The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children / Edition 2

by Gloria Ladson-Billings, Gloria LadsonâBillings, Ladson-billings

Overview

In the second edition of her critically acclaimed book The Dreamkeepers, Gloria Ladson-Billings revisits the eight teachers who were profiled in the first edition and introduces us to new teachers who are current exemplars of good teaching. She shows that culturally relevant teaching is not a matter of race, gender, or teaching style. What matters most is a teacher's efforts to work with the unique strengths a child brings to the classroom. A brilliant mixture of scholarship and storytelling, The Dreamkeepers challenges us to envision intellectually rigorous and culturally relevant classrooms that have the power to improve the lives of not just African American students, but all children. This new edition also includes questions for reflection

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470408155
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	03/30/2009
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Gloria Ladson-Billings is the Kellner Family Chair in Urban Education and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Previously, she served on the faculty of Santa Clara University and worked as a teacher and consultant in the Phila-delphia public school system. She is the former president of the American Educational Research Association, and was elected to the National Academy of Education. Dr. Ladson-Billings is the author and editor of numerous articles and books, including The Dreamkeepers, Crossing Over to Canaan, and Beyond the Big House.

Read an Excerpt

Click to read or download

Table of Contents

Foreword to the New Edition.

Preface.

The Author.

1. A Dream Deferred.

2. Does Culture Matter?

3. Seeing Color, Seeing Culture.

4. We Are Family.

5. The Tree of Knowledge.

6. Culturally Relevant Teaching.

7. Making Dreams into Reality.

Afterword.

Appendix A: Methodology.

Appendix B: Context.

Notes.

Index.

Discussion Questions.

Editorial Reviews

"This is an eloquent, optimistic, and extremely useful book." (Joe Nathan, director, Center for School Change, Humphrey Institute, and author of Charter Schools: Creating Hope and Opportunity in American Education, from a review in Teacher)

"Capture(s) the complexity of race relations in education by describing and analyzing how low teacher expectations detrimentally affect interpersonal relationships as well as student learning.... In addition to being informed of the pedagogical and personality orientation of culturally relevant teachers, the reader is exposed to an excellent example of the effective use of researcher subjectivity in a qualitatitve study.... Ladson-Billings' research methodology, her use of narratives, and her 'unconventional' writing style are of great value in expanding the range of what can be defined as solid qualitative research." (Communication Education)

"Education, like electricity, needs a conduit, a teacher, through which to transmit its power—i.e., the discovery and continuity of information, knowledge, wisdom, experience, and culture. Through the stories and experiences of eight successful teacher-transmitters, The Dreamkeepers keeps hope alive for educating young African Americans.'' (ReverAnd Jesse L. Jackson, president and founder, National Rainbow Coalition)

"In this beautifully written book Ladson-Billings illustrates the inspiring influence of a select group of teachers who keep the dreams alive for African American students." (Henry M. Levin, David Jacks professor of Higher Education, Stanford University)

"The Dreamkeepers is an immensely important and useful book for teachers and teacher educators...In a creative, credible, and persuasive way, Gloria Ladson-Billings has made a major contribution to the field of multicultural education." (Jaqueline Jordan Irvine, Candler Professor of Urban Education, Emory University)

From the Publisher