Multicultural Education at USI - Recently Updated Pages

Sponsoring Organizations & Groups (2010)

tdaojensen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:52:53 CST

Indiana Humanities Council
This program has been made possible through a grant from the Indiana Humanities Council in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Indiana Campus Compact
This program has been made possible through a grant from the Indiana Campus Compact Scholarship of Engagement Faculty Grant.
University of Southern Indiana Major as Home Departmental Grant
Bower-Suhrheinrich Faculty Enhancement Award
Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation
Hospitality and Outreach for Latin Americans (H.O.L.A.) in Evansville

Thanks to the Fairfield Inn (Evansville West) for contributing accommodations for the invited speakers.

2010 Sponsors and Cooperating Groups

tdaojensen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:47:32 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Welcome to the Multicultural Education Conference at USI Homepage!

tdaojensen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:11:27 CST

***Please join us in our Book Discussions by clicking 5th Annual Multicultural Education Conference tab on the left side of this page***

You are invited to submit a proposal to present at the 2010 Multicultural Education Conference. The deadline for submission is January 15, 2010. For more information, click on Call for proposals under 5th Annual Multicultural Education Conference tab on the left side of this page.

The Fifth Annual Multicultural Conference at the University of Southern Indiana: February 27, 2010 will investigate the factors that both enhance and inhibit the development of transformative curriculum. The following strands are proposed:
1. Local and “private space” voices in the development of curricular content.
2. Self-critique and the language of “at-risk” and “achievement gap”.
3. Curriculum Design Models: What is appropriate for the Local Education Agency?

a. Subject/disciplines Design

b. Interdisciplinary/broad fields Design
c. Student/Child-centered Design
d. Core Curriculum Design
e. Integrated Designs
f. Process Designs
g. Humanistic Designs

5th Annual Multicultural Education Conference (February 27, 2010)

tdaojensen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:03:42 CST

Creating Transformative Curriculum: Empowering Teachers, Administrators, and Schools as Curriculum Developers

Unexamined traditional approaches ultimately reproduce and exacerbate existing societal inequalities and reaffirm errant understandings or presumptions about the source and hence the solution to a given social ill. Traditional approaches tend to encourage students not to question, but to merely learn or “bank” certain “facts,” skills, and dispositions to accommodate and adapt to the world as it is. The do not encourage or help students to understand or consider the ways in which they are capable of acting to transform the world in ways that are more just, free, and democratic. While the traditional view minimally emphasizes the acquisition or demonstration of competencies such as literacy and numeracy, the transformative perspective views the acquisition of functional skills as inseparable from transformative skills of critical thinking that links learning to broader social problems and concerns. (Brown & Saltman, 2005, p. 6)

Issues of innovation surround multicultural education. Questions of equity, justice, recognition, power, and voice all play crucial parts in the dialogue regarding the politics of exclusion. For schools, these questions involve the development (or in many cases the purchase) of curriculum. A broad definition of curriculum in relation to the 5th Annual Multicultural Education Conference is asserted that aligns with the definition provided by James McKernan:

A curriculum is a proposal setting out an educational plan, offering students socially valued knowledge, attitudes, values, skills and abilities, which are made available to students through a variety of educational experiences, at all levels of the education system. As a proposal, the curriculum is a hypothesis inviting a research response. (McKernan, 2008, p. 12)

The evolution of curriculum within classrooms, schools, and other educational institutions has become stagnated. Innovation and transformative curricula are prevented from emerging by the hegemonic control exercised by the technical rationality-driven outcomes-based education movement. Any innovation, whether a program, course, unit, or lesson, must conform to this hegemonic paradigm (Parkison, 2009).

Community development and democratic education depend upon the space – both private and public – through which transformative experiences can emerge. Recognition of the power of local knowledge, informed by the technologies of self (Foucault, 1988; 2005), permits stakeholders in the schooling enterprise to engage in the creation of authentic curriculum. This engagement facilitates constructive dialogue across difference, based upon the recognition of the pluralistic identity of the Other, and directed toward collaboration and mutual benefit. Curricula that emerge from these contexts or spaces are authentic educational expressions.

The Fifth Annual Multicultural Conference at the University of Southern Indiana will investigate the factors that both enhance and inhibit the development of transformative curriculum. The following strands are proposed:
1. Local and “private space” voices in the development of curricular content.
2. Self-critique and the language of “at-risk” and “achievement gap”.
3. Curriculum Design Models: What is appropriate for the Local Education Agency?

a. Subject/disciplines Design
b. Interdisciplinary/broad fields Design
c. Student/Child-centered Design
d. Core Curriculum Design
e. Integrated Designs
f. Process Designs
g. Humanistic Designs

4. Exemplars of Transformative Curricula.

Each strand will help participants engage with the process of curricular design and begin to recognize their responsibility to develop innovative programs, courses, units, and lessons.

