Annotated Bibliography
Scholarly Research Articles
Equity in Classrooms
1) Abu El-Haj, T. R., & Rubin, B. C. (2009). Realizing the equity-minded aspirations of detracking and inclusion: Toward a capacity-oriented framework for teacher education. Curriculum Inquiry, 39(3), 435-463. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/61876793?accountid=14524
From Curriculum Inquiry, the leading international journal dedicated to providing educational research that challenges the norms, practices, and structural frameworks found in education today, Dr. Thea Abu El-Haj and Dr. Beth C. Rubin evaluate the tensions and dilemmas that exist for teachers working in detracked and inclusion classrooms. Their research develops from their previous ethnographic studies of the struggles that teachers experience while working in intentional heterogeneous settings. They argue that teachers must develop essential tools to evaluate students under a capacity-oriented framework as opposed to the performance-orientated framework that is supported by reform movements such as NCLB. The capacity-oriented framework is based on the belief that all children and youth have a great capacity for learning.
Using theories and research from well-known scholars such as, but not limited to, Paulo Freire, Luis Moll and Norma Gonzalez, and Ladson-Billings, Abu El-Haj and Rubin present a well-rounded and in-depth critique of the idealistic approach to detracking and inclusion in schools. Their discussion explains that the capacity-oriented framework emphasizes three crucial elements that will prepare pre-service teachers for equity in classrooms: tools for observing learners in noncategorical, nonevaluative ways; critical inquiry into standards; and opportunities to develop curriculum and pedagogies that interrogate structural inequalities. They provide explicit examples of each element in practice and encourage educators to become actively and critically involved in individual and school-wide educational practices today. As teachers utilize the analytical tools described in this article, Abu El-Haj and Rubin believe that detracked and inclusion classrooms will better support students of all ability levels. The critical perspective approach toward student ability, content standards, and the relationship between schooling and structural inequalities will guard teachers against the assumptions, ambiguities, and frustrations that arise in heterogeneous classrooms of underprepared teachers.
This article grabs my attention because it not only takes a critical view of the proposed detracked and inclusion practices in schools, but it also offers an approachable model for teachers, administrators, and policymakers to use that might better promote inclusion for all ability levels. As a pre-service teacher, I plan to go into my practice with the necessary tools that will prevent me from falling subject to idealistic reform practices and policies that might fall short in schools in practice.
Using theories and research from well-known scholars such as, but not limited to, Paulo Freire, Luis Moll and Norma Gonzalez, and Ladson-Billings, Abu El-Haj and Rubin present a well-rounded and in-depth critique of the idealistic approach to detracking and inclusion in schools. Their discussion explains that the capacity-oriented framework emphasizes three crucial elements that will prepare pre-service teachers for equity in classrooms: tools for observing learners in noncategorical, nonevaluative ways; critical inquiry into standards; and opportunities to develop curriculum and pedagogies that interrogate structural inequalities. They provide explicit examples of each element in practice and encourage educators to become actively and critically involved in individual and school-wide educational practices today. As teachers utilize the analytical tools described in this article, Abu El-Haj and Rubin believe that detracked and inclusion classrooms will better support students of all ability levels. The critical perspective approach toward student ability, content standards, and the relationship between schooling and structural inequalities will guard teachers against the assumptions, ambiguities, and frustrations that arise in heterogeneous classrooms of underprepared teachers.
This article grabs my attention because it not only takes a critical view of the proposed detracked and inclusion practices in schools, but it also offers an approachable model for teachers, administrators, and policymakers to use that might better promote inclusion for all ability levels. As a pre-service teacher, I plan to go into my practice with the necessary tools that will prevent me from falling subject to idealistic reform practices and policies that might fall short in schools in practice.
2) Kohli, R. (2012). Racial Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Critical Interracial Dialogue for Teachers of Color, Equity & Excellence in Education, 45(1), 181-196. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.644187
Rita Kohli, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Urban Education and Pre-teaching pathway of the Liberal Studies Program at Santa Clara University, examines equity issues such as racial oppression in K-12 schools. She claims that racial minority teachers have the power to transform classrooms and schools. However, not all minority teachers are prepared to serve multicultural classrooms and promote racial justice. Under the umbrella of Paulo Freire’s critical consciousness research among oppressed people and a critical race theory approach, Dr. Kohli conducts a cross-racial discussion concerning, names and ethnic pride, accents, and knowledge of self between 12 African American, Latina, and Asian American women enrolled in a teacher education program. She argues that such discussions across cultural and racial boundaries give teachers the power to broaden their multicultural understanding of racial oppression while building solidarity and unity among diverse students in urban classrooms.
