LA CLASE MAGICA: Imagining Optimal Possibilities in a Bilingual Community of Learners

Childhood Education, Winter 2003/2004 by Medearis, Linda

LA CLASH MAGICA: Imagining Optimal Possibilities in a Bilingual Community of Learners. O.A. Vasquez. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2003. 237 pp. $49.95 (hardback); $24.50 (softcover). The author, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, describes her involvement with La Clase Magica (The Magic Class), an after-school computer activity program that built relationships between families and local universities and became a teaching experience for both elementary-age students and college students. Traditional efforts to attract Mexican American students had proved unsuccessful, so Vasquez tweaked an existing program, changing the location to a local church and using a Spanish-language computer program.

La Clase Magica, part of a statewide network of computer-based instruction for low-SES students, teaches basic computer skills to children attending a local Head Start class. Students follow the instructions of El Maga (The Wizard), the virtual teacher of the class. As the children get older, they can become a "Wizard Assistant," or a tutor. Education majors and students in other fields conduct observations and receive course credits in the process.

This is a unique approach for teaching the culturally and linguistically different learner. Over seven years, Vasquez and other university researchers gradually shifted autonomy for the program to the community through parent training sessions. Such an initiative, Vasquez states, may improve the rate at which these students attend college. Reviewed by Linda Medearis, Associate Dean, College of Education, and Chair, Department of Special Populations, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, TX

Reviewed by Linda Medearis, Associate Dean, College of Education, and Chair, Department of Special Populations, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, TX