stories in an emotionally safe and academically rigorous environment. Abilities,
disabilities, and family change are studied through stories and new vocabulary.
All Kinds of Family Portraits

Artistic expression is honored in these classrooms as a form of sharing knowledge.
Every student creates a family portrait. By studying various examples of family por-
traits from contemporary and historical artists, the first graders gain a panoramic
view of the multitude of ways in which the concept of family can be expressed. A
curriculum that expands the definition of family also expands the notion of what is
included in a family portrait. The book Honoring Our Ancestors, edited by Harriet
Rohmer, is illustrated with lively paintings by various artists who depict “ances-
tors” in poetic and metaphorical ways.18 The paintings in this book represent family
memories, spiritual stories, family quotes, and even a room with nobody in it to
remind the viewer of the loss of a loved one. Each painting is accompanied by an
artist’s narrative in very “kid-friendly” language, which leads first graders through
robust literacy activities that integrate the visual image with the written word.
In another strategy to connect visual imagery and text, teachers and students
study the books created by Family Diversity Projects in which many different
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kinds of families are portrayed in captivating photographs with accompanying

interviews of family members. Family Diversity Projects creates traveling photo-
text exhibits, books, and curriculum that use photography and interview texts to
depict the true stories of real families as powerful tools for developing critical
thinking. In addition to using the books as curriculum resources, many teachers
and schools display the touring photo-text exhibits, which can be rented from the
Family Diversity Projects collection. Currently, they have seven books and trave-
ling exhibits19:
• In Our Family: portraits of all kinds of families
• Love Makes a Family: portraits of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender peo-
ple and their families
• We Have Faith: LGBT clergy and people of faith speak out
• Road to Freedom: portraits of people with disabilities
• Nothing to Hide: mental illness in the family
• Of Many Colors: portraits of multiracial families
• Pioneering Voices: portraits of transgender people
Throughout the study of family, first graders see images and hear stories of
families that remind them of their own families. These images and stories also
serve the purpose of stretching their understanding of what other families are
like. The work of multicultural education for social justice begins in the earliest
grades with the most elemental of human experience to help students imagine a
fair world for “all kinds of families.”
Middle School Interdisciplinary Curriculum

on the Theme of Family
The exhibits and books of the Family Diversity Projects also serve as anchors for
the integrated middle school curriculum about family. The middle school teach-
ers developed big ideas to expand skills and inquiry across all content areas. The
Michael Warren, in Gina Simm’s class. Family portrait.
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What You Can Do

Make Your School a “Welcoming School”
Y ou can make your school a “Welcoming School” with reli-

able, well-researched resources. When elementary school
teachers have concerns about how to address family diversity,
challenging questions, and tips for your school. They also
provide two brief films that are well suited for professional
development meetings:
gender stereotyping, and bullying in the curriculum, they need
• In What Can We Do? Bias, Bullying, and Bystanders,
curriculum materials to support their work and their students’
students share put-downs that they hear in school. The
academic achievement. The teachers in this curriculum case,
12-minute training film also spotlights experienced teach-
Gina Simm and Susie Secco, developed their first-grade curric-
ers engaging students with HRC Welcoming Schools
ulum long before such products and web resources were avail-
lesson plans on bias, bullying, and standing up for each
able, but now the Human Rights Campaign Foundation provides
other to create a more connected classroom community.
a curriculum for teachers, administrators, and families through
• What Do You Know? is an award-winning 13-minute film
their Welcoming Schools project. Their website “Creating Safe
produced by HRC Welcoming Schools for elementary
and Welcoming Schools for All Children & Families” explains:
school educators and parents/caregivers. It features stu-
Welcoming Schools, a project of the HRC Foundation, is dents from Alabama and Massachusetts discussing what
a comprehensive approach to improving school climate in they know about LGBTQ people, what they hear at school,
elementary school environments with training, resources, and how teachers can help. The students offer thoughtful,
and lessons to help schools in embracing family diver- poignant commentary on their experiences in school with
sity, creating LGBTQ-inclusive schools, preventing bias- regard to LGBTQ topics and show that students already
based bullying, creating gender-expansive schools, and know about and want teachers to discuss LGBTQ people
supporting transgender and non-binary students.* and related issues in the classroom with them.
It is one of the few free resources available to elementary

*Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.,
schools that are inclusive of LGBTQ families and individu-
Washington, DC 20036 (http://www.welcomingschools.org; welcom-
als. Various pages of the Welcoming Schools website pro- [email protected]; phone: 202-628-4160; TTY: 202-216-1572; fax:
vide: lesson plans, lists of books, definitions, responses to 866-304-3257).
enduring understanding is that oppression and resistance are experienced and

acted upon in diverse ways by families in our society. The essential questions that
emerge from this idea are:
• How do we create an inclusive definition of family?
• What is family?
• Where do I belong?
Bearing in mind the difficulties that some students may encounter with a cur-
riculum about families, the teachers did not ask students to bring in family pho-
tographs. They knew that many children would not have family photos and that
some children would feel uncomfortably exposed by a requirement to share family
photos. Instead, the team focused on the materials in the Family Diversity Projects
photo-text exhibit called In Our Family and on books, as well as discussions about
the teachers and staff members’ families, as points of departure for research. Thus,
all teachers brought their own family photos to share with the students at the
beginning of the unit. These family photos provided opportunities to discuss the
various ways of defining family and to share with the middle school students some
aspects of the teachers’ lives beyond the classroom walls.20
Diversity Within Groups

At first glance, it would appear that the team of teachers who undertook this unit
was a group of middle-class White people. This is true, but it is not the whole story.
The teachers were critically aware of the dominance of their identities and believed
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that their students deserved to see many different kinds of families modeled in class
discussions. When the team presented their family photos to the students, the class-
room community discussions pointed out the many ways in which the teachers’
families were different.
In one case, a female teacher was married to a man who had children from
a previous union, so she had stepchildren. One male teacher was married to a
woman and had no children. One female teacher had three sons: one from her first
marriage, one from her second marriage in which she was still partnered, and one
foster son who was different racially from her other family members. One female
teacher lived with her lesbian partner and was adopting a child of a different race.
One White male teacher was married to a White woman and they had two biologi-
cal children—the only “nuclear” or “traditional” family among the teaching team.
These differences opened up opportunities for considering other kinds of
diversity. Teachers invited other school faculty and staff members to visit their
classrooms and bring some of their family photos. The faculty and staff visitors
included a Jewish woman who told the story of her parents’ surviving the Holo-
caust and the loss of her husband to cancer, as well as the triumph of her niece
over cancer; an African American man who with his wife is raising their grandson;
and a biracial gay man who had been adopted by a White family and later adopted
two African American sons himself.
These conversations about the families in which the adults live provided mod-
els for students’ consideration of the topic of family as an academic subject, rich
with research possibilities. The students saw the teachers as full participants in
the unit of study, rather than simply as “deliverers” of information. The unin-
tended consequence of this activity was that students witnessed different adults
sharing their family experiences at varying levels of disclosure with distinct styles
of storytelling. It gave students a range of models from which to embark on their
academic work.
Studying Our Own Assumptions

The social studies teacher launched the study by bringing each class to the Fam-
ily Diversity Projects photo exhibit before the accompanying text was installed in
the display. (A similar activity could be designed by looking at books and photo-
copies of pictures of families.) The students examined each photograph and wrote
responses to prompts such as:
• Find a family with whom you think you have something in common.
• Find a family with whom you think you have nothing in common.
• Pick a photo that makes you curious; write your questions.
• Pick a photo that makes you smile; tell us why you smiled.
• Pick a photo that makes you sad; tell us why it made you sad.
The social studies students compared each other’s responses to the photos.
They began to look critically at assumptions they had made on the basis of a pho-
tograph. Then the teachers added the companion text to each photograph, and the
students revisited the exhibit, with plenty of time to read the text.
The reading and analysis of the text pointed to the sociological objectives of
the unit. Students uncovered ways in which they made assumptions about some
families and how those assumptions may stem from, or lead to, stereotypes. Stu-
dents also learned ways in which they made accurate guesses about some of the
families. For example, Jeffrey pointed out a family of four—made up of a mom, a
dad, and two sons who were both wearing baseball caps—as one that was similar
to his own family because their family structure and love of baseball were similar
to his family’s. Upon reading the text, Jeffrey learned that all four people in the
photo are deaf and communicate in American Sign Language, which is different
from the hearing and language abilities of Jeffrey’s family.
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Group Membership and Responsibility

The activities that we have discussed so far eventually led to a study of how peo-
ple group themselves and how society groups people. The students started with
examining their membership roles in family and then moved on to examining their
membership in other groups, such as basketball teams, lunch-table groups, after-
school clubs, religious communities, racial groups, ability groups, and so forth. This
examination included analyzing group behavior and social influences on groups.
When juxtaposed with the histories of various groups, these analyses helped to
flesh out stories of historical oppression and resistance in the minds of these mid-
dle school students. Rather than demonizing one group or romanticizing another,
students began to see the links of social power, social position, and group power.
Ultimately, the students critically analyzed their own group membership and their
social responsibilities within groups. They worked cooperatively to develop strate-
gies to take responsibility when these groups dominate other groups in the micro-
cosm of the middle school, as well as in the larger society.
Reading, Writing, Researching, and Reflecting

The language arts curriculum explored the experiences of diverse families through
literature. Like photo-text exhibits, literature offers students an opportunity to
engage in other families’ experiences, some that may resonate with their own and
some that may open new worldviews to their early adolescent minds.
The middle school students selected books from an array of titles and genres.
Poetry was a central vehicle for expression and questioning in the English class.
Building on the curriculum advanced by Linda Christensen in Reading, Writing
and, Rising Up, each student composed a poem called “I Am From” to articulate
the multiple dimensions of identity within family.21
While the work of poetry writing and literature circles was evolving in
the English classroom, the students embarked on homework research projects
to investigate their family histories. Again, if such a project is undertaken, it
is advisable to provide a menu of assignments from which each student may
choose to find meaningful, affirming work that also expands his or her aca-
demic skills. For example, a common project may be to ask students to research
and report on when their family immigrated to this country. But when a teacher
approaches the curriculum with the big idea in mind (oppression and resist-
ance are experienced and acted upon in diverse ways by families in our society),
the exclusion of Native American children in an assignment about immigra-
tion becomes more obvious. When teachers approach the big ideas with criti-
cal pedagogy, the students in the classroom consider multiple views of what
immigration means to various families. This array of perspectives may include
the forced migration and extermination of Native Americans, the forced immi-
gration of enslaved people, immigration to escape war and political oppression,
refugee experiences, the circular migration/immigration families in U.S. terri-
tories (called colonies by some) such as Puerto Rico, and the ongoing political
oppression and resistance of families caught in the crossfire of U.S. immigration
restrictions. When research findings based on each student’s family’s perspec-
tives are integrated in a critical classroom context, voice is given to stories that
have been silenced, encouraging students to question narratives that exclude
some family experiences.
Measuring, Reflecting, and Representing

In math class, the middle school students spent a two-week period that the math
teacher called “A Day in the Life” carefully measuring how their time was spent.
They created circle graphs (pie charts) and bar graphs to analyze the percentage
of time spent with family, comparing this percentage to time spent on home-
work, in extracurricular events, with friends, and other tasks such as personal
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grooming. (Grooming was a substantial piece of most middle school students’

pie charts and graphs!) Students learned critical time management skills as well
as gained an understanding of the diverse ways that their peers’ families spend
time.
Genetics, Probability, and Critical Pedagogy

Starting with two essential questions—“What is family?” and “Where do I
belong?”—the science curriculum was integrated with math to study probability
equations related to genetics and human traits such as eye color. By studying
the science of genetic structure and the mathematical strategies to predict human
traits, students of all family backgrounds and configurations are affirmed. Rather
than starting with what each student knows about his or her heritage, teachers
can start with what they do not know and what they are curious about to form
hypotheses concerning their ancestors’ genetic composition. Science teachers can
present a variety of examples from which students may choose to develop their
equations and predictions. This activity is more welcoming to children of adop-
tion and others who may have no information about their biological heredity. The
students learn academic skills for analyzing data and pursuing deeply personal
questions.
Old Arguments, New Knowledge, and Social Justice

A scientifically grounded study of genetics also provides well-informed arguments
against racism and ethnic oppression. A critical pedagogy examines misinforma-
tion about intelligence and ability and replaces it with methodologically rigorous
academic knowledge. Given the increasing race-based and ethnic-based hate
crimes and genocides around the globe, students can develop accurate, rational,
and scientifically sound refutations to historically and ethnically rooted oppressions.
By integrating their sociological research findings on group membership and group
behavior with scientific and mathematical skills, middle school students can make
informed choices about human rights issues that affect their own families. They can
become activists with regard to global concerns.
Research Questions
The development of students as activist scholars was woven throughout each
subject, and social studies objectives were evident in all content areas. In one of
the final social studies assignments, students chose a research question to pursue
through a variety of methods. For example, one student’s question was “What gets
families through hard times?” She practiced social science research methodologies,
such as reading the photo-text exhibit, interviewing her own family members, and
interviewing friends and neighbors. She contrasted these real-life families’ experi-
ences with those of families she saw on television. Many students were compelled
to compare their research data with the representation of families in the media. Stu-
dents learned how to organize their data by themes and write essays with a critical
eye toward the media’s representation of family.
Visual Art and Visual Culture

To address the many messages regarding what families look like in visual cul-
ture, the interdisciplinary art curriculum was integrated with the social studies
skills the students had developed. By examining images of families in film, web
media, print media, fine art, and various expressions of popular culture, students
can develop skills in critical and visual literacy. Within this dialogue, the middle
school students drew self-portraits in the context of family portraits. By develop-
ing confidence in art-making skills, this lesson encouraged student expressions
about diverse families while expanding concepts about art and the powerful role
of visual culture.
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What You Can Do

Use Technology to Expand Multicultural Curriculum
E very teacher knows that technology tools have the poten-

tial to engage students, expand understanding, boost
achievement, and bring new perspectives to what counts as
situate decisions about technology in the classroom with a
much more holistic view of communication, caring, citizen-
ship, and knowledge.
knowledge. The reach of technology in our students’ lives is Literacy, Technology, and Diversity by Jim Cummins,
a powerful incentive to bring these fluencies into academic Kristin Brown, and Dennis Sayers.† Based on rigorous
relevance. While digital devices, social media, or software can- research using longitudinal studies of classroom practices,
not replace the influence of a great teacher, the broad array of this book provides various teaching approaches that address
current instruments, applications, and networks can serve our literacy from a multicultural perspective. By examining six
students’ academic engagement and provide them with knowl- cases of classrooms that employ a range of technologies as
edge and skills to apply in their future scholastic and career tools for learning, the book gives teachers an understanding
endeavors. The implementation of technology in schools is of the promises of these pedagogical techniques. The authors
a multicultural issue when you consider the multi-literacies in close with a plan of literacy instruction for the information age
which students need to develop fluency to successfully navi- as an alternative to many current practices.
gate their worlds. Additionally, issues about the digital divide in Bold Moves for Schools: How We Create Remark-
access to technologies remains a challenge that schools must able Learning Environments by Heidi Hayes Jacobs and
address. But in this ever-changing world of gizmos, gadgets, Marie Hubley Alcock.‡ This book maintains deep respect for
and apps, where does a teacher begin to make decisions teachers while advancing a practical way to connect trans-
about using technology for rigorous classroom relevance? formational curriculum and instruction within a full vision of
Here are some specific book recommendations. These necessary change in the digital environment. The authors hold
texts do not preach specific curriculum frameworks or outline a steadfast view of equity while guiding teachers, schools,
lesson plans. These are books that engage in conceptual and districts from the twenty-first-century skills conversation
understandings of the role of technology in the multifaceted into meaningful change.
and complex matrix of curriculum design and meaningful *
Collins, A. (2017). What’s worth teaching? Rethinking curriculum in
teaching:
the age of technology. New York: Teachers College Press.
What’s Worth Teaching? Rethinking Curriculum in the †
Cummins, J., Brown, K., & Sayers, D. (2007). Literacy, technology,
Age of Technology by Allan Collins.* This book speaks to and diversity: Teaching for success in changing times. Boston: Allyn &
reconsidering curriculum decisions. It is not a how-to, or a Bacon/Pearson.
curriculum framework book; rather, it will spark teachers and ‡
Jacobs, H. H., & Alcock, M. H. (2017). Bold moves for schools: How
school administrators to think far beyond the common con- we create remarkable learning environments. Alexandria, VA: Associa-
versation about workplace skills, important as those are, to tion for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Identity and Beauty

Critical understanding of facial features and value systems was underscored in the
context of a visual arts drawing lesson stemming from the big idea of the unit. The
art teacher and social studies teacher integrated concepts surrounding physical
anthropology that also drew on the math and science research in genetics. They
studied skin color and other various traits. They asked why certain groups in specific
geographic locations developed unique adaptations that we see today in the diversity
of the human form, which is most obvious in facial features, hair texture, and skin
color. Exploring these concepts in the process of drawing self-portraits deepened stu-
dents’ critical perceptions. The class discussion sharpened analytical questions about
who gets to define beauty and how judgments about physical appearance in U.S.
society may be shaped by commercially driven aims and conformist values. The
works of art created by the students communicated many messages that stemmed
from their understanding of oppression and resistance based on discussions through-
out the unit. Students used layers of collage, glue, papers, paint, and oil pastel to
express academic research, scientific and mathematical skills, poetic insights, and
socially active engagement with their multiple and inclusive definitions of family.
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A Family Celebration
As a culminating event, a celebration of the students’ accomplishments and a dem-
onstration of their knowledge was held, and every student on the team invited their
families to school for the event. A huge art and text display was mounted, and each
student exhibited a collaged frame of three items: a self-portrait, a family portrait,
and an “I Am From” poem. Every social studies essay, mathematical graph, and
scientific research project was on display. Parents, grandparents, caregivers, guard-
ians, and siblings listened intently as students read poetry and excerpts of essays.
Many family members who had never before entered the school building attended
the event. Students grabbed the hands of loved ones to escort them to each exhibit.
The teachers noticed how students proudly showed off their work to their visitors
but, on a surprising note, many students were eager to point out the work of their
classmates, too. Teachers overheard students telling the stories of their peers’ fami-
lies and how they related to the research assignments.
The most popular display was the dessert table; every family had contributed
a favorite family dessert! Excited students urged peers and teachers to taste the
snacks, such as Jalissa’s grandmother’s flan or Ari’s uncle’s favorite chocolate-chip
concoction. After the families and children went home and the last paper plates
were cleaned up, teachers reported a feeling of transformation precipitated by the
Family Dessert and Demonstration Day that closed the unit. Teachers described
knowing their students more deeply and intimately, as well as witnessing soaring
academic engagement across the team of seventh graders.
Students wrote self-assessments of their work and told of making connections
with teachers and peers in unexpected ways, “wanting to work [their] hardest,”
and feeling that the project was “awesome.” The sense of accomplishment and
community bond among the teachers and students on the team continued to grow
throughout the school year. Teachers talked about developing knowledge about
oppression and resistance as well as their expanding definitions of family, and stu-
dents and teachers cultivated an enduring sense of belonging while documenting
rigorous academic achievement.
Curricular Adaptation 3: LGBTQ Literature:

Expanding Topics for Inclusive High School Content
This case presents another example for multicultural changes in the curriculum.
The deliberate antibias work that we saw in the curriculum adaptation case of
expanding definitions of family in first grade and middle school paves the way for
students to engage in this inclusive high school curriculum. The following exam-
ple is the curriculum for a high school English literature course called LGBTQ
Literature.22
The course was conceived and designed by an English teacher, Ms. Sara
Barber-Just. Initially, it was Barber-Just’s research, creativity, and commitment to
education for social justice more than 15 years ago—backed by supportive depart-
ment chair, principal, and superintendent—that brought the curriculum to the
classroom. Eventually, the English Department at the high school and the school
board approved this course as an integral part of the school curriculum. However,
it was not an easy accomplishment in 2001. In the ensuing years, Ms. Barber-
Just’s curriculum design has been acknowledged through awards and featured in
educational research case studies. According to our research, this was the first
high school LGBTQ literature course in the nation.23
Imagining Possibilities
Ms. Barber-Just was teaching in the English Department of a high school that
offered a range of familiar high school literature courses, such as Foundations
of American Literature, Masterpieces of Ancient and Medieval Worlds, and
M09_NIET7232_07_SE_C09.indd 310 09/11/17 5:27 PM