Works Cited
Brown, E. R., & Saltman, K. J. (Eds.). (2005). The Critical Middle School Reader. New York, NY: Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1988). Technologies of the Self. In L. H. Martin, H. Gutman, & P. Hutton (Eds.), Technologies of the Self: A Seminar with Michel Foucault. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Foucault, M. (2005). The Hermeneutics of the Subject: Lectures at the College de France 1981-1982. (F. Gros, Ed., & G. Burchell, Trans.) New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.
McKernan, J. (2008). Curriculum and Imagination: Process Theory, Pedagogy and Action Research. London and New York: Routledge.
Parkison, P. (2009). Political economy of NCLB: standards, testing and test scores. The educational forum , 73 (1), 44-57.

Call for Proposals

tdaojensen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:32:45 CST

***Call for Proposals***

The Fifth Annual Multicultural Education Conference:
Creating Transformative Curriculum: Empowering Teachers, Administrators, and Schools as Curriculum Developers
Saturday, February 27, 2010
University of Southern Indiana ● Evansville, Indiana

You are invited to submit a proposal to present at the 2010 Multicultural Education Conference.
The deadline for submission is January 15, 2010.

About the Conference
The Fifth Annual Multicultural Education Conference at the University of Southern Indiana will investigate the factors that both enhance and inhibit the development of transformative curriculum. The following strands are proposed:
1. Local and “private space” voices in the development of curricular content.
2. Self-critique and the language of “at-risk” and “achievement gap”.
3. Curriculum Design Models: What is appropriate for the Local Education Agency?

a. Subject/disciplines Design
b. Interdisciplinary/broad fields Design
c. Student/Child-centered Design
d. Core Curriculum Design
e. Integrated Designs
f. Process Designs
g. Humanistic Designs

4. Exemplars of Transformative Curricula.

Each strand will help participants engage with the process of curricular design and begin to recognize their responsibility to develop innovative programs, courses, units, and lessons. Issues of innovation surround multicultural education. Questions of equity, justice, recognition, power, and voice all play crucial parts in the dialogue regarding the politics of exclusion. For schools, these questions involve the development (or in many cases the purchase) of curriculum.

A broad definition of curriculum in relation to the 5th Annual Multicultural Education Conference is asserted that aligns with the definition provided by James McKernan: A curriculum is a proposal setting out an educational plan, offering students socially valued knowledge, attitudes, values, skills and abilities, which are made available to students through a variety of educational experiences, at all levels of the education system. As a proposal, the curriculum is a hypothesis inviting a research response. (McKernan, 2008, p. 12) The evolution of curriculum within classrooms, schools, and other educational institutions has become stagnated. Innovation and transformative curricula are prevented from emerging by the hegemonic control exercised by the technical rationality-driven outcomes-based education movement. Any innovation, whether a program, course, unit, or lesson, must conform to this hegemonic paradigm (Parkison, 2009).

Two keynote speakers will highlight the necessity of engaging these groups in meaningful dialogue and collaborative action.

Dr. Sherry Marx is the author of Revealing the Invisible: Confronting Passive Racism in Teacher Education. In her consciousness-raising book, Marx asserts that White teacher education students must recognize their own positions of privilege and work actively to create anti-racist teaching techniques and learning environments for children of color and children learning English as a Second Language. Dr. Marx is Assistant Professor in Education at Utah State University.

Alexandra Zapruder is the author of Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust. She is a Holocaust Teachers Fellow for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with a passion for sharing the voices of youth and the impact of these horrifying and historic events from the perspective of adolescents who lived through it. Ms. Zapruder's presentation will allow teachers to reflect upon the importance of hearing these testimonies, and allowing today's teenagers to consider their own personal responses to Shoah and genocide.

Criteria: Proposals are solicited for creative and dynamic 60-minute presentations that are interactive and feature best practices.

Presentation Formats: A variety of presentation formats is desirable and may include workshops, panel presentations, and roundtable discussions. Handouts are strongly encouraged.

Proposal Format: Submit an attached electronic proposal of no more than two pages. Include a proposal abstract of 25 words or less. If selected, this abstract will be used in the conference program booklet and on the conference Web Site. Include a cover sheet that contains the following information:

1. Contact information
• Title of Proposal
• Presenter(s) Name and Title
• Organization/School/Agency
• Address
• Phone Number
• Email Address
2. Indicate the Target Audience
• Business and Industry
• Government
• Non-profit Agencies
• P-12 Education
• Higher Education

Fees: The registration fee will be waived for all presenters attending the Seminar and a small stipend will be offered to lead presenters.

