Identity Safe Classrooms, Grades K-5: Places to Belong and Learn
درباره این ای-کتاب
This book is focused on a set of strategies that have a positive effect on student learning and attachment to schooling, in spite of real and powerful social inequalities. This evidence-based book is drawn from research showing that students from all backgrounds in identity safe classrooms learn better and like school more than their peers in other classrooms.
In identity safe classrooms, teachers strive to ensure that students feel their identity is an asset rather than a barrier to success at school. Elementary teachers will learn the importance of teaching pro-social skills and cooperative learning in the context of high expectations and challenging curriculum.
Use these strategies, rooted in social psychology research and child centered teaching practices, to build communities of learners in diverse classrooms. Invaluable teacher vignettes, reflective exercises, and practical advice make this comprehensive guide a must for creating an inclusive, academically challenging classroom where students come to understand the empowering message that who they are and what they think matters.
"In this timely, engaging, and needed book, Steele and Cohn-Vargas describe creative and captivating ways in which teachers can construct identity safe classrooms where students from diverse racial, social, economic, and linguistic groups can learn and flourish."
—James A. Banks, Professor, University of Washington
Founding Director, Center for Multicultural Education
"This timely and pragmatic book thoughtfully lays out a new vision of education with design principles for inclusive, respectful, and rigorous classroom environments that promote expansive and culturally validating forms of learning."
—Kris D. Gutierrez, Professor of Learning Sciences and Literacy
University of Colorado at Boulder
"The authors combine their scholarship, experience, and wisdom in this amazing book. We all want to know: How can we help students enjoy school and become eager learners? Educators, read this book and find out!"
—Carol Dweck, Professor
Stanford University
درباره نویسنده
Dorothy M. Steele, Ed.D. (1945-2017) was the former Executive Director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University. She was an early childhood educator interested in public schools including teaching practices that are effective for diverse classrooms, alternative assessment processes that inform teaching and learning, and strategies that build inclusive communities of learners in schools. Her work with the Stanford Integrated Schools Project was an attempt to look at these various aspects of schooling in a large urban school district. Dr. Steele began her work with teachers and children in 1968 in Columbus, OH as the Director/Teacher of one of the city’s first Head Start Programs. During the 1970’s, she served as the Curriculum Coordinator for the City of Seattle’s Children’s Programs, an early childhood teacher educator, a parent educator, and, for eight years, the director of a large, university-based child care center. In 1987, Dr. Steele began her doctoral work in early childhood education and, with her advisor, developed an alternative assessment process for early childhood education, the Work Sampling System that is being used throughout the world. Her dissertation explored the negative impact of standardized tests on Kindergarten teachers’ educational decisions for their students. Dorothy Steele received her AB degree in music from Hiram College, Hiram, OH in 1967; the MA in Early Childhood Education from the Ohio State University in 1971; and an Ed.D. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Michigan in 1994.
Becki Cohn-Vargas, EdD, spent over 35 years as a teacher, principal, curriculum director, and superintendent in rural, urban, and suburban districts. In each setting, she focused on educational equity and strategies for diverse populations. When she learned about research on identity safety classrooms where teachers strive to assure students that their social identities are an asset rather than a barrier to success in the classroom, it became her educational mission. Partnering with Dorothy Steele, identity safety researcher, she coauthored “Identity Safe Classrooms: Places to Belong and Learn,” aimed at K–5 teachers. Subsequently, she co-authored “Identity Safe Classrooms Grades 6–12: Pathways to Belonging and Learning”, and “Belonging and Inclusion in Identity Safe Schools: A Guide for Educational Leaders.” Currently, Becki is an independent consultant and presenter. She was hosted at the White House by President Obama’s education staff and has worked to create identity safe school climates in over 150 schools across the U.S. Website: http://beckicohnvargas.com.
