White Teachers / Diverse Classrooms: Teachers and Students of Color Talk Candidly about Connecting with Black Students and Transforming Educational ... / Diverse Classrooms Companion Products)

by Julie Landsman

• Interviews with Black students and experienced educators provide guidance on how to teach successfully in multicultural classes

• Insights and ideas to promote observation, reflection, and effective classroom practice

• Ideal for initiating constructive discussion in preservice courses, and for professional development

• Defines the seven characteristics of successful multicultural teaching

• Based on the acclaimed book

These interviews with Black students, White and Black teachers, educational experts and school administrators poignantly bring to life the issues, strategies and competencies that teachers need to engage with―if they are to create the conditions that will enable their students of color to succeed and excel.

The feature 33 minute track is enhanced by a further 83 minutes of additional footage that presents more extensive interviews with many of the participants, to add depth to the pedagogical approaches they advocate.

This DVD is effective both for group viewing and discussion, and for individual study. It will spur debate, stimulate ideas and reflection, and inspire.

For sample clips user=whiteteachers

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, Race, Grad School

100 pages, DVD-ROM

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Aron Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a few "lightning bolt moments" in this book, but I think it will be more important in my coming school year simply as a touchstone for who I want to be as a teacher and how I want my students to feel in my classroom. One of the contributors, Stepanie A Flores-Koulish, writes "Books like this should be frequent reads so that educators internalize White privilege alongside Brown potential."

Paul Gorski wrote one of my favorite chapters of the book, "The Unintentional Undermining of Multicultural Education." He challenges the way that a surface-level celebration of "diversity" often supplants the true systemic work that we educators need to do in tearing down old oppressive systems and creating true equity. If you are picking-and-choosing what chapters to read in here, don't miss this one! (#6)

[CTEP]

Last month I had the chance to attend a two day training on race equity with other KAYSC staff, Saint Paul public schools staff, and other folks from a wide range of community organizations in St. Paul. Titled “Beyond Diversity,” the training was wonderfully facilitated and offered attendees a highly effective “protocol” to bring & foster meaningful conversations and actions about race into our work/service environments. A big piece of the training involved defining “whiteness,” and more specifically, what it means to be white when working with people of color. This training made me want to continue being in this particular head-space, so for my November book share I decided to go with a recently published collection of essays that tied into the topic material: “White teachers, Diverse Classrooms.” It turned out to reinforce many of the topics we focused on in the workshop while going deeper into some specific subtopics, which has related holistically to my work in the KAYSC. Co-edited by Julie Landsman (who also wrote “A White Teacher Talks About Race”--another great read), the book gives many great perspectives on the often overlooked yet pivotal question white educators must ask: “How can I be an effective teacher with students of color?” In order to answer this question, Landsman opens the book with a great essay on the importance of first identifying what it means to be white. In order to connect to others in a meaningful way, we must understand ourselves, and with that means understanding the ins and outs of white privilege and the systemic racism that permeates our society. Beyond that, it is important to realize that there is no “quick fix” or instant, easy solution to manufacturing cross-racial connection between teachers and students, but instead it is a slow, ongoing process that benefits most from establishing an honest and open dialogue about race.
Many of the other essays offer interesting takes on specific aspects of teaching, including school-community partnerships, “white women’s work,” working with specific racial groups (and gender, see: “educating black males”), and the dynamics of hi-low achievement expectations of students.

The most important takeaway I got from this book is that as a white educator working with students of color it is most important to continuously cycle the process of deconstructing and rebuilding the many assumptions embedded in the fabric of both the overarching education system and within our personal approach to teaching. Whether it be a school or classroom’s policies, the style of curriculum, or our expectations or views of students, we must step back and prevent us from imposing our worldview in such a way that does not take into account the many social, racial and cultural contexts our students exist in. By doing this, it seems, we can create a space where meaningful conversations about race can cause classrooms to thrive. I highly recommend this book to others in CTEP.

[Summer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book doesn't have any new or different ideas in it. By now all of y'all should know this stuff. If you don't, OK, you should read it. Like maybe if you grew up in Vermont or something.

A statistic I had not heard is that only 1% of K-12 teachers in the US are black males. That's a crazy number! My highschool English teacher was a black male. I didn't realize I was being taught by a UNICORN.

I also did not know that the majority of teachers do not live in the area that they serve. That's crazy too. A major shift is going to have to happen in our world to correct this.

This book is written in very academic language. I got pretty sick of the "this is what we will tell you, this is what we are telling you, this is what we told you" format. It was a collection of essays, all written like academic articles.

This book is written very specifically for teachers. I read books like this from time to time and they usually make an effort to address parents or "community members" but this one is for teachers ONLY.

So, if you are a white female teacher who just fell off the turnip truck, this is a good book for you.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly engaging book that offers many different cultural perspectives on a myriad of different areas of education, including the ways that good intentions and low expectations for students from non-dominant cultures undermine education. Specific chapters focus on teaching African American, Latino, Native American, and Korean American students.

[Lauren Morris]

Working on the "Train the Trainer" program...

[Michelle Matthews]

A good reference.

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information! Thought provoking