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…

If education is going to offer a remedy for rather than exasperate the problem of the ecological and cultural crisis currently being faced, teacher learning must be at the forefront of the discussion. Current efforts to educate for sustainability rely upon teachers who are knowledgeable, skilled, and committed agents for change. The same is true…

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…

Teachers who embrace culturally relevant practices support children's learning by infusing "cultural referents" into the curriculum to provide children with learning opportunities that are related to their experiences outside of the classroom. They strive to establish congruency between home, community, and school and to use…

Research suggests that while students in public schools in the U.S. are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, class, and culture, the pool of prospective teachers is made up largely of White, middle-class women. The demographic imperative indicates that this trend will remain stable for the foreseeable future, reinforcing the…

Inquiry into the academic achievement of Latino/a youth in the United States should be of major interest to teachers, administrators, families, communities, scholars, and policy makers committed to equitable multicultural education in schools. Although the diversity of Latinos is well documented, academic achievement discourse continues to lump…

Educational research undertaken for the public good incites educators who work in under-served communities not only to highlight the educational policies and practices that lead to the further marginalization of these communities, but also to imagine ways in which such hegemony can be countered. This article focuses on an emerging challenge found…

Diversity in educational settings is generally understood as the body of services and programs offered to students, faculty, and staff that seek to ensure compliance with non-discrimination and related policy and law, and to affirm social membership group differences (broadly considered) in curricular, co-curricular, and workplace contexts. Given…

For a socially just community to occur, decision-making must employ respectful procedures that value input from representatives of all economic contexts. By considering philosophical roots of Western societal development, it is possible to gain insight into the systemic processes underlying these circumstances. By understanding these bases,…

In her book, "Other People's Children," Lisa Delpit (1995) criticizes the deficits of teacher education programs that avoid and repress the multicultural voices found in American classrooms today. This author supports Delpit's argument to reform teacher preparation programs, but for the purpose of this article she will explore the responsibility…

Purpose: The purpose of this self-reflective paper is to focus on practical efforts to combat inequality and foster intercultural dialogue in education. It introduces "knowledge alliances", a type of social practice open for education technologies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is structured in a theoretical and an empirical part. The…

With the increase in ethnic diversity in the United States, many educators have recognized the need to expand their knowledge of multicultural education in the public schools. The success or failure of multicultural education depends upon the effective preparation of teachers and administrators. These teachers must be competent in the courses they…

Addressing sensitive issues of race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender can be daunting for any instructor, and add to this teaching at an institution in the Deep South with a long history of racial tension beginning with the integration of the University and the not so popular emblems it has been known for. The author was apprehensive…

Diversity and multicultural education is fast becoming the norm. Race, gender, ethnicity, ability, language, culture, socioeconomic class, family configurations, interests, or combinations of these produce enormous diversity issues. The refection of this huge sociocultural diversity--children coming from different ethnic backgrounds--has…

Purpose: Through an organizational case study approach, this paper seeks to describe the ongoing diversity initiative of a graduate school of social work (SSW). Organizational change is usually built around the activities of change agents or teams, who seek to bring about changes in human resources, systems, programs, and services.…