Masterpieces of the Renaissance and Modern Worlds, as well as more consciously

multicultural courses, such as Women in Literature and African American Litera-
ture. Teachers in the department had developed these courses over the years, and
the courses had become integrated into the school’s course offerings. Barber-Just
imagined that the models in place for the African American Literature and Women
in Literature courses could be applied to a course called Gay and Lesbian Litera-
ture because both of the former courses dealt with identity issues. She has since
changed the name of the course to LGBTQ Literature.
Barber-Just developed a proposal for a course combining a wealth of research
from her graduate studies and her experiences as a teacher. Her research portfo-
lio reflected an extensive review of LGBTQ literature with a theoretical ground-
ing in social justice education. In planning the LGBTQ Literature course, she
used a course structure that paralleled those of the two courses that were already
offered, focusing on group-specific content from a social justice perspective.
Her course mirrored the high academic standards within the department, with
expectations for students to read thoroughly and critically, write expressively
and analytically, and discuss the work passionately and fairly. The following is
the current course description, which was shaped from her original proposal for
the course:
The LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning) Literature
class is divided into five major sections, moving in chronological order from the
early 1900s to the present day. Primary texts were written by LGBTQ authors dur-
ing eras of legal and social oppression; conformity and self-loathing; anger and
activism; and finally, pride and acceptance. The course focuses on renowned
modern and contemporary American literature, including Willa Cather’s A Lost
Lady, James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle, and
Michael Cunningham’s The Hours. Additional texts include Oscar Wilde’s The Pic-
ture of Dorian Gray, Isabel Miller’s Patience and Sarah, Alice Walker’s The Color
Purple, Janet Mock’s Redefining Realness, Amy Ellis Nutt’s Becoming Nicole, and
Charles Rice-Gonzalez’s Chulito. Each unit includes a combination of critical
essays, poetry, short stories, and film, providing a rich cultural and historical con-
text for literary analysis.24
Sara Barber-Just explained that, for purposes of this course, she would base
the definition of LGBTQ on two criteria: (1) literature written by LBGTQ people
and (2) literature including LGBTQ themes in the content.
With several caveats, the curriculum director and the principal quietly agreed
to offer this course as a pilot model for independent study credit only. Students
could sign up for the course if their schedules allowed, and they would acquire
credit for it, but the credit would not count toward the English credits required to
graduate. To teach the course, Barber-Just would need to fit it into her free period
and continue to carry a regular English teacher’s course load. She would not earn
any additional pay. As a matter of fact, Barber-Just dropped her teaching contract
down to less than full-time to make space for the LGBTQ Literature course in her
schedule. As a result, she was teaching the same number of courses and number
of students for less pay.
Student Requests and Requirements

Word spread like wildfire among the student body about the new LGBTQ Litera-
ture course, and the class quickly filled up, with a waiting list of students eager
to take the course. During the first term that the course was offered, the students
were excited and engaged in the work. They began to question why they were
not gaining English Department credit for the rigorous academic work. When the
course was offered for a second term, the students urged Ms. Barber-Just to appeal
for English credit on their behalf. It did not seem fair to them that they were read-
ing five major novels, producing high-level writing, and attending all the classes,
and yet not being awarded department credit. After reviewing the syllabus and
M09_NIET7232_07_SE_C09.indd 311 09/11/17 5:27 PM

impressive academic accomplishments of the students in the class, the English

Department voted unanimously to award official departmental credit for the
course.
A vote by the school board was needed to add a new class to the program of
studies. Barber-Just compiled portfolios of student work to be reviewed by the
school board. The student portfolios included analytical and reflective writing
about the five major units of study and the accompanying five books, short sto-
ries, poetry, essays, films, and course discussions. The board approved the addi-
tion of the course to the English Department’s official study program.
Student Voices
The literary products included in student portfolios were superior according to
many standards. The knowledge of historical events, social influences on litera-
ture, and writing techniques that they reflected were remarkable. But the most
compelling facet of the students’ work was the consistency with which they men-
tioned the power of giving voice to unspoken realities. Students wrote about their
own biases and their own sexual orientations: gay, straight, and bisexual. They
reflected on the importance of this course to support LGBTQ and questioning
youth and to build understanding among heterosexual teens. They spoke of the
lack of information about the LGBTQ community and critiqued the misinforma-
tion offered by the mass media. Consistently, student reflections mentioned the
safety of their classroom community and their commitment to be engaged in social
justice. In some of the most moving pieces, students wrote their reflections in the
form of letters to their parents.
Evolution of Curriculum
Multicultural curriculum is a process, as we described in Chapter 2; it grows
organically along with the needs and struggles of the community. This is true of
the LGBTQ Literature course launched by Ms. Barber-Just. In response to student
demands, the school added an extra section of the course each year. Advanced
Placement recognition (AP credit) may now be achieved through the LGBTQ
Literature course. What started out as an independent study offering became
socially sanctioned knowledge—a school course—as English Department credit,
and optional AP credit, through the determination of high school students and the
courage of a sole teacher.
One teacher and her students could not have made these changes in isola-
tion, however. As Christine Sleeter and Judith Flores Carmona point out, “While
teachers have varying degrees of agency to construct multicultural curriculum,
teachers also work in systems that institutionalize particular concepts of curricu-
lum, learning, teaching and relationships.”25 While maintaining high academic
standards, a stalwart department chair, a supportive principal, and ultimately
a visionary school board recognized the needs of a community and acted with
resolve to reshape the school curriculum, which continues to become more just
and inclusive.
The LGBTQ Literature course, now one of the most popular at the high school,
reflects the needs and identities of students and families in the immediate commu-
nity of the school, including LGBTQ and their straight allies. Perhaps more signifi-
cantly, the curriculum is responding to the urgency of nationwide social change.
Melinda Miceli’s statement affirms this reality: “Today, LGBTQ and straight ally
students are in a position to imagine the possibilities of change that they can
accomplish by capitalizing on the progress made by the gay rights movement.”26
The “imagine[d] … possibilities of change” accomplished by Sara Barber-Just with
so many students, families, colleagues, administrators, and school board members
provide a model of fierce hopefulness in the ongoing process of making school
curriculum—and society—more inclusive and just.
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As established throughout this book, the structural and organizational issues in schools
greatly influence student learning. Educational researcher Jeannie Oakes has consistently
reported evidence that the practice of tracking negatively influences most students. Her
research findings, especially on how tracking in schools stratifies students by race and
social class, have been confirmed by many other researchers and evident in thousands
of students’ lives. This multicultural teaching story illustrates how the work of some
determined teachers can transform the groupings of students for math classes. Bill Blatner’s
story points to four components that make his efforts successful: (1) goal of equity through
access and challenge; (2) curricular transformation process and leadership;
Multicultural (3) respectful process; and (4) teacher inquiry, respect, and collaboration.
Five years have passed since I interviewed Bill for the previous edition of
Teaching Story this book. Currently, he is in his 20th year as a high school
math teacher. In his previous career, he had worked as a
civil engineer, and made the transition to teaching because
he wanted a connection with service to the community and
because “it feels so rewarding.” The last time we spoke,
Bill had explained that in the high school where he works,
students had two possible pathways through the math cur-
riculum. In the former model, one pathway was more tradi-
tional; it sorted students into math ability groups to travel a
set trajectory of courses throughout high school with deter-
mined implications for their college course and life career
choices. The second pathway, which was considered to be
the alternative model, offered coursework in the Interactive
Mathematics Program (IMP®). But in the years following
publication of the sixth edition of this book, Bill’s leadership
as a teacher prompted the Mathematics Department chair
and principal to consider a more equitable math curriculum.
The school has fully adopted the IMP model for all students;
it is explained as follows at the IMP website:
The IMP curriculum integrates traditional material
with additional topics recommended by the NCTM
Standards, such as statistics, probability, curve fitting,
and matrix algebra. IMP units are generally structured
around a complex central problem. Although each
unit has a specific mathematical focus, other topics
are brought in as needed to solve the central problem,
rather than narrowly restricting the mathematical con-
tent. Ideas that are developed in one unit are usually
revisited and deepened in one or more later units.*
Bill Blatner: Teaching Math
with a Belief in Every Kid Goal of Equity Through Access and Challenge
This approach is intended for completely untracked teaching; Bill explained that
Math teacher, Bill Blatner “IMP was designed for heterogeneous classes,” but in many schools, the struc-
providing additional math tures in place do not allow for all-school heterogeneous math programming. By
simultaneously putting the needs of his students and his concerns for their over-
challenge and support all academic identities front and center, Bill stayed committed to the value of
heterogeneous grouping.
after school.
In IMP everybody is in the same room working on the same thing. . . . [T]his
allows for activities that are designed to be accessible on a number of levels. It is
an approach to group work that seeks to eliminate dominance and it works.
It is not right that we separate people in school in ways that reinforce all the divi-
sions among people in society. A lot of people have figured that out and agree with it. So
let’s do heterogeneous classes! But guess what? It is hard … we do not have a lot of good
models on how to do this in math education. You cannot just throw all the kids together
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and say it’s going to work. IMP is a good model that shows you it can be done. I have
seen it work for so many kids.
By the time we caught up with him five years later, Bill had participated in a process
that transformed the whole school’s approach to math education.
The goal is equity in our math program, which means to me that all students get
access to challenging content. Access and challenge. We have gone to ONE cur-
riculum. It is not the traditional curriculum . . . there is so much to do and learn to
figure out what to teach. You do not have to figure out the whole thing, all at once,
but you have to think about “low threshold and high ceiling” so kids can access it
but get a lot of rich work out of it.
Curricular Transformation Process and Leadership

Bill describes the rigorous three-year process in which he and his colleagues engaged to arrive
at a collective decision about which math curriculum to adopt. He made it clear that the
teachers’ intellectual prowess and professionalism were supported and empowered by strong
leadership.
This process was so important. We went through examining a bunch of different cur-
ricula with a rubric that we developed—our own rubric with our own criteria for what
we were seeking.
We included what we want: giving every kid access to meaningful mathematical
education. Access and challenge.
There’s a vast majority of curriculum materials being sold that have “common core
practice standards” stamped all over them, but they are not really delivering. Some-
times people came in and presented to us—while we were looking at our rubric and we
would listen, discuss, evaluate. Salespeople from textbook companies came in. Then we
brought in a professor from UMass who had a lot of experience with one of these cur-
riculum. Other math educators came in. There are only a couple of curricula that have a
shot of being what we want. That is a huge thing to figure out. This was a really unique
process.
It was a lengthy well-facilitated process. Leadership was really key. The department chair
has been absolutely key to the whole thing. The effort she put into helping us figure out—
what do we need to understand to try to do this? What do these criteria mean? She made
certain we had the time and space to work on it. She fought for us to get release time and
summer work pay. We put in an enormous amount of time. It was so much about dialogue.
She reminded us: Not so fast. You are not ready. You cannot just ram this through.
She also fought back against deadlines about when to have the decision. The district cur-
riculum coordinator and superintendent were being really strong and clear, that if we
are going to do this—this is going to be real. . . . Meaning that we would finish with a
solid decision that we all will teach. . . . That has been powerful.
Respectful Process
Bill’s high opinion of his administrator was palpable and it was apparent that strong leader-
ship in his school provided avenues for collaborative change.
It has been hard process, but it has been a very respectful process. We built common
understandings. For the first time in my career—I have said, “This is what this pro-
cess should look like.” So, we’ve gotten great leadership from the department chair and
good leadership from the principal. The principal reminded us, “Document what you are
doing. Use your rubric. Clarify your criteria. Somebody will say, “Why did not you not
choose that?” Your documentation tells the story.
We spent time working on the problems in the various curriculum options. We reviewed
the books. We had the benefit of knowing a lot about IMP since I had been using it. The
UMass people knew the core curriculum really well. The process felt clean and we made our
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process public to people in the community. We went through a public process to present our
work and our criteria to make sure it was legitimate and we were consistently following it.
We got it down to 3 or 4 curriculums, then we rated them on the 5 or 6 items we
boiled it down to. Then we looked at the scores, and when we actually laid out the crite-
ria—it was pretty clear to the majority of the department—the IMP would be the best to
match our criteria. There was remarkably little pushback.
Teacher Inquiry and Collaboration

Bill emphasized the necessity to enter the school year well-prepared with the new curriculum,
and the vital importance for the whole department to collaborate in the preparation.
Over the summer we did 5 full days of PD with everybody in the department. We worked
almost entirely on one unit, which is the beginning unit for most of the kids. We wanted for
everybody—all teachers—to get a sense of how things are organized. We figured out: What
are problems-of-the week like? What kind of grading and assessment system do we have in
place? What kind of assessment are we going to be using for formative assessment? How
are we going to be approaching group work—which is key to the access and challenge goal.
Then the Jane (department chair) and I spent an additional 3 or 4 days on sched-
ules that would help all teachers structure their units and lesson at a pace that makes
sense across the department. The schedule and the various assessments—those have to
be considered. Portfolio assessments are really important—and the students will have
a small writing assignment. If you don’t meet expectations you can revise. We spent a
whole piece on portfolio writing.
The power of this whole-department collaboration is vibrant, especially in the context

of Bill’s statements from his previous teaching story when he expressed the fragility of navi-
gating curriculum decisions within a range of philosophies in the department. Back then, he
told us he was
very happy we have made some progress on this whole concept of heterogeneous
versus homogeneous classes. I feel we’re at a delicate time in our school as we make
a concerted effort to work through the difficult issues involved in the traditional-
versus-reform approaches.
It is evident that Bill is a teacher who seeks out research, professional development,
and professional learning communities to inform his practice and decision making. His con-
stant inquiry and reflection lead him to deeply grounded teaching practices. He enthusi-
astically discussed an online course he took with Jo Boler, using her book Mathematical
Mindsets,† which is filled with practical activities rooted in Carl Dweck research on growth
mind-sets.‡ Describing how these research texts helped him apply equity-based practices
in his math classroom, he told me about an important moment when he transformed his
thinking with regard to assessment.
Jo Boaler has put together a lot of really good research. “Assessment FOR learning”
and “nature of the tasks” are a big piece of this way of thinking. Then I started to
say oh—I should have my students assess each other, and assess themselves. I don’t
have this nailed yet—I think I need some help on this. I am always thinking, “How
can I get from where I am to how I get to where I need to be?”
His focus on assessment and how to help kids know what they know, and figure out
what more they need to learn, has been a thread throughout our conversations, as evident
in the story he told us about a student:
There was a girl who last year was in my year-1 class, who is a student with special educa-
tion services, who specifically told me that she had problems with math. She turned out to be
a really great thinker and really good problem solver. She was pretty fearless about coming
up with her own ways of thinking about problems. We do these things called “Problems of
the Week,” and the idea is that there is a big complicated problem that can be approached
in a number of different ways. The method of solution is not at all obvious when you first
look at the problem. . . . You can’t say to yourself, “Well let’s see, we are studying this
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concept this week, so I must have to use this to solve the problem.” It is not like that. These
problems of the week are often intentionally disconnected from what we are doing in class,
so kids actually have to read a problem, understand it from wherever they are at, find a way
into it, crash around with it, think about it, put it down, crash around some more. After a
week and a half they have to go through a whole write-up discussing the process they went
through and whatever solutions they came up with, justified in explanation.
This ended up being one of her great strengths. She would do these really long,
involved investigations of these things, and get up in class and present her work. She
started to build up this confidence and I would go down and check on her now and then
in her academic support class. She never would say she needed help. She would always
have something to show me.
We just finished our first unit, and I am in the process of going through their port-
folios. The way I assess them is we have a bunch of goals that students are supposed to
obtain: things they are supposed to learn and know how to do, demonstrate perseverance,
problem solving . . . as well as the content understandings and skills. They put together a
portfolio of their work, with some things I tell them to include, some things that they decide
on. Then I go through it with “Where’s the evidence that you can do all these things?”
We have students going from IMP to calculus and we’ve got kids doing various
activities we have in our school like Math Olympiads and things like that. Kids from
IMP are joining those. The kids are becoming much more confident about what they are
doing now, despite the fact that people who don’t know or understand IMP continue to
characterize it as something other than “real math.” I can tell you as a civil engineer who
used math every day and was on the hook for the solutions that IMP is very real math.
I think our students are getting a better sense of how they are benefiting from IMP, how
they can moved flexibly from the real and concrete to the symbolic and abstract. We do
that really well and that ability to contextualize and decontextualize is fundamental to
mathematical practice.
Bill Blatner and his colleagues’ dedication to cultivating their students’ academic identi-
ties was buttressed by a supportive administration willing to wrestle with the knotty and divi-
sive issue of tracking in one school’s mathematics department. There was not a smooth road
to this grapple with this idea of having confidence in students’ ability to do the heavy lifting in
this structure of math teaching. Bill’s central message remained constant, “These efforts can-
not succeed without believing in the kids, tracking or no.” As colleagues, the math department
invested in professional development that cultivated dialogue among divergent philosophical
approaches, and confounding issues with student scheduling, and respectfully collaborated to
create access to robust curriculum resources for all students. He concluded his reflection:
IMP is a model that helps make this happen. But this isn’t really about IMP. IMP is
a package of curriculum resources and professional development that schools can use
to advance a more equitable approach to math education. You have to have a num-
ber of elements in place—dedicated staff, the curriculum, professional development and
administrative support.
You’ve also got to have the will and the belief that it should be done and it can be done.
We are grateful to Bill for taking time out of his busy schedule to help us update his teach-
ing story. He has expanded his role to include leadership as a mathematics teacher coach.
Now he combines his role as a part-time teacher coach to his colleagues in the Math Depart-
ment, with that of part-time teacher of IMP at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School in
Amherst, Massachusetts.
*
For more information about the Interactive Mathematics Program and its implementation, go to http://www.
mathimp.org/, or contact the IMP National Outreach Coordinator at 1-888-MATH-IMP (1-888-628-4467).
†
Boaler, J. (2016). Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing students’ potential through creative math, inspir-
ing messages and innovative teaching. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
‡
Dweck, C. S. (2016). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books. See also
Elliot, A., Dweck, C. S., & Yeager, D. S. (2017). Handbook of competence and motivation: Theory and
application (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
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SNAPSHOT
Eugene Crocket
Usually I think of my family as an adoptive family more family is, like, “Huh, look at that.” I felt different, and I didn’t like
than a gay family. it. Now if that happens, I don’t really care.
Usually, I think of my family as an adoptive family more than
Eugene Crocket,* a soft-spoken Irish American ninth grader, a gay family. In Hilton, there were three adoptive families in my
carries himself in a poised manner that commands respect. He grade, including me. I did feel different because the three of us
has a slight build and longish brown hair that falls into his were adopted, but I was the only one that had two dads. I didn’t
eyes, which become animated and sparkle as he speaks. Eugene really mind that people knew I was adopted and stuff. But some-
grew up in the rural New England community of Hilton and times it was a little awkward telling them about my parents. So
attends a regional high school in nearby Howardstown, with I felt different, and I didn’t like having both my parents come to
students from a variety of backgrounds. Eugene spoke at length school. I wasn’t ashamed, but more embarrassed. I don’t know;
I didn’t want people to think of me as different. Now, my dad
about his best friend, a Tibetan student, and described how
Tom, he lives in Puerto Rico, and Ted, he’s not really involved
they are both active in an after-school club, Students for a Free
with school or the PTA or whatever. Usually, Ted is the one who
Tibet.† In this snapshot, Eugene focuses on his experience of
goes to parent night. I know one other kid at my school now who
being adopted and raised by two gay dads, both of whom are has two moms, and I know this other girl who was adopted who
European American. also has lesbian moms.
At home everything is normal, like everyone else’s family.
Going out in public is a little more different. I was going to have a
T here are six people in my family. I have three brothers and

