EDU 1143

How schools acknowledge racial and ethnic identities will affect all students' educational experiences.

This resource gives you access to Chapter 1. Definitions of Multicultural Education from Reissman's (1994) book titled "Evolving Multicultural Classroom".

As state-defined standards of learning and standardized tests become more and more closely identified as measures of achievement, not only for students, but also for teachers, administrators, schools and school districts, teachers are feeling less empowered to employ creative means for make their curricula more inclusive and accessible to all students. Even as the Internet and other new educational media broaden classroom access to a virtually endless stream of new resources, perspectives, and interactive capabilities, most curricula are necessarily built around textbooks and standardized tests. These and other contextual factors highlight some of the formidable challenges to any process of curriculum transformation. An additional set of challenges emerges when one attempts to develop a process for curriculum transformation within a multicultural education paradigm. One such challenge is a set of critiques regarding multicultural education, usually coming from educational conservatives. (These critiques and responses to them are listed here.) A second challenge is a lack of training or preparation on the part of teachers for developing inclusive multicultural curricula, and a lack of training or preparation on the part of administrators to support teachers in such efforts. This section of the Multicultural Pavilion will serve as a starting point for teachers who, despite these challenges, are determined to create a more inclusive, multicultural curriculum for their students.

This resource provides a brief overview of the four approaches to multicultural curriculum reform (Banks, 1999).

Just as there are several conceptualizations for multicultural education (see Defining Multicultural Education), there are several perceptions as to what constitutes multicultural curriculum transformation. Approaches for multicultural curriculum transformation range from slight curricular changes to a fully-revised social awareness and action conceptualizations. James Banks (1993), Peggy McIntosh (2000) and others have formulated continuums for curricular reform that help move transformation efforts from the former toward the latter. The following stages of curriculum transformation have been adapted from several existing models including those by Banks (1993) and McIntosh (2000).

GLSEN has launched the Safe Space Campaign to place a Safe Space Kit resource in every middle and high school in the country. Send a Safe Space Kit to your former school or a school you care about to join our effort to provide educators with the tools they need to make classrooms safer for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth. Help put a Safe Space Kit in every school!

"Gay-Straight Alliance Network empowers youth activists to fight homophobia and transphobia in schools through Gay-Straight Alliance clubs. "

This resource contains a comprehensive list of myths and assumptions about LGB people, including the definitions of related terms.

"This toolkit is designed to help decision-makers, advocates, and elected officials get better results in their work by providing equitable opportunities for all. The toolkit presents a specific point of view on addressing unequal opportunities by race and offers simple, results-oriented steps to help you achieve your goals."

MATTERS OF RACE is a four-part documentary series that explores race, culture, and identity in the United States today. Each of the 60-minute programs focuses on a single story or set of stories that reveals how "matters of race" continue to shape and misshape American life. Each program challenges conventional thinking about difference. Each also raises important questions: ■ What is race? How does it shape identity and inform relationships between self and other? ■ How does notions of race shape a community? A nation? ■ What is the relationship between race and culture? ■ What is the relationship between race and power? ■ How are long-held notions of difference based on race changing today? How are those changes redefining what it means to be an American? ■ What meaning, if any, will race have for future generations?

"When teachers say they are color blind, they are usually saying that they do not discriminate and that they treat all their students equally. Of course, being fair and treating each student with respect are essential to effective teaching. However, race and ethnicity often play important roles in children's identities and contribute to their culture, their behavior, and their beliefs. When race and ethnicity are ignored, teachers miss opportunities to help students connect with what is being taught. Recognizing that a student's race and ethnicity influences their learning allows teachers to be responsive to individual differences. In some cases, ignoring a student's race and ethnicity may undermine a teacher's ability to understand student behavior and student confidence in doing well in a school culture where expectations and communication are unfamiliar. An individual's race and ethnicity are central to her or his sense of self but they are not the whole of personal identity. Moreover, how important an individual's race and ethnicity is to her or his identity will vary and teachers need to take that into account as they seek to learn more about their students."

"In a March 14, 2005, Op-Ed piece published in The New York Times, Dr. Armand Marie Leroi, an evolutionary developmental biologist at Imperial College in London, challenged scholarly approaches that treat race as a social construction, arguing that recent research in the biological and the social sciences offers fresh evidence that racial differences are genetically identifiable. His editorial, "A Family Tree in Every Gene," expresses a more widespread tendency among certain communities of researchers to revise longstanding scientific understandings about the relationship between race and genetics. The SSRC believes the subject of race and genomics warrants critical reflection and debate among researchers and the broader public, given its important implications across an array of disciplines in the biological and social sciences, its potential impact on a number of policy domains, as well as broader consequences for society at large. In an effort to contribute to this discussion, we have commissioned a series of short essays by leading researchers with a diverse set of disciplinary and analytic perspectives. We hope this forum will serve as a tool for scholars, educators, policy makers and students, and promote informed debate on what is no doubt one of the most important public issues of our time."

We expect people to look different. And why not? Like a fingerprint, each person is unique. Every person represents a one-of-a-kind, combination of their parents', grandparents' and family's ancestry. And every person experiences life somewhat differently than others. Differences… they're a cause for joy and sorrow. We celebrate differences in personal identity, family background, country and language. At the same time, differences among people have been the basis for discrimination and oppression. Yet, are we so different? Current science tells us we share a common ancestry and the differences among people we see are natural variations, results of migration, marriage and adaptation to different environments. How does this fit with the idea of race? Looking through the eyes of history, science and lived experience, the RACE Project explains differences among people and reveals the reality - and unreality - of race. The story of race is complex and may challenge how we think about race and human variation, about the differences and similarities among people.

The Safe Schools Coalition is an international public-private partnership in support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, that is working to help schools - at home and all over the world - become safe places where every family can belong, where every educator can teach, and where every child can learn, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

"The psychological, social, and emotional needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth often go unmet in schools. These students may be "out and proud" or they may be silent and invisible; either way, providing effective services to them creates unique challenges for professional school counselors. Providing direct services in schools may be difficult; therefore, indirect methods may create a more hospitable environment for LGBTQ youth. It is the purpose of this article to offer a better understanding of the complexities that sexual minority youth deal with in schools and to offer school counselors and others working in the school environment creative ways to work with LGBTQ students."

Reteaching Gender & Sexuality presents fresh perspectives on gender and sexual diversity. We produce media and other educational resources about the shifting dynamics of gender and sexuality among young people. We use these as tools to facilitate dialogue in communities and among students and practitioners in youth-serving professions. It's a creative and pragmatic approach with a cross-sector impact.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens experience homophobic remarks and harassment throughout the school day, creating an atmosphere where they feel disrespected, unwanted and unsafe. Homophobic remarks such as "that's so gay" are the most commonly heard; these slurs are often unintentional and a common part of teens' vernacular. Most do not recognize the consequences, but the casual use of this language often carries over into more overt harassment. This campaign aims to raise awareness about the prevalence and consequences of anti-LGBT bias and behavior in America's schools. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce and prevent the use of homophobic language in an effort to create a more positive environment for LGBT teens. The campaign also aims to reach adults, including school personnel and parents; their support of this message is crucial to the success of efforts to change behavior.

Bullied is a documentary film that chronicles one student's ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies and offers an inspiring message of hope to those fighting harassment today. It can become a cornerstone of anti-bullying efforts in middle and high schools.

"Schools that experience rapid demographic shifts can meet the challenge by implementing five phases of professional development."

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Established in 1990, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. GLSEN seeks to develop school climates where difference is valued for the positive contribution it makes to creating a more vibrant and diverse community.