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(Working Draft)
Prepared by R. Neill Johnson
with Diane M. Enerson and Kathryn M. Plank
Although cognitive psychologists have long been
interested in diverse learning styles, the debate about
accommodating social diversity and creating multicultural
classrooms in institutions of higher learning began only
recently. Still in its infancy, research on the
educational impact of socio-cultural differences has
developed as a result of two things: larger, better
organized, and more visible minority populations on
American campuses; and, perhaps more importantly,
increasing diversity among those actually doing the
teaching and research.
The enclosed bibliography brings together a number of
challenging and useful materials on diversity and
multiculturalism in higher education. Besides being
descriptive, each annotation is intended to provide the
reader with a sense of the educational purpose the book
or article could serve. Although several sources address
cognitive diversity alone, most are concerned with the
connection between students' approaches to learning and
their socio-cultural backgrounds. For balance, one
critique of the multicultural movement has also been
included.
Because issues of multiculturalism arouse strong
emotions, we must address these issues with considerable
patience and provide ample opportunities for dialogue.
Our hope is that this bibliography will provide you with
one such opportunity, and we look forward to your
reactions, comments, and suggestions.
- Border, Laura L. B., and Nancy Van Note Chism,
eds. Teaching for Diversity. New
Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 49.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992.
Border and Chism advocate changes in what
they consider our basically conservative and
monocultural colleges and universities as a
response to the social and cultural diversity
that already exists in these institutions.
They present five arguments in support of
bringing institutional practices in line with
the students these institutions serve. The
arguments put forth here could provide a good
starting place for a debate about the need
for change, especially if accompanied by
arguments from the opposing side (see D'Souza
below). Collection contains articles on
topics ranging from implications of diverse
learning styles for instructional design to
an ethnographic approach to the feminist
classroom. Also includes an annotated
bibliography of print and videotape
materials.
- Capello, Doris Correa and Paul G. Kreuzer.
"'Don't Teach It to Us; Teach It to Them':
Teaching Cross-Cultural Literature to a
Multicultural Class." In Teaching a
"New Canon"?: Students, Teachers, and
Texts in the College Literature Classroom,
edited by Bruce A. Goebel and James C. Hall,
96-114. Urbana, Ill.: National Council of
Teachers of English, 1995.
Hispanic female and white male team
teachers recount their experience leading a
diversity course with a group of
predominantly minority students at CUNY.
Based on those experiences, they discard
several popular ideas about
multiculturalism--such as the belief that
reading works by minority writers gives voice
to minority students, or that learning about
one's own culture makes one more open to
other cultures. Rather, they conclude that
teaching cross-cultural literature entails
taking responsibility for managing
confrontations among students and between
students and instructors. Having two
culturally diverse people in charge helps, as
does assigning students to multi-ethnic study
groups. Authors share student reactions to
specific texts and implications for
pedagogical practice.
- Chism, Nancy. "Taking Student Diversity into
Account." In Teaching Tips: Strategies,
Research, and Theory for College and University
Teachers, 9th ed., by Wilbur J. McKeachie,
223-37. Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath, 1994.
Points out that research has traditionally
recognized diversity in terms of cognitive
style, cognitive development, and motivation.
Asks what links there may be between
cognitive diversity and socio-cultural
diversity, the latter category having more
recently entered the scene. Divides diversity
issues into those that concern curriculum
(e.g., questioning the canon) and those that
concern instructional strategies (e.g.,
individual vs. group work). Argues that, in
making decisions about both sets of issues,
our job as instructors is to meet four basic
needs of all students: the need to feel
welcome, the need to be treated as
individuals, the need to feel they can
participate fully, and the need to be treated
fairly. In effect, Chism addresses issues of
diversity by promoting the fundamentals of
good teaching.
- Crawford, Mary and Roger Chaffin. "The
Reader's Construction of Meaning: Cognitive
Research on Gender and Comprehension." In Gender
and Reading: Essays on Readers, Texts, and
Contexts, edited by Elizabeth A. Flynn and
Patrocinio P. Schweickart, 3-30. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1986.
This is an excellent summary of much
cognitive (schema) theory and its potential
impact on teaching and learning. Schema
theory holds that comprehension is an active
process of matching new information with the
knowledge structures (schemata) that the
learner already possesses. To the extent that
gender is a social construct, it stands to
reason that an individual's gender
socialization will affect the way he or she
understands and processes information.
Perhaps because Crawford and Chaffin are not
cognitive psychologists themselves, their
writing is highly accessible to the lay
reader. This article may be used to catalyze
discussions of various kinds, including those
on chilly climates and the psychology of
learning.