two dads. One of my dads, Tom, lives in Puerto Rico right
now and sells real estate. My other dad, Ted, cleans houses. I call
class get-together one time, in seventh grade. I wanted to have
a bunch of friends over, but I was, like, “How about not at my
house, guys,” just because I didn’t want them to see pictures
Tom “Dad” and Ted “Poppy,” like “Pop” but “Poppy.”
or something. The sense of stress was only for that moment, so
I am the youngest in the family. My oldest brother Ronnie
I just kept it to myself. If we’re ever talking about family, I usu-
is 21. Then there’s Michael. He’s 19. Mark, he’s 17, and I’m
ally just say “my dad,” rather than “my dads.” Usually, I try to
15. Ronnie lives in Howardstown and has his own apartment.
get to know people well before I tell them that I have two dads,
Michael is getting his own apartment soon. Mark is going away to
so I already know what their opinions are and stuff. I have to be
college, so pretty soon it’s going to be just me at home. Ronnie
pretty sure I can trust them before I can tell them. I did have one
and Mark are more into sports, but me and Michael like to play
friend who was Christian. I used to be better friends with him,
video games more.
but now I’m not as good friends with him. I made sure not to tell
Most people, if they look at my family, they might think it’s
him because of the Bible and all that. I don’t know what he would
weird or something. They might think it’s odd because it’s not the
have done, so I thought it best not to tell him.
so-called ordinary family. Personally, I don’t see being in my fam-
At my high school, there’s lots of using the word gay and the
ily as too much different because it’s my family and I’ve known
f-a-g word, like, “That’s so gay.” They don’t actually mean it, but
them my whole life. It’s just regular to me, being in my family.
it’s become like an insult or something. So homophobia isn’t that
All four of [us] are biological brothers. My dads adopted
bad in our school. It doesn’t make me too uncomfortable, but it
all of us at the same time. I was six months old, and the others
bothers me a little bit, though. If I know the person saying it,
were three years old, four, and six. Ronnie probably remembers it
I might say something. It matters who says it.
most. Basically, our parents were getting into drugs and not able
At our school, we have a gay and lesbian literature class. We
to take care of us. My oldest brother Ronnie was pretty much,
also have a Gay/Straight Alliance.‡ I think it’s a good idea. I know
like, he would feed me the bottle and change my diaper and stuff.
some people in it. People might assume you were gay or lesbian
My parents just weren’t able to take care of us. I’m not really sure
if you joined it. I don’t really know what the GSA does. It has
if they sought the adoption agency, or if they were reported by
maybe ten people in it, maybe more.
a neighbor or something. We were foster kids and then we got
One time in Spanish class, we were doing the family words.
adopted. There was a whole controversial thing in the community
My teacher was asking everyone about their mother and their
because my dads were in the newspaper a lot. They had to argue
father, and I didn’t want to get called on. I didn’t want her to be,
for being two gay men to get us. I guess they got threatened
like, “Oh, what does your mom do?” “I don’t have a mom. I don’t
sometimes. I know they were in the newspaper a lot. This was in
know.” I didn’t get called on; I lucked out. I probably would have
the early 1990s.
just said, “I don’t have a mom.” Another time in high school, we
These days, I’m pretty comfortable talking about it. Not
had to do a family tree. The teacher said we didn’t have to do
too many people ask, but my close friends pretty much already
our parents, we could do our grandparents and our aunts and
know about my two dads. I’ve told them why we were adopted.
stuff. I only put in one of my parents. But in fourth grade, when
If I make friends with someone, and they get to know my family,
we had to do a family tree, I did put in both my dads. I always felt
then they might ask questions.
more comfortable in elementary school. We were doing the fam-
When I was around the age of 11 or 12, I would notice peo-
ily tree on our heritage, and I did it based on my adoptive parents
ple looking at us. They could probably put together what our
because they’re the parents that I know.
continued
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Being in this family, I have learned to, if I see someone who with his family support and his relatively tolerant school envi-
is different, to not think of them as odd or weird, but to accept ronment, Eugene’s anecdotes about offensive putdowns and
people for who they are. I try not to make stereotypes, like not questions from insensitive teachers and classmates sharpen
ask people about their mom’s name and their dad’s name, the discussion of homophobia in schools. Teachers can do a
because I know that not everyone has a mom and a dad. Stuff
better job of monitoring the school environment for offensive
like that. If I have to fill out a form at school and it says “mother’s
language that sets students apart by being flexible, open,
name,” I just cross that out and write “father’s name.” I haven’t
and inclusive in their approaches to both the pedagogy and
ever seen a teacher react to that.
My sixth-grade teacher, Ms. Kamp, she really helped me curriculum.
a lot. She made me more comfortable. I was really shy and she Finally, Eugene’s participation in the Tibetan club under-
made me a lot more comfortable speaking to groups. Academi- scores the importance of choice. Concerned adults might
cally, I got better. If we had a topic like this, she would ask me assume that students like Eugene would be better served by
if I felt comfortable with it, like if we talked about gay/lesbian joining the Gay/Straight Alliance or even a group specifically
stuff. She would ask me in private—like when people were talk- for children of gay/lesbian parents.§ In this case, Eugene took
ing, she would come over and whisper it to me. She was also my comfort in his close friendship with a Tibetan student and pre-
neighbor. ferred to join Students for a Free Tibet as one of only two white
students in the group. Perhaps as he progresses through high
Commentary school, Eugene may be drawn to GSA or another student group.
Eugene’s snapshot raises the issue of how children of gay and The important note for school officials is making certain that
lesbian parents must negotiate “outing” themselves—and their schools provide a variety of outlets that address diverse student
parents—as members of families headed by gay parents. Even interests and various comfort levels.
in liberal Howardstown, with its GSA and gay and lesbian lit-
*
erature class, issues of homophobia and limited understanding We appreciate the work of our friend and colleague Dr. John Raible, who
interviewed Eugene and developed the introduction and commentary for
of what makes a family arise in school, causing students like
the Snapshot.
Eugene to feel uncomfortable, if not unsafe. At the same time, †
Students for a Free Tibet is an international organization on college and
Eugene reported feeling particularly supported by one teacher, high school campuses committed to nonviolent direct action in solidarity
Ms. Kamp, who perhaps knew him better than most because with the Tibetan people. For more information, go to https://www.stu-
she was also his neighbor in their small town. dentsforafreetibet.org/
‡
The Gay/Straight Alliance Network provides resources and informa-
As one of four brothers who were all adopted as a sibling
tion on how to start a Gay/Straight Alliance in your school or community
group, Eugene benefited from built-in emotional support at group; go to https://gsanetwork.org/.
home. Other adopted children may feel more isolated, particu- §
One such group for children of gay and lesbian parents is Gay, Lesbian,
larly if they are the only adopted child in their family. Even Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
Conclusion
The determination to adapt curricula for multicultural classrooms is demonstrated
in Bill Blatner’s multicultural teaching story as well as in the practice of the other
teachers highlighted in the examples throughout this chapter. These teachers exem-
plify the multifaceted, complex process of meeting the needs of a diverse class-
room. While considering the sociopolitical context of schooling, they illustrate how
social justice and equity can be achieved while simultaneously meeting rigorous
academic standards.
To Think About
1. When you hear a student use the word gay as a putdown (or pejorative term sometimes
invoked to insult LGBTQ identity), what is your response? What does that student learn
from your response? What do other students learn from your response? How can you
make it a teachable moment about vocabulary, human rights, and courage?
2. Many school structures that divide students by so-called ability appear to be impenetra-
ble to a single teacher’s efforts. If such structures are in place in your school, how can
you adapt your curriculum to challenge those structures? Do you have to do it alone?
What will be the long-term effects of the changes you make to your approach, your class-
room, and your curriculum?
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3. Do you call on families to participate in the curriculum? When does it happen? Is it only
around holiday celebrations? Heritage festivals? How can you expand the role of families
in your classroom while including and honoring the families who may not be able to par-
ticipate, or may feel uncomfortable doing so, in school activities?

1. Study the demographics of your classroom, grade level, team, or school. Think about
students’ heritages and cultural backgrounds. Take note of a specific group about
which you may have little knowledge or experience and commit to implementing some
curriculum about it. How might you create a unit of study to deepen the understand-
ing of this group’s experience? How can you do this so that you do not “exoticize” the
group or create greater isolation for its members? The teachers of the unit about Cam-
bodia started by educating themselves; they also realized that they would learn more
by diving in, researching, and teaching with their students. Where will you begin in
your own classroom? Draw in colleagues for support, co-teaching, content integration,
and expansion of this idea.
2. Many teachers are challenged by the notion of implementing multicultural curriculum
in the current standards-based climate. Start a teacher book-discussion group based on
the book Un-Standardizing Curriculum by Christine Sleeter and Judith Flores Carmona
(see note 25). Ask your principal, superintendent, curriculum director, parent–teacher
organization, or local business to purchase the books. Meet at least once a month
throughout the school year with the goal of each teacher designing a new unit, or rede-
signing a former curriculum unit with fresh ideas inspired by the practical, yet revolu-
tionary, approach provided by Sleeter and Carmona.
3. LGBTQ identity continues to be a target of institutional and individual oppression. Col-
laborate with colleagues to make your school a safe zone for LGBTQ students and their
families. Collect resources from GLSEN and PFLAG and create an action plan in your
school to help students feel affirmed and protected. Educate yourself, colleagues, stu-
dents, and administrators. Plan curriculum and community events to welcome, affirm,
and express solidarity with LGBTQ students, family, and community members.
Notes
1. We would like to thank the teachers who worked at Amherst- 9. Monkey Dance is a documentary film by Julie Mallozzi about three
Pelham Regional Middle School in Amherst, Massachusetts, at the teens coming of age in Lowell, Massachusetts. See http://www
time of this case study: Margarita Bonifaz, Sarah Lange Hayes, .monkey-dance.com/ and http://www.juliemallozzi.com/monkey
Gale Kuhn, Lynn Podesek, Sokhen P. Mao, Maura Neverson, and .html.
with special commemoration to the late Paul Plummer whose 10. The Peace Pagoda Nipponzan Myohoji Sangha Buddhist temple
work and dedication made this unit of study about Cambodia a was created as a collaborative effort by Vietnam Veterans Against
success for all of their students. Patty Bode also worked on this the War and the Cambodian American Community. See https://
curriculum team as the art teacher. newenglandpeacepagoda.org/.
2. Ronnie J. Booxbaum, PhD, and Sokhen P. Mao, MEd, developed 11. See resources for teaching about Cambodian folktales at the Cor-
this staff development course and wrote a handbook to accom- nell University website (there, access the webpage of the Mario
pany it. Einaudi Center for International Studies, its Southeast Asia Pro-
3. Ung (2006a). See also Ung’s (2006b) follow up to this story. gram: https://seap.einaudi.cornell.edu/cambodian-folktales).
4. For additional resources and research about the Cambodian his- 12. Menzel, Mann, & Kennedy (1995).
tory, see the notes to the case study of Savoun Nouch in Chapter 8 13. Combs (with Hosler, illus.) (2001).
of this book. 14. Newman (with Souza, illus.) (1989, 2009, 2015).
5. Wiggins & McTighe (2005; 2011). 15. The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is a
6. Au (2014). Also see Bigelow, Harvey, Karp, & Miller (2001). national organization working to end anti-gay biases in schools.
7. See the website (http://www.cambodianmasters.org) for the Cam- See GLSEN’s website http://www.glsen.org. The Welcoming
bodian Masters Program, which supports revival of the traditional School website is a project of the Human Rights Campaign
art forms of Cambodia and inspires contemporary artistic expres- Foundation, which provides many resources, including a book for
sion. It hosts visiting artists, lecturers, and performances. LGBTQ-inclusive schools (http://www.welcomingschools.org/).
8. The Angkor Dance Troupe (http://www.angkordance.org) helps 16. Bigler (1999).
Cambodian young people navigate the balance between contem- 17. Derman-Sparks (1997).
porary youth culture and their cultural heritage. 18. Rohmer (1999).
M09_NIET7232_07_SE_C09.indd 319 09/11/17 5:27 PM

19. See http://www.familydiv.org. Also contact Contact Family Diver- 21. Christensen (2009).
sity Projects at [email protected] or PO Box 22. We are grateful to Sara Barber-Just for her inspiring contributions
1246, Amherst, MA 01004-1246 (phone: 413-256-1611). to the field of high school English language arts teaching, and for
20. We are grateful to the teachers who developed this curriculum and the time she spent helping us develop this curriculum case.
gave it their heartfelt attention for three years when they taught 23. In 2014, Williams College awarded Sara Barber-Just the annual
together at Amherst Regional Middle School: Beth Adel Wohlleb, George Olmsted Jr. Class of 1924 Prize for Excellence in Second-
social studies teacher; Phil Covelli and Gale Kuhn, science teach- ary School Teaching. Michael Sadowski included a case study of
ers; Mari Hall, health teacher; Esther Haskell, English teacher; and Barber-Just’s LGBTQ Literature course in Chapter 1 of his book
Robert Lord, math teacher. Dr. John Raible worked as a consultant (2016).
on the curriculum. Patty Bode worked as an art teacher with the 24. Barber-Just (2001); Amherst Regional High School (2017).
team. Also, Kristen French provided feedback with a critical multi- 25. Sleeter & Carmona (2017), p. 165.
cultural perspective for the unit. 26. Miceli (2005), p. 12.
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10 Affirming Diversity:
Implications for Teachers,
Schools, Families,
and Communities
I
n spite of the fact that Manuel Gomes, whose case
study appears at the end of Chapter 6, came from a
large immigrant family that was struggling to make
ends meet and survive in a new country, he had great
faith in education. The youngest of 11 siblings and the
first to graduate from high school, Manuel was facing the
future with determination and hope. His story can serve
as a lesson that students who live in even the most dif-
ficult circumstances can succeed academically.
The case studies and snapshots you have read
throughout this text provide concrete evidence that aca-
demic success and failure defy easy categorization and
the conventional expectations that teachers, schools,
and society may have of students from particular back-
grounds. The experiences of these young people also
point to specific home, school, community, and soci-
etal contexts that may contribute to learning. In real-
ity, students do not achieve academic success on their
own, but in conjunction with family, peers, teachers,
schools, communities, and the larger society. In this
chapter, we discuss how supportive learning environ-
ments, particularly in schools, can be promoted. We
also consider what it means to be an American and we
suggest a model of multicultural education that emerges
from the seven characteristics defined in Chapter 2.
Naomi Cooper-Monize, Frederick Beresford-
Banker, Cornelia Sullivan, Hannah Lebowitz in
Ben Sears’s art class, Amherst-Pelham Regional
High School, Amherst Massachusetts. Acrylic
painting, 2014.
“I think [teachers] could help students, try to influence them, that they can do whatever they want to do,
that they can be whatever they want to be, that they got opportunities out there. . . . Most schools don’t
encourage kids to be all they can be.”
—Manuel Gomes, interviewee
321
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Lessons from Students: Maintaining

and Affirming Identity
The racism and other forms of discrimination to which students are subjected
in school and society are evident in several of the case studies. Discrimination
is either overt—for example, when Kaval Sethi felt singled out for wearing a
turban—or more subtle—for example, when James Karam’s culture was invisible
in school activities or when Gamini Padmaperuma felt intimidated about speaking
Singhalese in public when he was younger. Rashaud Kates, Delilah Rogers, Nini
Rostland, and Latrell Elton expressed the weight of low expectations felt by many
African American and multiracial students. In spite of overpowering and some-
times demoralizing attitudes, behaviors, policies, and practices, however, most of
these students chose not to deny or abandon their culture or language. Instead,
they tended to rely on them even more firmly, although with more nuanced and
dynamic ideas about identity, and not necessarily in the school setting. These
young people’s reliance on their culture and language may shield them from the
devaluation of their identities by schools and society.
A few of the students had supportive school environments that accepted and
built on their identities. In Savoun’s case, teachers in his elementary schools sup-
ported his language through what he called culture lessons. Manuel felt that his
bilingual program was an oasis of cultural support. Liane felt supported by her
school in her effort to learn Chinese, her mother’s native language. Their experi-
ences reinforce the findings of extensive research that a pervasive and positive
sense of cultural heritage is unmistakably related to mental health and social well-
being.1 The first lesson for schools seems to be that bilingual and multicultural
programs can be a positive and integral component of the learning environment.
Supporting Native-Language Approaches

Native-language instruction has been a vital part of the educational landscape
in the United States for many generations. In spite of growing linguistic diver-
sity, however, approaches that use students’ native languages have always been
accompanied by great controversy, as we saw in Chapter 6. Too often, bilingual
programs have been relegated, metaphorically speaking, to the space next to the
boiler room in the basement or to a large unused closet.2 In addition, bilingual
teachers have been segregated programmatically and physically from other staff
members, making both teachers and students feel isolated from the larger school
community.
There needs to be a rethinking of the place for native-language use for emer-
gent bilingual students. Promoting students’ native language—whether through
bilingual or English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, or even in nonbilingual
settings where teachers encourage students to use it among their peers and in their
learning in general—helps make these students visible and respected in the school
environment. Valuing their language made a difference for the young people in our
case studies and snapshots, as they mentioned time and again. The seeming con-
versational English fluency of some students often misleads teachers into believing
that these students can handle the academic rigors of cognitively demanding work
in English. This is not always the case. For example, a major finding of researchers
K. Tsianina Lomawaima and Teresa McCarty on Navajo bilingual programs found
that students in grades K–6 who had the benefit of cumulative, uninterrupted ini-
tial literacy experiences in the Navajo language made the greatest gains on local
and national measures of achievement.3
Some ways in which teachers and schools can support students for whom
English is not a native language include the following:
• Encouraging parents to use the native language at home, by both speaking and
reading it to their children
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CHAPTER 10 Affirming Diversity: Implications for Teachers, Schools, Families, and Communities 323
• Allowing students to work in same-language groups for some cooperative

learning activities
• Encouraging students to use words in their native language when they don’t
know the equivalent words in English and to explain what they mean
• Stocking the classroom with books and other reading materials in students’
native languages
• Asking students who are learning English to teach other students some of their
home language
• Making multilingual word charts in the classroom of commonly used words
and phrases such as pencil, crayon, book, please, and thank you and asking
students to list the equivalent words in their home language
• Encouraging and allowing students to use their native language in the class-
room and on the playground and school grounds
• Promoting the learning of second languages among staff members by provid-
ing language classes for them in the school
The case studies and snapshots make abundantly clear the positive results of
maintaining native-language fluency in promoting the academic success of stu-
dents, but bilingualism is also a worthy goal on its own and a valuable resource
that should be supported. Programs promoting bilingualism are in constant jeop-
ardy, yet it is foolhardy to do away with precisely the kinds of programs needed
in a society with growing linguistic and cultural diversity and international inter-
dependence. Certainly, in the past two decades, we have seen powerful reminders
that we need to understand all people in the international community, such as
the events of September 11, 2001, and numerous, subsequent wars have dem-
onstrated. Additionally, the recent assaults on the rights of immigrants and mul-
tilingual speakers, and the continual racial profiling and oppression endured by
Black, Latino, and other families, remind us that language is one significant way to
achieve this understanding.
Developing Comprehensive Multicultural Programs

Another key lesson from the case studies and snapshots is that multicultural edu-
cation must be an integral part of the school experience of all students. This is
not to imply that the interviewed students themselves recommended multicultural
education. On the contrary, if they mentioned it at all, it was usually in the con-
text of fairs, cookbooks, or other more superficial aspects and certainly not in the
comprehensive way that the term has been defined in this text. Given their experi-
ences, this is all they knew about multicultural education. Yet when students are
asked about the importance of addressing diversity in the schools, they tend to
be supportive of such efforts. In the same way, the yearning in the voices of the
students in our case studies and snapshots makes it clear that they wanted closer
connections with their cultural identities, from Rebecca Florentina’s gratitude for
some of her teachers’ support of the Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) in her school, to
Savoun Nouch’s wish for continued “reading groups” in his language, to the case
of David Weiss, whose snapshot follows. As you will see, David longed to learn
Spanish, the language of his ancestry.
Multicultural education can help new students adjust to the community and
school and can also address the inter-ethnic prejudice and hostility that are obvi-
ous in many schools. With the influx of large numbers of new immigrants, and
with few appropriate programs to prepare either communities or schools for them,
the problem is a serious one. Students’ lack of understanding of cultures different
from their own, false preconceptions about diverse groups of people they and their
families may have brought from other countries, their internalizing of the negative
ways in which differences are treated in our society, and the lack of information
provided in the schools all serve to magnify the problem. Add to this the pecking
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SNAPSHOT
David Weiss
When he was interviewed, David Weiss* was 13 years old and Most people know I’m adopted. I tell them. People think
a student in middle school. Adopted from Chile by a White I look different from my mom. People notice my older brother’s
Jewish family in the United States when he was just a few color more than mine. [His brother, also adopted, is darker.] One
months old, he talked about what it meant to be adopted, bi- time in Health class, the teacher asked kids if they had any sto-
ries about their birth. Most kids had something to say. I didn’t—
ethnic, and bicultural. David was from the Mapuche Nation of
I wouldn’t share it, anyway . . . . Well, it depends.
Indigenous Americans, the largest indigenous group in Chile.
If I could, I would join a school club for adopted kids and for
He spoke English as his native language and learned to read
different racial people. That way, I’d know more adopted people.
Hebrew for his bar mitzvah. But he identified as Latino and
he also wanted to learn Spanish, which he planned to take in Commentary
school the following year because, as he said, “I was born in
David’s snapshot presents a poignant example of the dilemmas
Chile, and I should know Spanish.” David described some of
inherent in issues of both hybrid identities and adoption. For
the dilemmas and complexities of his hybrid identity.
example, David was clear about the fact that race and ethnic-
My birth mother left a letter for me, which I have in the bank. ity are not so easy to determine. He said that what he looks
I saw a picture of her. She said she didn’t have enough like is not necessarily who he is inside or how he feels. This is
money to raise two children and couldn’t take care of me. an important insight, and it is especially crucial in the case of
That’s why I was adopted. adopted children, who may not have any information about
their ethnic backgrounds or birth parents. David’s statement
M ost people don’t recognize me as Latino or Native Ameri-

can. They think I’m American and White. In looks, I am
White, but inside, no: my blood is Chilean and Native American.
about joining a school club for adopted kids if one existed is a
reminder that not all school clubs should be based on ethnicity,
race, or hobbies. Having a place to “belong” is a need for all
A teacher at school told me about another boy who’s also young people.
from Chile and also adopted. Now we’re friends. At first, I was
surprised. It’s kind of a coincidence because we were in Santiago *We thank Dr. John Raible for interviewing David and helping to craft
at the same time. At first I didn’t tell him I was from Chile. I got the snapshot. John is associate professor in the Department of Teach-
to know him, and then I told him. He said I didn’t look like it. We ing, Learning and Teacher Education at the University of Nebraska-
used to talk about being adopted. Lincoln.
order established in schools among different social and cultural groups, and the
general reluctance of schools to deal with such knotty issues, and we are left with
unresolved but chronic inter-ethnic hostility.4 This was poignantly illustrated by
Savoun’s descriptions of the violent racial tensions at his former school and his
astonishment at the absence of gangs and feuding among different racial groups at
his new school.
As we’ve discussed throughout this text, a growing body of research on
multicultural education suggests that only by reforming the entire school envi-
ronment can substantive changes in attitudes, behaviors, and achievement
take place. Most schools have not undertaken such a comprehensive approach.
When they do, they find that they need to modify the school culture itself, for
example, by including strategies such as mediation, restorative justice, asset-
based pedagogy, multicultural curriculum development, parent and community
outreach, and the elimination of tracking. Such a comprehensive approach is
needed, but it may also be fraught with potential conflict because it challenges
traditions and ideologies that are at the very heart of schooling in the United
States, not to mention the ingrained privilege of some groups who make such
changes difficult to accomplish. But this kind of comprehensive approach is, in
the long run, the best guarantee that schools will become welcoming environ-
ments for all our students.
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Support Beyond Academics

