Synopses & Reviews
Choosing Democracy: A Practical Guide to Multicultural Education, 4e
Duane E. Campbell, California State University, Sacramento
This book gives students the preparation they need to participate in constructing the future of our society!
The fourth edition of Choosing Democracy continues to assist future teachers in analyzing their own cultural frames of reference and developing a second multicultural perspective. Looking at education through the prism of race, class, gender, and economic status, the author provides a solid foundation of multicultural education while at the same time offering useful and class-tested teaching strategies throughout.
In addition to being substantially revised, the new edition offers the following changes:
- Provides ideas for teachers looking to change their curriculum in Chapter 12. This chapter has been revised to become a Multicultural Curriculum chapter including the issues of standards and test-based accountability in this era of reform.
- Includes a new section with a new co-author (Dr. Francisco Reveles), an expert on gang-related behavior and bullying.
- Illustrates ways to manage a classroom based on democratic principles and cultural proficiency–makes the text valuable to every future teacher.
- Contains a new section on integrating technology and using the Internet in the classroom.
- Features a thoroughly revised Chapter 13 explaining major efforts at school reform and the No Child Left Behind Act.
Praise for the 4th Edition:
“This book is practical, current, relevant, and reaps the benefits of insights gained by the hundreds of students and many teachers who have used the book over the years. It is the hope of the authors that the use of this book in the classroom will contribute to the creation of a society where all students receive a quality education. This magisterial treatment of our contemporary crisis in American society, culture, and education takes us step-by-step through the treacherous terrains that impede our efforts to examine critically and expand effectively democracy in our time. His powerful text is the most comprehensive analysis we have of sharpening the practical strategies for multicultural education in America. The best of American life has always been embodied and enacted by courageous figures who chose democracy—from Thomas Paine, Harriet Tubman, César Chávez, Ronald Takaki, to Dolores Huerta. Duane Campbell makes it clear what it means to choose democracy in our classrooms, workplaces, homes, and civic life. In short, like James Baldwin, he frightfully reminds us that we either choose democracy now or ultimately witness the fire this time!” –Cornel West, Princeton University
Review
This magisterial treatment of our contemporary crisis in American society, culture, and education takes us step-by-step through the treacherous terrains that impede our efforts to examine critically and expand effectively democracy in our time. His powerful text is the most comprehensive analysis we have of sharpening the practical strategies for multicultural education in America.
The best of American life has always been embodied and enacted by courageous figures who chose democracy–from Thomas Paine, Harriet Tubman, César Chávez, Ronald Takaki, to Dolores Huerta. Duane Campbell makes it clear what it means to choose democracy in our classrooms, workplaces, homes, and civic life. In short, like James Baldwin, he frightfully reminds us that we either choose democracy now or ultimately witness the fire this time!
Cornel West
Princeton University
Synopsis
Unlike most other texts for Multicultural Education on the market, this one provides practical and useful teaching strategies and class-tested lesson plans, as well as a foundation for understanding the context of multicultural education. Choosing Democracy was the first text of its kind to show teachers how to construct a curriculum that is truly democratic, while at the same time meeting the requirements of today’s standard’s based educational environment.
Most new teachers are not prepared to face the diversity of the classrooms of today. Nor are they prepared to handle the many challenging issues that will arise in these multicultural and multilingual classes. This book gives solid and substantial coverage of important issues facing teachers such as classroom management, critical thinking, cooperative learning, assisting English Language Learners, dealing with substantive values, and assessment. It also teaches educators to formulate a deeper understanding of their own cultural frame of reference in order to develop a second multicultural perspective.
New To This Edition:
- NEW! Provides ideas for teachers looking to change their curriculum in Chapter 12.
- NEW! Includes a new section with a new co-author, (Dr. Francisco Reveles) an expert on gang related behavior and bullying.
- NEW! Illustrates ways to manage a classroom based on democratic principles and cultural proficiency–makes the text valuable to even the most reluctant reader.
- NEW! Contains a new section on integrating technology and using the Internet in the classroom.
- NEW! Features a thoroughly revised Chapter 13–Explains the major efforts at school reform and The No Child Left Behind Act.
About the Author
Duane Campbell is an Professor Emeritus of Bilingual/Multicultural Education at California State University- Sacramento.
He was a teacher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania public schools for three years (1964-1967) and then a Professor of Education at CSU-Sacramento for 39 years. Dr. Campbell was the founding Chair of the Department of Bilingual/Multicultural Education and of Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies. He has developed courses in Social Sciences Education, Democracy, and Multicultural Education as well as supervised history/social science student teachers. Dr. Campbell is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University in History (1969).
He has long been active in labor rights and civil rights efforts. He blogs at
http://www.choosingdemocracy.blogspot.com.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: The Social, Economic, and Cultural Foundations of the Current School Crisis
1. Democracy and the Need for Multicultural Education
2. Culture and Schooling
3. Racism and Schools
4. With Liberty and Justice for Some: Democracy, Class Relations, and Schools
5. How Society and Schools Shortchange Girls and Boys
Part II: Teaching Strategies to Promote Democracy and Multicultural Education
6. Human Relations and Multicultural Education
7. Teaching to Empower Students
8. Democracy and Classroom Management
9. Promoting Democracy and Critical Thinking
10. Cooperative Learning, Democracy, and Multicultural Education
11. Teaching Language-Minority Populations
Part III: The Dialogue Between Democracy and Multicultural Education
12. Democracy, Curriculum, and Multicultural Education