The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children / Edition 2

by Gloria Ladson-Billings, Gloria LadsonâBillings, Ladson-billings

Overview

The Dreamkeepers

In the second edition of her critically acclaimed book The Dreamkeepers, Gloria Ladson-Billings revisits the eight teachers who were profiled in the first edition and introduces us to new teachers who are current exemplars of good teaching. She shows that culturally relevant teaching is not a matter of race, gender, or teaching style. What matters most is a teacher's efforts to work with the unique strengths a child brings to the classroom. A brilliant mixture of scholarship and storytelling, The Dreamkeepers challenges us to envision intellectually rigorous and culturally relevant classrooms that have the power to improve the lives of not just African American students, but all children. This new edition also includes questions for reflection.

Praise for the First Edition

"The Dreamkeepers keeps hope alive for educating young African Americans."
—Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, president and founder, National Rainbow Coalition

"The Dreamkeepers is an immensely important and useful book for teachers and teacher educators. . . . In a creative, credible, and persuasive way, Gloria Ladson-Billings has made a major contribution to the field of multicultural education."
—JaCqueline Jordan Irvine, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Urban Education,Emory University

"Ladson-Billings integrates scholarly research with stories of eight successful teachers in a predominantly African American school district to illustrate that the 'dream' of all teachers and parents—academic success for all children—is alive and can be emulated."
—Library Journal

"Here is a book filled with pride and questions that should stimulate anyone interested in improving education."
—Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470408155
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	03/30/2009
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,075,200
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

GLORIA LADSON-BILLINGS is the Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education Emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously, she worked as a teacher in the Philadelphia public school system. She has served as president of the American Educational Research Association and the National Academy of Education and is a Fellow of the British Academy, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and the American Educational Research Association.

Read an Excerpt

Click to read or download

Table of Contents

A Dream Deferred.
Does Culture Matter?
Seeing Color, Seeing Culture.
We Are Family.
The Tree of Knowledge.
Culturally Relevant Teaching.
Making Dreams into Reality.

Editorial Reviews

Although statistics paint a harsh picture of the education of African American children, Ladson-Billings (curriculum and instruction, Univ. of Wisconsin) integrates scholarly research with stories of eight successful teachers in a predominantly African American school district to illustrate that the "dream" of all teachers and parents-academic success for all children-is alive and can be emulated. The presentation of examples from "intellectually rigorous and challenging classrooms" emphasizes the cultural and social aspects of the issues in education as a whole. The author's own experiences as a student and teacher of teachers support the need to make the problems of African American children a central issue in any debate on the American educational system. The in-depth bibliographical notes and the excellent appendixes discussing the methodology and the context of the study should be useful for education students and the libraries serving them.-A.R. Huggins, Memphis State Univ. Libs.

Library Journal

Ladson-Billings (education, U. of Wisconsin, Madison) examines eight exemplary teachers who differ in personal style and methods but share an approach to teaching that affirms cultural identity. Her portraits, interwoven with personal reflections derived from her experience as a scholar, teacher, and parent, present intellectually challenging and culturally relevant classrooms that promise to improve the lives of all students. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"This is an eloquent, optimistic, and extremely useful book." (Joe Nathan, director, Center for School Change, Humphrey Institute, and author of Charter Schools: Creating Hope and Opportunity in American Education, from a review in Teacher)

"Capture(s) the complexity of race relations in education by describing and analyzing how low teacher expectations detrimentally affect interpersonal relationships as well as student learning.... In addition to being informed of the pedagogical and personality orientation of culturally relevant teachers, the reader is exposed to an excellent example of the effective use of researcher subjectivity in a qualitatitve study.... Ladson-Billings' research methodology, her use of narratives, and her 'unconventional' writing style are of great value in expanding the range of what can be defined as solid qualitative research." (Communication Education)

"Education, like electricity, needs a conduit, a teacher, through which to transmit its power—i.e., the discovery and continuity of information, knowledge, wisdom, experience, and culture. Through the stories and experiences of eight successful teacher-transmitters, The Dreamkeepers keeps hope alive for educating young African Americans.'' (ReverAnd Jesse L. Jackson, president and founder, National Rainbow Coalition)

"In this beautifully written book Ladson-Billings illustrates the inspiring influence of a select group of teachers who keep the dreams alive for African American students." (Henry M. Levin, David Jacks professor of Higher Education, Stanford University)

"The Dreamkeepers is an immensely important and useful book for teachers and teacher educators...In a creative, credible, and persuasive way, Gloria Ladson-Billings has made a major contribution to the field of multicultural education." (Jaqueline Jordan Irvine, Candler Professor of Urban Education, Emory University)

From the Publisher