Deepening Teacher Knowledge of Multicultural Literature through a University-Schools Partnership

Autor/in	Athanases, Steven Z.
Titel	Deepening Teacher Knowledge of Multicultural Literature through a University-Schools Partnership
Quelle	In: Multicultural Education, 13 (2006) 4, S.17-23 (7 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2) Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1068-3844
Schlagwörter	Teacher Characteristics; Teaching Experience; Literature; Group Discussion; Urban Schools; School Districts; Academic Achievement; Cultural Pluralism; Knowledge Base for Teaching; College School Cooperation; African Americans; Hispanic Americans; High School Students; Low Achievement; English Teachers; Secondary School Teachers; Workshops; California + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Literatur; Gruppendiskussion; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; School district; Schulbezirk; Schulleistung; Kulturpluralismus; Teaching theory; Theory of teaching; Unterrichtstheorie; Afroamerikaner; Hispanic; Hispanoamerikaner; High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Unterdurchschnittliche Leistung; English language lessons; Teacher; Teachers; Englischunterricht; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Lernwerkstatt; Schulung; Kalifornien
Abstract	The purpose of this study is to strengthen teachers' knowledge of multicultural literature for use with high school students in a highly diverse, high needs urban school district through a university-schools partnership. A core English group of 15-20 members of a university-schools partnership met in monthly department-based and periodic districtwide workshops and summer three-day institutes. This work supported instructional assistance, response to student writing, and development of teaching resources--all to strengthen preparation of African American and Latino youth in an urban low performing California high school district. Several teachers called for the summer institute to read, study, and plan units for multicultural literary works. Institute participants were 17 teachers (14 female) with teaching experience of 1 to over 25 years. Two staff development coordinators, both White (a colleague and the author), facilitated activities, read and discussed with book groups, and documented events. Data included institute observation field notes of activities and audiotapes of discussions later transcribed. As in other studies, this study found teachers used a stance of responding personally to culturally unfamiliar work, noting what in texts felt familiar and universal. However, unlike in most related work, this study also found many instances of teachers adopting a stance of ethical respect for characters. In fact, this study found a "range" of stances seldom occurring in isolation. In work on a single novel, for example, teachers together adopted one stance then used others. In some cases, a teacher adopted a stance different from a group and shifted stances through group discussion. Various versions of the permeable and recursive nature of the response stances are illustrated. (Contains 2 tables.) (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Caddo Gap Press. 3145 Geary Blvd, PMB 275, San Francisco, CA 94118. Tel: 415-666-3012; Fax: 415-666-3552; e-mail: caddogap@aol.com; Web site: http://www.caddogap.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10