Please email proposals to tdaojensen@usi.edu
~OR~
FAX to Dr. Thuy DaoJensen at (812) 465-1029.

Deadline for submission is January 15, 2010. For more information, please visit us online at: http://www.usi.edu/extserv/conferences/Curriculum.asp or http://www.mceatusi.wetpaint.com.

Book Discussion 1: Revealing the Invisible by S. Marx

tdaojensen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:29:34 CST

Revealing the Invisible: Confronting Passive Racism in Teacher Education

Dr. Sherry Marx's Revealing the Invisible: Confronting Passive Racism in Teacher Education will serve as a discussion prompt for the 5th Annual Multicultural Education Conference. In her consciousness-raising book, Marx asserts that White teacher education students must recognize their own positions of privilege and work actively to create anti-racist teaching techniques and learning environments for children of color and children learning English as a Second Language. She is Assistant Professor in Education at Utah State University.

Book Discussion 2: Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust by A. Zapruder

tdaojensen — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:10:11 CST

Salvaged Pages: Young Writers' Diaries of the Holocaust

Alexandra Zapruder is the author of Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust. She is a Holocaust Teachers Fellow for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with a passion for sharing the voices of youth and the impact of these horrifying and historic events from the perspective of adolescents who lived through it. Ms. Zapruder's presentation will allow teachers to reflect upon the importance of hearing these testimonies, and allowing today's teenagers to consider their own personal responses to Shoah and genocide.

4th Annual Multicultural Education Conference (April 25, 2009)

tdaojensen — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:39:01 CST

A one-day Multicultural Education Conference will be utilized to investigate issues of Social Justice, Equity in Education, Cultural Critique and Engagement, and Civic and Community Development. The Multicultural Education Conference will serve to facilitate collaboration between K-12 education institutions, youth service organizations, community development organizations, and the higher education communities. Facilitating collaboration among and between these groups of practitioners from the tri-state region who work with our youth is the primary focus of the conference. This year’s theme, “Communities of Learners, Communities of Practice, Communities of Engagement: Focus on Community”, will emphasize the necessity of creating safe and welcoming communities for young people. Increased mobility, immigration, and economic displacement make the public spaces provided by social, educational, governmental, and health agencies increasingly significant in terms of providing our youth with a sense of connection and belonging. In order to successfully create these safe havens it is essential that practitioners investigate, reflect upon, and act to create communities for our youth.

A significant outcome of the 4th Annual Multicultural Education Conference involves the creation of networks of practitioners in the region who are working from a common theoretical/philosophical foundation.
· Conference attendees will become members of a network of practitioners in the region
· Ideas generated during the break-out sessions will be documented and disseminated to everyone in the network
· a web site/ chat group will be established to provide a forum for ongoing discussion and exchange of ideas.

Featured Speakers

Dr. James Banks Opening Address
“James A. Banks is Kerry and Linda Killinger Professor of Diversity Studies and Director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, Seattle. He is a specialist in multicultural education and in social studies education and has written widely in these book fields. He is a past president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). He was a Spencer Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford during the 2005-2006 academic year. He is a member of the National Academy of Education. His books include Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies,8th Edition (Allyn and Bacon); Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives, 6th Edition (With Cherry A. McGee Banks) (John Wiley & Sons); Cultural Diversity and Education: Foundations, Curriculum and Teaching, 5th Edition (Allyn and Bacon); An Introduction to Multicultural Education, 4th Edition (Allyn and Bacon); Multicultural Education, Transformative Knowledge, and Action (Teachers College Press); Educating Citizens in a Multicultural Society, 2nd Edition(Teachers College Press); Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives (Jossey-Bass); and Race, Culture, and Education: The Selected Works of James A. Banks (Routledge).” Community Book Studies are planned for two of Dr. Bank’s most recent texts:
Educating Citizens in a Multicultural Society. New York: Teachers College Press, Second Edition, 2007.

