SITE CONTENTS: ICD Home Casebooks Groupwork in Diverse Classrooms Diversity in the Classroom Case Methods in Teacher Education The Intern Teacher Casebook The Mentor Teacher Casebook NPEAT Indices Facilitator's Forum Bibliography Order Form

DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM: A Casebook for Teachers and Teacher Educators edited by Judith H. Shulman & Amalia Mesa-Bains, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Ehrlbaum Associates, 1993 Today’s students represent an unprecedented array of languages, cultures, races and family circumstances. Given such diversity, how can teachers, mostly white and monolingual, avoid inequities born of good intentions or unconscious stereotyping? How can they help students whose life experiences and cultural mores differ markedly from their own? Whether read alone or used as a catalyst for group discussions, these 13 teacher-authored cases are a valuable tool to help address such questions. They help teachers reflect not just on the barriers of language and customs, but also on deeper, more troubling aspects of the classroom exchange: how unrecognized psychological undercurrents of race, culture and class can obstruct teaching and learning. Following each case and providing a range of perspectives for interpreting it are commentaries written by administrators, scholars and other teachers. Available as a companion to the casebook is a Facilitator’s Guide. Because the cases deal with highly sensitive topics not ordinarily addressed in teacher education programs, successful discussion facilitation requires an understanding not just of discussion method teaching but also of specific techniques for dealing with multicultural material. Part I examines general facilitating strategies, including methods for deflecting hurtful confrontation or explosive interactions. Part II provides discussion notes for each case along with a suggested discussion outline. "As a tool in teacher education, this book is indispensable. Using Diversity in the Classroom provides a context for both preservice and inservice teachers to explore the diversity of human experiences and human nature...[This book} can help teachers listen to all voices, tolerate difference, and acknowledge all peoples, enabling them to see uniqueness and value their place within it."–Journal of Reading Diversity in the Classroom, $16.95 Facilitator’s Guide to Diversity in the Classroom, $14.95 Set of both books, $28 Return to Casebook page