Supporting teachers to use cultural knowledge to increase the educational success of their students is the primary goal of the Bridging Cultures Project. To achieve this goal, a group of professional researchers has collaborated with a group of teacher-researchers since Fall 1996 in an action research project. Teachers participated in a series of three workshops orchestrated by staff researchers and then began the process of becoming researchers in their own classrooms and schools where immigrant Latino students constitute the majority. A cultural framework based on the values associated with the dimensions of
individualism (the orientation of the dominant U.S. culture) and
collectivism (the orientation of most immigrant cultures, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and others) guided teachers’ explorations in their classrooms. The group has made over 90 presentations, since 1998, to teachers, administrators, teacher educators, researchers, and paraprofessionals.
Bridging Cultures Project Strands- developing workshops for a core group of teachers on individualism and collectivism and their implications for child-rearing and schooling;
- documenting changes in thinking and instructional practice of these teachers;
- supporting core teachers to develop their own skills as researchers;
- teaching core teachers how to use ethnography to learn about cultures;
- collaborating with core teachers to design and provide professional development for other educators;
- teaching preservice teachers, new teachers, and school counselors about the Bridging Cultures framework; and
- publishing and disseminating materials based on what has been learned.
Project Staff
Elise Trumbull, Senior Research Associate, WestEd
Patricia M. Greenfield, Professor, Department of Psychology, UCLA
Carrie Rothstein-Fisch, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, California State University, Northridge
Blanca Quiroz, Doctoral Student, Harvard University Graduate School of Education
Cherry Elliot, Program Assistant, WestEd
Teacher-Researchers
Marie Altchech, Stoner Avenue School, Los Angeles, CA
Catherine Daley, Magnolia Elementary School, Los Angeles, CA
Kathryn Eyler, Hoover Elementary School, Los Angeles, CA
Elvia Hernandez, Griffin Avenue Elementary School, Los Angeles, CA
Giancarlo Mercado, Westminster Avenue School, Venice, CA
Amada Pérez, Mar Vista Elementary School, Oxnard, CA
Pearl Saitzyk, Westminster Avenue School, Venice, CA
Comments from Teachers about Bridging Cultures
"I know I've probably read things that had that title [multicultural education], and I had a really superficial understanding of what they meant. But it did not alter my way of being in the classroom — and this did. Everything I've ever gone to about culture was about their culture, and this is exactly [the] point: I have a culture, too, and it dictates what I do. It's not just, "Oh, well, the Latino parents do this and that because that is their culture. I do what I do because of my culture. And this is the first time that I really had an understanding of that. And not, you know, just thinking, ‘Well, yes, you read to your children, and that's a universal right idea.’ No, that's from my culture."
"I plan on reforming my class so that it can be more collectively friendly with the freedom of expressing individuality. My reading and math journal groups are going to be much more group oriented."
"It has made me acutely conscious of my communication skills with students and families and of my teaching. How I set up the classroom — the rules, the routines, and how I let the children express themselves. And through that consciousness, lots of good stuff has come out of it… Why is the student looking uncomfortable and what can I do? My first thinking is ‘Culturally, what did I do?’"
"I have learned how to better conduct my parent-teacher conferences and have implemented a parent-volunteer program where I feel parents of any educational level can feel welcomed and encouraged to participate."
"It [individualism-collectivism] is a new concept for me in relation to contact with other cultures. It helped me to take one more step beneath the surface of relating to others. It will help me understand or at least be open to bridging rather than judging."
Resources Created by the Project
The Bridging Cultures publications show how the framework can be a useful tool in understanding and preventing conflicts experienced by many students which are often invisible to teachers. The project is not "prescriptive." That is, there are no recommended strategies that must be implemented. Rather, the framework and teacher examples cited in the publications are meant to stimulate questions and support an ethnographic approach to cross-cultural understanding and schooling. We believe that
when cultural values are in conflict with school values, students can still succeed without giving up their cultural values or becoming alienated from their families -- if schools meet students halfway.
Bridging Cultures materials have been used by professional developers and teacher leaders throughout the country, from California to Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, and Pennsylvania. In combination with other readings that explain the original theory and research behind the project, they provide the essential background material an experienced professional developer or teacher educator would need to develop a workshop or a course session.
The project, which originally focused on professional development for in-service teachers, has spread to the realm of preservice education. Bridging Cultures concepts and examples have been integrated into courses on multicultural education, child development, educational psychology, counseling psychology, and Chicano studies, among others. Dr. Carrie Rothstein-Fisch is our expert on preservice education. She can be contacted directly at:
carrie.rothstein-fisch@csun.edu.
Current Resources
Trumbull, E., Diaz-Meza, R., Hasan, A., & Rothstein-Fisch, C. (2001).
The Bridging Cultures Project Five-Year Report, 1996-2000 (PDF)
Quiroz, B., Greenfield, P.M., & Altchech. (1999). Bridging Cultures with a Parent-Teacher Conference.
Educational Leadership, 56(7), 68-70.
Rothstein-Fisch, C., Greenfield, P.M., & Trumbull, E. (1999). Bridging Cultures with Classroom Strategies.
Educational Leadership, 56(7), 64-67.
Trumbull, E., Rothstein-Fisch, C., & Greenfield, P.M. (2000).
Bridging Cultures in Our Schools: New Approaches That Work. Knowledge Brief. San Francisco: WestEd.
Trumbull, E., Rothstein-Fisch, C., Greenfield, P.M., & Quiroz, B. (2001).
Bridging Cultures between Home and School: A Guide for Teachers. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates and San Francisco: WestEd.
Rothstein-Fisch, C. (2003).
Bridging Cultures Teacher Preparation Module. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates and San Francisco: WestEd.
Additional Background Resources
Greenfield, P.M., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (1994).
Cross-cultural Roots of Minority Child Development. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Greenfield, P.M., Quiroz, B., & Raeff, C. Cross-cultural conflict and harmony in the social construction of the child.
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, No. 87, 93-108.
Raeff, C., Greenfield, P.M., & Quiroz, B. (2000). Conceptualizing interpersonal relationships in the cultural contexts of individualism and collectivism.
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, No. 87, 59-74.
Expected 2007:
Zepeda, M., Rothstein-Fisch, C., Gonzalez-Mena, J., & Trumbull, E. Bridging Cultures in Early Care and Education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates and San Francisco: WestEd.
Director: Noelle Caskey
Contact: Noelle Caskey, Carrie Rothstein-Fisch
Tel: 510.615.3178
Email: ncaskey@wested.org, carrie.rothstein-fisch@csun.edu
Link to our Web site: http://www.WestEd.org/bridgingcultures
This project is part of WestEd's Comprehensive School Assistance Program.
WestEd staff involved with this project:
Resources related to this project:
