What Counts and How: Mathematics Teaching in Culturally, Linguistically, and Socioeconomically Diverse Urban Settings

This article presents findings from an ongoing study of urban teachers' efforts to embrace mathematics reform with student populations that are culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse (CLSD). We investigate the teacher's role in providing accessible and valuable mathematical learning opportunities to diverse students. Through narrative vignettes of practice and analyses of the personal and intellectual resources teachers draw on in CLSD contexts, we examine the challenges and possibilities two third-grade teachers face as they attempt such reform. One teacher's strengths were in making cultural connections with her students; the other's strengths were in pursuing complex and meaningful mathematics with her students. Building on our analysis, we offer a framework for examining the work of attending to mathematical and cultural issues simultaneously. Our findings suggest that such work is complex; however, teachers are seldom supported in their efforts to integrate these two perspectives. Our aim is to examine the dimensions of culturally relevant mathematics teaching and explore where the fields of mathematics and bilingual-bicultural education need to speak to one another.     

The Formation of Communities of Practice in a Network of Schools Serving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students comprise the most rapidly expanding, and among the most educationally marginalized, group in the United States. CLD students’ opportunities to learn are often diminished through service delivery models that are deficit-oriented, viewing linguistic diversity as a challenge to overcome, not a strength on which to build. Such models frequently leave CLD students clustered and segregated within underresourced schools. Moreover, schools that effectively educate CLD students frequently operate in isolation from one another. In this context, this article provides a counternarrative. It reports the formation of a network of schools transforming their service delivery model from monolingual English immersion to bilingual 2-way immersion. Through a nested case study, we examine how learning among educators within communities of practice occurs in and across networked schools. We discuss this at the network level, and highlight one school's use of courageous conversations and formative assessments to foster this learning.     

Evaluating a Constructivist and Culturally Responsive Approach to Environmental Education for Diverse Audiences

The NorthBay Adventure Center offers five-day residential programs that meld environmental and character education using experiential techniques and multi-media messaging. This article explores the influences of these programs on urban and non-urban middle-school participants in three areas: character development and leadership; environmental responsibility, and attitudes toward school. The authors found significant positive short-term effects on all outcomes of interest. Three-month delayed posttests indicate retention of significant gains in character development and leadership and environmental responsibility, while gains in school-related outcomes faded. Urban students responded more positively to the NorthBay program than did students from suburban and rural areas.     

How We Get Somewhere Religiously: Religious Education and Deconversion

Engaging the work of Robert Kegan, Mary C. Boys, and John Caputo, this article explores whether disaffiliation, or more accurately deconversion, might be one possible outcome of successful religious education forming a mature religious consciousness for postmodernity's changing religious landscape. Through a presentation of deconversion literature alongside a trialogue of these developmental, philosophical, and religious educational theories, the article critically and experimentally constructs a religious educational discourse for the changing space we find ourselves in, and suggests deconversion research offers significant theological and practical material for reflection on how we might be getting somewhere religiously.     

Preparing Science Teachers for Culturally Diverse Students: Developing Cultural Literacy Through Cultural Immersion, Cultural Translators and Communities of Practice

This three year study of P-12 professional development is grounded in sociocultural theories that hold that building knowledge and relationships among individuals from different cultural backgrounds entails joint activity toward common goals and cultural dialogues mediated by cultural translators. Sixty P-12 pre and in-service teachers in a year long interdisciplinary science curriculum course shared the goal of developing culturally relevant, standards-based science curricula for Native Hawai'ian students. Teachers and Native Hawai'ian instructors lived and worked together during a five day culture-science immersion in rural school and community sites and met several times at school, university, and community sites to build knowledge and share programs. Teachers were deeply moved by immersion experiences, learned to connect cultural understandings, e.g., a Hawai'ian sense of place and curriculum development, and highly valued collaborating with peers on curriculum development and implementation. The study finds that long term professional development providing situated learning through cultural immersion, cultural translators, and interdisciplinary instruction supports the establishment of communities of practice in which participants develop the cross-cultural knowledge and literacy needed for the development of locally relevant, place and standards-based curricula and pedagogy.     

Children's Theory of God's Mind: Theory-of-Mind Studies and Why They Matter to Religious Education

Theory-of-mind research has been carried out for over three decades, examining the ways children understand the minds of others—their perspectives, intentions, desires, and knowledge. Since the early 21st century, theory-of-mind studies have begun exploring the ways in which children think and reason about the minds—not only of ordinary, visible figures such as humans or animals—but of invisible figures such as spirits, angels, imaginary friends, and God. This growing body of research provides insight into children's cognitive development generally, but also into what could be called a “theory of religious mind.”     

Teaching Justice and Living Peace: Body,Sexuality, and Religious Education in Asian-American Communities 1

This article examines sexuality, a null curriculum in Asian-American faith communities, and explores pedagogical strategies to move the sexuality discourse to the explicit curriculum. The article first describes the current discussion of sexuality in Asian-American communities, then it critically analyzes the Confucian notion of the body, which has far-reaching influence on Asian-American views about sexuality, including those of Christians. The article then focuses on demystification of the body, arguing that demystification is fundamental to Asian-American discussions about sexuality. Finally, it suggests pedagogical strategies for the teaching of sexuality in Asian-American contexts.     

德育如何才能植根于孩子的心灵

德育问题一直为社会各界所关注，关注的焦点是学校德育能否很好地内化为学生个体的思想品德。切实增强德育工作的针对性、实效性和主动性，成了社会各界的共同呼声。如何才能让德育植根于孩子的心灵？我认为要从德育的目标体系、教师观念、学生的生活情趣和教育网络等方面入手。一、制定科学的德育目标体系，是增强德育针对性的前提德育目标体系就是针对不同的年龄阶段所作的目标定位问题，也就是每个阶段让学生掌握什么样的道德规范和准则。我们一味地要求小学生做共产主义接班人，但他们由于年龄、学识的原因，连什么是共产主义都一无所知…     

Educating Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners: The Need for Continued Advocacy

Recent political, fiscal, and educational equity challenges require a renewed emphasis in our efforts to advocate for increased culturally and linguistically responsive education, making certain to further advance the accomplishments of the past four decades. The education of diverse exceptional learners is well established within the fields of special education and culturally and linguistically diverse education. However, drawing on several contemporary features that currently shape education in today’s schools, the authors examine the need for continued special education advocacy to ensure appropriate referral, assessment, and instruction of all culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional (CLDE) learners within the changing pre-K-postsecondary teaching and learning environments. Implications and recommendations for educator preparation at the pre and inservice levels are provided to guide the future development of teachers of CLDE learners.     

The Influence of Education Major: How Diverse Preservice Teachers View Pseudoscience Topics

Pseudoscience beliefs (e.g., astrology, ghosts or UFOs) are rife in American society. Most research examines creation/evolution among liberal arts majors, general public adults, or, infrequently, middle or high school science teachers. Thus, research truncates the range of ersatz science thinking and the samples it studies. We examined diverse beliefs, e.g., extraterrestrials, magic, Biblical creation, and evolution, among 540 female and 123 male future teachers, including 325 elementary education majors. We study how these cognitions related to education major and, because popular media often present pseudoscience “information”, student media use. Future elementary educators most often rejected evolution and endorsed “creationism” or Intelligent Design. Education majors held similar beliefs about astrology, UFO landings, or magic. Compared with other education students, elementary education majors watched less news or science television and read fewer popular science magazines. However, religious and media variables explained more variation in creation/evolution beliefs than education major. We discuss implications of our findings for elementary school science education and how teacher educators may be able to affect pseudoscience beliefs among their elementary education students.