Showing papers in "Multicultural Education in 2018"

Students' Attitudes toward Teacher Use of Technology in Classrooms.

Abstract: Malia M. Hoffmann is an assistant professor in the Department of Bilingual and Elementary Education in the College of Education at California State University, Fullerton. A. Y. “Fred” Ramirez is a professor in the School of Education at Concordia University Irvine, Irvine, California. Alavi, 2016). And again, in English Language Arts courses, it has been shown there is a need for teacher professional development in student-focused technology use since the learning of English increases greatly with the integration of technology in academic classes (Davidson, Richardson, & Jones, 2014). Student-centered technologies have not only increased student motivation and academic performance, but interactive technologies can lead to differentiated instruction through which students have again shown higher motivation. Interactive technology is changing the philosophy of technological and pedagogical instruction by allowing teachers to adapt their lessons to the differing needs of students (Levin & Wadmany, 2006). Due to this development of student-centered technologies, pre-service teacher education is able to adapt to meet the needs of 21st century students and teachers (Mulholland, 2006; Janssen & Lozaonder, 2015). Along with technology training, research is needed to analyze whether teachers are integrating the technology that they they are learning in their professional development sessions or other technology trainings in their classrooms (Rehmat, & Bailey, 2014). However, it has been found that the number of technology trainings held and attended by teachers is not an accurate indicator of actual application within teachers’ classrooms. It has been demonstrated that attendance at technology workshops given by school districts does not predict technology use within teachers’ classrooms (Brzycki & Dudt, 2005), even when Introduction

Connection, Culture, & Creativity: Using Mobile Technology as a Medium for Storytelling in an Intergenerational Classroom.

Abstract: Jen Stacy is an assistant professor and Jodi Aguilar is a lecturer, both in the Department of Liberal Studies of the College of Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, California. as a space for fostering multiple literacies (including technology) and rich language practices that are culturally embedded and relevant to families’ everyday lives (Delgado-Gaitan, 1990; Heath, 1983; Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992; Purcell-Gates, 1995; Street, 1995; Taylor, 1983). It has been well documented that families which are low-income, are of minoritized backgrounds, and/or have limited knowledge of English often have home literacy practices that do not match those expected in school (Heath, 1983; Strucker, Snow, & Alexander Pan, 2004). However, most familial outreach initiatives employ an interventionist ideology toward diverse families that views them as needing to change their practices to better reflect those of schools. As a result, these outreach initiatives perpetuate a cyclical mismatch between families and schools: families do not feel like their home practices are valued and schools continue to see them as in need of change (Baquedano-Lopez, Alexander & Hernandez, 2013). Family learning initiatives that draw on families’ home practices and funds of knowledge, or cultural ways of knowing and doing, (Moll et al., 1992) do exist, yet are exceptions in the field (Milliken-Lynch, 2009; Phillips, & Sample, 2005; Turner & Edwards, 2009). Harbin, Herrmann, Wasik, Dobbins, and Lam (2004) and Naoon, Van Dyke, Fixsen, Blasé, and Villagomez (2012) found that such programs work to organize meaningful systems of support for families that are reflective of their needs, their communities, and their daily practices. Studies of such programs have demonstrated that they provide the opportunity Introduction

Narrative Inquiry as a Social Justice Practice.

Abstract: I wish we would all wear T-shirts that say “I am a racist” explaining we all have grown up in a nation (United States of America) that has upheld racism to the point of institutionalizing it in economics, politics, education policies, etc. Because it is all around and a part of our culture, we have insipidly in small and unconscious ways “drank the Kool-Aid.” It is a part of us; a part some may not like but nevertheless a part of who we are. Perhaps if we admit this, if we admit who we are and where we come from we can begin the work of transformation. I think about these statements now and how my own experiences have contributed or are a part of the exploitation women experience.

Gloria Ladson-Billings: Igniting Student Learning through Teacher Engagement in "Culturally Relevant Pedagogy".

Abstract: © 2018 by Caddo Gap Press Quite obviously, the social and political pendulum that may have begun to swing forward in addressing equality and prosperity for all, has also in many ways swung progressively backwards. This has inevitably left the nation in a global economic flux with an inability to deliver quality education for all its young (Stiglitz, 2010, p. 343). Many of the social arrangements that are in place seem to benefit and mirror the dominant powerbase, the White majority, yet others who are of Color, specifically African Americans, seem too often to have fallen back into the abyss of racial woe. This article is the second in a series of narratives that explores the lives of leading multicultural educators and how their lived experiences have impacted the perspectives and theories of multicultural education. This article employs narrative inquiry as a methodological lens for understanding the work of Gloria Ladson-Billings.

Multicultural Lessons Learned from a Chinese Bilingual After-School Program: Using Technology to Support Ethnolinguistic Children's Cultural Production.

Abstract: Sharon Chang is a lecturer and Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán is an associate professor, both in the Department of Bilingual/Bicultural Education of Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, New York. lens makes all the difference. Once multicultural educators fully understand this aspect of cultural production, they are less likely to fall into the cultural essentialism paradox. This is somewhat a blend between Nieto’s (2009) and Goodenough’s (1981) perspectives. Goodenough (1981) viewed culture as a set of values, rules, and beliefs through which we interpret the world. He made a distinction between public and private beliefs. Nieto (1999; 2009) however viewed culture as ever-changing and dynamic. Nieto states that, at any given time, a person will identify more with one aspect of their culture over another. She also proposes a notion of culture that is learned while at the same time created and socially constructed, embedded in social contexts, and mediated by social, economic, and political factors. These scholars start off with recognizing the individual, and move on to how that identity makes sense of the world. This movement from individual actions to collective group sharing of meaning helps us to regard cultural production as a plausible new expansion in CRT, to be used to further understand the intangible role of culture in cultural production of science education (Carlone & Johnson, 2012). It is within this expansive notion of culture that we approach the role of technology in our afterschool sessions.