As the case studies and snapshots make clear, when young people are involved
in meaningful activities outside an academic context, whether in the school or
community or in a combination of activities, including school clubs and sports,
religious groups, and out-of-school hobbies, they find support that helps protect
them from negative peer pressure and helps develop and reinforce their leader-
ship and critical thinking skills. All schools, but particularly those at the secondary
level, need to provide inclusive and meaningful activities that attract a wide range
of students. Given the renewed emphasis on “the basics” that resulted from the
educational reform movement that began in the 1980s and continues today, many
schools have drastically cut or eliminated arts programs and minimized extracur-
ricular activities.
Some reforms, particularly those focusing on “raising standards”—such as
longer school days and fewer so-called frills, such as music and art—have been
felt most profoundly at schools serving economically and culturally marginalized
students. The negative results of eliminating arts programs in urban schools in
the most economically strapped communities have been thoroughly documented
in research by the U.S. Department of Education. Furthermore, the organization
Americans for the Arts argues that a child’s education is not complete unless it
includes the arts. The organization documents the severe erosion of arts in schools
over the past three decades, noting that the decline of the arts in schools is most
drastic in low-income communities of color: This continues despite evidence that
the arts are essential to prepare students to meet the demands of the twenty-first
century, both for the students’ sake and for the sake of our economy and our
society.5
Even in schools that provide extracurricular activities, a majority of students
are not involved—for many reasons, ranging from lack of funds to schedule con-
flicts. For example, some sports programs, although presumably open to all, are
in effect restricted to the students most able to afford them. Other programs meet
after school and, because they provide no transportation, are available only to
those who can get home on their own or who can rely on family or friends for
transportation. Students who work after school are also unable to take part in
these activities. In some cases, extracurricular activities reflect only one culture
or language—although that may not be the intent of the programs—leading stu-
dents of other backgrounds to perceive that they are not welcome. For exam-
ple, Cambodian students who are interested in joining the soccer team may
feel excluded because there are no other Cambodian students on the team, or
Mexican American students in a bilingual program may want to work on the
school newspaper but may not even attempt to join if the newspaper is written
entirely in English. The main issue here is equal access. A school may claim that
its activities are open to all, but a policy statement is meaningless unless it is
backed up in practice. Equal conditions of participation need to be established
for all students.
Creating Affirming Environments for Learning

The students in our case studies and snapshots participated in environments
in which they would fit in. These environments can be positive, as in the case
of Yahaira Leon’s work with the Mock Trial Club that led to engagement in the
Junior Statesman Foundation, or the GSA for Rebecca Florentina, or they can be
negative, as in the case of gang involvement for Savoun Nouch and Paul Chavez.
There are several implications concerning what schools can do to provide positive
environments that promote the achievement of all students. The following section
explores what educational researchers Esteban Diaz, Luis Moll, and Hugh Mehan
over 30 years ago termed mutual accommodation, a concept still relevant today.6
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Mutual Accommodation
A key question teachers and schools must ask themselves in their interactions
with students—particularly those from diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic
backgrounds—is this: Who does the accommodating? This question gets to the
very heart of how students from nondominant groups experience school every
day. Dominant-group students rarely have to consider learning a new language to
communicate with their teachers because they already speak the acceptable school
language. The same is true of culture. Dominant-group students generally do not
have to think about their parents’ lifestyles and values because their families are
the norm, as we saw in the snapshot of Aiden and Daniel O’Carroll. Students from
other groups, however, have to consider such issues every day.
Some accommodation is, of course, necessary. If students and teachers spoke
different languages at all times, operated under different goals and assumptions,
and in general had varying expectations from those of the school, chaos would
result. Students from nondominant groups and their families always expect to
make some accommodations, which is clear in their willingness to learn Eng-
lish, their eagerness to participate in school life, and their general agreement with
the rules of the game implicit in their social contract with the schools. But when
does accommodation become acquiescence? Although nonmainstream students
acknowledge the need to do some accommodating, they also recognize the ben-
efits that accompany the affirmation of their languages and cultures.
The perspective of mutual accommodation allows schools and teachers to
use the resources all students already have to work toward academic success. In
this model, neither the student nor the teacher expects complete accommodation.
Rather, they work together, using the best strategies at the disposition of each
and, as a result, teachers and students are equally enriched. Using students’ lan-
guage, identities, and experiences as the basis for student learning might mean
that teachers have to expand their own repertoires of teaching. Reorganizing the
social structure of classrooms can facilitate significant improvements in prosocial
development, academic achievement, and inter-ethnic relations. Even students’
attitudes and behaviors toward one another can be influenced in a positive way.
Providing alternative means for learning is an essentially equitable endeavor, and
it strengthens the democratic purposes of schooling.
An important lesson for teachers and schools is that, contrary to conventional
wisdom and practice, it is not students and their families who must always do
the accommodating. Mutual accommodation means that teachers and schools
accept and build on students’ experiences and identities, including their language,
culture, and family knowledge, as legitimate expressions of intelligence and as
the basis for learning. For students and families, mutual accommodation means
accepting the culture of the school in areas such as expectations about attendance
and homework and learning the necessary skills for academic achievement.
Through this process, students, their families, teachers, and schools all benefit.
Teachers’ Relationships with Students

Most teachers enter the teaching profession because of a sincere belief in young
people and an eagerness to help them learn. However, many obstacles—including
teachers’ limited power, unresponsive administrators, classes that are too large,
and the challenges of reaching students from a dizzying array of backgrounds—
make teaching a very difficult job indeed. In spite of these challenges, developing
healthy relationships with students is the best way to maintain the hope and joy
that drew teachers to education in the first place.
Students in our case studies talked at length about teachers who made a
difference in their attitudes toward school and their engagement with learning.
Sometimes these teachers were from the same racial or ethnic background as the
students themselves. Linda Howard spoke emphatically about the support she
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got from both her first-grade teacher, who was Black, and Mr. Benson, who was
“mixed” like her. Given the general invisibility of many students’ cultures and
languages in the school environment, this kind of connection is healthy and neces-
sary. One implication is that schools need to recruit teachers who share the cul-
tural background of their students.
Teachers from students’ racial, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds can make a
significant contribution to the school, enriching both the environment and the cur-
riculum, but an undue burden is sometimes placed on these teachers when they
are seen as the representatives of their entire racial, ethnic, or linguistic group.
Not only are they expected to be role models, but also they are increasingly called
on to solve problems of cultural misunderstanding, translate letters, visit homes,
chair the school’s multicultural committee, and so on—usually with no extra com-
pensation or recognition. The situation not only is unfair to these teachers but also
may result in absolving the rest of the school staff of its responsibility for meeting
the needs of all its students.
Schools have an obligation to aggressively recruit teachers who are as diverse
as the student body, but this is something that, until now, has not been given
national priority. When faculty members are from a variety of cultural back-
grounds and are multilingual, students are more likely to perceive the significance
of intellectual pursuits in their own lives. Nevertheless, all teachers, regard-
less of background, need to develop skills in multicultural communication and
understanding. Their cultural knowledge and awareness, and their curricular and
instructional accommodations, can make a major difference in student learning
and engagement.
All teachers can become role models for all students as long as they are car-
ing and knowledgeable about their students. One way in which teachers can build
substantial relationships with students is by offering help to those who do not seek
their aid. This issue arose numerous times during our case study interviews. The
number of students who had absolutely no guidance in school was astonishing. For
students who are the first in their families to go to college or even to graduate from
high school, such help is indispensable because their families often have no prior
experience from which to draw on when it comes to guiding their children. Students
who are most vulnerable in terms of having access to college frequently receive the
least help in schools, even when they are successful and have high aspirations
for continued schooling. Research has confirmed the significance of teachers’ sup-
port of their students’ aspirations and goals. In a study using longitudinal data of
a cohort of 11,000 adolescents, Robert Croninger and Valerie Lee investigated the
benefits of teachers’ guidance and support for students at risk for dropping out of
high school. The researchers concluded that positive relations with teachers reduce
the odds of dropping out, as do informal interactions with teachers outside the
classroom. Even more significant, Croninger and Lee found that such guidance was
especially crucial for students who have a history of difficulties at school.7
In contrast, the young people in our case studies and snapshots frequently
pointed out the negative impact of low expectations. They said that they and their
classmates were treated like babies; that the work teachers gave them was unde-
manding; and that any work, no matter how poor, was accepted. The attitude
that students are incapable of performing adequately because they happen to be
Black, speak a language other than English, or live in poverty may be widespread,
but lowered expectations are not always conscious or based on negative inten-
tions. Sometimes lowering expectations is a teacher’s way of adapting instruction
to address student differences. Good intentions, however, do not always lead to
positive results. Because such accommodations are based on the presumption that
particular students are incapable of high-quality work due to language and cul-
tural differences, they are patronizing at best.
The key lesson is that teachers and schools need to raise, rather than lower,
expectations and standards for all students. High standards can be achieved in a
M10_NIET7232_07_SE_C10.indd 327 09/11/17 5:30 PM

great variety of ways, and not only through the standardized tests that are increas-
ingly being used as the sole way to measure student learning. Multicultural edu-
cation means finding and using culturally and linguistically relevant materials to
develop students’ cognitive skills. It also means using a variety of approaches in
instruction. Raising standards and expectations does not require homogenizing
instruction, but rather creating new and different opportunities for learning for all
students.
Working with Families to Promote Student Learning

Very few of the parents and other family members mentioned in the case stud-
ies and snapshots were involved in school in any but the most superficial way,
at least according to how parent involvement is generally defined. Few of them
volunteered their time in school, went to meetings, or even visited the school on
a consistent basis. The reasons for this lack of involvement were many, ranging
from an inability to speak English to an inability to leave work during the day, to
limited funds, to lack of previous experience with such activities, and to their own
negative experiences with schooling.
If schools and teachers perceive parent involvement as simply involvement in
what occurs in the school, the vital role families have in their children’s academic
success is overlooked. Educators must be concerned not just with the kinds of
activities traditionally equated with school success, that is, having many books and
toys in the home or attending cultural centers such as museums or going to plays.
These are worthwhile activities, of course, but not all families have access to them,
nor are they part of every family’s repertoire. All families, however, are capable of
providing intangibles such as consistent communication, high expectations, pride,
understanding, and enthusiasm for their children’s school experiences.
How did the parents of our case study students support their children’s learn-
ing, and what can teachers learn from these examples? Although most did not
help with homework, they monitored it and asked questions that demonstrated an
interest in what their children were doing in school. They also provided support
in other ways. For example, according to the students, the parents stressed the
importance of staying in school and going to college. Many of the students men-
tioned that their parents wanted them to have a better chance, to do better than
they had done, and to have the opportunity for a good job. James talked about
how his mother removed his brother from a class because she was unhappy with
the way the teacher was treating him. Delilah mentioned her parents’ efforts to get
her into the METCO program. Yahaira explained her mother’s tenacious efforts to
move the family into a better school district. Most of the families also continued to
use their native language at home and to emphasize their family’s cultural values,
whether through religious observance; important family rituals; or deep-seated
values such as family responsibility, respect for elders, and high academic aspira-
tions. Rather than obstructing academic success, reliance on native language and
culture helped promote it.
Teachers need to understand and support the kinds of activities in which these
parents and other family members are involved in order to develop a more hope-
ful and democratic model of parent involvement, one that is within the reach of
all students, despite the level of the schooling of their families, their socioeco-
nomic background, or the language spoken at home. The multicultural teaching
stories about the Boston Teachers Union School in Chapter 4 and Renee Spanos
Klein in Chapter 8 provide robust examples of teachers collaborating with family
members to support children’s literacy development. Unfortunately, however, the
experiences and talents of families are not always taken into account, particularly
in the case of families living in poverty and those who speak another language
or come from a nondominant culture. The view that such families are unable to
provide environments that promote learning can lead to condescending practices
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that reject the skills and resources that these families already have. These might
include parenting classes that are patronizing, or nutrition and hygiene classes
taught by “experts” that do not take into account the abilities of families.
On the other hand, when parents are perceived to have resources that can aid
their children’s learning, the results can be more positive. Sometimes “parenting
classes” are offered with the assumption that families know little about parenting,
or that only parents living in poverty do not have parenting skills. There is nothing
wrong with information to help parents with the upbringing and education of their
children when it is given with asset-based perspectives that communicate mutual
respect. Parenting is hard work, and any help that teachers and schools can give
parents is valuable, but it needs to be offered through two-way communication
that inspires confidence and trust.
Expanding Definitions: What It Means

to Be American
What it means to be an American is, in many ways, the quintessential American
dilemma, yet historically it has not invited a deep or sustained critical conver-
sation. Throughout our history, with successive generations of newcomers and
conflicts with old-timers, either easy speculation or pat answers have been offered
because there is an unstated assumption of what being an American means. When
we question the assumed definition, a number of troubling contradictions emerge,
particularly about questions of equality and social justice.
As movingly expressed by students in some of the case studies and snap-
shots, a number of young people have great difficulty accepting a split concept of
self (what has commonly been called the hyphenated American). In our society,
this dichotomy is common: One is either American or foreign, English-speaking
or Spanish-speaking, Black or White. The possibility that one could, at the same
time, be Spanish-speaking and English-speaking, Vietnamese and American, or
Black and White is hardly considered. This was graphically illustrated in the con-
stant media references to Barack Obama as the first African American, or Black,
president. Rarely is he referred to as the first “mixed” or “multiracial” president.
The chronic questions about his citizenship and whether he was a “real Ameri-
can” are even more illustrative, despite the fact that he was born in Hawaii to a
White woman who hailed from Kansas and spent many of his formative years in
Honolulu, where his White grandparents played a big part in his upbringing.
The designation of American has generally been reserved for those who are
White and English-speaking. Others, even if they have been here for many years,
have still been seen as separate. For example, no matter how many generations an
Asian family has been here and regardless of whether they speak only English and
have little contact with their native heritage, they are not automatically considered
American. Conversely, the same is usually not true for European Americans, even
recent arrivals. Even Blacks whose families have been in this country for hundreds
of years are sometimes seen as quite separate. Racism has always been implicated
in the acceptance or rejection of particular groups in U.S. society.
Challenging “Heartbreaking Dilemmas”

As we can see, then, for a variety of reasons, the definition of American, as cur-
rently used, may effectively exclude those who are least powerful. As such, it legit-
imates the cultural, economic, and political control and hegemony of those who
are already dominant in U.S. society. Our present and future diversity demands an
expanded and inclusive definition—not hyphenated Americans, implying split and
confused identities. African-American might imply a bifurcated identity, whereas
African American signifies that a new definition is possible—one that emphasizes
not confusion or denial, but acceptance and inclusion.
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In the past, to become Americanized meant not only learning English but also
rejecting one’s native language, not only learning the culture but also learning to
eat, dress, talk, and even behave like the European American model. As so poi
gnantly expressed by a writer describing the experience of Jews in New York over
100 years ago, “The world that we faced on the East Side at the turn of the [20th]
century presented a series of heartbreaking dilemmas.”8 To go through the process
of Americanization too often meant the inevitable loss of a great part of oneself
in the bargain. These heartbreaking dilemmas still exist today, as we have seen
in the case studies and snapshots. A hundred years ago, the choice was generally
made in favor of assimilation. Although no less difficult today, the choices are not
as limited as they once were. There are two major reasons for this. First, the civil
rights movement and related movements for women’s ethnic and lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) rights, among others, have led to more free-
dom in asserting one’s identity because they have transformed the sociopolitical
and historical contexts in which such decisions are made. Second, the number and
diversity of immigrants in the United States over the past three decades have been
unequaled in our history. These changes are profoundly affecting the meaning of
assimilation.
Toward Additive Multiculturalism

In some ways, the students currently enrolled in our schools are more fortunate
than previous generations of students because they have more freedom to deter-
mine what to do about their language and culture, but the choice may still be a
painful one. On one hand, if they choose to identify with their ethnic background,
they may feel alienated from this society; on the other hand, if they identify with
U.S. culture, they may feel like traitors to their family and community.
These choices are quite rigid: One is either true to oneself and family, or
one is an American. This can be compared to what Wallace Lambert has called
subtractive bilingualism, that is, the kind of bilingualism that develops at the
expense of one’s native language.9 This sort of bilingualism means that one does
not really become bilingual at all, but rather goes from being monolingual in one
language to being monolingual in another, although sometimes vestiges of the
original language may remain. Multiculturalism, too, is subtractive if it allows
only a transition from being monocultural in one culture to being so in another.
Ned Seelye described this dilemma: “One can escape appearing culturally dif-
ferent by forfeiting one of the two cultures—and there is always considerable
pressure on economically and politically subservient groups to make this sacri-
fice—but trading one brand of monoculturalism for another seems an unnecessar-
ily pallid business.”10
The opposite of subtractive multiculturalism can be called additive multicul-
turalism. We have seen that children who achieve fuller bilingual development
enjoy cognitive advantages over monolinguals, so it makes sense that those who
reach a state of additive multiculturalism also enjoy advantages over monocultur-
als, including a broader view of reality, feeling comfortable in a variety of settings,
and multicultural flexibility.
A More Expansive Definition of American

Expanding the definition of American may help students and others facing the
dilemma of fitting into a culturally diverse society by providing alternatives to
self-identification, as well as social and national identification. The students in
our case studies and snapshots, as well as many others, would have more choices
than before and would no longer face such “heartbreaking dilemmas” to the same
extent that they currently do. European Americans would no longer be considered
the only true Americans. E pluribus unum can no longer mean that cultural differ-
ences have to be denied in order to foster a false unity. Neither is complete cultural
M10_NIET7232_07_SE_C10.indd 330 09/11/17 5:30 PM

maintenance a realistic choice because it implies that native traditions should be

preserved in a pure and idealized state without the comingling, hybridity, and
interdependence that are both necessary and inevitable in a pluralistic society.
No longer a choice between assimilating or not, the question now is “How
far can society, and the institutions of society such as schools, accommodate the
changing definition of American?” It is probably the first time in our history that
this question has been addressed seriously. The view of the United States as a
monolithic, monocultural, and monolingual society is being challenged daily, as
seen in the wide use of languages other than English by an increasing percentage
of the population, and by the ease and conviction with which growing numbers
of people are claiming their identities as vital resources to be nurtured and main-
tained. The fact that this question can even be posed places us in a unique histori-
cal moment; in the past, such possibilities were not really considered. Therefore,
the view that schools must be the obligatory assimilators of students is being
disputed.
The boundaries of pluralism, formerly delimited by an Anglocentric defini-
tion, were vigorously questioned during the last quarter of the twentieth century.
After September 11, 2001, some backsliding on the issue of what it means to be
an American occurred, and both these tendencies became exaggerated during the
presidential election in 2016, with more rigid views expressed by one candidate
and many of his supporters than we have seen in some time. Policies such as
“English only” and anti-immigrant sentiments are gaining strength, and there is
less patience with diversity in some quarters. Because of the social and historical
global context in which we are living, however, these perspectives and policies
will, in the long run, prove ineffective.
In an insightful essay on assimilation written nearly four decades ago, Wil-
liam Greenbaum proposed two reasons why assimilation occurred so quickly in
the past: One was hope, and the other was shame. Hope contributed in a major
way by holding out the promise of equality, economic security, and a safe haven
from war and devastation. Nonetheless, according to Greenbaum, shame was the
“main fuel” for the American melting pot: “The immigrants were best instructed in
how to repulse themselves; millions of people were taught to be ashamed of their
faces, their family names, their parents and grandparents, and their class patterns,
histories and life outlooks.”11
Eliminating Shame and Cultivating Pride

