'Bridging Cultures' and 'Readings for Bridging Cultures' Two-Book Paper Set

The "Bridging Cultures" Teacher Education Module is a professional development resource for teacher educators and staff developers to help pre-service and in-service teachers become knowledgeable about cultural differences and understand ways of bridging the expectations of school settings with those of the home. In a non-threatening, cognitively meaningful way, the module is based on teacher-constructed and tested strategies to improve home-school communication and parent involvement. These innovations were developed as part of the Bridging Cultures Project, which explores the cultural value differences between the individualistic orientation of mainstream US schools and the collectivistic orientation of many immigrant families. The goal of the Bridging Cultures Project is to help teachers be more successful in working with students and families from immigrant cultures. The centerpiece of the module is training resources, including an outline, an agenda and a well-tested three-hour script designed as a lecture-discussion with structured opportunities for guided dialogue and small-group discussion. Throughout the script, "Facilitators Notes" annotate presentation suggestions and oversized margins encourage integration of the facilitator's personal experiences in presenting and adapting the module. Ideas for using the "Readings for Bridging Cultures" text are provided. A section of overhead transparencies and handout masters is also included, along with a discussion of the role of culture in education and the constructs of individualism and collectivism, an overview of the effects of the Bridging Cultures Project, and evaluation results of the author's use of the module in two sections of a pre-service teacher education course. The Bridging Cultures Project has been the focus of over 70 presentations since 1997 to audiences that include teachers, administrators, district-level professional teacher trainers, college faculty, pre-service teachers, graduate students and researchers. This book aims to bring the successful processes and practices of the Bridging Cultures Project to a larger audience in college courses and in professional development arenas. Designed for use in one or two class sessions, it can be incorporated in courses on educational psychology, child development, counselling psychology and any others that deal with culture in education. This pack supplies a copy of the Teacher Education Module along with the companion "Readings for Bridging Cultures" volume.