Summer 2003 Issue
Summer 2003 Reviews of Current Books (Full-Text)
Order
the Summer 2003 issue
Click here
to browse back issues of Harvard Educational Review
Back to top
Harvard Educational Review
Summer 2003 Article Abstracts:
Developing Cultural Fluency: Arab and Jewish Students Engaging in One Another's Company
Jocelyn Anne Glazier
In this article, Jocelyn Glazier introduces readers to the Arab and Jewish students and teachers of Gal Bilingual/Bicultural School in Israel. Glazier challenges traditional intergroup contact theories and the objectives of peace education centered on prejudice reduction, arguing that education should promote cultural fluency, which can be achieved by creating an environment that requires students to engage in one another's company. Glazier explicates the idea of "company" through a yearlong ethnographic study at the Gal School and details an educational model that fosters cross-cultural awareness in first graders. (pp. 141-163)
Special Education's Changing Identity: Paradoxes and Dilemmas in Views of Culture and Space
Alfredo J. Artiles
In this article, Alfredo Artiles identifies "paradoxes and dilemmas" faced by special education researchers and practitioners who are seeking to create socially just education systems in a democratic society that is currently marked by an increasing complexity of difference. He argues that the two primary discourse communities — inclusion and overrepresentation — must engage in a fuller dialogue and recognize the "troubling silences" within and between their respective literatures. Placing his analysis within the larger political context of current efforts and debates over educational reform, the author gives readers a broad overview of the literature on inclusion and overrepresentation. He then presents a multilayered analysis of culture and space that identifies the limitations of current research, while offering new possibilities and directions for the field. Artiles concludes that unless researchers and practitioners surface their assumptions about difference, as well as culture and space, the special education field will continue to perpetuate the silences that threaten the educational and life needs of historically marginalized students. (pp. 164- 202)
Skinning the Drum: Teaching about Diversity as "Other"
Leswin Laubscher and Susan Powell
In this article, Leswin Laubscher and Susan Powell explore their experiences as professors who teach about difference and are themselves considered "different" or "other." The authors describe how society and their students perceive them, and illustrate the unique pedagogical opportunities that their course offers them and their primarily White, able-bodied, and socioeconomically advantaged students to struggle not only with the theory, but also with the experience, of "difference." The authors proceed from the premise that the professor marked by difference, and who teaches about that difference, is not just teaching an academic course but is also articulating his or her life experience and self. The authors emphasize how difference is embodied in the classroom, how students respond to this difference, and the costs and benefits to educators marked as other who strive to facilitate students' self-exploration, growth, and commitment to social justice. (pp. 203-224)
Back to top
Harvard Educational Review
Summer 2003 Reviews of Current Books
(Full Text)
Crossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of
New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms
by Gloria
Ladson-Billings.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001. 172 pp.
$24.95.
Over the next decade, the United States will need 2.2 million new public
school teachers, due to recent changes in class-size policies, increased
student immigration, teacher retirements, and attrition. As the teacher
shortage intensifies, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners are
increasingly asking themselves: In what ways should we prepare teachers to be
effective, particularly to work in urban communities that serve a population
that includes predominately students of color?
Gloria Ladson-Billings addresses this question in her latest book,
Crossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse
Classrooms. She uses the biblical metaphor of Canaan, the promised land, as
the vision of teacher education that provides the "sojourners" — a "new
iteration of novice teachers" (p. 150) embarking on the journey of transforming
themselves and their pedagogy — with the necessary knowledge and support
to effectively educate racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse
students in urban classrooms.
Relying on biblical images, Ladson-Billings looks ahead to the next
millennium of teacher education, observes that teacher education "continues to
languish in the practices of a bygone era" (p. 3), and proposes programs that
pose "theoretical propositions about pedagogy" (p. 27) that will help novice
teachers become reflective and improve their teaching. While Ladson-Billings
insists that the book is not a "blueprint for building a teacher education
program" (p. 31), she encourages readers to question the preparation of
teachers and to "think differently" about preparing teachers to work with
diverse groups of students. Further, she suggests that novice teachers have
something to teach those who educate them, and that by listening carefully to
their voices, teacher educators will gain new insight into novice
teachers’ experiences — insight that might lead to "Canaan."
The book includes contextual information, autobiography, ethnography,
narrative commentary about the state of teacher education in the United States,
and suggestions for reaching the land of Canaan through culturally relevant
pedagogy (a theory of pedagogy from her seminal work, The Dreamkeepers).
The text resounds with Ladson-Billings’ three identities, which she
describes as the voices of a "teacher, a teacher educator, and a researcher"
(p. xii). We are given a rich description of Ladson-Billings’ personal
journey in teacher education, a story whose timbre echoes in the stories of the
eight novice teachers whose experiences she chronicles. Their challenges and
joys are captured in this book, a "collective story of the novice
teachers’ struggles to do the best job possible of teaching all of the
students . . . a richly textured story of what it means to become a good
teacher in a program devoted to preparing teachers for diverse classrooms" (p.