Kohli’s article provides a microscopic study of the critical perspective approach for teachers discussed in the article above. Her research supports Thea Abu El-Haj’s and Beth C. Rubin’s capacity-oriented framework for equity in classrooms because she explores the opportunities that arise once teachers reflect on their own cultural and racial experiences through cross-racial dialogue with their peers. While the previous article explains such a reflection as an important tool for teachers of detracked and inclusion settings, Dr. Kohli’s study extends this notion, showing that multi-racial teacher support groups in schools will inspire racial and cultural appreciation among students in classrooms.
This article is limited in that it only focuses on one group of minority teachers, all of which are women. Dr. Kohli is also a minority woman and singularly conducts this study, effecting her positionality of the research which she explains in her article. However, as an African American pre-service teacher myself, I can directly relate to the discussions presented by the women in this study. I believe that articles such as this one encourage teacher communities to truly reflect on the relationship between the social climate of teachers in relation to the social-cultural climate of students in any given school. When multi-racial discussions and support groups develop between staff and administration, school-wide cultural climate will improve as well.
Kohli’s article provides a microscopic study of the critical perspective approach for teachers discussed in the article above. Her research supports Thea Abu El-Haj’s and Beth C. Rubin’s capacity-oriented framework for equity in classrooms because she explores the opportunities that arise once teachers reflect on their own cultural and racial experiences through cross-racial dialogue with their peers. While the previous article explains such a reflection as an important tool for teachers of detracked and inclusion settings, Dr. Kohli’s study extends this notion, showing that multi-racial teacher support groups in schools will inspire racial and cultural appreciation among students in classrooms.
This article is limited in that it only focuses on one group of minority teachers, all of which are women. Dr. Kohli is also a minority woman and singularly conducts this study, effecting her positionality of the research which she explains in her article. However, as an African American pre-service teacher myself, I can directly relate to the discussions presented by the women in this study. I believe that articles such as this one encourage teacher communities to truly reflect on the relationship between the social climate of teachers in relation to the social-cultural climate of students in any given school. When multi-racial discussions and support groups develop between staff and administration, school-wide cultural climate will improve as well.
Social Curriculum: Exclusion
3) Anderson, C. B., & Metzger, S. A. (2011). Slavery, the civil war era, and african american representation in U.S. history: An analysis of four states' academic standards. Theory and Research in Social Education, 39(3), 393-415. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/964169657?accountid=14524
Scholars Carl B. Anderson and Scott Alan Metzger write this article for a specific audience and for a specific purpose. As curriculum researchers and policymakers prepare for the implementation of Common Core Standards, this study presents an urgency to pay particular attention to historical curriculum, historical thinking, and racial representations in relation to curriculum content. In their mixed-methods text analysis of African American representation within K-12 U.S. history content, they focus on state approaches to content standards of the revolutionary era, the early U.S. republic, the Civil War era, and Reconstruction. By investigating how states such as Michigan, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Virginia integrate controversial or contested elements of race relations in America into historical narratives, the authors demonstrate how content standards can actually limit and exclude minority groups from conceptualizing their identities through the context of US history.
This article captured my attention because it has been a personal concern to me ever since I entered college. While studying history at the university, professors took a critical approach to our nation's historical framework and encouraged undergraduates to do the same. I remember feeling left out in my primary and secondary school discussions, but not really understanding why. After all, we did talk about African American history. Anderson and Metzger claim that talking about our nation's history is not enough. They explain that scholarly literature on U.S. History curricula must take a multi-perspective critical conceptual framework to interrogate, challenge, problematize, and disrupt simplistic racial representations in U.S. History. In their specific accounts of the four states' approach to standards that treated the historical experiences of African Americans during the revolutionary era, the early U.S. republic, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction, Anderson and Metzger find that the inclusion of such topics is often superficial, tends to trivialize the systemic institutional contexts of slavery and racial hierarchy, and do not engage students in critical and higher order thinking skills. This is problematic because a singular narrative, rather than a multiple-perspective account is presented of the nation's development. The authors use this article to convince scholars, teachers, and policymakers of the necessity to ask critical questions about issues of social identity in relation to curricula. They believe that this approach will allow for students to value and search for multiple interpretations of historical events, to become active thinkers, and to become effective members of society.