Luis Urrieta Closing Address

Luis Urrieta, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies in Education and Fellow in the Lee Hage Jamail Regents Chair in Education. Dr. Urrieta’s work details the struggles of activist Chicana and Chicano educators to raise consciousness in a wide range of educational settings, from elementary schools to colleges. He addresses important questions about what it means to work for social justice from within institutions, and he explores the dialogic spaces between alternatives of reproduction and resistance. In doing so, he highlights the continuity of Chicana and Chicano social movement, the relevance of gender, and the importance of autochthonous frameworks in understanding contemporary activism. Coming soon is Urrieta’s text Working from Within: Chicana and Chicano Activist Educators in Whitestream Schools. University of Arizona Press

Sponsors and Cooperating Groups (2009)

tdaojensen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:32:01 CST

Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation
EVSC Homepage

Indiana Humanities Council
Indiana Humanities Council Home

Bower-Suhrheinrich College of Education and Human Services
Bower-Suhrheinrich Home

Hola Evansville
Hola Evansville Home

Indiana Campus Compact
Indiana Campus Compact

Community Book Discussion

tdaojensen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:53:18 CST

Educating Citizens in a Multicultural Society. New York: Teachers College Press, Second Edition, 2007.

Conference Sessions and Materials

pparkison — Wed, 06 May 2009 09:48:51 CDT

Listen to WNIN's interview with Dr. James Banks and Katie Janis. WNIN Interview

Multi-Cultural Education Focus of USI Conference

April 27, 2009
Experts in multicultural education gathered this weekend at the University of Southern Indiana for the fourth annual Multicultural Education Conference.

Dr. Michael Slavkin: Considering Community -- Creating Cultural Workers

This presentation will provide experiences to consider the error of seeing schools as static organisms or organizations. Participants will have an opportunity to consider how the work of teachers influences students, the work of students influences teachers, and how the work of students influences other students. Specifically, the question that will be considered will be what is the nature of American schools as they relate to the communities that house them? Community should be considered alongside schools as incorporated systems. I would explore how schools retained components of community and culture, as well as how community was shaped by the schools themselves.
Creating Cultural Workers

Dr. Lynn Penland, et al.: Beyond Obama as President -- Cultural Competence for a Just Society

A look at issues of race and the importance of multicultural understanding in the Obama era. What has changed and what has not? At what levels of cultural competence do our agencies, institutions, and businesses function? What is the responsibility of teachers and other cultural workers in assuring equity in serving the diverse population of this community and our nation?
Beyond Obama as President

Dr. Cathi Cornelius and Dr. Arlene Coleman: Meeting the Needs of Our Latino/Latina Communities

Participants will evaluate America’s and Indiana’s essential need for cultural com-petence in relation to working with Latino/Latina youth; discuss the challenges and pitfalls in preparing culturally competent educators and practitioners in schools of education and nice school districts across Marian county. The multicultural theories of Dr. James Banks, Dr. Christine Sleeter, Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, Gary Howards, and Dr. Sonia Nieto will be integrated into the presentation.
Meeting the Needs of Our Latina/o Communities

Dr. Carl Maertz: Resolving Cognitive Dissonance in Cross-Cultural Interactions -- A Key Process with Lessons for Better Inter-group Relations

Ingroup-outgroup interactions, such as those between individuals from different cultures, are fraught with the potential for misperceptions, misunderstandings, or outright conflict. Managing one’s self-concept and identity through reducing cognitive dissonance is also vital for success.

Conference Agenda: Concurrent Session Abstracts

pparkison — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:49:55 CDT

Concurrent Session Abstracts

Conference Agenda

Call for Papers/Presentations

pparkison — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:08:21 CST

Fourth Annual Multicultural Education Seminar: “Focus on Community: Community of Learners, Community of Engagement, Community of Practice” April 25, 2009 University of Southern Indiana ● Evansville, Indiana Call for Proposals You are invited to submit a proposal to present at the 2009 Multicultural Education Seminar on the necessity of creating safe and welcoming communities for young people. Increased mobility, immigration, and economic displacement make the public spaces provided by social, educational, governmental, and health agencies increasingly significant in terms of providing our youth new members of our communities with a sense of connection and belonging. In order to successfully create these safe havens it is essential that practitioners investigate, reflect upon, and act to create communities. We are seeking inspiring and dynamic presenters to share their knowledge, experiences, and expertise in significant relationships within the schooling, labor, and social services context through interactive capacity-building sessions.
The deadline for submission is March 1, 2009.
About the Conference A one-day Multicultural Education Conference will be utilized to investigate issues of Social Justice, Equity in Education, Cultural Critique and Engagement, and Civic and Community Development. The Multicultural Education Conference will serve to facilitate collaboration between K-12 education institutions, youth service organizations, career and employment service organizations, and the higher education communities. Two featured speakers will highlight the necessity of engaging these groups in meaningful dialogue and collaborative action.
· Dr. James Banks, Kerry and Linda Killinger Professor of Diversity Studies and Director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, Seattle. He a preeminent authority in multicultural education and in social studies education and has written widely in these book fields. He is a past president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). He is a member of the National Academy of Education.
· Luis Urrieta, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies in Education and Fellow in the Lee Hage Jamail Regents Chair in Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Urrieta's general research interests are on issues of identity and agency, activism, new social movements, and social practice theory. He is specifically interested in Chicana/o and Indígena activist identity, and in activism as a social practice in educational spaces. Luis Urrieta received his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003.

