Human Diversity in Education: An Intercultural Approach

by Kenneth H. Cushner, Philip L. Safford, Averil McClelland

Human Diversity in Education is designed to prepare teachers for the wide diversity of students that they are certain to encounter in their classrooms, schools, and communities. The seventh edition brings increased attention to the intercultural dimension of teaching and learning for a twenty-first century global society.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education, Textbooks

512 pages, Paperback

First published February 9, 2011

Reviews

[Nancy Brown]

Read for teacher licensure Spring 2025 Colorado Mesa University

[Jimyanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I was expecting this book to be a collection of politically correct truisms, with its head in the clouds and no basis in actual practicality. It does occasionally fall into that trap, suggesting virtually simultaneously, for instance, that we must not allow those with minority sexual preferences to be marginalized by their peers (a concept that I'm perfectly on-board with, by the way) AND insisting that we have to respect and acknowledge the validity of the religious beliefs of all students (even, presumably, those whose religions teach that homosexuality is an abomination.) Now, I'll admit that both of these things sound like excellent goals, but if you can tell me how to accomplish both simultaneously, you're doing better than this book did.

Still, the book was far less dominated by this sort of problem than I'd expected, and actually contained a lot of very thought-provoking, interesting information and ideas for discussion. What's more, it was actually one of the best-edited textbooks that I've seen, having only about five grammatical/typo type errors in it, which is far fewer than I've been forced to come to expect. ("That continues be..." rather than "continues to be..." in the preface on page xviii, "The Educational of All Handicapped Children Act..." rather than "The Education of..." on page 48, in the "1982" section of the table on issues of disability, "...how to adopt to those differences,..." rather than "adapt", on page 160, "Television, radio, film, and the Internet has spread..." rather than "have spread" on page 227, as well as the less clearly wrong, but somewhat awkward construction of "ameliorating the major problems we confront (e.g. global warming, preserving the environment, increasing poverty, and the loss of community) on page 333; personally, I don't consider preserving the environment to be a "problem" like the others listed; DESTRCUTION of the environment is a problem of that sort; preserving the environment is a challenge, not a "problem". Also, on page 427, "(Stevie) does face extra challenges due to his diagnosis of Down Syndrome." No, the challenges do not stem from the DIAGNOSIS. They stem from the Down syndrome. Being diagnosed has not added a single challenge to the boy's life; it has probably eased a few of them.

[Misty Moncrief · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has great content and creates a since of emergency and passion for diversity. However with all it attributes its cons out ways the pros. The font is to small for casual reading especially for case studies. The chapters are too long as well. In my opinions forty pages is too long for any chapter. The length and font of the text made me dread having to read this book. Even with its content to maintain intrest I still found myself counting the pages until the end of the chapter. The length of the chapters and font size made this text unenjoyable and often left me with tired eyes and a headache.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

In chapter 1, on the subject of understanding cultural differences, Cushner, McClelland & Safford (2015) state that “…to understand the processes involved is a first step toward overcoming differences; and both culture-specific knowledge and culture-general knowledge are prerequisites on the road to social justice” (p. 23). I appreciated how the text emphasized change within and of oneself in relation to change in the “larger dimensions” of society.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the required text book for my educational diversity class. I was worried that it was going to be one sided but I didn't really have a problem with the book.

It talks about quite a few topics, including the levels of cultural awareness/assimilation and worldviews.

[Dencel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best textbook I have ever read. Kept me engaged and was thought provoking.