Shame is no longer acceptable to a growing number of people, and it should not
be acceptable in schools either. The students in the snapshots and case studies
challenge what it means to be an American. Not content to accept past limitations,
they provide evidence that an evolution is taking place. They are still caught in
the conflict and uncertainties of how to expand their possibilities, but these young
people are increasingly sure of who they are. They are determined to define their
own identities—identities that are different from their parents but not restricted to
the old, static definition of American that has been available up to now. They are,
in a word, determined to become “true Americans,” a broader conception of this
term as defined in a recent book by legal scholar Rosemary Salomone.12 As long as
there are newcomers and as long as there are those who refuse to be included in a
definition that denies them both their individual and group identities, the question
of what it means to become American will remain with us. The challenge for us as
a society is to make room for everyone.
Levels of Multicultural Education

If, indeed, we reject past limits on what it means to be an American, we need to
consider how multicultural education can be incorporated in a natural and inclu-
sive way into curricula and instruction.
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Starting Out
How does a school or a teacher achieve a multicultural perspective? To say that
multicultural education must be comprehensively defined, pervasive, and inclu-
sive is not to imply that only a full-blown program qualifies. Because multicultural
education is a process, it is always changing and never quite complete. Multicul-
tural education is also critical pedagogy, meaning that it is necessarily dynamic. A
static program-in-place or a slick, packaged program is contrary to the very defini-
tion of multicultural education.
We illustrate with an example from Susan Barrett, who was a talented high
school English teacher in a community of European American (primarily Irish,
French, and Polish) and Puerto Rican students. Many years ago, when asked how
she included a multicultural perspective in her teaching, Susan replied that she
had not yet reached that level; rather, she said, her classroom had what she called
bicultural moments. As a proponent of multicultural education, she used inclusive
curriculum and instructional strategies that emerged from this perspective. How-
ever, she felt that the children in her classes did not even know about their own or
one another’s backgrounds, let alone about the world outside their communities,
so her curriculum focused on exploring the “little world” of her students’ commu-
nity before venturing beyond it.
In their enthusiasm to incorporate a multicultural philosophy in their teaching,
teachers can sometimes forget that their classrooms are a rich source of cultural
knowledge. Yet students often know very little about their own culture or those
of their classmates. Starting out small, then, means being sensitive to bicultural
moments and using them as a beginning for a more broad-based multicultural
education.
Becoming a Multicultural Person

Developing truly comprehensive multicultural education takes many years, in part
because of the monocultural education most of us have received. In spite of our
distinct cultural or linguistic backgrounds, the majority of us have been educated
in monocultural environments. We seldom have the necessary models for devel-
oping a multicultural perspective. We have only our own experiences, and no
matter what our background, these have been overwhelmingly Eurocentric and
English-speaking.
Becoming a multicultural teacher, therefore, means first becoming a multicul-
tural person. Without this transformation of ourselves, any attempts at developing
a multicultural perspective will be superficial and incomplete. However, becom-
ing a multicultural person in a society that values monoculturalism is not easy. It
means re-educating ourselves in several ways.
First, we simply need to learn more. We need to be involved in activities that
emphasize pluralism. We also need to look for books and other materials that
inform us about people and events we may know little about. Because of the mul-
ticultural nature of our society, these materials are widely available, although
sometimes we have learned not to see them.
Second, we need to confront our own racism and biases. It is impossible to
be a teacher with a multicultural perspective without going through this process.
Because we are all products of a society stratified by race, gender, class, and lan-
guage, among other differences, we have all internalized some negative messages
in one way or another. Sometimes our biases are unconscious, as in the case of
a former student who referred to Africans as slaves and Europeans as people but
was horrified when this was pointed out to her. Sometimes the words we use con-
vey deep-seated stereotypes, as when students who do not yet speak English are
characterized as “not having language,” as if they did not speak any language at
all. Our actions also carry the messages we have learned, for example, when we
automatically expect that our female students will not do as well in math as our
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male students. Our own reeducation means not only learning new things but also
unlearning some of the old. In the case of LGBTQ students, for example, it is com-
mon for both teachers and students to make statements such as “I don’t care what
they are, as long as they don’t bring it into the classroom,” as if the identities of
LGBTQ students should be erased because they make other people uncomfortable.
In all these cases, the process of confronting our own racism and biases can be dif-
ficult and painful, but it is a necessary part of becoming multicultural.
Third, becoming a multicultural person means learning to see reality from a
variety of perspectives. Because traditional education has frequently reinforced the
message that there is only one “right answer,” we have developed only one way
of seeing things. A multicultural perspective demands just the opposite. Reorient-
ing ourselves in this way can be exhausting and difficult because it requires a
dramatic shift in our worldview. Although the transformation of individuals from
monocultural to multicultural will not, by itself, guarantee that education will
become multicultural, it will lay the groundwork.
A Model of Multicultural Education

A monocultural perspective reflects a fundamentally different framework for
understanding diversity than does a multicultural one. Even multicultural educa-
tion, however, has a variety of levels of support for pluralism. We classify them
into at least four levels: tolerance; acceptance; respect; and affirmation, solidarity,
and critique. In the process of becoming multicultural, we need to consider these
levels of multicultural education and how they might look in schools. These cat-
egories should be viewed as dynamic and permeable. Our purpose in creating this
model is to demonstrate the various ways in which multicultural education can be
implemented in schools. Please keep in mind, however, that whenever we clas-
sify and categorize reality, as we do in this model, we run the risk that it will be
viewed as static and arbitrary rather than as messy, complex, and contradictory,
which we know it to be.
In what follows, we propose a model, ranging from monocultural education
to comprehensive multicultural education, based on the seven characteristics of
multicultural education described in Chapter 2. This model explores how multicul-
tural education pays attention to many components of the school environment and
takes different forms in different settings.13
1. Tolerance is the first level of support for pluralism. To be tolerant means to
have the capacity to bear something, although at times it may be unpleas-
ant. To tolerate differences means to endure them, although not necessarily to
embrace them. We may learn to tolerate differences, but this level of accept-
ance can be shaky because what is tolerated today can be rejected tomorrow.
Therefore, tolerance represents the lowest level of multicultural education in a
school setting, yet many schools have what they consider very comprehensive
mission statements that stress tolerance in striving for diversity. Although the
schools may believe that these mission statements are adequate expressions
of support, they do not suffice. In terms of school policies and practices, toler-
ance may be viewed as having to bear linguistic and cultural differences as
the inevitable burden of a culturally pluralistic society. When this is the per-
spective, programs that do not build on differences but rather replace them—
for example, ELL programs—may be superficial at best. Black History Month
might be commemorated with an assembly program and a bulletin board, but
the acknowledgment of African Americans would stop there. The lifestyles
and values of students’ families, if different from the majority, may be consid-
ered by schools to require modification.
2. Acceptance is the next level of support for diversity. If we accept differences, at
the very least, we recognize their significance. In concrete terms, programs that
acknowledge students’ languages and cultures are visible in the school if diversity
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is accepted. These programs might include a transitional bilingual program that

uses the students’ primary language, at least until they are “mainstreamed” into
an English-language environment. Acceptance of diversity might also be reflected
in the celebration of some differences through activities such as multicultural
fairs and cookbooks. In a school with this level of support for diversity, time
might be set aside weekly for “multicultural programs,” and parents’ native lan-
guages might be used for communicating with them through newsletters.
3. Respect is the third level of multicultural education. To respect means to
admire and hold in high esteem. When diversity is respected, it is used as the
basis for much of the education offered. This might mean offering programs
of bilingual education that employ students’ native language not only as a
bridge to English but also throughout their schooling. Frequent and positive
interactions with parents would take place. In the curriculum, students’ val-
ues and experiences would be used as the basis for their literacy development.
Students would be exposed to different ways of approaching the same reality
and, as a result, they would expand their way of looking at the world. Addi-
tive multiculturalism would be the ultimate goal for everybody.
4. Affirmation, solidarity, and critique, which we consider the highest level of
support for diversity, is based on the premise that the most powerful learn-
ing happens when students work through their differences, even if it is some-
times difficult and challenging. This means accepting the various cultures and
languages of students and their families as legitimate and embracing them as
valid vehicles for learning. It also means, however, understanding that culture is
not fixed or unchangeable and that it can be held up to scrutiny and criticized.
Because multicultural education is concerned with equity and social justice for all
people, and because basic values of different groups are sometimes diametrically
opposed, conflict is inevitable. What makes this level different from the others is
that conflict is not avoided but accepted as an inescapable part of learning. Pas-
sively accepting the status quo of any culture is inconsistent with multicultural
education. Simply substituting one cultural myth for another contradicts the
basic tenets of multicultural education because no group is inherently superior
or more heroic than any other. At this level, students not only “celebrate” diver-
sity, but also they reflect on and challenge it. As expressed by Mary Kalzantzis
and Bill Cope, multicultural education “needs to consider not just the pleasure
of diversity but more fundamental issues that arise as different groups negotiate
community and the basic issues of material life in the same space—a process
that equally might generate conflict and pain.”14 Such fundamental issues may
be difficult and even impossible to reconcile, and they might include different
values about respect, authority, family, and gender roles, to name just a few.
Multicultural education without critique keeps cultural understanding at
the romantic or exotic stage. If we are unable to transcend our own cultural
experience through reflection and critique, we cannot hope to understand and
critique that of others. For students, this process begins with a strong sense of
solidarity with others who are different from themselves. When based on deep
respect, critique is not only necessary but also, in fact, healthy. Without cri-
tique, the danger that multicultural education might be used to glorify myths
into static “truth” is very real.
In the school, affirmation, solidarity, and critique mean using students’
identities in a consistent, critical, and comprehensive way. This goes beyond
creating ethnic enclaves, which can become exclusionary and selective,
although for disenfranchised communities, this might certainly be a step in the
process of implementing multicultural education. To achieve the highest level
of support for diversity (affirmation, solidarity, and critique), schools must
develop multicultural settings in which all students feel reflected and visible,
for example, through two-way bilingual programs in which two languages are
used and maintained meaningfully in the academic setting. The curriculum
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would be characterized by inclusiveness, offering a wide variety of content

and perspectives. Teachers’ attitudes and behaviors would reflect only the
very highest expectations for all students. Instructional strategies would also
encompass a range of means to teach students. Families would be welcomed
and supported in the school as students’ first and most important teachers.
Their experiences, viewpoints, and suggestions would be sought and incor-
porated into classroom and school programs and activities. In turn, families
would be exposed to a variety of experiences and viewpoints different from
their own, which would help them expand their horizons, too. Other ways in
which these four levels might be developed in schools are listed in Table 10.1.
Of course, multicultural education cannot be categorized as neatly as this table
would suggest. This model simply represents a theoretical way of understanding
how different levels of multicultural education might be visible in a school. It also
highlights that, to be most effective, multicultural education needs to be pervasive
in both philosophy and practice. Although any level of multicultural education is
preferable to a monocultural one, each level more vigorously challenges a mono-
lithic and ethnocentric view of society and education.
The fourth level—affirmation, solidarity, and critique—is also the most diffi-
cult to achieve for some of the reasons mentioned previously, including the lack of
models of multicultural education in our own schooling and experiences. It is here
that we educators are most confronted by values and lifestyles different from our
own and with situations that severely test the limits of our tolerance. Interacting
with people who are different from us in hygienic practices, food preferences, and
religious rites can be trying. It is also extremely difficult, and at times impossible,
to understand and reconcile cultural beliefs and practices that run counter to our
most deeply held beliefs. For example, suppose we believe strongly in equality of
the sexes and have in our classroom children whose families value males more
highly than females, or who believe that education is a frill and not suitable for
their children, or we have children in our classes whose religion forbids them to
take part in any school activities except academics—all of these situations test our
capacity for affirmation and solidarity.
Culture is not static, nor is it necessarily positive or negative. The cultural
values and practices of a group of people reflect their best strategies for negotiat-
ing their environment and circumstances at a particular historical moment. What
some groups have worked out as appropriate strategies may be considered unsuit-
able or even barbaric and uncivilized by others. Because each cultural group has
developed in a different context, we can never reach total agreement on the best
or most appropriate ways in which to lead our lives.
One way to tackle this dilemma is to emphasize the indisputable human and
civil rights of all people. These rights guarantee that all human beings be treated
with dignity, respect, and equality. Sometimes the values and behaviors of a group
so seriously challenge these values that we cannot accept or tolerate them. If the
values we, as human beings, hold most dear are based on extending rather than
negating rights, and if we are proponents of respect for diversity, we must decide
on the side of these more universal values.
This brings us to a final consideration: Multicultural education is not easy. If
it were, everyone would be doing it. Resolving conflicts about cultural differences
is difficult and sometimes impossible. The extent to which our particular cultural
lenses may keep us from understanding or appreciating differences can be very
great. Also, some values are simply irreconcilable, and we need to accept this fact.
Usually, however, accommodations that respect both cultural values and basic
human rights can be found. Because societies have generally resolved such conflicts
in only one way, that is, favoring the dominant culture, few avenues for negotiating
differences have been in place. Multicultural education, although at times difficult,
painful, and time-consuming, can provide one way of attempting such negotiations.
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TABLE 10.1 Levels of Multicultural Education
Characteristics of Multicultural Education

Monocultural Education Tolerance
Antiracist/antidiscriminatory Racism is unacknowledged. Policies and Policies and practices that challenge
practices that support discrimination are racism and discrimination are initiated.
left in place. These include low expecta- No overt signs of discrimination are
tions and refusal to use students’ natural acceptable (e.g., name calling, graffiti,
resources (such as language and cul- blatantly racist and sexist textbooks or
ture) in instruction. Only a sanitized and curriculum). English as a Second Lan-
“safe” curriculum is in place. guage (ESL) programs are in place for
students who speak other languages.
Basic Defines education as the 3 Rs and Education is defined more expansively
the “canon.” and includes attention to selected infor-
“Cultural literacy” is understood within a mation about other groups.
monocultural framework.
All important knowledge is essentially
European American. This Eurocentric
view is reflected throughout the curricu-
lum, instructional strategies, and envi-
ronment for learning.
Pervasive No attention is paid to student diversity. A multicultural perspective is evident in
some activities, such as Black History
Month and celebrating Cinco de Mayo,
and in some curriculum and materials.
There may be an itinerant “multicultural
teacher.”
Important for all students Ethnic and/or women’s studies, if avail- Ethnic and women’s studies are only
able, are only for students from that offered as isolated courses.
group. This is a frill that is not important
for other students to know.
Education for social justice Education supports the status quo. Education is somewhat, although tenu-
Thinking and acting are separate. ously, linked to community projects and
activities.
Process Education is primarily content: “who,” Education is both content and process.
“what,” “where,” “when.” The “great “Why” and “how” questions are tenta-
White men” version of history is tively broached.
propagated.
Critical pedagogy Education is domesticating. Reality is Students and teachers begin to question
represented as static, finished, and flat. the status quo.

Acceptance Respect Affirmation, Solidarity, and Critique
Policies and practices that acknowledge Policies and practices that respect Policies and practices that affirm diver-
differences are in place. Textbooks diversity are more evident, including the sity and challenge racism are developed.
reflect some diversity. Transitional maintenance of bilingual education. Abil- There are high expectations for all stu-
bilingual programs are available. Cur- ity grouping is not permitted. Curriculum dents; students’ language and culture
riculum is more inclusive of the histories is more explicitly antiracist and honest. are used in instruction and curriculum.
and perspectives of a broader range of It is “safe” to talk about racism, sexism, Two-way bilingual programs are in place
people. and other examples of discrimination. wherever possible. Everyone takes
responsibility for challenging racism and
discrimination.
The diversity of lifestyles and values of Education is defined as knowledge that Basic education is multicultural edu-
groups other than the dominant one are is necessary for living in a complex and cation. All students learn to speak a
acknowledged in some content, as can pluralistic society. As such, it includes second language and are familiar with a
be seen in some courses and school much content that is multicultural. broad range of knowledge.
activities. Additive multiculturalism is the goal.
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Acceptance Respect Affirmation, Solidarity, and Critique
Student diversity is acknowledged, as The learning environment is imbued with Multicultural education pervades the
can be seen not only in “Holidays and multicultural education. It can be seen curriculum, instructional strategies,
Heroes” but also in consideration of dif- in classroom interactions, materials, and and interactions among teachers,
ferent learning preferences, values, and the culture of the school. students, and the community. It can be
languages. A “multicultural program” seen everywhere: bulletin boards, the
may be in place. lunchroom, assemblies, and so on.
Many students are expected to take part All students take part in courses that All courses are completely multicul-
in curriculum that stresses diversity. A reflect diversity. Teachers are involved tural in essence. Students of all back-
variety of languages are taught. in overhauling the curriculum to be more grounds are visible in all aspects of the
open to such diversity. school, curricular, co-curricular, and
extra-curricular.
The role of the schools in social change Students take part in extensive com- The curriculum and instructional tech-
is acknowledged. Some changes that munity activities that reflect their social niques are based on an understanding
reflect this attitude begin to be felt: Stu- concerns. of social justice as central to education.
dents take part in community service. Reflection and action are important
components of learning. The commu-
nity’s concerns are evident in school
activities.
Education is both content and process. Education is both content and pro- Education is an equal mix of content and
“Why” and “how” questions are stressed cess. Students and teachers begin to process. It is dynamic. Teachers and
more. Knowledge of, and sensitivity to, ask, “What if?” Teachers build strong students are empowered. Everyone in
students of all backgrounds are more relationships with students and their the school is becoming a multicultural
apparent. families. person.
Students and teachers are beginning a Students and teachers use critical Students and teachers are involved in
dialogue. Students’ experiences, cul- dialogue as the primary basis for their the “subversive activity of real learning.”
tures, and languages are used as one education. They see and understand Decision making and social action skills
source of their learning. different perspectives. are the basis of the curriculum.
Balancing Hope and Despair

