Western Kentucky University

Office Hours:  Tuesday:  by apt

Electronic Hours:  Evenings 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. Central

Prerequisite:  LTCY 519

Course Description: Introduction to social factors, cultural factors, and aspects of language that affect teaching and learning of literacy, particularly in reading, writing, and the language arts; application of multicultural perspectives to curriculum development and classroom literacy practices. 

Rationale:  This course is needed to provide teachers with the necessary skills and information to meet standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association as they relate to increasingly diverse demographics in the United States (NCTE & IRA, Standards for the Language Arts, # 9, 1996; Excellent Reading Teachers:  A Position Statement of the International Reading Association, April 2000). The purpose of the course is to examine human universals as well as cultural and ethnic distinctions as they relate to the development of literacy.  The course is further designed to provide a foundation for strengthening the understanding, skills, and techniques professionals need to interact and work effectively with diverse children and families.  This course is aligned with state requirements for the Reading and Writing endorsement with the Master of Education degree. 
 

Course Objectives, Instructional Methods, and Assessment:

The course is intended to help students:

A)   Understand the historical and contemporary perspectives toward cultural diversity as they relate to dialect, language use, and literacy development.

B)    Understand concepts relating to cultural diversity (e.g., culture, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, and gender) and comprehend why these concepts are important to professionals working with children and families.

C)    Understand the cultural, socioeconomic, and familial characteristics of major cultural groups represented in the United States.

D)   Learn how multicultural perspectives affect language use and development as it relates to literacy.

E)    Develop/expand awareness of their own cultural perspectives and the impact of those perspectives towards others.

F)    Develop strategies for working with families in encouraging literacy development.

G)   Critically analyze and interpret research utilizing culturally diverse samples. 

Experienced Teacher Standards

Click HERE for Kentucky Experienced Teacher Standards related to this course.

KERA Elements/Context Addresses
 Goals and Valued Outcomes
 Performance Tasks
Expanded use of Technology

Course Disposition Statement(s)

The teacher recognizes her/his professional responsibility for engaging in and supporting appropriate professional practices for self and colleagues.

The teacher is committed to the continuous development of individual students’ abilities and considers how different motivational strategies are likely to encourage this development for each student.

The teacher has a well-grounded framework for understanding cultural and community diversity and knows how to learn about and incorporate student’s experiences, cultures, and community resources into instruction.

The teacher is committed to continuous learning and engages in professional discourse about subject matter knowledge and children’s learning of the discipline.

Required Textbook: 

none

Course Topics:

Theories/Perspectives on Cultural Diversity and Literacy Instruction

      Introduction to the theories and perspectives of literacy instruction with culturally diverse students.  This introduction will embrace an expanded definition of
      literacy to include issues of race, class, gender, and language differences. 
Schooling and Diversity

      Examination of issues relating to public school structures and systems in providing equitable instruction and learning opportunities for all children.  Historical and
      current views are presented.
Creating a Literate Community within Diverse Populations

      Examination of home and community oral and written literate traditions and practices of students in order to provide a cohesive connection between home and
      school literacy learning. 
Learning Styles and Culturally Diverse Student
       Investigation of learning styles of various populations of people whose cultural, ethnic, gender, or class impact literacy learning and achievement in school.
Issues Relating to Tracking and Ability Grouping in Literacy Instruction
       Historical and research-based exploration of how practices of tracking and ability grouping have limited the learning opportunities for many students of culturally
      different backgrounds.

Assessment and Diversity
      Investigation of biases relative to all types of assessments with regard to cultural differences and the impact those biases have on educational opportunities for
      those students. 

Valuing Language Differences
      Focuses on issues relative to students who speak English as a Second Language, issues of dialect, non-standard forms of English, and alternative
      communications methods. 

Valuing Diversity in Literature
      Methods in evaluating, utilizing, and appreciating multiethnic/multicultural literature. 
 

