Last month, I traveled to Barcelona, Spain, to conduct a unique, mixed-methods study of metacognitive skills at the International Baccalaureate (IB) World Student Conference. I surveyed global citizenship levels among IB Diploma Programme students from 19 nations who attended the weeklong, project-based learning experience. I conducted two diverse focus groups: one with students representing eight…
To prepare students for these increasingly global realities, I drew on American anthropologist Edward T. Hall’s cultural iceberg to design what I call Cultural Awareness Logs (CALs) as a method for encouraging students to investigate texts, analyze for depth, and understand a wide array of cultures and subcultures.
Roland S. Barth argues that educators need to develop and understand their visions for schools as a step toward improvement. He shares his own visions for the future of education.
Authors Rhonda Barton and Rob Larson stress the importance of quality leadership in achieving educational equity.
University professors and researchers Willis Hawley and Sonia Nieto breakdown issues and misconceptions that some educators have about dealing with issues of race and ethnicity in the classroom. They offer three race- and ethnicity-conscious strategies for school improvement, centered around understanding the diverse backgrounds of all students in the classroom. Hawley and Nieto conclude by suggesting ways that teachers and administrators can begin to develop a more responsive school culture.
This chapter explores the common characteristics of schools that have high poverty rates, high ethnic/racial minority populations, and high academic achievement.