54).
Ladson-Billings begins with the arresting question, "Can anybody teach
these children?"(p. 12), a reference to students who are racially, culturally,
and linguistically diverse. She cites the high percentage (88%) of teacher
education faculty who are White and questions whether a faculty that is so
racially homogenous is prepared to "ensure that all of [the program’s]
graduates are prepared to teach all students" (p. 12). She provides data about
the teacher shortage, a discussion of diversity and its meaning today, and an
analysis of what "teaching well" means in this changed schooling context. For
Ladson-Billings, teaching well means ensuring that students achieve (though she
only vaguely explains what this entails), gain a sense of self-confidence, and
acquire a commitment to social justice and to serving their community. She
recalls her theory, which her numerous previous articles address, of culturally
relevant teaching and the propositions that support this theory: academic
achievement, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness.
Ladson-Billings then offers an in-depth case study of a novice teacher,
Carter Forshay, whose experiences reminded me of my own first year of teaching
and will likely remind other readers of their novice experiences.
Forshay’s youthful enthusiasm is challenged by his students’ distaste
for the subject (writing) and their continued complaints about his assignments.
Ladson-Billings informs the reader that it is Forshay’s examination of his
practice and his own passions that allows him to develop a pedagogy that
reaches — and teaches — his students. Forshay considered the ways in
which his lessons were applicable to his students’ lives and to issues
that might be important to them. He incorporated these elements (such as music)
into his teaching, hoping that by recognizing students’ interests and
including them in the classroom he would inspire learning. The case study of
Forshay is the catalyst for Ladson-Billings’ study of the eight novice
teachers and for the initiation of this book.
Ladson-Billings continues by introducing the Teachers For Diversity
(TFD) program, an initiative of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where
Ladson-Billings is a faculty member. She and her colleagues created the TFD
program, an elementary certification program with a master’s degree, which
she loosely describes as being designed to "prepare teachers to teach
effectively in multicultural, social-reconstructionist ways" (p. 31). She
introduces us to eight TFD students whose experiences comprise the ethnography
and tells us about their choices to become teachers, their demographics, and
their past experiences.
The next three chapters explicate the propositions of culturally
relevant teaching, supported by data from the novice teachers’ classrooms.
In chapter three, "They’re Supposed to Learn Something," Ladson-Billings
describes one of the three tenets of culturally relevant teaching —
academic achievement — and the ways the novice teachers worked toward
meeting this goal. In these accounts we view the classroom as though through a
microscope: we learn of exchanges between teachers and parents, the curricular
goals the new teachers are pursuing, the topics they choose to introduce, the
challenges of cultural dissonance, and the new teachers’ experiences with
specific students. The chapter concludes with indicators of academic
achievement — Ladson-Billings’ view of the evidence of academic
achievement in these classrooms with diverse learners. The evidence she lists
focuses on teachers’ content knowledge and the observable relationship
between the teacher and the student, such as, "The teacher knows the content,
the learner, and how to teach content to the learner" (p. 74). In her
description, academic achievement challenges the "single static measurement"
(p. 76) of standardized test scores, and is instead measured by multiple
opportunities for students to demonstrate their accomplishment using various
media, including performances, samples of their work, and exhibitions (p.
76).
The fourth chapter describes the concept of cultural competence —
the "ability of students to grow in understanding and respect for their own
cultures" (p. 78). The author offers an indictment of the lack of attention to
culture in many teacher education programs, then situates the discussion in a
description of the TFD cohort’s understanding of culture, and describes
each cohort member’s experiences of his or her own culture and the way
that cultural background influences each teacher’s interactions with
students. Although she does not specifically define culture, she refers to
"home cultures" for students of color, which implies that culture includes
experiences that are based on race. In an effort to improve teacher practice,
she provides some "indicators of cultural competence" (p. 97) although they are
a bit vague, such as teachers demonstrating an understanding of the role of
culture in education, among other indicators.
Chapter five, "Apathy Is Not an Option," explores the element of
citizenship embedded in teaching in public schools — that is, the role of
schools as "teachers of social justice" (p. 102). Part of the mission adopted
by the TFD program is to prepare teachers to be activists and to engage their
students in social justice. Ladson-Billings reflects on why she includes this
purpose in her teaching, then describes the novice teachers’ students and
the way they engage in learning about the community in a meaningful way or
conducting community service.
In the final chapter, Ladson-Billings returns to the biblical metaphor,
offering "a vision of the promised land" (p. 123). She analyzes the TFD program
and reflects on her learning as a teacher educator. She and her colleagues
learned the importance of giving novice teachers opportunities to apprentice
with master teachers, of encouraging questions about teachers and teaching, and
of ensuring an opportunity to do serious intellectual work.
