| assimilation | The process of acquiring a culture; a child's acquisition of the cultural heritage through both formal and informal educational means.
|
 |
|
|
| bilingual education | Educational programs in which students of limited or no English-speaking ability attend classes taught in English, as well as in their native language. There is great variability in these programs in terms of goals, instructional opportunity, and balance between English and a student's native language.
|
|
|
|
| cultural difference theory | This theory asserts that academic problems can be overcome if educators study and mediate the cultural gap separating school and home.
|
|
|
|
| cultural pluralism | Acceptance and encouragement of cultural diversity.
|
|
|
|
| culture | A set of learned beliefs, values and behaviors, a way of life shared by members of a society.
|
|
|
|
| deficit theory | A theory that asserts that the values, language patterns, and behaviors that children from certain racial and ethnic groups bring to school put them at an educational disadvantage.
|
|
|
|
| English Language Learners (ELL) | (Also referred to as limited English proficiency (LEP)). Students whose native language is not English and are learning to speak and write English.
|
|
|
|
| ethnicity | Shared common cultural traits such as language, religion, and dress. A Latino or Hispanic, for example, belongs to an ethnic group, but might belong to the Negro, Caucasian or Asian race.
|
|
|
|
| expectation theory | First made popular by Rosenthal and Jacobson, this theory holds that a student's academic performance can be improved if a teacher's attitudes and beliefs about that student's academic potential are modified.
|
|
|
|
| generalizations | Broad statements about a group that offer information, clues and insights that can help you as a teacher plan more effectively. Generalizations are a good starting point, but as the teacher learns more about the students, individual differences become more educationally significant.
|
|
|
|
| immersion | This bilingual education model teaches students with limited English by using a "sheltered" or simplified English vocabulary, but teaching in English and not in the other language.
|
|
|
|
| maintenance approach | A bilingual model that emphasizes the importance of acquiring English while maintaining competence in the native language.
|
|
|
|
| multicultural education | Educational policies and practices that not only recognize but also affirm human differences and similarities associated with gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, and class.
|
|
|
|
| multiple intelligences | A theory developed by Howard Gardner to expand the concept of human intelligence to include such areas as logical-mathematical, linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.
|
|
|
|
| race | Refers to a group of individuals sharing common genetic attributes, physical appearance, and ancestry.
|
|
|
|
| stereotypes | Absolute statements applied to all members of a group, suggesting that members of a group have a fixed, often inherited set of characteristics.
|
|
|
|
| stereotype threat | A measure of how social context, such as self-image, trust in others, and a sense of belonging, can influence academic performance.
|