I think this research is valuable because it explains the continued forms of institutionalized racism and discrimination that take place today. Without taking an analytical viewpoint of the information presented in our US history books and resources, and asking critical questions about this information, students and teachers will have trouble making sense of the rooted hierarchical systems that currently run our society. I believe it is important for teachers to find a middle ground for when discussing history topics with students. It is important for students to take pride in their histories, but to also be aware of how information is presented, the intended audience such information is for, and to learn to be cautious of taking information for face-value.
This article captured my attention because it has been a personal concern to me ever since I entered college. While studying history at the university, professors took a critical approach to our nation's historical framework and encouraged undergraduates to do the same. I remember feeling left out in my primary and secondary school discussions, but not really understanding why. After all, we did talk about African American history. Anderson and Metzger claim that talking about our nation's history is not enough. They explain that scholarly literature on U.S. History curricula must take a multi-perspective critical conceptual framework to interrogate, challenge, problematize, and disrupt simplistic racial representations in U.S. History. In their specific accounts of the four states' approach to standards that treated the historical experiences of African Americans during the revolutionary era, the early U.S. republic, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction, Anderson and Metzger find that the inclusion of such topics is often superficial, tends to trivialize the systemic institutional contexts of slavery and racial hierarchy, and do not engage students in critical and higher order thinking skills. This is problematic because a singular narrative, rather than a multiple-perspective account is presented of the nation's development. The authors use this article to convince scholars, teachers, and policymakers of the necessity to ask critical questions about issues of social identity in relation to curricula. They believe that this approach will allow for students to value and search for multiple interpretations of historical events, to become active thinkers, and to become effective members of society.
I think this research is valuable because it explains the continued forms of institutionalized racism and discrimination that take place today. Without taking an analytical viewpoint of the information presented in our US history books and resources, and asking critical questions about this information, students and teachers will have trouble making sense of the rooted hierarchical systems that currently run our society. I believe it is important for teachers to find a middle ground for when discussing history topics with students. It is important for students to take pride in their histories, but to also be aware of how information is presented, the intended audience such information is for, and to learn to be cautious of taking information for face-value.
4) Kiang, P. N. (2004). Linking strategies and interventions in asian american studies to K-12 classrooms and teacher preparation. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 17(2), 199-225. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/62117370?accountid=14524
In this article, Peter Nien-chu Kiang, examines four critical challenges facing practitioners in Asian American Studies education. Speaking directly to, but not limited to this specific audience, Kiang explains that Asian American Studies programs must take an active approach to Asian American awareness in K-12 education. Kiang acknowledges the current struggles relating to the pressing need for Asian American curriculum in schools including the complex demographic realities of Asian American populations; the exclusion of Asian American Studies content in K-12 curriculum; the limited flow of Asian Americans into the field of education; and the impact of high-stakes testing across all areas. While Kiang focuses on strategies developed within an Asian American Studies Program at a specific public university, the strategies positively impacted K-12 students and teachers especially Asian American students in Massachusetts. The impacts were as a result of 6 interventions including curriculum resource development in which a curriculum resource guide was created for teachers, teacher professional development seminars, classroom research and advocacy for the demographic realities of the diverse Asian population represented in the area, the assessment of long-term effects of Asian American Studies on teachers, advocacy capacity-building for Asian American parents and families, and Asian American youth development.
This article is important to my educational pursuits because of the growing Asian American and immigrant population of San Diego county. Although this article focuses on one university's attempts to bring Asian American education to neighboring K-12 schools, I believe that the overall message is extremely important for pre-service and in-service teachers to understand. Teachers must be culturally aware and culturally sensitive of the students represented in their classrooms as well as the demographic make-up of the school's community. Teachers that have little understanding of the historical backgrounds and cultural frameworks of their students will have difficulty promoting inclusion for students of color in their classrooms. Specifically for Asian Americans, where there is an extreme lack of Asian American history provided in K-12 text books, Kiang's purpose for this article is extremely relevant and necessary for teachers, educational reformers, and policymakers.