Ladson-Billings shares her vision of a teacher education program —
the land of Canaan — or what she calls "The Urban Teacher Academy" (UTA),
an academy that includes the foundations of the existing TFD program, along
with other aspects of her concept of an ideal teacher education program. The
UTA would include a cohort of participants from diverse backgrounds with a
preference for bi- or trilingualism. The faculty would include those who speak
several languages, come from diverse racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds, and
have experience teaching in urban communities. The program would emphasize
UTA-community collaboration through partnerships with community agencies and
families. The participants would engage in field-based teacher practicums and
accompanying coursework. They would be assessed based on a competency-based
philosophy that requires a portfolio to demonstrate achievement. After
completing the program, they would join school faculties that are UTA
affiliates for their first year of teaching as provisional teachers, a position
that would guarantee a reduced course load (or fewer students than more
experienced teachers) and structured mentoring and observation opportunities
with induction programs over time.
The appendices will be useful to researchers or to those interested in
Ladson-Billings’ methodology. She explains the theoretical framework of
culturally relevant pedagogy, describes research design and data analysis, and
provides interview protocols. Ladson-Billings borrows the biblical metaphor of
crossing over to Canaan and leaves readers with a hope for the sojourners
— the novice teachers who will fill the classrooms and begin the process
of pursuing and creating a pedagogy that successfully educates diverse
learners.
H.G.P.
Touching Eternity: The Enduring Outcomes
of Teaching
by Tom Barone.
New York: Teachers
College Press, 2001. 216 pp. $50.00, $22.95 (paper).
In Touching Eternity: The Enduring Outcomes of Teaching, Tom
Barone seeks to examine fundamental questions about education through a
qualitative study of a high school art teacher and the impact he has on his
students. Through an in-depth longitudinal exploration of the work of Donald
Forrister, the sole art teacher at Swain County High School in North Carolina,
Barone hopes to better understand the nature of teaching, of what is and is not
learned, and the impact and value of the educational process for teachers and
students. Written with the evocative language and aesthetic form that are
characteristic of imaginative literature, Touching Eternity is a work of
arts-based research. The book is organized in five parts. Barone presents his
case study of the teacher and several of his students in the first four parts
and discusses methodological and epistemological issues in the final part.
Barone’s aim with this study is to challenge his readers to rethink their
beliefs about education. In his words, "This is a book that is meant to disturb
and puzzle. It is designed, in both content and style, to challenge the reader,
to raise important questions about educational issues — indeed, it aims to
provoke the reader into asking questions about the nature of truth itself" (pp.
2–3).
Barone first became familiar with the work of Donald Forrister in the
early 1980s, when Barone was asked by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund to write an
evaluation of the Swain County High School Arts Program, which had received an
Award for Excellence in Arts Education from the fund in 1982. Part One of
Touching Eternity, Things of Use and Things of Beauty: The Swain
Community High School Arts Program, is an abbreviated version of the
evaluation. With its overarching theme of tension between aesthetics and
utility, this section of the book introduces readers to the key players in the
study: the community of Swain County, the arts program at Swain County, several
students, and their teacher, Donald Forrister. Contrasting the care with which
local artists create their handiworks — a sign of the aesthetic pleasure
that is part of the artistic process — with the pragmatism and
self-sufficient lifestyle of the local community — which prioritizes
function above form — Barone highlights the tension between the aesthetic
and the utilitarian in the craft heritage of Swain County. This tension also
colors Barone’s description of the Swain County High School Arts Program.
He describes the program as navigating among various purposes that can be
broadly categorized as aesthetic or utilitarian. These purposes include
providing students with the opportunity to take pride in their artistic
creations, encouraging students to express themselves in their work, and
promoting students’ career development in arts- or crafts-related
fields.
Part Two, What Do Former Students Believe They Learned? Traces of a
Teacher in the Life Stories of His Former Students, draws on interviews that
Barone conducted with several Swain County High School alumni who were students
of Forrister’s at the time the original essay was published. Barone
employs a range of presentational forms in this section, including direct
transcriptions of interviews and storytelling where he blends elements from the
interviews with his own contributions. In one section, The Magician and the
Parole Officer, Barone’s unique use of the medium of print provides
another unusual mode of presentation, as he uses multiple fonts — italic,
bold, and roman — to correspond to three perspectives that are brought to
bear on the story of Forrister’s relationship with two high school
friends. When quoting or paraphrasing the two students, Barone uses italic and
bold fonts; when presenting aspects of the story that were common across both
interviews, Barone uses a roman font. While the stories that comprise this
section of the book differ in content and style, they converge in the refrain
that emerges: Donald Forrister had a profoundly positive impact on his
students, which some of them continue to feel years later.
