Culture or Chaos in the Village: The Journey to Cultural Fluency

by Ursula Thomas, Karen Harris (Contribution by), Hema Ramanathan (Contribution by), Janet Strickland (Contribution by), Noelle Witherspoon Arnold (Contribution by)

Overview

Culture or Chaos in the Village: The Journey to Cultural Fluency seeks to provide a framework for examination of the factors that influence mediation of culture in the minds of teachers. The text moves in a manner that sets the tone for a courageous conversation. It is the intent of this book to facilitate a focused conversation, discussing the factors of race, class, and gender in conjunction with personal and professional belief systems of educators, preservice and inservice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607099260
Publisher:	R&L Education
Publication date:	12/16/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	154
File size:	411 KB

About the Author

Dr. Ursula Thomas is assistant professor of early childhood education and Birth through Age Five program coordinator at the University of West Georgia. Her research agenda includes issues of cultural mediation and its effects on instructional choices, the power of teacher educator research on diversity in the classroom, views of social justice in the early childhood classroom, and preservice teachers' disposition on professionalism and diversity in teacher preparation programs.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Racial Identity Development: You are Here!
Chapter 2: Mediation framework and teacher education dynamics
Chapter 3: Brown Girl in the Ring
Chapter 4: The Three R's: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic or Race, Relationship, and Reflection
Chapter 5: But They Don't Speak English: Mapping Out How We Teach Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners
Chapter 6: The State of School-Based Speech-Language Pathology in Teacher Education:Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Chapter 7: Lead, Follow of Get out of the Way: Cultural Mediation, Social Justice and Educational Leadership
Chapter 8: Are We There Yet? Culture, Communication and Relationship: Making it to the Village
Chapter 9: The Family Reunion: Community and the Journey
Chapter 10: Pardon the Policy: Unpacking the Standards

Editorial Reviews

As an educator of pre-service teachers, it is my goal, my responsibility, my personal and moral obligation to lift the veil of ignorance —to expose my students to the reality of our ever-changing United States. While having the desire and the necessity may be one thing, having the curriculum is another. Each semester I am forced to create my own curriculum, blending a variety of resources to best inform my students. Culture or Chaos in the Village: The Journey to Cultural Fluency is a long, overdue anthology providing the fodder necessary to stimulate a critical reflection and dialogue in the pre-service teacher classroom. For the sake of future generations, we must indeed 'prepare teachers for real world experiences that will manifest into maximized triumphs and minimized tragedies.'

Samantha Elliott Briggs

Culture or Chaos has the uncanny ability to speak passionately and directly to those who study the teaching of children and those who actually teach children. From the first, to the last chapter the text bridges the often-gaping chasm between educational theory and teacher practice in an eloquent way that leads the reader to ask both researchers and teachers hard questions about establishing more socially just schools. The mix of the straightforward commentary, thorough engagement of relevant pedagogical literature and meaningful activities at the conclusion of each chapter makes this an excellent text for aspiring teacher leaders, educational researchers and administrators.

Roland W. Mitchell

This is a unique text that provides educators and scholars with a comprehensive framework for understanding the interconnectedness of race, culture, and student performance. Ursula Thomas and the contributors ask critical questions for readers to consider and are unabashed in their desire to move the field forward in meeting the needs of all learners.

Monika Williams-Shealey