This article is important to my educational pursuits because of the growing Asian American and immigrant population of San Diego county. Although this article focuses on one university's attempts to bring Asian American education to neighboring K-12 schools, I believe that the overall message is extremely important for pre-service and in-service teachers to understand. Teachers must be culturally aware and culturally sensitive of the students represented in their classrooms as well as the demographic make-up of the school's community. Teachers that have little understanding of the historical backgrounds and cultural frameworks of their students will have difficulty promoting inclusion for students of color in their classrooms. Specifically for Asian Americans, where there is an extreme lack of Asian American history provided in K-12 text books, Kiang's purpose for this article is extremely relevant and necessary for teachers, educational reformers, and policymakers.
5) Slobodzian, J. (2009). The devil is in the details: issues of exclusion in an inclusive educational environment, Ethnography and Education, 4(2), 181-195. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17457820902972804
This article reveals the ways in which equality and inclusion promoting schools often limit student voice, excluding and marginalizing deaf students. Jean Theodora Slobodzian conducts a year-long-ethnographic study of the experiences of 20 non-deaf and two deaf fifth-grade students, a general-education and a Resource Room teacher, and support personnel, finding that the school’s passive approach toward the deaf population resulted in unintentional discrimination of the minority students.
Although this article focuses on one school and a specific group of individuals within that school, Slobodzian effectively highlights common concerns that must be addressed when thinking about social curriculum for diverse students. The study gives detailed accounts of three key areas that contributed to exclusion: administrative disconnect, cross-cultural communication issues, the lack of social adaptations and accommodations for deaf students, and pedagogical issues involving lack of resources and professional development for staff and administration.
This article is important to me because it shows how easily schools and administrators can take a passive approach when providing support for minority and disabled populations. It is not enough for schools to simply implement a program that claims to address the needs of its students. This article serves to shed light on the questions and reflections that must constantly be examined to insure that students are receiving an equitable educational experience. This includes teacher and staff professional development seminars, transportation services for disabled services for before and after school programs, and clubs that help to bring students and parents of different communities together as a school community. This article reveals the necessity of teachers to have a critical eye of the justices and possible injustices that take place in school settings, regardless of the reforms they claim to promote.
Although this article focuses on one school and a specific group of individuals within that school, Slobodzian effectively highlights common concerns that must be addressed when thinking about social curriculum for diverse students. The study gives detailed accounts of three key areas that contributed to exclusion: administrative disconnect, cross-cultural communication issues, the lack of social adaptations and accommodations for deaf students, and pedagogical issues involving lack of resources and professional development for staff and administration.
This article is important to me because it shows how easily schools and administrators can take a passive approach when providing support for minority and disabled populations. It is not enough for schools to simply implement a program that claims to address the needs of its students. This article serves to shed light on the questions and reflections that must constantly be examined to insure that students are receiving an equitable educational experience. This includes teacher and staff professional development seminars, transportation services for disabled services for before and after school programs, and clubs that help to bring students and parents of different communities together as a school community. This article reveals the necessity of teachers to have a critical eye of the justices and possible injustices that take place in school settings, regardless of the reforms they claim to promote.
Pedagogical Resources
6) Charney, R.S. (2002). Teaching children to care: Classroom management for ethical and academic growth, K-8. Greenfield, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children.
This resource has already been of extreme use to me in my educational pursuits. In Teaching children to care, Ruth Charney proves that a democratic classroom and community can exist between children, parents, and teachers. She includes specific examples of her own teaching experiences, a play by play explanation of tips for the case that classroom scenarios do not go as planned, and a proper layout of how teachers should think about the common issues in their classrooms. Rather than allowing oneself to become frustrated, she encourages teachers to critically analyze the situations that arise in the classroom and to remember that students must be taught proper classroom behavior. One of my favorite messages from Charney (2002) in this book was when she explained that she does not begin to teach academic curriculum, until her students have truly had the opportunity to learn and practice her expectations of them. Knowing that it will take at least six weeks to accomplish, she challenges teachers to not lose their temper or give up on their students but to continue expecting the best from their students.
This resource will be a long-lasting resource for my educational career. I plan to keep Ruth Charney by my side and turn to her book whenever classroom management issues arise. Her writing style is more of an informal narrative that effectively incorporates her own teaching disasters with the disasters and successes of fellow teachers and educators. Writing in this manner, Ruth Charney makes her own thinking and learning transparent for her audience.
This resource will be a long-lasting resource for my educational career. I plan to keep Ruth Charney by my side and turn to her book whenever classroom management issues arise. Her writing style is more of an informal narrative that effectively incorporates her own teaching disasters with the disasters and successes of fellow teachers and educators. Writing in this manner, Ruth Charney makes her own thinking and learning transparent for her audience.
