Additional resources for classroom use

Theory Into Practice, Autumn, 2003

Weinstein et al., Culturally Responsive Classroom Management: Awareness Into Action (pp. 269-276)

1. Ballenger, C. (1999). Teaching other people's children: Literacy and learning in a bilingual classroom. NY: Teachers College Press.

Ballenger, an experienced preschool teacher, shares the challenges she encounters as a White, middle-class teacher in an all-Haitian preschool. Of particular interest is Chapter 4, in which Ballenger describes her efforts to understand the management problems she is experiencing and her decision to adopt Haitian discourse style in order to solve the problem of disorder in her classroom.

2. Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

Gay explains the concept of culturally responsive teaching and discusses how it can improve the school performance of underachieving students of color. Among the topics she includes are the power of teacher caring, the importance of ethnic and cultural diversity in curriculum content, and the relationship between culture and communication.

3. Grossman, H. (1995). Classroom behavior management in a diverse society (2nd ed.). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co.

In this comprehensive text on classroom management, Grossman emphasizes ways to prevent behavior problems from occurring, group management strategies for resolving problems, and strategies for helping individual students with particular problems. Throughout the text, he highlights ways of working with students from varied cultural, ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds.

4. Tolerance.org web site www.tolerance.org

A web project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Tolerance.org encourages teachers, parents, teenagers, and children to "fight hate and promote tolerance." Includes a link to Teaching Tolerance, a semi-annual magazine that presents innovative, useful strategies and is available free of charge to teachers.

Delpit and White-Bradley, Educating or Imprisoning the Spirit: Lessons From Ancient Egypt (pp. 283-288)

1. Miner, B. (1998). Embracing Ebonies and teaching standard English: An interview with Oakland teacher Carrie Secret. In T. Perry & L. Delpit (Eds.), The real Ebonics debate: Power, language, and the education of African-American children. Boston: Beacon Press.

Written in the author's own words, this article describes the work of a gifted African American teacher who uses African culture and heritage to teach her low-income African American students in Oakland California. Secret's students consistently score in the top 10% of all students on standardized tests. Both her content and strategies are steeped in African philosophy. Also available at www.rethinkingschools.org.

2. Hilliard, A. (1998). SBA: The reawakening of the African mind. Gainesville, FL: Makare Publishers.

Hilliard's work is the premier source for understanding both Ma'at and more generalized African philosophical views of education and their connection to today's classrooms. With a discussion of Ma'at, African healers, and African thought, Hilliard explains that to ensure success for African American students, the goal of education must be to live up to African cultural principles and values.

3. Hilliard, A. (2002). African power: Affirming African indigenous socialization in the face of the culture wars. Gainesville, FL: Makare Publishing

This fine text is a call to socialize African children within an African cultural context in face of mainstream cultural ideals that threaten to destroy them. Education can only be sound if children are socialized into valuing and building themselves and their community.

McLaughlin and Bryan, Learning From Rural Mexican Schools About Commitment and Work (pp. 289-295)

1. Ballenger, C. (1995). Because you like us: The language of control. Harvard Educational Review, 62(2), 199-208.

Ballenger's fine article tells a story of her work with Haitian children in an elementary school classroom. She was struggling with her students' poor behavior and decided to talk with Haitian teachers' aides and parents. From them she learned a valuable cultural lesson: that positive social control was created when she appealed to students' sense of right and wrong, predicated on a higher authority (the family, the church, a spiritual belief). The article is a tonic reminder that seeking advice from people who are culturally linked to one's students can change perceptions and actions.

2. Charney, R.S. (1997). Habits of goodness: Case studies in the social curriculum. Greenfield, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children.

This is one of a number of books published by the Northeast Foundation, a fine source of materials about the social curriculum, particularly in elementary schools. The case studies in the book were authored by teachers and contain engaging and practical examples for educators. Brief examples of classroom and school-wide social work can be found in Responsive Classroom, the organization's journal aimed at integrating social and academic skills.