Diversity and the New Teacher

In this extraordinary volume, veteran teacher educator and internationally respected scholar Catherine Cornbleth examines one of the most challenging issues for new teachers—how to effectively teach a diverse student population. Cornbleth weaves the voices and experiences of student teachers from urban elementary and high schools into her own analysis. She invites new and prospective teachers (especially white teachers from middle-class homes) to draw on these experiences to explore how to work more constructively with students different from themselves, and to succeed in schools different than their own. She also speaks to teacher educators about their role in preparing new teachers to face increasing diversity in public schools. Featuring vignettes and interviews throughout, this book offers in-depth descriptions of the issues white student teachers confront as they teach in urban settings, provides insight and advice to help strengthen relationships between racially, socioeconomically, and culturally dissimilar students and teachers, and examines the successes and failures teachers experience when engaging diverse groups of students in meaningful academic learning.

Catherine Cornbleth is professor of education at the Graduate School of Education, University at Buffalo, SUNY