In an era of student testing by any means necessary, it has become increasingly rare to locate teachers who are committed to teaching students to improve society because they are instead under immense pressure to raise test scores (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 2006). Ms. Shaw, the social studies teacher discussed in this article, is…

Massive open online courses (MOOCs), delivered through platforms like Coursera, edX, and Udacity, offer content from well-known universities and professors, at no cost, to students across the globe. Although they deliver thematically coherent material in instructional videos and supplemental materials, these online courses demand that users…

One of the major challenges in preparing pre-service teachers for the 21st-century classroom, as well as for an increasingly competitive job market, is providing the necessary skills and background to effectively educate diverse populations of students (Sleeter, 2001). Multicultural education courses are a staple in teacher preparation programs,…

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…

The purpose of this article is to investigate the struggles of teacher education students when confronted with establishing a social justice curriculum. The authors' work focuses on using multicultural literature as a starting point for the critical conversations that drive curricular changes. Introducing ideas of culturally responsive…

Rogoff (2003) argues that "Human development is a cultural process….People develop as participants in cultural communities" (p. 3). Children develop within families, and different cultures reflect differences in how they structure activity for this development. For example, middle class North American families generally would not permit…

The article describes a study that was conducted in Malaysia, and at the borders of Chihuahua, Mexico, and Ontario, Canada, to compare the reactions of social studies teachers from Canada, Malaysia, and Mexico to the bombing of Iraq by the U.S. on March 20, 2003. The key objective of the investigations in all three countries was to uncover…

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…

In this article, the author states that during her experience on jury duty--spent with a melting pot of socially-conscious citizens--she reflected upon the implications for education and her own teaching practice. Three major themes centering around her understanding of multiculturalism surfaced: (1) Defining multiculturalism; (2) The cult of…

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…

In India, multicultural experience is represented by what is called a "unity in diversity" pattern. This includes the diversity of religious communities, languages, ethnicities, and the minority populations in each of the states and regions that comprise the nation. Thus, theories of multicultural accommodation are one of India's…

To prepare teacher candidates to become social justice advocates, teacher educators have to critically reflect on their curriculum and teaching strategies to examine whether they are "acting on their beliefs" about diversity and social justice. In this article the author examines teacher candidates' perceptions of how their…

Classrooms are spaces where diverse cultures have the potential to share lived experiences and gain insight from each other's "spatial, geographical, and contextual dimensions of existence" (Gruenewald, 2008, p. 310). Teachers facilitate multicultural perspectives being integrated into curriculum by analyzing data at school sites…

Before the detection of ozone depletion in the 1970s, an environmental movement began throughout the nation based on an increasing awareness of air and water pollution, and "deaths as a result of work conditions". Since then, movements for sustainable environmental practices and human rights continue to gain momentum. All over the globe,…

Humanity has recently steered itself into an era of environmental instability where the earth is ravaged of its natural resources, where the biodiversity of living organisms is decreasing everyday, and where a rapidly growing human population has become a driving factor in an impending ecological crisis (Rockström et al., 2009; Steffen et al.,…