The public educational system is comprised of diverse demographics wherein each student has a distinct cultural personal history (O'Brien, 1998). In America, the traditional perception was that a melting pot society existed. But deMarrais and LeCompte (1999) maintain that a stew pot or salad bowl would be a more appropriate analogy. Melting…

In this article, the authors present a case study of a preservice teacher who participated in a two-semester course sequence of elementary science and mathematics methods spanning one academic year. These two courses were taught by the first author and embedded a pedagogical approach grounded in inquiry methods. The purpose of this study was to…

Developing family and school partnerships can improve school curriculum, increase parents' skills, improve student outcomes, and assist teachers to support their students in the classroom. For almost four decades in the United States, the importance of establishing healthy partnerships with families has been critical to improving the…

Drawing from a larger qualitative four-year study of an after-school technology partnership called "La Clase Mágica" at the University of Texas at San Antonio (LCM@UTSA), the authors focus on how digital literacies mediate the literacy learning of Latina/o bilingual immigrant parents. They also discuss how the elementary school and…

A brief sketch, as provided by the 2010 Michigan Migrant Head Start Community Assessment, describes Michigan migrant students in the following terms: (1) approximately 17.5% are high school graduates; (2) 92.46% live in homes where Spanish is the preferred language; and (3) 93.3% live below the poverty line. These circumstances create a…

Classroom instruction about other cultures all too often resembles the Disney version of "It's a Small World" with Fantasyland-like cultural stereotypes, ceremonial activities, and traditional dress that can lead to serious misunderstandings about the depth and complexity of global societies. Social studies instruction presents the…

This article provides strategies that are recommended to elementary school teachers to help students in the U.S. understand Islam and its followers. It discusses the importance of cultural and historical studies in making students aware of the value of Islam to its followers. Three strategies described herein are: the concept of similarities, the…

This article first sets the context by recalling a study conducted by Alamillo (2004) at a California elementary school. That study examined culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy in the classroom through the use of Chicano children's literature. Both the text and the illustrations found in recent publications and the role they…

This article provides a model for teachers to expand students' thinking about the liberating nature of literacy. Literacy is not just about making kids smarter or preparing them for future careers. Neither is it passive, neutral, or innocent. It is infused with values and ideology. It can be used by people to promote freedom or support…

The purpose of this article is to provide background on integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) into classroom oral reading practices. The section that follows outlines some of the language and academic demands English learners (ELs) face at school. Another section considers the relationship between academic and social-emotional learning. The…

In Malawi, education is not always a top priority. Although there has been free primary education since 1994, attendance in school is not compulsory (Ngozo, 2010). Even when children do go to school, schools can be overcrowded with few books for students to use. Classrooms can hold over 100 children with whole groups of children sharing one…

This article will analyze the figurative language that reflects Chinese traditional society and culture in "Yeh-Shen." The authors will consider both the figures of speech and the figures of thought (to include symbolism) that provide insight into an understanding of the Chinese culture through a reading of "Yeh-Shen." This analysis can be used by…

In American public schools refugees from overseas and Latino migrant children typically find themselves in English learning programs, usually designated as English as a Second Language (ESL), Limited English Proficiency (LEP), or English Language Learners (ELL) programs. Often, these children have received little, interrupted, or no prior…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) has created a set of standards to reform mathematics teaching procedures to ensure that all students understand mathematics and learn to think mathematically. The standards also require teachers to use strategies that allow all students to reason and communicate mathematically and…

When professional development in diversity is provided to educators in the field, it usually targets classroom practice with the intent of closing the achievement gap. These efforts are critical. But work should not stop there because culture underlies every policy, practice, and procedure in the school and influences every thought, interaction,…