Diversity in the Classroom - Annotated Bibliography Example

 Berk, Laura E.. "Emotional and Social Development in Middle Childhood." Infants, children, and Adolescents. Ed. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005. Print. This book summarizes the different social and emotional developmental stages that occur between birth-adulthood. Chapter 13, in particular, focuses on the development of adolescents. It emphasizes that one of the primary changes that occur during middle childhood is the development of self-concept. It states that this can be seen in how these young adults, “make social comparisons, judging their appearance, abilities, and behavior in relation to those of others” (471). The topics of self-esteem, moral development, cultural influences, peer relation, and family influence are all addressed as they pertain to this development of self-concept. Also some of the issues that may arise in any one of these categories are addressed as they may negatively impact this curtail developmental stage in an adolescence life. This book generally covers the psychological view of the stages of development, but it is written from an educational perspective, so they add in many relevant topics and solutions to aid educators in their pursuit of knowledge and growth. This source is very useful in giving a more clinical approach to the study of adolescent behavior and how outside influences can affect or alter psychological development. This source is very comparable to the other sources listed in that it comes from an educational point of view. However, it does have a slightly less emotional, more factual approach, which could prove useful in crediting my essay. I feel the information written in this book is very reliable, and all facts, concepts written are based on credited, sited works. I also do not feel that this source is biased. It is a source based on information, not emotion. The goal of this source is to inform the reader of the different stages of development. The author, Laura E. Berk, is a distinguished professor of psychology at Illinois State University, where she teaches human development to both undergraduate and graduate students. She has a doctoral degree in early childhood development and education from the University of Chicago. This book was very helpful in aiding me in my search for information on how issues such as community, prejudices, and cultural acceptance affects the youth of our society. It helped to shape my argument by giving me factual, relevant information on ways one’s acceptance into society and by peers, especially at this age, can affect the entire well being and person one becomes. I can use the facts given in this source to aid the development of my argument and the credibility of my essay. This source did not change my initial outlook on the topic, it did, however, give me useful information in developing my ideas. Bode, Patty, and Sonia Nieto. Affirming Diversity: The SocioPolitical Context of Multicultural Education. 5th ed. Boston. Allyon & Bacon, Inc., 2008. Print. This books looks at the necessity and benefits of a multicultural education for all students. It is intended for both current and soon to be teachers. It discusses the topics of how personal, social, political, cultural, and educational factors affect whether a student succeeds or fails in the classroom. It uses several case studies to demonstrate how the issues discussed in this book have played out in a real classroom. With the goal of this book being to enlighten the reader on how diversity affects students in today’s classroom I found it very informative for my research topic. Being that this is a reliable source, with an objective based approach, I found it very comparable to the other sources listed in this bibliography. The primary goal of this source was to inform, not persuade the reader on diversity in the classroom. The authors, Patty Bode and Sonia Nieto, are both well known, reputable publishers and active in the educational community. Patty Bode is a director of education at Tuffs University, and Sonia Nieto is a professor of language literature and culture at University of Massachusetts. This source was helpful to me in my continued search for how diversity and a student’s diverse background can affect them both educationally and socially. This book gave a inside look at how different cultures view different actions, and how important it is to make sure you know were your student is coming from before you judge their actions. I can use this in my research paper to show how it is important as educators we take the time to know our students. As we saw in Outcasts United, expecting everyone to think and feel like you in this multicultural society isn’t the best way. This source did in some ways change how I felt about the topic. I was approaching this topic in a more fact based way, but this goes more into the emotional aspects of diversity in society and education. Johnson, James A.. "Diversity in Society." Introduction to the Foundations of American Education. Comp. Diann Musial, Gene E. Hall, Donna M. Gollnick, Victor L. Dupuis. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005. Print. The primary goal of this book is to inform aspiring educators about the issues that affect today’s classroom, and equip them with methods of overcoming them. This particular chapter covers diversity in society as a whole and as it pertains to education. It covers the topics: culture and society, diversity and education, socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, gender, and exceptionalities. This is a fact based informational book on the issues that affect the U.S. public school system and how they should be overcome. This is a very useful source in my research and is comparable to the other sources listed in this bibliography. The facts and information in this source are based on reputable facts and citied accurately. It takes an objective, non-biased, look at the issues of diversity in society, with its primary goal being to inform the reader. The author, James A. Johnson, is an educator himself at Northern Illinois University. This source was helpful for me in my research of the affect of diversity in the classroom. I found the discussion on the distinction of different opportunities a person from another society has to fit into out culture. These were assimilation, pluralism, or cultural choice. The book discussed the impact each of these methods has on the individual, and what outcome might be expected. I found the facts on assimilation and how they relate to issues brought up in Outcasts United, most intriguing. It seems that due to the fact the students in this story did not fit into their society via assimilation, because they wanted to hold to some of their old culture, they faced the discrimination this book discusses. I do not feel this book has changed my view of the topic, however, it did give me a variety of enlightening facts to use to support my theory. Neito, Sonia. The light in their eyes: creating multicultural learning communities. 10th ed. New York: Teachers College Press, 2010. Print. This book discusses were we have been and were we are going in relation to multiculturalism and education. The topics that are addressed are some o the changes we have experienced over the based decade as a society in: our increasing diversity, the altering conditions in schools and in society, the influence of poverty on learning, and the impact of NCLB on classrooms and schools. The source is useful in discussing were we have been in we are heading in education. It is comparable to the other sources in format and importance. It is different from the other sources in that it focuses on how our past is affecting our future. The information contained in this source is reliable and contains many fact based reputable situations. It is written from a factual, non-biased, point of view with the goal of informing the reader. The author, Sonia Nieto, is a professor of language literature and culture at University of Massachusetts. This source was very helpful to me in finding information on diversity in the classroom. It helped me to answer questions on were we as a society are heading in relation to multiculturalism in the classroom. It helped to shape my argument by giving me different historical facts on were we as a society have come from. It also brought some new information to light that I had not considered such as the impact that 911 had on people’s view of different cultures, and how our changing economy and some families changing economic standing can be affecting students in a similar way. In this way it focused on the different aspects of diversity not just multiculturalism; such as poverty, and learning disabilities. This allowed me to see my topic from a different perspective on how it is not just being multicultural that makes it sometimes difficult to fit into society and the classroom, but it is anything that makes you different from the norm, anything that sets you apart. Read More