A Sociological Examination of Parenting Practices and Gifted Education

This literature review uses a socio-cultural lens to explore how income, race, culture, and parenting practices interact to cause, complicate, and further exacerbate the gap in gifted student identification. The article reframes the aforementioned factors using Annette Lareau’s work on concerted cultivation and natural growth models as a theoretical explanation. The authors recommend the following to address gifted education enrollment inequity: enhanced preparation and training of gifted student identification for educators, education about culturally relevant teaching practices, and improvements to the curricula in schools serving minority and low-income students.

Strength-Based Approaches to Meeting Culturally Diverse Student Needs

A strengths-based approach to education is essential for successful school development in culturally diverse schools. Chapter 7 reflects that education lies in the pedagogical relations and provocations into the self-realizations and growth of young people. In this arena, provocation refers to intentions to provoke thoughts, ideas, and actions that help students to learn and grow. A provocation should be grounded in the child’s cultural background strengths. We explicitly worked with school teams to recognize the equal value of different cultures in their students’ ethnic and linguistic backgrounds and to lead in culturally responsive ways with regards to pedagogy, curriculum, data-analysis, education and community engagement. We drew on research to include positive perspectives of parents and families, communication of high expectations, learning within the context of culture, student-centered and culturally mediated instruction, reshaping the curriculum, and teacher as facilitator. Thus, culturally relevant teaching requires teachers to embrace diversity, build on strengths, and recognize that students learn in a variety of ways. It is the job of the leader to help teachers gain an understanding of those cultures, and how to incorporate that into their classrooms. Sample activities and case studies expand the concepts.

Leveraging Educational Technology to Meet the Needs of 21st Century Learners

This chapter is on leveraging technology for education and includes models for adoption as well as possible barriers. The chapter includes information on how educators need to conduct an internal audit for personal bias, attitude, and perceptions. The idea of adopting a growth mindset when using technology in education is explored. Questions regarding why and how technology should be integrated into education are analyzed. Technology integration frameworks are compared, and some digital applications are discussed. Social equity and access, along with culturally relevant teaching strategies, are examined as to why and how these may be employed to close the digital divide for all students. There are sections detailing the implications for educators and administrators.

Why Can't I Just Use the Classics?

This chapter is an overview of the development of an asynchronous online graduate-level course on diverse literature for P-12 students as an elective for literacy teachers and pre-service librarians. The review of literature focuses on the use of classic texts and the canon in education, the importance of authentic literature, and the content of classroom and school libraries, providing evidence for the necessity of this class as a way to support culturally relevant teaching. This is followed by descriptions of the content and structure of the course as well as the activities and assessments used. The current instructor provides perspectives on teaching this course as a member of underrepresented faculty and discusses special factors in online teaching. Student feedback from the course is included as well as samples of materials.

Asian American Students’ Perceptions of Social Studies

This qualitative study explores Asian American high school students’ perceptions of social studies. The study finds that students affirm the value and significance of learning social studies. Their different interpretations of social studies further reveal that their social studies learning experiences have been influenced by their teachers’ beliefs and practices on social studies curriculum and instruction, and the interplay with students’ complex and multi-faceted identities. The findings of this study suggest a comprehensive and diversified curriculum and culturally relevant teaching in social studies.

Culturally responsive pedagogy for sustainable quality education in the Cook Islands setting

The provision of a culturally responsive pedagogy is considered to be an important part of delivering a quality education that is ongoing and able to be sustained over time in Pacific developing nations. A quality sustainable education is considered to encourage cultural inclusivity, policy and curriculum practices in schools. By ensuring an inclusive and quality education, education can serve as a powerful vehicle for wider sustainable economic development in the Pacific region. To meet this end, United Nations Pacific signatories pledged support for the educational goal, endorsing an inclusive and equitable quality education for all that promotes relevant learning. The implementation of culturally relevant teaching and learning environments have long remained a challenge for Pacific nations. In order to realise a sustainable quality education, the question that needs to be asked is: what does sustainable education look like in Pacific regions? This paper explores how the tivaevae as a culturally responsive pedagogy model creates opportunities for a sustainable education and curriculum in the Pacific region and, in turn, contributes to an inclusive and quality education.