December 2006 Archives

Assistant Professor Bic Ngo had edited a new book with Kevin Kumashiro. Expected publicaion date is April 2007. The publisher's overview follows.

This edited book offers a range of conceptual and curricular resources for elementary and secondary educators and teacher educators interested in exploring new and innovative ways to challenge racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, and other forms of oppression in the classroom (i.e., new and innovative approaches to anti-oppressive education). It blends analyses of and recommendations for K-12 education and teacher education, and focuses on the barriers we often confront when teaching, learning, and learning to teach towards social justice. The authors work in K-12 schools and teacher-education programs across North America, and advocate perspectives and practices that, when combined, promise to take the field of anti-oppressive education in helpful, groundbreaking directions. This book is divided into six Parts, each Part consisting of two or three chapters that explore, in different ways, a theme of anti-oppressive education. The chapters reflect a range of content areas (social studies, English language arts, "foreign" languages, health, natural sciences, and mathematics) in both K-12 education and teacher education; student and teacher populations (elementary, secondary, university); social differences and oppressions (based on race, culture, social class, gender, sexual orientation, language, age, disabilities); activities (simulations, service learning, book clubs, lesson planning); and research methods (historiography, curriculum analysis, discourse analysis, case study, self-study).

Kumashiro, Kevin and Ngo, Bic (Eds.) (in press, expected April 2007). Six Lenses for Anti-Oppressive Education: Partial Stories, Improbable Conversations. Peter Lang Publishers, Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education Series edited by Joe Kincheloe and Shirley Steinberg.

A chapter on "New Media Writing and Pedagogy" by Culture and Teaching faculty member, Thom Swiss, in collaboration with Maria Damon, has just been published in the book Creative Writing:Theory Beyond Practice.

FROM THE 'DRIVEN TO DISCOVER' WEBSITE

“You’d be reading about teachers’ lifestyles in the tabloids,� says education professor Thom Swiss. At the same time, says his colleague, Tim Lensmire, “there would be stories about celebrities not being able to afford buying a house.�

Swiss and Lensmire. along with colleagues Bic Ngo and Misty Sato, comprise the faculty involved in a new PhD program called “Culture and Teaching.� The program, conceived of and developed by Ngo and Sato, is dedicated to helping future researchers and educational leaders understand teaching and learning as cultural, social and moral events. All four are faculty members of the University’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, in the College of Education and Human Development.

The four colleagues brainstormed the answer to this question together. While the team’s responses ranged from serious to lighthearted, the exercise was an enlightening look at the “contemporary struggle over the place of teachers in society,� says Lensmire.

All four said the reversal would primarily be a boon for society, students and teachers alike.

“Teachers would actually be asked their opinions about things like the war in Iraq, or maybe even educational issues,� says Ngo. Additionally, she said, “children would be better cared for, as teachers would donate money and create foundations specifically aimed at caring for children.�

Sato said celebrity salaries would earn teachers greater respect and authority. “Ultimately, students’ performance would not be measured on a single standardized test, but teachers would be trusted by their clients, as doctors are, to make professional judgments about student learning and progress.�

While speculating on such a fantastic scenario might be, to some, more disheartening than helpful, Lensmire says it’s important for people to examine their views about societal roles.

“It’s an exercise that leads to asking important questions about the value of education in our society and how we value the people who are responsible for helping others learn.�

Misty Sato’s research seeks to better understand the ways in which teachers engage in processes of developing their practice, leadership, identities and collegial relationships. Bic Ngo’s writing explores the implications of globalization and immigration for teaching, learning and curriculum, especially in relation to Hmong American and Lao American students and families. Tim Lensmire’s current research focuses on providing descriptions of, and theoretical insights about, the racial identities of white people, as part of a larger pedagogical and political project concerned with race and social change. Thom Swiss’ writing explores digital media, creative writing, popular music and the possibilities for new literacies emerging from new technologies.