Each of the following presents a theme of responsive public engagement that we hope to understand:
1. Leadership: How do seminar participants perceive the extent to which local, state, and national leaders morally understand the alignment of their vision and the vision of those who follow?
2. Participatory Decision-making: How do seminar participants perceive the manner in which public questions are raised? Does public dialogue concerning public questions help authentically clarify the issues?
3. Actions of Cultural Workers: How do seminar participants perceive their role as public/cultural workers? To what extent do they perceive the need for a general sensitivity to needs and the need for the creation of a platform for the exchange of opinions?
4. Diaspora studies have pointed to the importance of relationships both the “homeland” and the “hostland” among immigrants. Is there a continuing tie to the homeland (country of origin) among modern immigrants, and how does this connection affect American foreign policy?
5. What is the nature of immigrant communities in the U.S. and in Indiana? Along what lines are there divisions? On what issues are they unified? Do they revolve around existing institutions, such as the church?

Criteria Proposals are solicited for creative and dynamic 60-minute presentations that are interactive and feature best practices. Presentation Formats A variety of presentation formats is desirable and may include workshops, panel presentations, and roundtable discussions. Handouts are strongly encouraged.
Proposal Format Submit an attached electronic proposal of no more than two pages. Include a proposal abstract of 25 words or less. If selected, this abstract will be used in the conference program booklet and on the conference Web Site. Include a cover sheet that contains the following information:
1. Contact information • Title of Proposal • Presenter(s) Name and Title • Organization/School/Agency • Address • Phone Number • Email Address
2. Indicate the Target Audience • Business and Industry • Government • Non-profit Agencies • P-12 Education • Higher Education

Proposals may be sent via email to pparkison@usi.edu or faxed to (812) 465-1029.
Fees The registration fee will be waived for all presenters attending the Seminar and a small stipend will be offered to lead presenters. Deadline for submission is March 1, 2009.

4th Annual Conference Planning

pparkison — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:00:17 CST

Meeting Room Schedule
INTRODUCTIONS: Please tell everyone about yourself: job title, interests, etc. UPDATE: Grants and funding: 1. Indiana Humanities Council 2. Majors as Home 3. Bower-Suhrheinrich Faculty Enhancement 4. Indiana Campus Compact: still pending Extended Services: 1. Website being developed: modeled on last year’s site (http://www.usi.edu/extserv/conferences/publicspace.asp) 2. Linda Cleek is coordinating with Special Events: reserved Carter Hall and the Conference Center for April 25, 2009. Web/Wiki Site: 1. Developed a “Wetpaint” wiki site for the conference · Part of the grant outcomes for Major as Home, B-S Faculty Enhancement, and ICC · Posted a preliminary book discussion information page 2. Invited several members to participate in development: · http://mceatusi.wetpaint.com/ · If you would like to participate in developing this site I will send you a membership invite. Speakers: 1. Dr. James Banks: opening address and one concurrent session.[i] 2. Dr. Luis Urrieta: closing address and one concurrent session.[ii] 3. Katie Parker (Alumni in Residence): lunch address and one concurrent session. NEW BUSINESS: Call for Proposals: · We need to develop a call for proposals to fill the concurrent sessions at the conference. · 2 concurrent breakout sessions are scheduled. We need at least 4 presentations for each session. Book Discussion: · James Banks (2007). Educating Citizens in a Multicultural Society, 2nd. New York: Teachers College Press · We have funding for multiple copies. We would like to have a diverse group of discussion participants: faculty, students, community members, area teachers and administrators, etc. · Wiki site will be used as a platform for the discussion. Publicity: · How do we get the community and area teachers to participate in the conference? · How do we get the community and area teachers to participate in the book discussion? · How do we get the university community to participate and contribute? Let use the website to continue the discussions that we begin today.

[i] To find out more about Dr. Banks go to http://faculty.washington.edu/jbanks/

[ii] To find out more about Dr. Urrieta go to http://www.edb.utexas.edu/education/faculty/view.php?ID_PK=74541AF2-1422-0F2D-9D74A967ACA557A7&coedept=coe

Date	Time	Group/Meeting	Venue
December 12	1 p.m.	Planning	ED 3104 at USI