"All Lies Matter!": Revealing Misleading Information in Media Stories about Police Brutality.

Abstract: © 2018 by Caddo Gap Press discussions and incorporating relatable examples. For the most part, they exhibited the media-use habits of a typical college student. A good way to get an impression of these habits is to look at a report produced by Nielsen which examined media use activity (Nielsen, 2016). The report describes some typical media use patterns of people grouped in the age category of 18-34 years. Among this age group, the average amount of weekly time spent consuming all-media platforms is 26 hours and 49 minutes. 24% of that time (6 hours and 19 minutes) is spent on social media. During a typical week, 78% of adults within this age group prefer to spend their time on social media with their smart phone devices. Ten percent of adults within this age group prefer to spend their time on social media using a tablet. And the other 12% of adults within this age group prefer to spend their time on social media using a PC. Their most popular social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. The Pew Research Center (2016) conducted a news consumer study on a corresponding age group of millennials. This category of viewers was comprised of adults between the ages of 18-29. The study revealed they get their news in the following ways: 50% of the people in this group prefer to get their news via some kind of on-line source, 27% get their news from regular television, 14% from radio, and 5% prefer to get their news from print media.

Laboratories of Democracy Utilizing Problem-Posing Education in Our Classrooms.

Abstract: As much as I aspired to follow Freire’s ideals, however, I found that enacting such a repurposing of school in my own teaching was daunting in both the ideological and logistical challenges it posed. I realized that to help my students, perhaps I should start with myself. This, in essence, became the problem I posed: How should I implement a problem-posing education as a means of encouraging students to become more active democratic citizens, today? Of course, this kind of question is not one I expect ever to answer fully, but I have found careful examination of Freire’s three phases and my planning and reflection process to be essential.

White Preservice and Inservice Teachers' Engagement with Multicultural Content in Online Courses.

Abstract: © 2018 by Caddo Gap Press a multicultural teacher . . . means first becoming a multicultural person” (p. 392, emphasis original). Expanding on this transformation, Gay (2003) spoke explicitly about the processes of becoming a multicultural educator. She argued that developing teacher efficacy and empowerment in multicultural education—“that is, to be competent in and confident about one’s ability to do multicultural teaching” (p. 2)—begins with teachers’ critical reflection and self-examination. However, some teachers enter the multicultural classroom more prepared to begin this journey of transformation than others. The resistance of White preservice and inservice teachers to learning about multicultural education is well documented in the literature (Cochran-Smith, 1995; Dunn, Ford, Dotson, & Roberts, 2014; Garrett & Segall, 2013; Gay & Kirkland, 2003; Rose & Potts, 2011; Thomas & Vanderhaar, 2008). Although many multicultural teacher educators believe that an introduction to diversity topics will create dissonance, spark critical self-examination and reflection, and contribute to White teachers’ identity development (Daniel-Tatum, 2005), often White preservice and inservice teaches resist the knowledge offered in multicultural education courses. Such resistance can range from passive forms, such as silence and diversion (Gay & Kirkland, 2003), to more active forms, such as anger and aggression (Garrett & Segall, 2013; Ladson-Billings, 1994). Previous research has also documented White preservice and inservice teachers’ compliance with the expectations of multicultural education courses. Gay and Kirkland (2003) argued that although White students comply with the requirements of the course by discussing the course materials and completing the assignments, they might remain untouched and unchanged Introduction

Multicultural Media Authorship: Using Technology to Create Children's Literature Texts.

Abstract: Erik Jon Byker is an assistant professor, Amy J. Good is an associate professor, Erin Miller is an assistant professor, and Brian Kissel is an associate professor, all in the Department of Reading and Elementary Education of the Cato College of Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. For example, creativity anchors many of the standards for the International Society of Technology in Education’s (ISTE) (2007) Technology Standards for Students. Standard six—the Creative Communicator standard—states that,

Black Fish in a White Pond: Identity Development of African American Students in Predominately White Suburban Schools.

Abstract: African American students and other students of color are faced with myriad challenges in school. Many of these challenges are certainly different than those challenges encountered by their White counterparts. Such challenges include navigating the school dynamics in the classroom where the majority group does not look like them. The school dynamic is all-encompassing in that it includes every aspect of the environment, from a ride on the school bus to participation in extracurricular activities. Since African American students have to function in such environments, it is important to understand how the sociopolitical nature of these environments affects their schooling. Thus, a discussion on how the cultural and social identities of these students are formed is warranted. African American students, as all students, come to school with a set of personal attributes or characteristics that are uniquely their own. These characteristics influence how a student will learn and succeed academically. Banks and Banks (2016) offered that teachers’ understanding of and knowledge about the groups students identify with sheds light on potential student behavior. African American students can and will identify with a multitude of groups at one time or another in their journey to forming their social and cultural identities. Diversity variables intersect one another and play a major role in the behavior of students. Banks (2014) asserted that the diversity variables of social class, racial group, language, abilities and disabilities, religion, sexual orientation, gender, ethnic identity, and the extent to which a student identifies with his or her ethnic group intersect and interact in various ways Introduction