Attendance and Course Requirements:  PLEASE read this section: 

A.  All assignments are due on time. Late assignments will be penalized 20% of their possible point value if submitted within two work days of their due date. Assignments turned in beyond that point will receive 50% of their graded point value. 
B.  All assignments will be graded for content and mechanics.
C. It is expected that you will read and reflect on required course readings prior to Discussion Board Entry. Selected course readings will help you develop the knowledge and theoretical base needed for teaching reading in content areas. 
D. Students are encouraged to conference with the instructor by phone or by email, if the need arises.
E. All assignments must be typed. Use APA format for assignments. You WILL lose points if you do not use APA format.   (12pt font, 1 inch margins, double-spaced).  APA format can be accessed as follows:

• http://www.apastyle.org/elecgeneral.html
• http://www.apastyle.org/elecsource.html
• http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/research/apadocument.html
• http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.cfm?doc_id=796
• Citation Machine: http://citationmachine.net/
   

F. University policy on academic honesty will be strictly observed.  Please see notes on PLAGIARISM.  

G.  Keep a copy of all assignments. If an assignment is lost, the burden of proof that you completed the assignment
rests with you.

H.  How much TIME should I plan to accomplish the tasks within this course?  People work at different speeds, rates, degrees of proficiency.  A blanket rule of thumb would be the following:

For full semester on-line course (fall or spring):

• If this were a face-to-face course we would be meeting 2 hours and 45 minutes per week or a total of  41 hours and 15 minutes. 

• For graduate courses you should allow a MINIMUM of two hours of outside class work for every one hour of face-to-face (or e-time).  That would equal 123 hours and 45 minutes per semester, or approximately 8.26 hours per week (again minimum and depending on how quickly you read, write, synthesize, research, construct). 

I.  Suggestions for organizing for learning in this course:

• This course is cumulative in many respects and will require multi-tasking. 

• It is recommended that you get a 3-ring binder with dividers or a series of file folders.

• For projects that are longitudinal in nature (2.3, 2.4, and 2.5) follow the directions listed below and continue to add to those throughout the semester until ready to submit. 

• This course is not "linear" in nature -- you may work through the assignments in the order they are presented to an extent, but as noted above, some of the assignments listed early in the syllabus outline are some of the last ones due since they are cumulative in nature, but need to be started with the initial readings. 

• READ the directions on the syllabus, follow any recommended links, and then WORK DAILY FROM THE CALENDAR -- the calendar has all the DUE dates and move you from one task to another. 

Evaluation and Grade Assignment:

The final course grade will be based on the following grading scale:

Grading Scale:

A:  370 - 400 pts.

B:  340 - 369 pts.

C:  300 - 339 pts.

D:  276 - 299 pts. 

F:  275 or fewer pts.

Course Assignments and Point Values:

1.0  Participation and Professionalism  - 20 points

Active participation through email, virtual chat (or IM), and discussion board forums is mandatory! This also includes participation in submitting surveys, collegiality, effort, etc.  Professionalism is expected with regard to your electronic communications to one another and to the professor. Your communications should be polite and professional. All tasks will be explained via email, video, and discussion boards as they are introduced in the course.  Do not try to do this course in a weekend or a week - it will take the whole time to complete this course.  You cannot work ahead of me as we are "traveling" together as a unit through this course. 

2.0  Micro Macro Micro: Understanding the Global Implications of being Literate (Critical Performance; QEP) 

3.0  Theory Meets the Real World - 140 points

The Summer Program at the Housing Authority of Bowling Green will serve as the site for this field experience and service learning. 

Purpose:  The purpose of this aspect of the course is to have some experiences with diverse populations in an educational setting.  Observations and interactions through instruction will allow LTCY 527 students to make connections between research, theory, and the first person experience of application, synthesis, and internalization of key concerns in serving learners who are ethnically, culturally, socially, and otherwise diverse. 

Materials/Resources Needed:  

Activities for the field experience/service learning may include:

1)  Observations (kidwatching, discourse analysis, journaling) - due from everyone and then select either # 2, #3, or # 4 from the list below

2)  Teaching students the strategies and skills needed for reading comprehension

3)  Teaching students the process of writing

4)  Leading book clubs featuring multicultural literature and "grand conversations"

5)  Digital Storytelling

Specific format for journal will be provided by instructor. 

