Pathways to cultural awareness

About this book

"In most metropolitan centers, the ethnicity of public schools is no longer dominantly European American. In fact, within 25 years, this ethnic group will no longer be the majority nationally. Given this, it should come as no surprise that many teachers are effectively teaching only a minority of their students - who often are not even the "minority students"!" "Pathways to Cultural Awareness is for teachers and student teachers, as well as others who work in the increasingly diverse world of education. George and Louise Spindler show that cultural therapy helps both instructors and students cope with cultural diversity." "Cultural therapy predicts that when teachers better understand themselves as teachers, they will teach others better, especially those unlike themselves in ethnicity, social class, and culture." "Likewise, if students understand themselves and their situations better, they can learn with less rancor and resistance. The Spindlers write that teachers and students are "cultural agents." They bring to school preconceptions, assumptions, and habits acquired by experience that is gained from interaction with parents, peers, the mass media, and a host of others." "Cultural therapy, as the authors believe, can not only help some schools, some classrooms, some individuals, but it is also an important way to help "heal" America. This is an engaging, thought-provoking, and useful book with an important and powerful message."--BOOK JACKET.