Anything less than a program of comprehensive multicultural education will con-
tinue to shortchange students in our schools. Beginning with the Common School
Movement in the late nineteenth century and stretching into the present, our soci-
ety has promised all students an equal and high-quality education, but teachers
who began teaching after the civil rights movement came to an end have not heard
this message proclaimed very loudly. Educational results have belied the promise of
educational equality. Students most victimized by society, that is, those from eco-
nomically poor and culturally and linguistically dominated groups, are also the most
vulnerable in our schools. Their societal status tends to be replicated in the schools.
Unless our educational system confronts inequity at all levels and through all school
policies and practices, we will simply be proceeding with “business as usual.”
The case studies and snapshots in this book underscore the central role of
schools in promoting academic success for all students and multicultural educa-
tion as a promising means to achieve this goal. Affirming Diversity, the title of this
book, is at the core of multicultural education. It implies that cultural, linguistic,
and other differences can and should be accepted, respected, and used as a basis
for learning and teaching. Rather than maladies to be cured or problems to be
confronted, understanding differences is a necessary starting point for learning
and teaching, and this understanding can enrich the educational experiences of
students and teachers.
Affirming diversity is not enough unless we also challenge inequitable policies
and practices that grant unfair advantages to some students over others, and that
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is the point of the subtitle of this book, The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural
Education.15 Simply tackling issues of racism and discrimination at the school
level does little to change the broader context. Although improvement in educa-
tion must take place at the school level, changing the school alone will not lead to
substantive changes in society. Schools have often been sites of protest, resistance,
and change, and their role in influencing public policy has sometimes been sig-
nificant. However, racism, classism, ethnocentrism, sexism, linguicism, ableism,
heterosexism, religious oppression, and other forms of discrimination exist in
schools because they exist in society. To divorce schools from society is impos-
sible. Although schools may, with all good intentions, attempt to provide learning
environments free from bias, after students leave the classroom and building, they
are again confronted with an unfair and unequal society.
Teachers, schools, and students engaged in challenging social inequities need
to understand that they are involved in a struggle that critiques and questions the
status quo not only of schools but also of society. They will inevitably be involved
in what Mildred Dickeman, over four decades ago, described as “a subversive
task” if they are serious about facing issues of cultural pluralism in schools.16 Her
perspective defies the simple definition of multicultural education as celebratory,
implying a more complex understanding of differences.
A balance between hope and despair is difficult to maintain, yet that is precisely
what is required. Multicultural education is not a remedy for social inequality, and
it cannot guarantee academic success. At the same time, if one of the primary pur-
poses of education is to teach young people the skills, knowledge, and critical aware-
ness to become productive members of a diverse and democratic society, a broadly
conceptualized multicultural education can have a decisive influence. Although rac-
ism cannot be wiped out by schools, the role that schools can play should not be
underestimated. By developing antiracist, antibias, and affirming policies and prac-
tices, schools can make a genuine difference in the lives of many students.
Final Thoughts
The student body in U.S. schools is becoming more diverse than ever before,
reflecting rich racial, cultural, linguistic, and social class differences. But our ability
to understand these differences and to use them in constructive ways is still quite
limited. Multicultural education is one significant way to address diversity, but we
should not think of it as a superficial set of activities, materials, or approaches.
Although it would have been easy to do in this book, we have resisted presenting
cookie-cutter lesson plans or activities because such an approach can overlook or
downplay the school and societal conditions that produce and sustain unequal
academic outcomes in the first place. In fact, we would go so far as to say that a
prepackaged series of lesson plans is in direct conflict with the goals of a compre-
hensive multicultural education. If the purpose of education is to prepare young
people for productive and critical participation in a democratic and pluralistic soci-
ety, then the activities, strategies, and approaches we use in their instruction need
to echo these concerns. Thus, in addition to recognizing the growing diversity of
the student body, educators cannot overlook the stratification of society, which
profoundly affects the schooling of students. The cultural and linguistic differences
that students bring to school, along with how these differences are perceived and
handled by educators, also need to be addressed through curriculum and instruc-
tion. To act as if race, social class, ethnicity, religion, native language, sexual ori-
entation, and other differences are immaterial to schooling is disingenuous. It is
only by addressing all these issues in a systematic way through the curriculum,
instruction, and other practices that real change will happen.
In the final analysis, multicultural education is a moral and ethical issue. The
current conditions in our world call for critical thinkers who can face and resolve
complex issues—problems such as war, ethnic polarization, poverty, contamination
M10_NIET7232_07_SE_C10.indd 338 09/11/17 5:30 PM

of our natural resources, and rampant racism—in sensitive and ethical ways. We
need all the help we can get to solve these problems, and using the talents and
strengths of all young people, those who are our future, is crucial. If we believe that
all students are capable of brilliance; that they can learn at high levels of achieve-
ment; and that the cultural and linguistic resources they bring to school are worthy
of respect, affirmation, and solidarity, then multicultural education represents a far
more principled approach for our schools than does monocultural education.
To Think About
1. Three different models for understanding pluralism (or the lack of it) are the following:
• Anglo-conformity: All newcomers need to conform to the dominant European Amer-
ican, middle-class, and English-speaking model.
• “Melting pot”: All newcomers “melt” to form an amalgam that becomes American.
• “Salad bowl”: All newcomers maintain their languages and cultures while combin-
ing with others to form a “salad,” which is our unique U.S. society.
Form three groups, with each group taking on one of the models described above
and arguing that it represents the dominant ideology in U.S. society. Have each group
give concrete examples. Afterward, in a large group, decide if one of these ideologies
is really the most apparent and successful. Give reasons for your conclusions. How
would you critique each of these ideologies? What are the advantages and disadvan-
tages of each?
2. What are schools for? To determine the function of schools, investigate the structure of
schools. Given the following objectives of education, work in small groups to design a
school to achieve each one.
• The purpose of schools is to “Americanize” or assimilate all students to the American
way of life.
• The purpose of schools is to prepare a few good managers and a lot of good workers.
• The purpose of schools is to develop critical thinkers.
• The purpose of schools is to prepare citizens of all backgrounds for active participa-
tion in a democratic society.
Explore how a school founded on one of these goals might function. Describe the cur-
riculum, materials, administration, community outreach, climate, and structure in the
school you design. Working together in groups, compare the differences among the
four hypothetical schools. Then compare each of these schools to schools with which
you are familiar. What can we learn from such comparisons?
3. Define American.
4. Mildred Dickeman (see note 16) has suggested that teachers are engaged in “a subver-
sive task” if they challenge the monocultural curriculum and other inequities of schools.
What does she mean? Do you agree?

1. With a group of colleagues, think about some of the ways extracurricular activities in
your school limit the participation of students. Consider sports, the newspaper, the stu-
dent government, and other activities. How can your school become more inclusive?
Share your ideas with the parent–teacher organization (PTO) and ask for input and
advice. Then present your suggestions to your principal.
2. Ask your principal to set up a study group to determine how well your school is fulfilling
its responsibility to educate a diverse population. Use the guidelines in Diversity Within
Unity: Essential Principles for Teaching and Learning in a Multicultural Society by James
A. Banks et al.17 Evaluate your school to see how effective it is in meeting these guidelines.
Consider the curriculum; materials; interactions among staff members, students, and com-
munity residents; and the entire environment for living and learning in the school.
M10_NIET7232_07_SE_C10.indd 339 09/11/17 5:30 PM

Notes
1. Paat (2015); Sheldon, Oliver, & Balaghi (2015). Refer to the 8. Morris Raphael Cohen, quoted in Brumberg (1986), p. 116.
November 2005 issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies that presents 9. Lambert & Taylor (1990). Also see Reynolds (2014).
original results from the third wave of the Children of Immigrants 10. Seelye (1993).
Longitudinal Study (CILS). See also Portes & Rumbaut (2006). 11. Greenbaum (1974), p. 431.
2. Liggett (2010); Khong & Saito (2014). For further development of 12. Salomone (2010).
this idea, see Nieto (2000). See also Montaño, Ulanoff, Quintanar- 13. See Nieto (1994) for an expansion of this model, with scenarios
Sarellana, & Aoki (2005). for each level.
3. Lomawaima & McCarty (2006). Also see McCarty (2006). For more 14. Kalzantzis & Cope (1990), p. 39.
on Navajo culture and education, see Manuelito (2005). 15. I (Sonia) have written on this issue in more detail. See Nieto
4. Masko (2014); Olsen (2000). (2003a).
5. Americans for the Arts (2014, 2015). 16. Dickeman (1973).
6. Díaz, Moll, & Mehan (1986). 17. See Banks et al. (2001).
7. Croninger & Lee (2001).
M10_NIET7232_07_SE_C10.indd 340 09/11/17 5:30 PM

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Yonezawa, S., Wells, A. S., & Serna, I. (2002). Choosing tracks: Zogby, J. (2010). Arab American Institute. Retrieved from www
“Freedom of choice” in detracking schools. American Educational .aaiusa.org
Research Journal, 39(1), 37–67. Zurawsky, C. (2004). Closing the gap: High achievement for students
Yosso, T. J. (2006). Critical race counterstories along the Chicana/ of color. Research Points, 2(3). Washington, DC: American Educa-
Chicano educational pipeline. New York: Routledge. tional Research Association.

Index
AAVE. See African American Vernacular English Alejandro-Quinn, Viena, 127–133
Ableism, 16, 53, 54, 338 Alexander, Michelle, 136
Abramson, Avi, 103, 111, 120–126 Algebra Project, 7
Academic success, 280–281 Alim, H. Samy, 150
Acceptance, 333–334, 336, 337 Alternative schools, 232–241, 241–245
Access, curriculum, 37 Always Running, La Vida Loca (Rodríguez), 237–238
Accommodations, culture-specific, 151–152, 325–326 Amanti, Cathy, 147
Achievement American
cultural discontinuities and, 147–149 expanding definitions of, 329–331
expectations, 61–69 identities shaping, 255
raising, 7 melting pot, 331
redefining, 249–250 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 190
Achievement gap, 7, 8–12, 55 American Bar Association, 224
correcting, 9–12 American history, 23
factors causing, 9 American Indians
racial, 67, 148 boarding schools, 149
racial discipline gap and, 110–111 case study of, 127–131, 127–133
synonyms for, 9 curriculum and, 100
“Acting white,” 21, 228 identity of, 129
Activism, call to, 273–274 learning styles of, 142
Additive bilingualism, 194–195 population statistics, 17
Additive multiculturalism, 330, 336 poverty rate, 18
Adequate yearly progress (AYP), 23 school types attended by, 131
Adger, Carolyn, 193 segregation of, 54
Adopted child, snapshot of, 324 standardized testing and, 96
Advancement Project, 97, 238 use of term, 132
Affirmation, 334–335, 336, 337 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), 24
Affluence, testing and, 97–98 Americans for the Arts, 325
A Framework for Understanding Poverty (Payne), 141 American Sign Language (ASL), 306
Africa, immigrants from, 270–274 Andrew, Megan, 95
African Americans Anti-Bias Curriculum Task Force, 44
achievement gap of, 9, 67 Anti-bullying initiatives, 106–107
“acting white,” 228–229 Antiracist education, 32–35, 336
African immigrant experience versus, 290–291 Anti-Semitism, 184
caring and, 216 Anyon, Jean, 10, 55
case studies of, 70–75, 85–89, 201–207, 240–244 A People’s History of the United States (Zinn), 19, 43–44
curriculum and, 100 A People’s History of the United States for Young People (Zinn), 43–44
demographics of, 148 Apple, Michael, 99, 289
disciplinary policies and, 110 Apprenticeships, as productive members of society, 7
discrimination against, 54–55, 65 Arab Americans
expectations for, 68 case studies, 258, 270–275
high school dropout rates, 11 as invisible minority, 143
language use, 145–146 learning styles of, 143
population statistics for, 16–18, 17, 18 students, becoming knowledgeable about, 258
poverty, effects of, 11 Arab in America (El Rassi), 258
segregation of, 55 Arizona, immigration laws in, 12
suspension of, 55 Arnot-Hopffer, Elizabeth, 198
terminology of, 9, 36 Arnove, Antony, 19
tracking and, 94 Aronowitz, Stanley, 253
African American Vernacular English (AAVE), 145 ARRA. See American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Ageism, 184 Art class, Cambodian unit, 295–296
Alaska Natives Arts programs, 259–260, 325
Americanization of, 149 Ashton-Warner, Sylvia, 42
learning styles of, 142 Asian Americans, 193
population statistics, 17 achievement gap and, 9, 148
Albarran, Alejandra S., 220 “American identities” shaped by, 255
Alcock, Marie Hubley, 309 deculturalization of, 186
Alejandro-Quinn, Jasper, 127–133 level of education of, 148
355
Z02_NIET7232_07_SE_IDX.indd 355 22/11/17 10:06 AM

356 INDEX
Asian Americans (continued) discrimination against, 67

population statistics for, 16–17 expectations, 327
Regent diplomas, 95 incarceration rate, 223
snapshot study of, 192 mixed race student profile, 225–226
ASL. See American Sign Language racial identity, 257
Assessments teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ), 219
authentic, 99 Blatner, Bill, 313–316, 318
needs, 224 Bless Me Ultima, 268
performance-based, 99 Blohm, Judith, 253, 290
Asset-based pedagogy, 218–220 Boateng, Felix, 141
Assimilation, 13, 23, 200, 257, 331 Bode, Patty, 64, 253
Assumptions, false Bold Moves for Schools: How We Create Remarkable Learning Environ-
fighting perpetuation of, 130–131 ments (Jacobs), 309
studying our own, 306 Boler, Jo, 315
Authentic assessments, 99 Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo, 136
Ayouby, Kenneth K., 258 Boston Children’s Museum, 43
AYP. See Adequate yearly progress Boston Teachers Union (BTU) School, 114–117, 328
Botswana, 282
Back-to-basics movement, 21–22, 325 Bouie, Annie, 259
Banking education, 112 Bourdieu, Pierre, 218
Banks, James, 7, 35, 101 Bowden County Alternative School, 240–244
Barber-Just, Sarah, 310–311, 312 Bowles, Samuel, 55, 220
Barrett, Susan, 332 Boykin, A. Wade, 137, 219
Bartolomé, Lilia, 105, 191 The Broader, Bolder Approach to Education (BBA), 222
Barton, Paul E., 10 Brown, Arielle, 136
Basic education, 292, 336 Brown, Kristen, 309
Beauty, identity and, 309 Brown, Michael, 52, 70
Belonging, sense of, 259, 261–262 Brown v. Board of Education, 18
challenge of difference, 274–276 Bullying, 106–107
Benbenishty, Rami, 108–109 Buras, Kristen, 22
Berg, Erik, 114–115, 117 Burris, Carol Corbett, 94–95
Berger, Ron, 105 Bush, George W., 188
Berliner, David, 11, 25–26, 55, 97, 221
Bezoza, Jennifer, 94–95 Caldwell, Martha, 145
Bhabha, Homi, 40 California, bilingual education in, 188–189
Bias, 4 California Proposition, 188, 189
confronting, 53 Cambodian Americans, 148
in curriculum, 101 case study of, 276–282
implicit, 50 curricular adaptation and, 290–298
Bicultural moments, 332 demographics of, 292
Bilingual, as term, 184, 185 Cambodian Angkor Dance Troupe, 294
Bilingual education, 196, 198 Cape Verdeans, case study of, 201–207
controversies over, 190–191 Caring, 216–218
as cultural mediator, 204–205 academic success and, 268, 272
developmental or maintenance, 197 studies of, 79–81
monolingual education versus, 197 teachers and schools, 268–272
pedagogical issues in, 191 to transform trauma, 217–218
problems and challenges facing, 189–191 Carmona, Judith Flores, 27, 312
teachers, 193, 195 Carter, Jimmy, 188
transitional, 196–197 Carter, Prudence, 95, 229, 272
two-way, 197–198 CASEL. See Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
Bilingual Education Act (1967), 187, 188 Case studies
Bilingualism, 186, 189, 322, 323 Bara, Nadia, 270–275
additive, 194–195 Chavez, Paul, 232–241
Biliteracy, 197 defined, 19–20
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 25, 208 ethnographic, 19
Biography-Driven Culturally Responsive Teaching (Herrara), 147 Gomes, Manuel, 201–207
Black, use of term, 36 Howard, Linda, 76–83
Black American, as a term, 289 Kamau, Christina, 282–287
Black Ants and Buddhists: Thinking Critically and Teaching Differently Kates, Rashaud, 85–89
in the Primary Grades (Cowhey), 27, 44 learning from, 21
Black English, 100, 151 León, Yahaira, 153–160
Black History Month, 41 Montejo, Alicia, 208–213
Black Lives Matter movement, 70 purpose of, 19–21
Blacks. See also African Americans Rogers, Delilah, 70–75
achievement gap, 9–10, 148 CBOs. See Community-based organizations
criminal justice system, marking through small school infractions, 227–228 CDC. See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

INDEX 357
Census Bureau Communication style, 141, 144, 145–146

languages, 185 nonverbal, 142, 146
mixed race terminology, 227 Community, 23
racial characteristics, 138 involvement, 118–119
Center for American Progress, 18 response to out-of-school factors, 220–221
Center for Civil Rights Remedies (CCRR), 111, 223 school, engaging with, 224
Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 108 Community-based organizations (CBOs), 220–221
Center for Reinventing Public Education, 15 Compton-Lilly, Catherine, 44
Center for Research on Education Diversity and Excellence (CREDE), 144 Concept of sympathetic touch, 216
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 107 Conchas, Gilberto Q., 220, 228, 229, 243
“Chalk and talk,” 105 Conflating, 258
Chambers, Terah T. Venzant, 228 Conflict
Chang, Liane, 227 in culture and language, 250–253
snapshot study of, 192 self-identification and, 253–255
Chapman, Thandeka K., 139 Constructivism, 104
Chavez, Paul, 215, 232–241, 325 Contreras, Frances, 200
Chenoweth, Karin, 10 Conventional norms, 50–51
Chicanos, 65, 212 Cook-Sather, Alison, 112
aspirations of parents, 239 Cope, Bill, 334
gang activity and, 233, 239 Corbett, H. Dickson, 103
Child-rearing practices, 143 Council of Chief State School Officers, 25
Children’s Defense Fund, 223 Cowhey, Mary, 27, 44
Children’s literature, on family, 302–303 Crawford, James, 186, 187, 197
Chile, 324 CREDE. See Center for Research on Education Diversity and Excellence
Chilungu, E. Namisi, 27 Critical care, 216
Chinese, 192 Critical Literacy: What Every American Ought to Know (Provenzo), 22
Choi, Yoonsun, 281 Critically conscious, learners’ needs, 151
Christensen, Linda, 44, 307 Critical pedagogy, 41–45, 308, 336
Christian, Donna, 193, 197 Critical race theory (CRT), 50, 63
Civil Rights Act, 187 Critical thinking
Civil rights movement, 37 developing skill of, 260–261
Civil Rights Project, 24, 149, 223 promoting, 8
Clark, Christine, 63 Critique, 334–335, 336, 337
Classism, 4–5, 36, 64, 65, 184, 338 Crocket, Eugene, 260
in education, 55 snapshot study of, 317–318
Classroom Croninger, Robert, 327
culturally responsive, 145 CSSI. See Colorado Small Schools Initiative
curriculum adaptation in, 289–319 Cultural capital, 218
environment, 109–110 Cultural characteristics, 138
families in, 301–302 Cultural deprivation, 141
linguistic diversity in, 184–213 Cultural differences, 137–138
size of, 109 Cultural discontinuities, 147–149
Clearinghouse on Native Teaching and Learning, 131 Cultural hybrids, 250
Climate, of schools, 105–110 Cultural literacy model, 21–22
Coates, Ta-Nehisi, 223 Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (Hirsch), 21–22
Codes of power, 199 Culturally relevant critical teacher care, 216
Cognition, 144 Culturally relevant pedagogy, 75, 150
Cohen, Geoffrey, 67 Culturally responsive classrooms, 145
Cohn-Vargas, Becki, 41 Culturally sustaining pedagogy, 75, 150–151
Coley, Richard J., 10 Cultural Modeling Project, 146
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), 106 Cultural pluralism, 338
Collaborative research, to promote intellectual work, 225 Cultural practices, 138
College entrance exams, 97 Cultural Safari, 258
Collins, Allan, 309 Culture, 4, 30
Colorado Small Schools Initiative (CSSI), 208 adaptation to, 256, 280–281
Color-blind ideology, 56 cherishing, 280–282
classrooms, countering, 135–137 creating new, 255–257
court cases on, 136 deep, 255
Color theory lesson, 64 defined, 137–138
Columbus, Christopher, 102 essentializing, 138
Comber, Barbara, 261 hybridity, 138–139
Combs, Bobbie, 302 ideology and, 137
Comfort zone, 267, 268 influence on learning, 139–141
Common Core state standards, 24, 28, 65 lessons, 322
questioning, 25–26 maintaining, 122–124
teacher responsibilities and, 27 of poverty, 140
Common School Movement, 337 power and, 143