7) Education Oasis. (2011). Retrieved September 14, 2012, from http://www.educationoasis.com
This independent site was created in 2003 by M.A., K.J. Wagner. Along with fellow educators and parents, this website serves to inspire teachers and provide educational information that reflects he idea that every child has the potential to learn. I was attracted to this website because of the several resources provided for teachers and the attention it gives to social curriculum. In an article titled CHOICES Character Education, Kathy B. (2011) describes a great model for encouraging primary students the value of making positive choices. She includes an action specific social curriculum model that runs over the course of the school year and a detailed kid-friendly book list for teachers to use to help children understand choices, honesty, organization, integrity, caring, effort, and self-control.
I plan to use this as a pedagogical resource because it provides worksheets and flexible lesson plans for teachers in all content areas and it also considers the needs of my future students, including graphic organizers, homework checklists, educational activities and games, and a children book and video review list of both fiction and nonfiction resources. This website is truly an oasis for students, teachers, and parents.
I plan to use this as a pedagogical resource because it provides worksheets and flexible lesson plans for teachers in all content areas and it also considers the needs of my future students, including graphic organizers, homework checklists, educational activities and games, and a children book and video review list of both fiction and nonfiction resources. This website is truly an oasis for students, teachers, and parents.
8) Noren, L. (2012, September 2). My life as a third grade teacher [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://msnoren.blogspot.com/
Lindsay Noren's blog reminds me of a teacher's personal diary. On it she posts classroom ideas and pictures of student posters, daily hopes and expectations as well as the realities of those expectations actually taking place, and her concerns about the academic progress of her students. She also includes resources that has helped her such as useful websites for teachers, book resources, and ideas from her fellow bloggers and colleagues.
Something that professors have constantly recommended when going into teaching is to form teacher support groups with one another. Having access to other teachers' experiences, hardships, and successes will help novice teachers remember that they are not alone. I enjoy her blog and hope to keep it as a pedagogical resource because it gives me someone to relate to and learn from as I embark on my teaching career. Her blog also includes several other teaching blogs that also go into detail about the daily life of a teacher.
Something that professors have constantly recommended when going into teaching is to form teacher support groups with one another. Having access to other teachers' experiences, hardships, and successes will help novice teachers remember that they are not alone. I enjoy her blog and hope to keep it as a pedagogical resource because it gives me someone to relate to and learn from as I embark on my teaching career. Her blog also includes several other teaching blogs that also go into detail about the daily life of a teacher.
9) Responsive Classroom (2012). Retrieved from www.responsiveclassroom.org
The Responsive Classroom approach believes that children learn best when both academic and social-emotional skills are valued. The great aspect of the Responsive Classroom model is that it was developed by the collaboration and research of teachers, educators and theorists. The unique practices can be implemented in classrooms without the need of extra funding, or specific conditions beforehand. The flexible model includes conducting morning meeting, classroom rule creation, interactive modeling, positive teacher language, logical consequences, guided discovery, academic choice, classroom organization, collaborative problem solving, and working with families.
What I like most about this organization is that great classroom ideas are always provided. In an article by Margaret Berry Wilson (2012) titled Classroom Display Ideas, she explains that students should be given the opportunity to take ownership of their classroom. In decorating their classrooms, teachers can allow space for students to showcase their work and update it frequently throughout the school year. Another idea she mentions is to let students create the borders for bulletin boards rather than buying commercial ones. This activity promotes classroom community, the practice of social skills such as sharing, and working together in groups. Finally, her third suggestion allows students to create a place to remember people, animals, or things that have to leave the class. I think this is a great way for building student identity, cultural awareness and value, further implementing a strong classroom community between students and teachers.
What I like most about this organization is that great classroom ideas are always provided. In an article by Margaret Berry Wilson (2012) titled Classroom Display Ideas, she explains that students should be given the opportunity to take ownership of their classroom. In decorating their classrooms, teachers can allow space for students to showcase their work and update it frequently throughout the school year. Another idea she mentions is to let students create the borders for bulletin boards rather than buying commercial ones. This activity promotes classroom community, the practice of social skills such as sharing, and working together in groups. Finally, her third suggestion allows students to create a place to remember people, animals, or things that have to leave the class. I think this is a great way for building student identity, cultural awareness and value, further implementing a strong classroom community between students and teachers.