Digital Commons Network^™

Acknowledging The “I” In Multicultural Education, Osman Ozturgut

Essays in Education

Banks (2001) claims for students to become successful in a diverse world, they need to have the ability to communicate and negotiate among diverse cultures. Some argue that when the cultural diversity and global tolerance are promoted within multicultural education, traditional elitism and its shortcomings would be overcome (Schugurensky, 2002). Others argue that multicultural education hinders the assimilation efforts and creating a divisive society (Bernstein, 1994).

There are many views on the benefits or shortcomings of multiculturalization of education. The question is not whether a multicultural education should be adopted but it is rather what we understand from multicultural education …

Tension And Conflict In Assessment, Viola Wong Yuk-Yue

Essays in Education

The paper aims at bringing out some of the intricacies and delicate issues related to language assessment in a discussion that places language learning in an educational context. The paper will include a study that has been carried out on the learning of English as a second language and the means of assessing English language proficiency among a group of first-year university Chinese students. Data were collected through interviews. The study highlights relationships among the espoused aims of the institution, the philosophy of the teaching and the aspiration of students as well as the resultant interactive forces that have given …

Five Approaches To Literacy In Correctional Education, Thom Gehring, Gary H. Sherwin

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This article introduces literacy from a few “big picture” perspectives, and then reviews five paradigms that have shaped the teaching and learning of literacy in residential confinement institutions for juveniles and adults. The paradigms are specific to correctional education, but they will be familiar to all alternative teachers and advocates of literacy instruction.

University Diversity Committee: Where Diversity And Dedication Meet, Mary Texeira

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

No abstract provided.

The Power Of Visuals: Picture Books As Invitations To Literacy, Mary Jo Skillings

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

When young children are exposed to picture books, they are building important bridges to literacy. Picture books are sometimes defined as a storybook with a dual narrative. That is, the illustrations and text work interdependently, the integration of the visual and the verbal tell the story. The illustrations add a new dimension that extends beyond the words on the page; together, the text and pictures make the story stronger. A well crafted picture book is a feast for the eyes of a young child. The illustrations awaken and develop the child’s visual, mental, and verbal imagination.

Aesthetic Knowing: Essential To The Development Of Heart And Mind., Laura Howzell-Young, Susan Daniels

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Children are biologically wired to experience their world through rich sensory, affective, aesthetic, and imaginal experiences. Children thirst for art, music and movement, and these modes are utilized widely to learn the varied languages of literacy: the alphabet, numbers, vocabulary, body-sense and more. Yet, in response to meeting higher and more prescribed standards at the elementary and secondary levels, there is a tendency to narrow the curriculum, to consider art and music expendable, to view social-emotional development as external to the schoolhouse. This narrowing is happening just as our global culture is moving again toward multiple kinds of communication: toward …

Making Social Studies Meaningful For Ell Students: Content And Pedagogy In Mainstream Secondary School Classrooms, Michelle Yvonne Szpara, Iftikhar Ahmad

Essays in Education

Content-area instruction for English language learners (ELL) represents a growing area of instructional need in high schools across the United States. This article focuses on the challenges and successes in developing an effective instructional environment for teaching secondary-level social studies curriculum to a sheltered population of ELLs. In the present study, grant funding was provided for a schooluniversity partnership to support content-area teachers’ efforts to increase ELL students’ comprehension skills. The authors of this paper propose a multi-tiered approach to meeting the needs of English language learners in the mainstream social studies classroom – providing social and cultural supports during …

The Power Of Journaling: A Dynamic Tool For Evaluating Student Teacher Adjustment In Cross-Cultural Contexts, Brenda B. Mackay

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Journaling is an acceptable pedagogical and assessment tool used to help leverage a university student teacher’s emotional and spiritual growth in a 10 week cross-cultural student teaching experience. The process requires students to document their life and learning experiences.

Questions are designed for student response. Student teachers are encouraged to draw personal connections between their lives and new experiences. This article will show how journaling helped four student teachers process what Kelly and Meyers (1995) identify as the four components of cross-cultural adaptability: (1) emotional resilience, (2) flexibility/openness, (3) perceptual acuity and (4) personal autonomy. Excerpts from the personal journals …