Due from Students: 
 

A daily journal and reflection/debriefing which may be done electronically  will be required.  Due dates for these journals and reflections/debriefings will be scheduled with each student individually.  You will receive an email from me to help determine the times that are best for you to plan to come to the HA Learning Center (http://www.habg.org/Directions.html).  From there we will work together to devise a schedule.  A minimum of 8 hours are required to allow for time to accomplish the goals of this assignment.  This time will count as service learning and align with WKU's Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). 

Disability Accommodations Statement:
"Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustment and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services, Room 445, Potter Hall.  The OFSDS telephone number is (270) 745-5004 V/TDD.  Please DO NOT request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services. 

Plagiarism Policy:
To represent ideas or interpretations taken from another source as one's own is plagiarism.  Plagiarism is a serious offense.  The academic work of students must be their own.  Students must give the author(s) credit for any source material used.  To lift content directly from a source without giving credit is a flagrant act.  To present a borrowed passage after having changed a few words, even if the source is cited, is also plagiarism. Please read and know that you are responsible for the content on this webpage:  http://www.pampetty.com/plagiarism.htm

As you begin your first assignments, be sure that you are not crossing the line into plagiarism. It is a serious issue and will not be taken lightly. Please read about Avoiding Plagiarism.

Website Address:

Teacher-oriented sites:

Kentucky Department of Education: http://www.kde.state.ky.us

International Reading Association: http://www.reading.org

Children’s Literature Web Guide: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown

ERIC Clearing on Reading, English & Communication: http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/index.html

Booklist (reviews): http://www.ala.org/booklist/

Instructional Framework:  Introduction to Teaching Strategies:  http://edservices.aea7.k12.ia.us/framework/strategies/ 

Instructional Framework:  Introduction to Teaching Strategies

Pam Petty's Education Site:  http://www.pampetty.com 

Bibliography

Au, K. H. (1993).  Literacy instruction in multicultural settings.  Fort Worth, TX:  Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. 

Banks, J. A.  (1991).  Multicultural literacy and curriculum reform.  Educational Horizons, 69(3), 124-140. 

Billings-Ladson, G.  (2001).  Crossing over to canaan:  The journey of new teachers in diverse classrooms.  NY:  John Wiley & Sons.

Blair, T. and Jones, D. (1998). Preparing student teachers for pluralistic classrooms. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. 

Delpit, L.  (1995).  The silenced dialogue:  Power and pedagogy in educating other people's children.  In Delpit, L.  (ed).  Other People's Children:  Cultural Conflict in the Classroom.  New York:  NY:  The New Press.

Donelan, R.  W., Neal, G. A. & Jones, D. L.  (1994).  The promise of Brown and the reality of academic grouping:  The tracks of my tears.  The Journal of Negro Education, 63(3), 376-387.

Eldridge, D.  (1996).  When the shoe won't fit:  Sizing up teachers' concerns about and responses to diversity in the language arts classroom.  Language Arts, 73, 298-304.

Gay, G.  (2000).  Challenges and perspectives.  In Culturally Responsive Teaching:  Theory, Research and Practice (pp. 1-20).  New York:  NY.  Teachers College, Columbia University. 

Hollins, E. R. and Oliver, E. I.  (1999).  Pathways to success in school:  Culturally responsive teaching.  NY:  Lawrence Erlbaum. 

Howard, G. R. (1999).  We can't teach what we don't know:  White teachers, multiracial schools. New York:  NY.  Teachers College, Columbia University. 

Lewis, C.  (2001). Literary practices as social acts: Power, status, and cultural norms in the classroom.  NY: Lawrence Erlbaum. 

Professional Journals

Videos

Myth of Race – Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, PA

Free Indeed:  A Video Drama about Racism – Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, PA

American Tongues (#891722 – Instructional Technology:  University Film and Video    
       Library Catalog

How Are Kids Smart?  Multiple Intelligencies in the Classroom (#894502 - Instructional
       Technology:  University Film and Video Library Catalog