Rethinking Our Classroom : Teaching for Equity and Justice

by Bigelow, Bill

• ISBN13: 9780942961188
• ISBN10: 0942961188
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-08-01
• Publisher: Rethinking Schools Ltd

Summary

Rethinking Our Classrooms includes creative teaching ideas, compelling narratives, and hands-on examples of ways teachers can promote values of community, justice, and equality -- and build academic skills. Nowhere is the connection between critical teaching and effective classroom practice made clearer or more accessible. A practical guide for teachers K-12, this is a resource book that will be useful for years to come. Widely used in teacher education programs and for staff development.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	4	(4)
Creating Classrooms for Equity and Social Justice	4	(2)
Bill Bigelow
Linda Christensen
Stan Karp
Barbara Miner
Bob Peterson
"Lions"	6	(2)
Langston Hughes
POINTS OF DEPARTURE Points of Departure includes a number of readings that exemplify the teaching principles we outline in the Introduction.	8	(16)
Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us	8	(3)
Linda Christensen
Rethinking "The Three Little Pigs"	11	(3)
Ellen Wolpert
10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books	14	(2)
The Council on Interracial Books for Children
Celebrating the Joy in Daily Events	16	(1)
Linda Christensen
"Ode to My Socks"	17	(2)
Pablo Neruda
Taking Multicultural, Anti-racist Education Seriously an interview with Enid Lee	19	(5)
RETHINKING MY CLASSROOM Rethinking My Classroom includes our "core" articles. At various grade levels and disciplines, five teachers offer concrete examples of how a social justice curriculum transformed their classroom practice.	24	(44)
Race and Respect Among Young Children	24	(5)
Rita Tenorio
"My Hair is Long"	29	(1)
Loyen Redhawk Gali
Teaching for Social Justice: One Teacher's Journey	30	(4)
Bob Peterson
The Challenge of Classroom Discipline	34	(4)
Bob Peterson
Songs that Promote Justice	38	(1)
Bob Peterson
"Ballad of the Landlord"	39	(1)
Langston Hughes
The Complexities of Encouraging Social Action	40	(2)
Bob Peterson
"Honeybees"	42	(2)
Paul Fleischman
Tapping Into Feelings of Fairness	44	(5)
Karen Miller
"Love's Gonna Get Us"	49	(1)
Damon Turner
Building Community from Chaos	50	(6)
Linda Christensen
Discipline: No Quick Fix	56	(2)
Linda Christensen
Getting Off the Track	58	(8)
Bill Bigelow
"What the mirror said"	66	(2)
Lucille Clifton
TEACHING IDEAS How do we prompt students to watch TV critically? How can we use math to unmask social inequities? Teaching Ideas provides a variety of classroom-tested activities that illustrate themes woven throughout the book.	68	(58)
Using Pictures to Combat Bias	68	(2)
Ellen Wolpert
My Mom's Job Is Important	70	(3)
Matt Witt
"My Father Was A Musician"	73	(1)
Dyan Watson
There's More to Heroes Than He-Man	74	(1)
Marcie Osinsky
Black Lies/White Lies	75	(1)
Nancy Schniedewind
Ellen Davidson
Bringing the World into the Math Class	76	(3)
Claudia Zaslavsky
"Dream Voyage to the Center of the Subway"	79	(1)
Eve Merriam
Coping With TV	80	(2)
Bob Peterson
Talking Back to TV Commercials	82	(1)
Looking Pretty, Waiting for the Prince	83	(1)
Lila Johnson
Math and Media: Bias Busters	84	(2)
Bob Peterson
What Do We Say When We Hear `Faggot'?	86	(2)
Lenore Gordon
The Organic Goodie Simulation	88	(3)
Bill Bigelow
Norm Diamond
"Questions from a Worker Who Reads"	91	(1)
Bertolt Brecht
World Poverty and World Resources	92	(2)
Susan Hersh
Bob Peterson
Math, Equity, and Economics	94	(2)
Taking the Offensive Against Offensive Toys	96	(1)
Lenore Gordon
"Forgiving My Father"	97	(1)
Justin Morris
The Day Sondra took Over	98	(4)
Cynthia M. Ellwood
"Little Things Are Big"	102	(1)
Jesus Colon
What Can Teachers Do About Sexual Harassment?	103	(3)
Ellen Bravo
Larry Miller
Flirting vs. Sexual Harassment: Teaching the Difference	106	(2)
Nan Stein
Lisa Sjostrom
"Rayford's Song"	108	(1)
Lawson Inada
Celebrating the Student's Voice	109	(1)
Linda Christensen
Promoting Social Imagination	110	(2)
Bill Bigelow
Linda Christensen
"Two Women"	112	(2)
Anonymous
Role Plays: Show, Don't Tell	114	(3)
Bill Bigelow
Testing, Tracking, and Toeing the Line: A role play on the origins of the modern high school	117	(9)
Bill Bigelow
RETHINKING OUR ASSUMPTIONS The articles in Rethinking Our Assumptions are filled with insights from teachers, scholars, and researchers on issues ranging from cultural differences between students and teachers to biases in children's literature.	126	(36)
Expectations and `At-Risk' Children	126	(1)
L.C. Clark
Teachers and Cultural Styles	127	(2)
Asa G. Hilliard III
The Pigs: When Tracking Takes Its Toll	129	(1)
Molly Schwabe
Seeing Color: A Review of White Teacher	130	(3)
Lisa Delpit
"Face the Facts: We're Not That Bad"	133	(1)
Felicitas Villanueva
I Won't Learn From You!	134	(2)
Herbert Kohl
"Rebellion Against the North Side"	136	(1)
Naomi Shihab Nye
The Politics of Children's Literature	137	(4)
Herbert Kohl
"The Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr."	141	(1)
Nikki Giovanni
Whose Standard? Teaching Standard English	142	(4)
Linda Christensen
Thoughts on Teaching Native American Literature	146	(4)
Joseph Bruchac
Why Students Should Study History an interview with Howard Zinn	150	(7)
"In Memory of Crossing the Columbia"	157	(1)
Elizabeth Woody
Students as Textbook Detectives	158	(2)
Bill Bigelow
Bob Peterson
"To the Young Who Want to Die"	160	(2)
Gwendolyn Brooks
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM Beyond the Classroom connects innovations in classroom practice with strategies for broader change, drawing on examples from around the country to identify possibilities and dangers.	162	(22)
Why We Need to Go Beyond the Classroom	162	(5)
Stan Karp
"Gurl"	167	(1)
Mary Blalock
Forging Curriculum Reform Throughout a District	168	(3)
David Levine
Why Standardized Tests Are Bad	171	(5)
Terry Meier
Detracking Montclair High	176	(2)
Stan Karp
Tracking: Why Schools Need To Take Another Route	178	(4)
Jeannie Oakes
"Lineage"	182	(2)
Margaret Walker
TEACHING GUIDE/RESOURCES The Teaching Guide/Resources section includes curricula, books, videos, journals, and organizations that have been useful in constructing classrooms for social justice. Here, we also offer teaching ideas for using the Poetry included in this volume.	184
Poetry Teaching Guide	184	(3)
Videos with a Conscience	187	(4)
Bill Bigelow
Linda Christensen
Books to Empower Young People	191	(5)
Other Resources	196