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Cultural Background

• 16 Extraordinary Asian Americans. Student Book
  Asian Americans have made many contributions to American life. The 1990 U.S.
• A Cultural Mosaic
  The diversity program initiated in a Philadelphia high school is based on the following principles: teachers should educate themselves about diversity, spread and reinforce the word, think outside the box, lead by example, and use multiple strategies to prepare students to succeed in a multicultural world. (JOW).
• A Study of the Mismatch Between Native Students' Counseling Needs and Available Services
  Examined the counseling needs of First Nations youth (n=54), living in five major First Nations communities of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Identified five types of needs based on survey and interview data.
• Contemporary American Success Stories: Famous People of Hispanic Heritage. Volume I. A Mitchell Lane Multicultural Biography Series
  This series presents biographical sketches of famous Americans of Hispanic descent. The biographies in the projected eight volume series for elementary school children represent the diversity of Hispanic heritage in the United States.
• Designing for diversity in school success: Capitalizing on culture
  This paper notes the potential of capitalizing on cultural traits to improve the learning of diverse students. It outlines strengths that culturally diverse populations possess that could enhance their success in the learning environment and offers recommendations to assist in helping educators to implement changes to accommodate learners' needs.
• Disabled Learners in South Asia: Lessons from the Past for Educational Exporters
  This paper examines the cultural traditions of South Asia, especially India and Pakistan, regarding the education of children with special needs. This valuable cultural heritage has been largely ignored in the inflow of western educational ideas and the professionalization of special education, especially in the late 19th century.
• Effects of a Hmong Intern on Hmong Students
  A program on Hmong culture, language, and history was implemented in a diverse, urban, public elementary school. Observations of two Hmong students while in the Hmong program and in their regular classroom were compared.
• Exploring Culture through Children's Connections
  Shares one teacher's attempts to highlight diversity and children's cultures in authentic ways. Examines three children's connections to culture and their own cultural identities by looking at issues they explored across the school year (family, family and religion, and ethnicity).
• Finding Yourself in Reading and Writing: Cultural Inclusion in the Classroom
  Proposes that to enable students to move along the literacy continuum, the pre-service teacher must become mindful of the multiple cultures and perspectives shaping the classroom. Discusses how a group of university students examined texts of the past and present and then worked to develop a critical awareness of teaching approaches and literacy practices congruent with a culturally inclusive classroom.
• Information-Seeking Behavior of Multicultural Students: A Case Study at San Jose State University
  Discusses the growing diversity of college students; considers how academic libraries can meet their needs; and describes a study conducted at San Jose State University. This study investigated how students from diverse ethnic groups discover, select, and use information and the impact their cultural and educational backgrounds have on information-seeking behavior.
• Mexican-American Preservice Teachers and the Intransigency of the Elementary School Curriculum
  Investigated how Mexican-American student teachers expressed their cultural knowledge in lesson planning and implementation. Semistructured interviews with Mexican-American student teachers working in elementary Professional Development Schools revealed little ethnic expression, even when teaching Mexican-American children.
• Multiethnic Education: Theory and Practice (Third ed.)
  This book is designed to help preservice and inservice educators clarify the philosophical and definitional issues related to pluralistic education, and design and implement effective teaching strategies that reflect ethnic diversity, and prepare sound guidelines for multiethnic programs and practices. It describes actions that educators can take to institutionalize educational programs and practices related to ethnic and cultural diversity.
• Religious Music and Multicultural Education
  Discusses religious music as an extraordinarily rich resource supplementing multicultural education. Considers the divisive and problematic nature of some religious music, exemplified by a trio of Jewish students refusal to sing "St.
• Science Motivation in the Multicultural Classroom
  Discusses how to integrate into the curriculum the interests of children of all ethnic backgrounds. Includes a rubric for multicultural contributions to science.
• Seeing a World in a Grain of Sand: Science Teaching in Multicultural Context
  Describes the Imagining Nature Project at Deakin University in Australia, and the Native Eyes Project at the Institute of American Indian Art in New Mexico. Both projects entail the teaching of science and technology to non-science majors of highly diverse cultural origin.
• The Influence of Demographic Background, Ethnic Identity, and Attitudes toward Women on Empathic Thinking
  This paper describes a study on how, and to what degree, students' demographic information, ethnic identity, and attitudes about women contribute to their ability to be empathic. The report defines an empathic person as one who is interpersonally sensitive and aware of one's self and impact in relationship to others and is responsible for the improvement of self and society in general.
• The Perceived Influence of Culture and Ethnicity on the Communicative Dynamics of the United Nations Secretariat
  Investigates managerial perceptions in the United Nations Secretariat with regard to communicative dynamics in an organization founded on the precepts of cultural and ethnic diversity. Finds several pillars of deep diversity at the Secretariat, including multicultural and multiethnic understanding; an inclusive charter or mission; managers' commitment to that charter or mission; linguistic diversity; and respect and appreciation of similarities and differences.
• The Training and Supervisory Needs of Racial and Ethnic Minority Students
  Despite increasing attention given to multicultural training issues in counseling programs, there is a dearth of information on unique training needs of racial and ethnic minority trainees. Reviews literature relevant to training needs, offers examples of training and supervisory issues, and makes recommendations for future research and training.
• Tradition and Story: Intergenerational Ties of Past to Present
  This 32-item annotated bibliography details picture books, realistic fiction, poetry, and biographies (most of which were published in 1994) that deal with intergenerational relationships. Each entry in the bibliography indicates the literary genre and recommended age level of the book.
• Validity of an Observation Screening Instrument in a Multicultural Population
  This study found that the Davis Observation Checklist for Texas, an observational teacher checklist for screening preschool children for communication disorders, demonstrated adequate sensitivity and specificity. The concurrent validity of the checklist was assessed with 59 multicultural children (ages 4 through 5), including Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Anglos.