358 INDEX
Culture (continued) DiAngelo, Robin, 34, 136

pride and conflict in, 250–258 Diary of a Bilingual School (Reyes & Crawford), 197
as product versus process, 138 The Diary of Anne Frank, 268
visual, 308–309 Diaz, Esteban, 325
Culture lessons, 322 Dickeman, Mildred, 338
Culture-specific educational accommodations, 150–151 Digital visuals, integrated into curriculum, 258
challenge, 325–326 Disciplinary policies, 110–111
critical appraisal of, 151–152 disparities, 222, 223
Cummins, Jim, 105, 191, 268, 309 inclusive, 111
Curriculum, 99–103 zero tolerance, 223
access and equity, 37 Discipline disparities, 222, 223, 224
adaptation of, 289–319 Discontinuities
content of, 42–44 historical causes, 149
critical use of, 102 myths, confronting, 148–149
ethnic content of, 100–101 Discrimination, 30, 49–69, 322
evolution of, 312 confronting, 53
goal setting in, 291–292 in curriculum, 101
integrating technology, 309 economic power and, 52–53
LGBTQ literature, 310–312 exploring, 4–5
middle school interdisciplinary, 304–310 individual and institutional dimensions of, 51
monocultural, 35, 64 in schools, 53–56
monolingual English language, 197 silence as abettor of, 56, 61
sanitizing of, 33–34 silence on, 56
sociopolitical context of, 16 systemic nature of, 52
standards-conscious, 27 Diverse Learners in the Mainstream Classroom (Freeman, Freeman and
standards-driven, 26, 27 Ramirez), 195
textbooks and, 103 Diversity
using it critically, 102 affirming, 337–338
Cyberbullying, 107 within groups, 305–306
linguistic, 184–213
Dalton, Stephanie Stoll, 144, 145 Division of Violence Prevention, 108
“Damage” imagery, 257 Dolby, Nadine, 139
Dangerous discourse, 303 Dominicans, case study of, 154–160
Darling-Hammond, Linda, 98, 103 Donaldson, Karen McLean, 34, 56
David, Gary C., 258 Dowdy, Joanne Kilgour, 100
David-Ferdon, Corrine, 108 Dream Act, 12
Davila, Laura, 114–117 Dress codes, 238
Davis, Fania E., 111, 224 Dropout factories, 11, 54
Deculturalization, 141, 186 Dropout rate, 11, 149, 208
Deep culture, 255 Dryden-Peterson, Sarah, 13
Deficit theories, 12 Dual-language education, 197–198
de Jong, Ester J., 139 DuBois, W.E.B., 42, 216
Delpit, Lisa, 100, 199 “Dumbing down,” curriculum, 98
Dementia, bilingualism and, 190 Duncan-Andrade, Jeff, 145
Democracy, 91 Dunn, Bill, 195–196
curriculum and, 101–103 Dwek, Carl, 315
importance of, 7
preparing students for participation in, 7, 40 Early education, 64
Demographics, 16–19, 184–186 Ebonics, 146, 151
Demonstration day, 297–298 Economic Policy Institute, 221
Department of Education Economic power, discrimination and, 52–53
arts programs, effects of eliminating, 325 Economic reproduction, 220
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 9 Edelman, Marian Wright, 223
National Indian Education Study, 128–129 Education
vandalism, 108 antiracist, 32–35, 336
Department of Health and Human Services, 107 attitudes toward, 5–6
Derman-Sparks, Louise, 44, 303 basic, 292, 336
Descriptive case studies, 19 case study of, 81–82
Descriptive language, 147 combating failure in, 4
Desegregated schools, 3 culturally compatible, 151
Despair, balancing hope and, 337–338 debt, 10
Determined responsibility, 86–87 importance of, 5–6
Deutsh, Nancy L., 259 monocultural, 336
Developmental (maintenance) bilingual education, 197 multicultural, model of, 333–337
Dewey, John, 39, 91, 99 sociopolitical context of, 7–28
Deyhle, Donna, 131, 142 Educational Testing Service, 40
Diallo, Amadou, 283 Education debt, 10

INDEX 359
Education for Liberation Network, 102 Expectations gap, 9

Education Recovery Act, 23 Exploitation, history of, 14
Education Trust, 15 Expulsions, 111
Education Trust’s Dispelling Myth Award, 10 Extracurricular activities, 259–260
Educators, 10. See also Teachers belonging and, 261–262
Edutopia, 111 critical thinking and leadership skills in, 260–261
EEOA. See Equal Educational Opportunities Act detracking of, 94
Efficacy, teacher, 113 peer pressure and, 259, 260
8 Tips for Schools Interested in Restorative Justice (Davis), 111 support for, 325
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), 23, 24, 25, 28 tracking, 94
Title I of, 15
Elmore, Richard, 97 Faircloth, Susan C., 119
El Rassi, Toufic, 258 FairTest, 25, 97
Elton, Latrell, 215, 240–244, 322 Family, 137
Emdin, Christopher, 145–146 avoiding pitfalls in curriculum, 299–300
Emergent bilingual students, 185 celebration, 310
approaches to teaching, 193 centrality of, 274–275
program models for teaching, 196–199 children’s literature on, 302–303
supporting native-language, 322–323 in classroom, 301–302
Emotional resources, 8 curricular adaptation and, 298–310
English as a second language (ESL), 146, 184, 188, 193, daily calendar and, 303
194, 196, 197, 199, 322 expanding definition, 290, 298–304
English class, Cambodian unit, 294 funds of knowledge, 147
English immersion, 188, 196, 200 genetics and, 308
English language learners (ELL), 184, 185, 187, 198, 208, 322 middle school interdisciplinary curriculum on, 304–310
low expectations for, 198 outreach, 118–119
problems and challenges facing, 198–199 participation, 115–116, 118–119
program models for, 196–199 portraits of, 303–304
English-only laws, 15, 186, 331 pride, 279–280
E pluribus unum, 330 role of, 262–267
Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA), 187, 189 role reversals in, 204
Equal education movement, 37 structure, 140
Equality, equity versus, 6 support, 233, 237–238
Equality pedagogy, 7 values, 81–82
Equitable Learning framework, 10 working with, to promote student learning, 328–329
Equity, 6, 36, 37 Family Diversity Projects, 302, 303–304, 306
Equity and Excellence Commission, 15 Family heritage, 71
Equity pedagogy, 7 Feagin, Joe, 56
Escuela de Dignidad y Orgullo (School of Dignity and Pride), 233 “Fear of naming,” 33
ESEA. See Elementary and Secondary Education Act Female students, goals of, 250
ESL. See English as a second language Fernandes Williams, Rhina M., 27
ESSA. See Every Student Succeeds Act Field trips, 293–294
Essentializing, 258 Film, integrated into curriculum, 258
Essentializing culture, 138 Fine, Michelle, 20, 33, 101
Ethical issue, multicultural education as, 338–339 Finn, Jeremy, 109
Ethnicity, 4, 5, 136, 139 First Amendment, study of, 40
poverty and, 18 First-grade curriculum based on big ideas, 300–304
Ethnocentrism, 4, 5, 35, 54, 184, 338 First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (Ung), 291
Ethnographic case studies, 19 Five Minds for the Future (Gardner), 144
Eurasian, 192, 227 Five Standards for Effective Teaching (Dalton), 145
Eurocentrism, 22, 38 Florentina, Rebecca, 35, 135, 143, 149, 176–182, 259, 323, 325
European Americans, 54 Flores, Nelson, 199
as alternative term for Whites, 36 Focus groups, 296
use of term, 84 Fontánez, Edwin, 222
white privilege terminology, 63 Food, lesson based on, 64
European immigrants, 13 Forced immigration, 14
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), 23, 28 Fordham, Signithia, 228–229
compared to No Child Left Behind, 24 For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood . . . and the Rest of Y’all Too
teacher responsibilities and, 27 (Emdin), 145–146
teaching to the test and, 25 Foster, Michele, 145
Expectations Foundations of American Literature, 310
antiracist teaching, 65–69 Frame, Oman, 145
asset-based, 218–220 Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner), 143–144
family, 262 Frankenberg, Erica, 11
future, 241–242 Freeman, David, 195
of student achievement, 61–69, 327–328 Freeman, Yvonne, 195
teacher, 65, 68–69, 85–86 Freire, Paulo, 39, 41, 42

360 INDEX
Funding, school, 15, 24 Heterosexism, 35, 38, 303, 338

Future Business Leaders of America, 259 Heuristic case studies, 19
Hidden Figures (Shetterly), 102
Galván, Ruth Trinidad, 131 High-achieving students, tracking and, 93–94
Gándara, Patricia, 9, 188, 200, 219 High-stakes testing, 97–99
Gangs, 215, 325 Hilburn, Jeremy, 219
case study of, 232–241 Hip-hop, 139
respect and, 233–235 Hip-hop culture, 145
Garcia, Antero, 113 Hirsch, E.D., 21–22, 35
Garcia, Ofelia, 185 Hispanic students
Gardner, Howard, 143–144 achievement gap of, 9, 148
Garner, Eric, 70 dropout rate of, 11
Garza, Rubén, 216 population statistics for, 16–17
Gates Foundation, 25, 208 History-of-your-name activity, 299–300
Gay, Geneva, 144 Hmong, 148
Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Hoang, Tuyet-Mai, 136
55, 107, 302 Hobbel, Nikola, 139
Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), 107, 259, 323 Hoffman, Emily, 95
Gay students. See Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, Holidays, 102
and questioning (LGBTQ) Home culture vs. school culture, 128–129, 132
Geary, Rebecca, 33 Honoring Our Ancestors (Rohmer), 303
Geiser, Saul, 98 Hope, 331, 337–338
Gender, goals and, 250 balancing with despair, 337–338
Genesee, Fred, 197 caring to transform trauma, 217–218
Genetics, 308 and healing, 216–218
Gifted and talented, 131 Hope and Healing in Urban Education (Ginwright), 217
Gintis, Herbert, 55, 220 Hopkins, Megan, 188
Ginwright, Shawn, 217 Horne v. Flores, 188
Glass, Gene V., 25–26 Hosler, Dannamarie, 302
Gomes, Manuel, 198, 201–207, 250, 321 Housing segregation, 52
Gonzalez, Norma, 147 Howard, Elizabeth, 197
Goodlad, John, 103 Howard, Gary, 137
Goodwin, A. Lin, 255 Howard, Linda, 49, 76–77, 227, 326
Gorski, Paul, 10, 36, 140–141, 221 Howard, Tyrone, 149
Grade retention, 91 Howe, Irving, 13
Grades, 124, 250 How It’s Being Done: Urgent Lessons from Unexpected Schools
Grande, Sandy, 132 (Chenoweth), 10
Graphic novels, integrated into curriculum, 258 Huggins, Kristin Shawn, 228
Gray, Freddie, 70 Hughes, Langston, 38
Greenbaum, William, 331 Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), 305
Greene, Maxine, 259 Hunter, Moses, 33
Gregory, Anne, 110 Hybridity, cultural, 138–139, 324. See also León, Yahaira
Grouping, flexible, 94
Group membership, 307 Identity
Growing Critically Conscious Teachers acceptance of, 195
(Valenzuela), 219 American, 329–331
GSA. See Gay-Straight Alliance of American Indians, 129
Guerra, Juan, 139 assertion by LGBTQ, 330
Guinier, Lani, 97 beauty and, 309
Gutierrez, Kris, 138, 280 case study of, 77–79
Guyanese, 139 development of, 137
hybridity, 138–139, 324
Haberman, Martin, 68, 103–104 importance of, 4
Hagopian, Jesse, 98 learning and, 257–258
Halpern, Robert, 259 maintaining and affirming, 322–324
Harachi, Tracy W., 281 preserving, 129
Hartlep, Nicholas Daniel, 148–149 racial, 228–230
Harvard Advancement Project, 223 school and, 135–137
Harvard Family Research Project, 118 Identity-Safe Classrooms: Places to Belong and Learn, 41
Harvard Test of Influenced Acquisition, 64 Immigration, 43
Haywood, Alexia, 195 assimilation and, 16
He, Michael, 281 case study, 282–287
Healing justice framework, 217 comprehensive multicultural programs, 323–324
Heath, Shirley Brice, 147–148, 259–260 current state of, 12
Heather Has Two Mommies (Newman), 302 fear of, 202–203
Heroes, tailoring, 33 growth in, 17
Herrara, Socorro, 147 hybridity and, 139

INDEX 361
myths about, 12–14 Langer-Osuna, Jennifer M., 216, 229

recent, characteristics of, 185–186 Language, 4, 5, 147–148
rights and family stories, 57–60 acceptance of, 199
“Immigration Nation” (Rigby), 14 cherishing, 280–282
Implementing Restorative Justice: A Guide demographics, 185
for Schools, 111 descriptive, 147
Implicit bias, 50 development, 194
Inclusive disciplinary practices, 111 differences, 136, 141
Independent responsibility, 122 identity, 4, 209–210
Inductive case studies, 19 interconnectedness of, 209–210
Information processing, 219 maintaining, 122–124
inquiry-based engagement, 105 multilingualism, 139
In-school integration, 11–12 native, 322–323
Institutional agents, 272 pride and conflict in, 250–258
Institutional discrimination, 51 second-language acquisition, 194
Institutionalized racism, 18, 52, 63 in sociopolitical context, 190–191
Institutional practice, 51 Language, xenophobia surrounding, 15–16
Intellectual growth, expectations and, 64 Language discrimination, 4–5
Interactional styles, 141 Language diversity, 30
Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP), 313–316 appropriateness-based approaches, 199
Inter-American Magnet School, 197 courts and, 186–189
Interdisciplinary units, 289 history of, 186
International School for Advanced Studies, 189–190 and learning, 189–190
Interpersonal relationships, 219 Language minority students, 185, 191
Inter-subjectivity, 219 teaching approaches, 193, 196–198
Intervention, 238 Language other than English (LOTE), 17
In the Service of Learning and Empowerment: Service-Learning, Critical Laotians, 148
Pedagogy, and the Problem- Solution Project, 27 Lapinsky, Terri, 253, 290
Invisible minority, 20, 143 The Latinization of U.S. Schools: Successful Teaching and Learning in
Irizarry, Jason, 151, 222, 228 Shifting Cultural Contexts (Irizarry), 151
Irvine, Jacqueline Jordan, 150 Latinos
achievement gap, 9
Jacobs, Heidi Hayes, 309 bilingual education and, 208–213
Jacobson, Lenore, 61–62 criminal justice system, marking through small school infractions,
Jamal, Amaney, 274 227–228
Janks, Hilary, 41 discrimination against, 54–55
Jarret, Olga S., 27 identity of, 137–138
Jensen, Eric, 141 population statistics, 16–17
Jewish students, case study of, 120–126 segregation of, 18, 55
Jim Crow laws, 55 teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ), 219
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 40 terminology, 161
Johnson, Lyndon B., 187 tracking and, 94
Johnson, Tabora, 257 The Lau Remedies, 187
Joshi, Khyati Y., 66–67, 261 Lau v. Nichols, 187
Leadership skills, developing, 260–261
Kalzantzis, Mary, 334 Learning
Kamau, Christina, 253, 282–287 affirming environments for, 325–329
Kang, Eugenie, 250 as goal, 8
Karam, James, 20, 135, 143, 161–167, 322 identity and, 257–258
Karp, Stan, 23 influence of culture, 142–144
Kates, Rashaud, 68, 85, 322 linguistic diversity and, 189–190
Kaur Foundation, 258 preferences, 142–144
Kennedy, Paul, 296 from students, 249–291
Kenya, 283 styles, 141, 142–144
Khmer Rouge, 276, 280 working with families to promote, 115–116
King, Martin Luther Jr., 33 work of, 292–298
Klein, Renee Spanos, 264–265, 328 Lebanese Americans, case study of, 161–167
Kohl, Herbert, 259 Lee, Carol, 146
Kovacs, Agnes, 189–190 Lee, Chungmei, 55
Koyama, Jill, 97 Lee, Enid, 7
Kozol, Jonathan, 33, 240, 243 Lee, Stacey, 148, 255
Krashen, Stephen, 194 Lee, Valerie, 327
KWL Charts, 260 Legislation
Kymlicka, Will, 7 federal role in states, 23
on immigration, 12–13
Labeling, 67, 227 León, Yahaira, 135, 137, 153–160, 227, 250, 325
Ladson-Billings, Gloria, 9–10, 75, 150 Leonardo, Zeus, 50

362 INDEX
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ), 37, Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) Progam,
55, 260 70, 71, 75, 328
attitudes toward, 136 Mexican Americans
bullying, 107 care shown to students, 216–217
case study of, 176–182 case study of, 208–213
children’s literature, 302–304 deculturalization of, 186
depiction of, 305 identity and, 139
dropout rates for, 149 learning styles of, 20–21, 139
families, 305 population statistics for, 17
identity assertion by, 330 respect for culture of, 139
literature, 290, 310–312 standardized testing and, 96
parents, children of, 317–318 Mexican American Studies online program, 22
Let’s Get Real, 145 Meyer, Marshall, 24
Levin, Murray, 101 MI. See Multiple intelligences
Limited English proficient (LEP), 67, 185 Miceli, Melinda, 259, 312
Lincoln, Abraham, 33 Middle East, 258
Linguicism, 54, 184, 338 Middle school interdisciplinary curriculum on
Linguistic diversity, 184–213 family, 304–310
learning and, 189–190 Milner, H. Richard, 150
Liou, Daniel D., 216 Milner, H. Richard IV, 217
Literacy, native-language, 195–196 Minority, invisible, 20, 143
Literacy, Technology, and Diversity (Cummins, Brown, Mintrop, Heinrich, 24
& Sayers), 309 Mirra, Nicole, 113
Literature, LGBT, 302–303 Mixed race, 138, 329
Loewen, James, 103 case studies of, 76–84, 154–160
Lomawaima, K. Tsianina, 132, 322 snapshot study, 192, 225–226
Lopez, Alicia, 58 terminology, 227
Lopez, Francesca A., 219 MMP. See Multimodal media production
Lopez-Torkos, Alejandra, 138 Model minority myth, 148
Lorenzen, Charla, 195 Moll, Luis, 147, 198, 325
Los Angeles, California, gang activity, 238 Monkey Dance, 294
Losen, Daniel J., 111, 223 Monocultural curriculum, 35, 64
LOTE. See Language other than English Monocultural education, 35, 336
Loving v. Virginia, 83 Monoculture, 218, 257
Low incidence populations, 199 Monolingual, as term, 68, 184, 190
Lubienski, Christopher A., 6 Monolingual curriculum, 197
Lubienski, Sarah Theule, 6 Montejo, Alicia, 184, 208–213, 250
Moral issue, multicultural education as, 338–339
Mahiri, Jabari, 255 More Than a Score (Hagopian), 98
Maintenance bilingual education, 197 Morrell, Ernest, 112, 113, 145
Mallet, Christopher A., 223 Moses, Robert, 7
Malsbary, Christine Brigid, 256 Motivation, 144
Mann, Charles, 296 Multicultural education
Manuelito, Kathryn, 143 adapting curriculum in, 289–319
Maori children in New Zealand, 42 as antiracist education, 32–35, 336
Martin, Trayvon, 70 as basic education, 35–37, 336
Massachusetts characteristics of, 32, 336–337
bilingual education in, 187–188 comprehensive programs, 323–324
case study in, 114–117 as critical pedagogy, 41–45, 336
Mass violence, 108 culture and, 143–144
Material resources, 8 defined, 31–32
Material World: A Global Family Portrait (Menzel, Mann goals of, 6–12
and Kennedy), 296 idealized, 3
Math, teaching, 313–316 importance of, 37–38
Math class improper attitude towards, 30
Cambodian unit, 295 inclusivity of, 4–5
multicultural adaptations, 307–308 interreligious understanding in, 297
Mathematical Mindsets (Boler), 315 levels of, 331–338
McCarty, Teresa L., 132, 322 model of, 333–337
McLaughlin, Milbrey, 259 multiple intelligences and, 143–144
McTighe, Jay, 291 pervasiveness of, 38–39, 336
Meaningful learning, 7 political struggles and, 23
Mehan, Hugh, 325 as process, 40–41, 336
Mehler, Jacques, 189–190 reading groups, 323
Menzel, Peter, 296 roots of, 4
Merriam, Sharan, 19 for school reform, 30–45
Merton, Robert, 61 for social justice, 39–40, 336

INDEX 363
in sociopolitical context, 32 Oakes, Jeannie, 93, 94

sociopolitical context of, 6–28 Obama, Barack, 23, 24, 329
technology and, 309 O’Carroll, Aiden, 62–63, 326
terminology in, 7–12 O’Carroll, Daniel, 62–63, 250, 326
Multiculturalism, additive, 330 Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), 188
Multicultural teaching stories Ogbu, John, 228
immigration rights and family stories, 57–60 Olsen, Laurie, 139
math, teaching, 313–316 1,2,3: A Family Counting Book (Combs and Hosler), 302
Multilingualism, 139 On the Same Track (Buris), 95
Multimodal media production (MMP), 256 Oppenheim, Tom, 259
Multiple intelligences (MI), 143–144, 195 Opportunity gap, 9
Multiple Intelligences Oasis, 143 Orfield, Gary, 3, 11–12, 18, 52, 54, 55
Muslims. See Arab Americans Organic approach, 42
Mutual accommodation, 325, 326 Oseguera, Leticia, 228
Myths, confronting, 148–149 Out-of-school factors (OSF), 11
community-based organizations and eradicating
Naber, Nadine, 274 poverty, 220–221
Name-calling, 53 and policy proposals, 221–222
Names, researching, 299–300 Overgeneralizations, 137–138
Nasir, Na’ilah Suad, 216, 229
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 9, 25 Pacific Islanders, 17, 148, 193
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Padmaperuma, Gamini, 193, 253, 322
17, 107, 128, 148, 208 snapshot study of, 254–255
National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest), 25 Palmview Male Cooperative Program, 228
National Education Association (NEA), 5–6 Parents
National Education Policy Center, 109 aspirations, 239
National Governers Association, 25 child-rearing practices, 143
National Indian Education Study, 128–129 LGBTQ, 317–318
National School Climate Center, 105, 107 working with, to promote student learning,
A Nation at Risk, 21, 96 328–329
Native Americans Parent-teacher association (PTA), 98, 118
deculturalization of, 186 Parent Teacher Home Visit (PTHV), 118
demographics of, 148 Paris, Django, 75, 150
disciplinary policies and, 110 Park, Clara, 255
forced migration, 307 Particularistic case studies, 19
learning styles of, 142 Payne, Ruby, 141
population statistics, 17 Pedagogy, 103–105
use of term, 132 asset-based, 218–220
Native Hawaiians, 17 constructivist, 104–105
Native language approaches, 149, 322–323 critical, 308, 336
Native-language literacy, 184–186 culturally relevant, 150–151
Native peoples, use of term, 132 differences, making room for, 136–137
Navajo, 142–143, 322 engagement for students in poverty,
NCES. See National Center for Education Statistics 103–104, 140–141
NCLB. See No Child Left Behind equality, 7
NEA. See National Education Association equity, 7
Negotiating Critical Literacies with Young Children expanding strategies of, 104
(Vasquez), 44 humanizing, 105
Neil, Monty, 97 issue of bilingual education, 191
Neo-indigenous language, 146 reality, 146
Neville, Helen A., 136 standardized testing and, 98
Newman, Leslea, 302 system, 145
New York Public Library Schomberg Center for Research in textbooks and, 105
Black Culture, 291 tracking and, 93
New Zealand, Maori children in, 42 Peer pressure, 260
Nichols, Sharon, 97 Peer restorative practices, 224
Nieto, Sonia, 30, 32, 194 The People Speak, 19
Nine-Curt, Carmen Judith, 146 Performance-based assessments, 99
No Child Left Behind (NCLB), 23, 28, 96 Perry, Theresa, 117
criticisms of, 23 Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return (Satrapi), 258
effects of, 23–24 Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Satrapi), 258
English language learners and, 188 Persistence, 122
standardized testing and, 96 Personalized secondary learning environments, 208
Noddings, Nel, 216 Perspectives, differing, 42–43
Noguera, Pedro, 110, 139, 219, 222 Pew Foundation, 196
Normalizing, 258 Phi Delta Kappa study on key education issues, 5–6
Nouch, Savoun, 249, 276–282, 323, 325 Physical structure, of schools, 109–110

