DIVERSITY:

A Selected and Annotated Bibliography

(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.

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