Education Literature Alerts: Sept. '16 - Diversity

An understanding of the experiences nursing students of color have while navigating the educational system can provide insight for nurse educators, who desire, and perhaps struggle, to meet the learning needs of their students from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds. In alignment with the basic storytelling element of Critical Race Theory, narrative inquiry was used in this study to capture the educational experiences of nurses during their life journeys. Two recurring themes emerged from the data: Experiences of Exclusion and Benefits of Inclusion. [Abstract excerpt from the author]

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An inordinate number of American Indian nursing students fail to graduate. This article explores ways to facilitate student success through the use of a Dream Catcher-Medicine Wheel, and reports findings from a descriptive study of hope in American Indian and non-American Indian students who were nursing majors at an upper Midwestern university. The Herth hope scale revealed high levels of hope in both groups; however, among the American Indian students there was a trend toward lower scores on items describing negative reactions to presumed setbacks and fears. Findings are discussed in light of the Dream Catcher-Medicine Wheel conceptual model. [Abstract from the author]

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The article offers advice for teachers on the impact of students' culture on education and the classroom environment. Topics include the significance of cultural diversity and multiculturalism in education, the influence of culture on student learning, and the relation of culture to individuality. The significance of culture for curriculum planning is noted.

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Given the importance of multicultural education, its impact on students and the ensuing impact on society, it would appear that studies assessing the efficacy of how social justice issues are taught appear to be essential. However, most studies assessing the efficacy of multicultural teacher education coursework appears to be inconclusive. This paper poses the following questions: to what extent is it possible for students who are teachers and administrators in American schools to engage in a multicultural graduate course taught using a social reconstructionist approach to see outside the boundaries of their own perspectives; and to what extent might a multicultural education course have a lasting impact on their personal and professional lives. Additionally, the study asks whether the effects of a multicultural course may be long lasting and significant. [Abstract from the author]

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This paper outlines a conceptual framework in order to systematically discuss the meaning of intercultural learning in history education and how it could be advanced. We do so by bringing together theories of historical consciousness, intercultural competence and postcolonial thinking. By combining these theories into one framework, we identify some specific and critical aspects of historical learning that are relevant for today. [Abstract excerpt from the publisher]

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The nature of life in the 21st century suggests that schools must prepare students to be thinkers, problemsolvers, collaborators, wise consumers of information, and confident producers of knowledge. The nature of 21st century student populations suggests that schools will have to become more responsive to the broadening array of cultures, languages, experiences, economics, and interests represented in most contemporary classrooms-and to do so in ways that provide equity of access to robust learning experiences for that broad spectrum of learners. Such classrooms will be heterogeneous in nature, and learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, instruction-centered, and community-centered. Teachers in those classrooms will need to be proficient in 'teaching up,' or planning learning experiences at a high level of challenge while providing scaffolding to support many learners in succeeding with those experiences and extending the challenge in a meaningful way for advanced learners. [Abstract from the author]

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