364 INDEX
Physical violence language, 185

racial, 283 migration/immigration, 307
in schools, 107–109 native-language literacy and, 195–196
Pilot schools, 114 Puerto Rican Students in U.S. Schools, 222
PISA. See Programme for International Student Assessment Pushout rate, 208
Pizzaro, Marcos, 65, 67 Pygmalion effect, 65
Planning to Change the World, 101–102
Pluralism, boundaries of, 331 Qualitative research, 19–21, 28
Plyler v. Doe, 189 Quinn, Jasper, 227
Political issues. See Back-to-basics movement; Legislation;
Multicultural education; Refugees; Sociopolitical context Race, 5, 36, 136, 139
Politics importance of confronting concept, 36
curriculum, 99 linked to tracking decisions, 94
discrimination and, 52–53 population statistics for, 16–19
tracking, 93–94 poverty and, 11, 18
Pol Pot, 281, 293 U.S. Census Bureau notation, 138
Portes, Alejandro, 67, 190, 191, 239, 253 Race/racism, 4–5
Positive pressure, 124 Race to the Top (RTTP), 24
Poverty, 338 Racial discipline gap, 110
achievement gap and, 9–10 Racial identity, 241
acknowledging, 221 Racial literacy, promoting, 68
culture of, 140–141 Racial opportunity cost, 228
demographics of, 18 Racial profiling, 65, 67, 143
disciplinary policies and, 110–111 Racism, 4–5, 11, 16, 30, 36, 184, 329, 338
effects of, 11, 55, 108 antiracist education, 32–35
low test scores, correlation with, 26 case study of, 70–75, 77–79
pedagogy of, 103–104 confronting, 53
substandard schooling and, 141 distinguished from prejudice, 49–50
suspensions and expulsions, 11 effects of, 51
trauma and stress caused by, 217 history of, in schools, 52–54
Power, 4, 110, 142, 143 individual and institutional dimensions of, 51
culture and, 137 institutionalized, 18
Power structures, 39–40 persistence of, in schools, 53–54
Praxis, 39 in schools, 53–56
Preconceptions, 285 victims of, 34–35
Prejudice, distinguished from racism, 49–50 Raible, John, 228, 250, 324
Pre-prejudice, 303 Ramirez, Reynaldo, 195
Present (Zinn), 19 Ravitch, Diane, 26, 97
Preventing Youth Violence (David-Ferdon & Simon), 108 Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the
Prevention, 238 Opportunity Gap (Gorski), 10
Pride, in culture and language, 250–258 Reading, Writing and Rising Up (Christensen), 307
Prison analogy, 240–241 Reading diversity, 307
Private industry funding, 25 Reading First initiative, 104
Privilege, 4, 63 Reagan, Ronald, 188
Probability, 308 Reality pedagogy, 146
Problem-Solution Project, 27 Red Pedagogy, 132
Professional development, 116–117 Reflecting, 307
Profits from testing preparation, 97 Reform, school, 325
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), 26 efforts, 24
Promise Neighborhoods, 222 multicultural education for, 30–45
Promoting Racial Literacy in Schools: Differences that Make a purpose of, 31
Difference (Stevenson Jr.), 68 Refugees, 13, 185
Provenzo, Eugene, 22 Regent diplomas, 95
PTA. See Parent-teacher association Religion, 136
PTHV. See Parent Teacher Home Visit cultural context, 261–262
Public education discrimination, 5
attitudes toward, 5–6 in multicultural curriculum, 297
desegregation, importance of, 3 teaching interreligious understanding, 297
importance of, 5–6 Researching, 307
influence of private industry, 24 Research questions, 308
Public-private partnerships, 25 Resistance, 223–224
Puerto Ricans, 146 Resource gap, 9
academic success of, 222 Respect, 334, 336, 337
case study of, 154–160 Responsibility, 307
deculturalization of, 186 Restorative justice, 111, 222
English language learners, 185 coordinator, 224
ESL for, 146 eight tips to consider, 224

INDEX 365
Retention, 95–96 School-to-prison pipeline, 223–224

Rethinking Columbus, 43 Schwarzer, David, 195, 198
Rethinking Schools, 23, 45, 56, 102 Science class, Cambodian unit, 295
Rethinking Schools (Karp), 23 Secco, Susie, 300, 305
Reyes, Sharon Adelman, 197 Second-language acquisition, 194
Rice, Constance L., 238 Seelye, Ned, 330
Richardson, Virginia, 104–105 Segregated housing, 54
Rigby, Theo, 14 Segregation, school, 54, 55, 151–152, 198
Rightist multiculturalism, 22 SEI. See Structured English immersion
Rio, Victor, 217, 218, 227, 228 SEL. See Social and emotional learning
Rist, Ray, 65 Selective acculturation, 253
Roberts, Mari Ann, 216 Self-determination, 227
Rodríguez, Luis, 237–238 case study of, 77–79
Rogers, Delilah, 68, 70–75, 250, 322 Self-esteem, 56
Rogoff, Barbara, 138, 280 Self-fulfilling prophecy, 61
Rohmer, Harriet, 303 Self-identification, culture and, 253–255
Rojas, Leticia, 216 Senate bill S. 744, 12
Role models, studies of, 79–81 September 11, 2001, 66, 143, 258, 276, 323, 331
Role reversals, in family, 204 Serna, Irene, 94
Rólon-Dow, Rosalie, 216, 222 Sethi, Kaval, 66–67, 249, 322
Roosevelt, Theodore, 186 Sexism, 5, 16, 53, 54, 184, 338
Rosa, Jonathan, 199 Sexual orientation, 5, 136
Rosenthal, Robert, 61–62 Shame, eliminating, 331
Rostland, Nini, 91, 227, 322 Sherman, David, 67
snapshot study of, 225–227 Shootings, 108
Rothstein, Richard, 11, 13, 52, 55 Shor, Ira, 44
RTTP. See Race to the Top Shumway, Debbie, 303
Rumbaut, Rubén, 67, 190, 191, 239, 253 Signifying, 146
Rumberger, Russell W., 111 Sikhs, 66–67, 258
Rutter, Robert, 110 Silence, on racism and discrimination, 56
Silencing, 101
Sadowski, Michael, 37, 149, 255 Simms, Gina, 300, 305
SAE. See Standard American English Simon, Thomas R., 108
Safe is Not Enough: Better Schools for LGBTQ Students “6 Potential Brain Benefits of Bilingual Education”
(Sadowski), 149 (NPR), 190
Safer Saner Schools: Whole-School Change Through Restorative Size, of schools, 109–110
Practices, 111 Skiba, Russell, 110
Safety, physical violence and, 107–109 Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove, 184
Salomone, Rosemary, 331 Slang, 146
Santelices, Maria Veronica, 98 Slavery, 14, 83, 102
Sayers, Dennis, 309 Sleeter, Christine, 27, 312
Scaffolding, 216 Smith-Hefner, Nancy, 281
Schaeffer, Bob, 25 Smyth, Laura, 259–260
Schofield, Janet Ward, 55 Snapshot studies
Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT), 97 Chang, Liane, 192
Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, 291 Crocket, Eugene, 317–318
School achievement, 147–149 Kaval Sethi, 66–67
Schools learning from, 20, 21
academic success and, 262–263, 268 O’Carroll, Aiden and Daniel, 62–63
buildings, 109–110 Padmaperuma, Gamini, 254–255
climate of, 105–110 Rostland, Nini, 225–227
funding, 15 Snow, Catherine, 193
identity and, 135–137 Social action, educational achievement for, 289–290
language diversity in, 186 Social and emotional learning (SEL), 106
physical structure of, 109–110 Social class, 140. See also Classism
physical violence in, 107–109 Social construction, 36
poverty and, 140–141 Social justice, 52–53, 308, 336
racism, history of, 52–54 components of, 8
restorative justice practices in, 224 defined, 8
size of, 109–110 multicultural education and, 39–40
sorting function of, 220 Social organization, 144
spending, correlation with dropout rate, 11 Social power, 52–53
structures, underpinnings of, 14–16 Social promotion, 96
student identities within, 227–230 Social reproduction, 220
teachers, caring and, 268–272 Social stratification, 6
tracking in, 92–95 Social studies class, Cambodian unit, 295
traditional educational canon, 22–23 Sociocultural dimensions of identity, 137

366 INDEX
Sociolinguistics, 144 Takougang, Joseph, 283

Sociopolitical context, 3, 6, 338 Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, 297
of education, 6–28 Tartakov, Carlie, 225–226
identity, 137 Tatum, Beverly Daniel, 15, 34, 92, 137
language in, 190–191 TBE. See Transitional Bilingual Education Law
learning preferences and, 142 Teacher care, 264–266, 269–271
multicultural education in, 32 Teachers
qualitative research used, 19–21 academic success and, 268, 272
Solidarity, 222, 334–335, 336, 337 attitudes and responsibilities, 5
Sorting function, of schools, 220 bilingual education, 193
Soto, Gary, 38 caring, 268–272
Spring, Joel, 186, 220 case study of, 79–81
Sri Lankan, 254–255 collaboration, 115–116
Standard American English (SAE), 145 color-blind, 135–137
Standard English, 100, 199 cultural and racial attitudes of, 5
Standardized testing, 26–27, 42, 96–99 demographics, 306
as gatekeeper, 103 diversity among, 17, 18
high-stakes, 97 education programs for, 13, 116–117
impoverishing curriculum, 26 efficacy of, 113
inequity of, 97 ESSA and Common Core, 27
NCLB and, 96 expectations of, 65, 68–69, 85–86
pedagogy and, 98 innovation of, 115–116, 271
proactive about, 98 knowledge, research, and education, 116–117
questioning and attitudes towards, 25–26 limited role of, 113
Standards-based curriculum, 26, 27, 327–328 multicultural, 332–333
Standards-conscious curriculum, 27 NCLB and, 23–25
“Stand Up for Each Other Model” (SUFEO), 224 practices of, 103
Stanton-Salazar, Ricardo D., 212, 272 professional development for, 116–117
States relationships with students, 326–328
Common Core standards, 24 responsibilities of, 27
school funding differences, 15 as role models, 327
Status quo, 39–40 silence on racism and discrimination, 56
Steele, Claude, 67 students’ sense of safety and, 111
Steele, Dorothy M., 41 unease with discussions about discrimination, 34
Stereotype threat, 67 Teachers’ practices. See Pedagogy
Sternhouse, Vera, 27 Teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ), 219, 326
Stevens, Tracy, 131 Teaching
Stevenson, Howard Carlton Jr., 68 characteristics of good, 104
Stop Bullying website, 107 constructivism approach, 104
Straight lectures, 105 language minority students, 193, 196–199
Structured English immersion (SEI), 188, 196, 200 Teaching for Change, 45
Students Teaching for Joy and Justice (Christensen), 44
family participation for learning, 115–116 Teaching What Really Happened (Loewen), 103
identity and, 195, 322–324 Teaching with Poverty in Mind (Jensen), 141
language minority, 185 Teach Me! Kids Will Learn When Oppression Is the Lesson (Levin), 101
learning from, 249–292 Technology, multicultural education and, 309
LGBTQ courses for, 311–312 TED talk, 217
limited role of, 112–113 Terman, Lewis, 96
voices, 312 Terminology
Subtractive bilingualism, 330 American Indians, Native Americans, Indigenous People, 132
Subtractive schooling, 216 Asians and Pacific Islanders, 193
Suburban schools, 11–12 European Americans, 84
Success, redefining, 249–250 Latinos, Hispanics, and others, 161
SUFEO. See “Stand Up for Each Other Model” mixed race/multiracial/multicultural/multiethnic, 227
Sunderman, Gail L., 24 race, conundrum of, 36
Support, for extracurricular activities, 325 white privilege, 63
Suppression, 238 whites, 84
Supreme Court decisions Testing, 26–27, 42, 96–99
immigrant children, school funding for, 189 as gatekeeper, 103
school desegregation, 18 high-stakes, 97
Suspensions, 111 impoverishing curriculum, 26
Swisher, Karen, 131, 142 inequity of, 97
Sympathetic touch, concept of, 216 NCLB and, 23–25, 96
Syrians, case study, 270–276 pedagogy and, 98
proactive about, 98
Tailoring heroes, 33 proactive strategies, 98
Takaki, Ronald, 19, 44 questioning and attitudes towards, 25–26

INDEX 367
Testocratic merit, 97 Vocabulary words, family concepts and, 303

Texas Board of Education, 22 Voices of a People’s History of the United States
Textbooks, 103, 105 (Zinn & Arnove), 19
Tharp, Roland G., 144, 145 Vygotsky, Lev, 138
Through Students’ Eyes (TSE), 260
Tienken, Christopher H., 25, 26 Wallitt, Roberta, 281
Timar, Thomas B., 9 Walters, Laurel Shaper, 104
Tippeconnic III, John W., 128 Warren, John Robert, 95
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 15 Wehlage, Gary, 110
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, 187 Weinberg, Meyer, 32, 53
Tolerance, 333, 336 Weiss, David, 323
Torres-Guzman, María E., 139 snapshot study of, 324
Tosolt, Brandelyn, 268 Welcoming Schools of the Human Rights Campaign
Tracking, 42, 91, 92–95 Foundation, 302
alternatives to, 94–95 Welcoming Schools project, 305
consequences of, 93 Wells, Amy Stuart, 94
effectiveness of, 93 Welner, Kevin, 94–95
IMP versus, 316 What Can We Do? Bias, Bullying, and Bystanders, 305
Transformational inquiry method, 145 What Does It Mean to Be White? (DiAngelo), 34, 136
Transformation approach, 101 What Do You Know?, 305
Transitional bilingual education, 196–197 What Every [First, Second, Third . . . ] Grader Needs to Know
Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) Law, 187–188 (Hirsch), 35
Trauma, caring and hope, 217–218 What If All Kids Are White?, 38
TSRQ. See Teacher-student relationship quality What’s Worth Teaching? Rethinking Curriculum in the Age
Turner, Nat, 33, 256 of Technology (Collins), 309
Tutoring, 97–98 What Teachers Need to Know About Language (Adger, Snow &
2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Summaries (CDC), 107 Christian), 193
Two-way bilingual education (TWI), 197–198 What You Can Do boxes
acknowledge what you do not know, 260
“Undoing Appropriateness” (Flores & Rosa), 199 Arab and Arab American students, learn about, 258
Ung, Loung, 291 classroom and school environment, 110
Unit collegial relationships for solidarity rooted in research, 222
developing, 298 comfort zone, expanding, 267
one-to-three weeks, 294–296 critical pedagogy, learning about and practicing, 42
United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 13 curriculum, using critically, 102
Universal Declaration of Children’s Linguistic Human Rights, 187 early education, 64
Unpopular perspectives, 43 extracurricular activities, detracking, 94
Un-Standardizing Curriculum: Multicultural Teaching in the Standards- families’ funds of knowledge, researching, 147
Based Classroom (Sleeter), 27 family outreach, 118
U.S. Census Bureau heritage, exploring yours and others, 19
languages, 185 identities, accepting students’, 195
mixed race terminology, 227 inclusive disciplinary practices, 111
racial characteristics, 138 inquiry-base engagement, 105
U.S. Department of Education interreligious understanding in multicultural curriculum, 297
arts programs, effects of eliminating, 325 language, accepting students’, 199
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 9 racial literacy, promoting, 68
National Indian Education Study, 128–129 standardized tests, 98
vandalism, 108 teaching as intellectual work, collaborative research
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 107 promoting, 225
U.S. English, 188 technology to expand multicultural curriculum, 309
U.S. territories, 307 transformational inquiry method, 145
Welcoming Schools project, 305
Valencia, Richard R., 55 Wheeler, Rebecca, 145
Valenzuela, Angela, 216, 219 When Students Have Power (Shor), 44
Van Ausdale, Debra, 56 “White, acting,” 21, 228
Vandalism, 108 White enclaves, 37–38
Vasquez, Vivian, 44 White flight, 54, 199
Vega, Irene I., 228 Whites
Vietnamese Americans achievement gap, 9
case study of, 168–175 color-blind ideology, 136
cultural values of, 141 population statistics for, 16–19
learning styles of, 142 Regent diplomas, 95
Vigil, James Diego, 238 use of term, 36
Vinh, Hoang, 135, 141, 142, 168–175, 250 Wiggins, Grant, 291, 395
Violence. See Bullying; Physical violence Wilson, Bruce, 103
Visitors, 293 Women, in curriculum, 37
Visual art, 308 Woods, Annette, 261

368 INDEX
Woodson, Carter, 42 Zanger, Mark, 64

Writing, 307 Zeichner, Kenneth, 68
Zero tolerance discipline policies, 223
Yearwood, Junia, 56 Zhao, Yong, 25–26
Yon, Daniel, 139 Zimmerman, George, 70
Yonezawa, Susan, 94 Zinn, Howard, 19, 43
Yosso, Tara J., 212 Zinn Education Project, 19
Youth Participatory Action Research Zirkel, Sabrina, 257, 268
(YPAR), 112–113, 151 Zucker, Lynne, 24
Youth Support Complex, 227 Zurawsky, Chris, 10

AffirmingDIVERSITY
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AFFIRMING DIVERSITY
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The SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT of MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

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AffirmingDIVERSITY

The SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT of MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

SONIA NIETO • PATTY BODE

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330 Hudson Street, NY NY 10013

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

On file with the Library of Congress.

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Photo credit Mark Moriarty

Patty Bode combines nearly 20 years in PK–12 classrooms, and a decade in

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2 Defining Multicultural Education for School Reform

4 Structural and Organizational Issues in Classrooms

5 Culture, Identity, and Learning 135

6 Linguistic Diversity in U.S. Classrooms 184

7 Understanding Student Learning and School Achievement 215

9 Adapting Curriculum for Multicultural Classrooms by Patty

10 Affirming Diversity: Implications for Teachers, Schools, Families,

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Task 6: Examining Political Struggles—

Activities for Personal, School, and Community Change 28

1 Understanding the Sociopolitical

Assumptions Underlying this Text 3 2 Defining Multicultural Education for

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What You Can Do Detrack Extracurricular

To Think About 69 Jasper and Viena Alejandro-Quinn 128

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Chapter 5 Notes 153 7 Understanding Student Learning and

6 Linguistic Diversity in U.S.

Understanding Language in a Sociopolitical What You Can Do Engage in Collaborative Research to

SNAPSHOT Liane Chang 192 SNAPSHOT Nini Rostland 225

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Redefining Success and Achievement 249 Curricular Adaptation 3: LGBTQ Literature:

Beyond Academics 258 Conclusion 318

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Expanding Definitions: What It Means to Final Thoughts 338

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Affirming Diversity does not supply prescriptions or formulaic solutions, but it

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About This Book

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we present 16 case studies and 7 snapshots. Incorporated throughout Parts II and

New to This Edition

Multicultural Teaching Stories

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A New Case Study

Thoroughly Updated References

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This chapter was single-authored by Patty Bode, so it bears Patty’s name.

Supplements and Learning Aids

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Identity, Difference, Power, and Privilege Are All Connected

Multicultural Education Is Inclusive of Many Differences: Lenses