White Teachers/Diverse Classrooms: A Guide to Building Inclusive Schools, Promoting High Expectations, and Eliminating Racism. Julie Landsman and Chance W. Lewis, eds. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, 2006. Pp. 256. $24.95, paper. ISBN-13: 978-1-57922-147-8. TEL: 800-232-0223
For African Americans, school is often not a place to learn but a place of low expectations and failure. In urban schools with concentrations of poverty, often fewer than half the ninth graders leave with a high school diploma.
This collection of 20 essays is divided into five sections: “Foundations of Our Work: Recognizing Power and Privilege,” “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: How Do We Do It?” “Expecting the Most: How White Teachers Can Ensure African Amer-ican Achievement,” “The Truly Reflective Teacher,” and “Creating Activist Classroom Communities.”
Black and White teachers here provide an insightful approach to inclusive and equitable teaching and illustrate its transformative power to bring about success. This book encourages reflection and self-examination, and calls for understanding how students can achieve and expecting the most from them. It demonstrates what’s involved in terms of recognizing often-unconscious biases, confronting institutional racism where it occurs, surmounting stereotyping, adopting culturally relevant teaching, connecting with parents and the community, and integrating diversity in all activities.
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