Questioning Assumptions and Challenging Perceptions

Connie Schaffer is a faculty member at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her teaching and research focus on preparing pre-service teachers to better understand the context of urban schools and the students who attend them.Meg White is an Assistant Professor in Teacher Education at Stockton University. Currently much of her teaching and scholarship is preparing pre-service teachers to be effective urban educators. Visit her blog: https://reflectionsinedblogblog.wordpress.com/Corine Meredith Brown is Assistant Chair for the Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education Department at Rowan University. Her teaching and research focus on pre-service teacher preparation in diverse learning environments.

• About the cover ARTFOREWORD-jack McKayAcknowledgementsIntroductionCHAPTER ONE: Personal explorationHow do you define yourself culturally?establishing a frame of referenceABC’s of cultural understanding and communicationchapter two: creating a definition of urbangraffiti wallsphere of influence within the social contextdefinitions of urban based on populationdefinitions of urban based on social contextbroadening the definition of urbanmoving beyond a single story of urban schoolschapter three: the social context of children and families in urban environmentscase study 3.1: the story of amiemaslow’s identification of human needspoverty muralthe complexities of povertycase study 3.2: the bank street schoolCHAPTER four: stages of cognitive dissonance: Internal reflectionsstages of cognitive dissonance related to urban schoolscreating the felt needa kwl chart on urban schoolsshifting from apprehension to appreciationculture walksmoving beyond the deficit approachcommon scenariosCHAPTER five: stages of cognitive dissonance: external implicationsvalue line part oneclosing the gapsvalue line part twoteaching for social justiceteaching for social justice gallery walkCHAPTER six: transforming knowledge into actionteachers as activistsimagining a socially just classroompersonal sphere of influence modelidentifying elements in your personal sphere of influenceCHAPTER seven: translating theory into actioncase study 7.1: Ruby bridgesINDEXabout the authors

That teachers need to understand themselves—their talents as well as their shortcomings, their sensitivities as well as their biases—before they can be effective with students of all backgrounds is by now fairly well accepted. In Questioning Assumptions and Changing Perceptions, authors Connie Schaffer, Meg White, and Corine Meredith Brown go beyond platitudes to explore not only why but also how teachers and other educators can do so. This book will be useful for novice as well as veteran teachers who want to make a difference for themselves and their students.