- D'Souza, Dinesh. Illiberal Education: The
Politics of Race and Sex on Campus. New York:
Vintage, 1992.
In this critique of multiculturalism,
D'Souza claims that racial and sexual
politics are destroying liberal education in
colleges and universities. Although some
academics will disagree with the book's
premises, it is well-written and provocative.
If nothing else, it provides a much-needed
reminder that the academic community is
divided concerning the value of
multiculturalism.
- Davis, Barbara Gross. "Learning Styles and
Preferences." Chapter 22 of Tools for
Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993.
A good, brief summary of learning style
research, as well as some very practical
advice for applying it in the classroom.
Davis warns teachers not to try to match
their teaching styles to all their students'
learning styles, but rather to help students
become more aware of their own learning
strategies. [For a similar, more
philosophical argument, see Wilbert J.
McKeachie, "Learning Styles Can Become
Learning Strategies," The National
Teaching and Learning Forum 4.6 (1995): 1-3.]
- Davis, Barbara Gross. "Responding to a
Diverse Student Body." Part 2 of Tools
for Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
1993.
The chapters in part 2 provide excellent
strategies for accommodating the diverse
needs of students in higher education. Davis
provides practical advice supported by good
research on teaching students with
disabilities, reentry students, academically
diverse students, etc. She also gives useful
information that teachers may not be aware
of, such as the fact that one can lip read
only 30-40% of what a speaker says. The
text's format makes this information readily
accessible to the casual reader, and a wealth
of references for each chapter invites
further study for those who are interested. A
good first read for teachers interested in
exploring issues of diversity in the
classroom.
- Goebel, Bruce A. "'Who Are All These
People?': Some Pedagogical Implications of
Diversity in the Multicultural Classroom."
In Teaching a "New Canon"?:
Students, Teachers, and Texts in the College
Literature Classroom, edited by Bruce A.
Goebel and James C. Hall, 22-31. Urbana, Ill.:
National Council of Teachers of English, 1995.
Provides a good overview of educationally
significant differences that students bring
to any college classroom. Goebel examines
differences in learning and communication
styles that are related to gender, class, and
ethnicity. For example, cultural groups that
value individualism highly may perform well
in classrooms where students enter heated
debates with each other and the instructor.
Groups that tend to value community more
highly than the individual may perform better
in cooperative learning situations. Students
may resist the teacher's goals when learning
styles are at odds. Goebel gives examples
from his experiences in the literature
classroom.
- Laube, Linda. "Gender, Assessment, and
Writing Instruction." In Teaching a
"New Canon"?: Students, Teachers, and
Texts in the College Literature Classroom,
edited by Bruce A. Goebel and James C. Hall,
148-63. Urbana, Ill.: National Council of
Teachers of English, 1995.
Good article for anyone who reads and
comments on student writing. Laube shares
research showing subtle ways instructors
respond differently to men's and women's
writing. "Masculine" styles of
writing are preferred and more highly
rewarded, except when submitted by females.
"Feminine" styles of writing are
considered inferior, especially when the
writer is known to be a woman. Laube also
found that responses differed somewhat
according to the gender of the reader; males
are more intolerant of emotional writing, and
females more fastidious regarding language
usage and mechanics. Laube recommends the
portfolio method of writing assessment
(including peer evaluation) to foster a more
gender-neutral environment.
- Martin, Warren Bryan, ed. New Perspectives on
Teaching and Learning. New
Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 7.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1981.
Four short articles in this book provide
case studies that instructors could use to
initiate discussions about diversity. Kelly
(pp. 17-19) presents ethical problems he has
encountered teaching the history of the Third
Reich and poses the question of how one can
provide an insider's view without appearing
to condone Nazi attitudes. Sumner (pp. 21-23)
discusses the problem of advising a student
interested in doing graduate work in biology
but convinced that Darwin's theory of
evolution is Satanic. She asks how she can
encourage and support this intelligent and
capable student while also challenging his
creationist stance. Rearick (pp. 29-81)
shares his encounters with students whose
ideological convictions lead them to cast
participants of the industrial revolution as
either villains or victims and wonders how to
help such students hear alternate views
without imposing his own upon them. Irish
(pp. 25-26) presents an example of the
classic liberal approach to evaluating
various epistemologies. He discusses a
philosophy professor of his who, without
disclosing his own position, presented each
philosopher's system as if it were flawless,
then showed how the succeeding system points
up the flaws in the previous system.
Instructors who use these articles as a set
may want to ask why a neutral stance worked
well in the Irish case, and what
complications such a stance might produce in
the Kelly, Sumner, and Rearick cases.
