Finding Joy in Teaching Students of Diverse Backgrounds (Print eBook Bundle): Culturally Responsive and Socially Just Practices in U.S. Classrooms

by Sonia Nieto

"While no check-list of attitudes, dispositions, behaviors, or actions can define what thriving teachers look like, the teachers interviewed here give us powerful examples of what it takes to face their profession with courage, their content with enthusiasm, and their students with love."
-Sonia Nieto One in four public school students in the U.S. now speaks a language other than English at home, and the number of emergent bilingual and immigrant children in our schools continues to grow daily. What does it mean to be a teacher today, when students are more diverse in language, culture, race, and social class than ever before? What does it take to thrive, when the demands of teaching have never been greater? Sonia Nieto found and interviewed 22 teachers of varying backgrounds and school settings who help answer the question of what effective, culturally responsive teaching looks like in the real world. Their stories of success, failure, frustration and hope will resonate with everyone who has struggled to meet the needs of diverse students in our current sociopolitical context. Nieto explores the common themes that arose throughout the interviews, of teaching with a social justice perspective, the moral dimensions of teaching, advocating for students, and challenging the status quo. She raises a persuasive argument that teaching is an ethical endeavor, that we must honor students' identities and believe in their futures, and that ultimately teaching is an act of love. The stories of Nieto's passionate teachers will inspire and motivate you to find joy in teaching students of diverse backgrounds.

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Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 2013

About the author

Sonia Nieto is Professor Emerita of Language, Literacy and Culture at the College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA.

Reviews

[Kahlan Denkeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I can’t count my textbooks, what am I even in school for?

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of my professional learning goal this year. I enjoyed Part II with interviews of teachers working with students from diverse racial, ethnic, and/or socioeconomic backgrounds. However, I think it would have been helpful to include more teachers who were teaching students whose backgrounds were different from their own. There were a couple, but not really a balance. That seemed odd, considering that Nieto points out that there is a need for more teachers of diverse backgrounds to enter the field and that the majority of teachers of diverse student populations are themselves white.
The last chapter was excellent! I especially liked her four pieces of advice for teachers to thrive. They were all things that are entirely within one’s own control, which is critical for all education professionals since there are so many aspects of education that we are not able to directly control.

[Erin Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the perspectives of the teachers profiled in this book, but many of them were not teaching populations that were dissimilar to them. I think teaching a population different from who we are is a lot more difficult, and that’s more of what I was looking for and didn’t find in this book.

[Jessica Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an amazing insight to the ways we teachers can become more culturally responsive in todays world. The stories told are inspiring and true to teaching.

[nick becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eloquent and overflowing with vital truths and advice for burgeoning teachers

[Jazmyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my diversity class, and while it doesn't hone in too deeply on specific facets of social justice (race, gender, class, etc.), it's still a good introduction to social justice and diversity. It covers a lot of components of the diverse students teachers will encounter in their classrooms, as well as why it's important for educators to be informed of their students' identities, the cultural context of education, and their identity as a teacher. I'd recommend this to any teacher who wants to learn more about the basics of advocacy, justice, and diversity in the modern classroom.

[Jessica Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good-read for any teacher, but a must-read for teachers in schools stricken with poverty. Dr. Nieto uses first-person narratives to show how teachers teach and thrive in "tough" schools.