Addresses the dearth of literature about preparing teachers to teach African American students, the attempts by scholars to fill this void, and the need for ongoing research in this area, highlighting: the uniqueness of the African American cultural experience; strategies for improving teacher preparation (e.g., autobiography, restructured field…

In a foundations-of-education course based on experiential learning, 120 college students formed partnerships with elementary school children and, using letters and interviews, asked them about teaching and learning. It was found that the students clarified their educational philosophies, enhanced communication skills, and overcame preconceptions…

This article describes a research and teaching project that was designed and implemented to investigate the promise of the integration of family diversity issues into a preservice teacher multicultural education curriculum. Participants were preservice teachers (predominantly White, European-American) within the teacher education program of a…

The racial interactions between teachers and students can influence student performance in several ways. For example, pupils may trust and respect someone with whom they share a salient characteristic, making learning come more easily. Likewise, a teacher of the same race may serve as a more effective role model, boosting students' confidence and…

The present study examined the influence of professor and student characteristics on students' preconceptions of college professors. Course syllabi for a politically charged social science course were constructed with versions varying by teaching style, professor gender, and professor ethnicity. A total of 633 (44% Latino; 34% African American;…

Drawing on published feminist literature, this essay deconstructs developmentalism as a metanarrative that contributes to the oppression and exploitation of women and underpins educational practice. First, I examine feminist critiques of developmentalism, distinguishing between "insider critiques" formulated by feminist psychologists evaluating…

Eighty-one female and sixty-seven male undergraduates at a Malaysian university, from seven faculties and a Center for Language Studies completed a Computer Self-Efficacy Scale, Computer Anxiety Scale, and an Attitudes toward the Internet Scale and give information about their use of the Internet. This survey research investigated undergraduates'…

Bias and discrimination based on the differences of others is a serious contemporary problem. Biased beliefs often lead to harmful discriminatory action and inhibit emotional and cognitive development. Such beliefs also serve as perceptual screens that constrict imagination, limit experience, and diminish the possibilities of constructing useful…

Teachers and teacher educators are faced with an urgent responsibility to support the learning of an increasingly diverse population of young children. Based on the sociocultural perspective of reading, a literature-based approach is outlined for early reading teachers. The implications of this approach to teacher education programs are further…

This qualitative investigation studies the impact of belonging to a high school Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA or Alliance) on the lives of seven students. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted over a two-year time period. The author used voices of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and straight students to relate the experiences unique to each…

Every two years the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) administers the DoDEA Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS) to all parents with children attending DoDEA schools and all 4th-12th grade students enrolled in a DoDEA school. Parents were asked to complete one survey for each school in which they had a child enrolled. The purpose of…

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Customer Satisfaction Survey is a biennial survey administered by DoDEA to parents and students to monitor DoDEA's success in meeting students' needs. The survey is administered every other year to sponsors with children in pre-kindergarten-12th grade and to students in grades 4-12. For the…

This document contains 5 invited papers, 11 refereed papers, and 3 symposium papers from an adult and continuing education research conference. The invited papers are: "Community and Adult Education: A Conceptual Framework for Theory and Practice" (Gary J. Dean); "Understanding the Control of Learning within Grassroots Initiatives" (Joyce S.…

This essay proposes instances of how Anglophone popular culture can offer a place for nurturing critical encounters in the context of learning English. It delineates the theoretical bases that reveal popular culture as a fundamental indicator of society and, using Anglophone movies and stories, analyzes the pedagogical possibilities for…

This reports offers a synthesis of the current knowledge and theoretical positions concerning the disproportionate representation of minorities in special education. It is divided into five broad sections: (1) an introduction which clarifies the terminology and purpose of the report; (2) an overview of the position of minority students in the…