- Metzger, Mary Jane. "A Journey Defined by
Place: Anti-Racism in the College
Classroom." In Teaching a "New
Canon"?: Students, Teachers, and Texts in
the College Literature Classroom, edited by
Bruce A. Goebel and James C. Hall, 67-80. Urbana,
Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English,
1995.
Interesting and self-disclosing narrative
account of a white female academic as she
attempts to create multicultural classrooms
in various geographic areas of the US--from
Washington state to Iowa to Mississippi.
Acknowledges that even within racial groups,
attitudes vary greatly. The teacher must
attempt to understand the contexts of
students' lives, the "local strains of
meaning" that shape their discourse, in
order to have a genuinely open discussion
about matters touching on race. Racist and
anti-racist attitudes are shaped by
individual experiences, and these vary
greatly according to both geographic and
local differences.
- Sternberg, Robert J. "Thinking Styles: Keys
to Understanding Student Performance." Phi
Delta Kappan (January 1990): 336-71.
Divides students into thinkiers for whom
legislative, executive, or judicial mental
functions dominate. The legislative function
of the mind is concerned with creating,
formulating, imagining, and planning. The
executive function is concerned with judging,
evaluating, and comparing. Sternberg
enumerates and explains different forms of
self-government: monarchic (a single goal of
procedure predominates), hierarchic (multiple
goals with different priorities), oligarchic
(multiple goals with equal weight), and
anarchic (performing best on unstructured
tasks and in unstructured situations). Calls
for recognizing the diversity of individual
learners within a framework that takes into
account the propensities of learners to think
differently, the propensities of teachers to
think differently, and the propensity of
different learning tasks to tap into one
style more than another. He suggests not that
teachers change their styles to match those
of the students, but expand their styles to
meet the needs of the greater proportion of
the students.
- Tatum, Beverly Daniel. "Talking about Race,
Learning about Racism: The Application of Racial
Identity Development Theory in the
Classroom." Harvard Educational Review
62 (Spring 1992): 1-24.
Using W. E. Cross's theory of race
identity development, Tatum helps her readers
understand why both black and white students
react in so many different kinds of ways when
asked to talk about race and racism. Although
the context is a course on the psychology of
racism, many instructors will find this
article of interest. They will also benefit
from learning that everyone goes through
various stages when coming to terms with his
or her own race and societal attitudes
towards that race. This is why some students
deny that race matters, some are defensive,
some aggressively proud, and some calmly
self-assured. Knowing how racial identities
develop, the instructor is better equipped to
move students beyond resistance (based on
denial or fear) and help them share and
understand their attitudes towards themselves
and others. A well-researched study providing
much food for thought.
- Tobias, Sheila. They're Not Dumb, They're
Different: Stalking the Second Tier. Tucson,
Ariz.: Research Corporation, 1990.
Argues that the practice of intimidating
and weeding out "second tier"
students in an attempt to get only the best
students in scientific disciplines encourages
the belief that scientists are born, not
made. Tobias claims that this practice also
results in a kind of inbreeding, since
scientists tend to admit only those who are
like themselves. A third result is that
international students who fit the model are
being educated in this country in great
numbers, while American students are choosing
other fields. Presents the experiences of six
postgraduates (all with nonscience degrees)
who audited various introductory physics and
chemistry courses. Their aim was to determine
ways that these courses could be made less
alienating for "second tier"
students. [For a critique of this argument,
see Kenneth A. Bruffee, "Science in a
Postmodern World," Change (Sept./Oct.
1992): 18-25.]
- Wertheim, Margaret. Pythagoras' Trousers: God,
Physics, and the Gender Wars. New York: Times
Books, 1995.
Makes a compelling argument that the
cultural and social forces that have shaped
physics (and all math-based science) over the
centuries have closely allied it with
religion. Calling physics "the Catholic
church of science," Wertheim says it has
accommodated women less than any other
scientific discipline. In 1990, for example,
women accounted for 41% of biological and
life scientists but only 9% of physicists.
Criticizes physicists' overriding interest in
a unified theory of the particles and forces
of nature, called the "theory of
everything." Suggests that the presence
of more women would help check this
quasi-religious impulse and shift the
discipline towards more socially responsible,
practical, and affordable ends. Cites
discoveries made by women researchers in the
biological sciences as evidence that shifts
in the culture of science can lead to
significant new insights. Also analyzes
studies of male vs. female mathematical
ability. This book would be of particular
interest to science and math instructors.
©1996, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
This bibliography and other
CELT publications are available in alternative media
on request.
Center
for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
The Pennsylvania State
University
401 Grange
Building, University Park, PA 16802
celt@psu.edu
http://www.psu.edu/celt
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