Drawing on extensive interviews with Forrister, Barone composes Part
Three, What Do Students Teach? Traces of Students in the Life Story of a
Teacher. This section presents Forrister as a person, an artist, and a teacher.
Readers learn about Forrister’s childhood, about his artistic development,
and about what led him to teaching. Part Three concludes with an extended
section entitled "Learning from His Students," which underscores what Forrister
says earlier about the impact his students had on him. Barone describes the
enduring impact that teaching has on a teacher by illustrating ways that
particular students influenced Donald Forrister. As Barone describes it,
Forrister found himself intrigued by certain students, often because of their
personal attributes. For example, a student referred to as Carolyn judged
others’ artistic work with high standards and would turn that gaze upon
herself as well. Getting to know Carolyn and to appreciate what he saw as her
courage and honesty reinforced Forrister’s commitment to living with
integrity. The restlessness of another student, Barry, threatened the superb
artistry that shone in his moments of focus. As Forrister came to know Barry,
he reacquainted himself with the importance of holding fast to one project or
one medium at a time. For Forrister, then, the enduring outcomes of teaching
refer to both the impact a teacher has on his students and the impact that
students have on their teachers.
In Part Four, Barone analyzes the case study. Hoping to provoke
conversation and raise questions, he employs two contrasting analytical lenses.
In the first, which he calls a phenomenological reading of the evidence from
the research, Barone portrays Forrister as a dedicated, talented, and
exceptional teacher who profoundly and positively influences the lives of his
students. Using the phenomenological lens, Barone presents the case study at
face value and celebrates Forrister as the heroic teacher who "touches
eternity" with his students. In his second analysis, Barone draws from critical
theory by identifying social and cultural forces that may have stood in the way
of or lessened Forrister’s influence on his students. These forces include
what Barone calls cultural scripts — the ways of living and thinking that
are valued by a culture. For example, in the United States, devoting one’s
life to corporate work may be more highly valued than committing oneself to
aesthetic work, or achieving affluence may be considered more desirable than
maintaining moral integrity. Barone argues that social and cultural forces like
these may influence the role that artistic endeavors continue to play in the
lives of Forrister’s former students. Barone reminds his readers that
teachers must be aware that their work takes place within a social and cultural
context that includes certain forces that may have deleterious effects on the
outcomes of their teaching. For example, the work of art teachers in the United
States takes place within a social and cultural context that encourages
students to seek high salaries rather than aesthetic fulfillment. Barone argues
that the impact of art teachers’ teaching may be diminished if their
students abandon the arts in search of competitive salaries. Barone does not
choose one interpretation as he concludes Part Four, instead allowing both
analyses to compete for the reader’s consideration and provoke
conversation.
Barone devotes Part Five to the methodological and epistemological
aspects of his study. He discusses the strategies he employed during the
interviews, including eliciting childhood memories, asking participants to
summarize the ways that Forrister influenced them, if at all, and looking for a
central theme that would help him to structure an interviewee’s story. He
also addresses aspects of the writing process, such as soliciting
participants’ feedback on drafts of their stories. In terms of
epistemology, Barone argues that the purpose of educational inquiry in general,
and of this study in particular, is to enhance meaning rather than to reduce
uncertainty. To support this claim he draws on a postmodernist perspective.
According to Barone, postmodernists "opt for an epistemology of ambiguity that
seeks out and celebrates meanings that are partial, tentative, incomplete,
sometimes even contradictory, and originating from multiple vantage points"
(pp. 152-153). Barone thus asserts that the ambiguity he creates in his
presentation of multiple voices and interpretations is consistent with
postmodern perspectives on research and on knowledge.
Touching Eternity: The Enduring Outcomes of Teaching offers a
multilayered exploration of teaching and learning, their outcomes, and their
contexts through a unique blend of perspectives and presentational styles.
Barone’s inquiry into the enduring outcomes of Donald Forrister’s
teaching departs from traditional case study research in a number of respects;
however, one crucial departure may diminish the effectiveness of his study.
Barone does not address the reasons for selecting Donald Forrister for a case
study of the larger educational issues of what it means to touch eternity by
having an impact on one’s students. Why is Donald Forrister’s work a
particularly apt, rich, or instructive example of teaching that is worthy of
this form of investigation? Still, Barone’s elegant writing —
regardless of the voice he presents or the style he employs — and the
questions that Touching Eternity provoke make it an engaging read for a
number of audiences. For instance, qualitative researchers will enjoy the
presentational forms Barone uses and the methodological and epistemological
issues he addresses. Educators of all kinds, regardless of the subject area
they teach or the nature of their student populations, will enjoy grappling
with the questions that Barone raises about what it means to teach and to
learn, what teachers can learn from their students, and how social and cultural
forces can influence the educational process.
R.B.
Harvard Education Publishing Group
|
