Figure 2: Key Elements for Effective Teaching of Ethnic
and Language Minority Students (Zeichner 1992)

  • Teachers have a clear sense of their own ethnic and cultural identities;

  • High expectations for the success of all students (and a belief that all students can succeed) are communicated to students;

  • Teachers are personally committed to achieveing equity for all students and believe that they are capable of making a difference in their students' learning;

  • Teachers have developed a bond with their students and cease seeing their students as "the other;"

  • Students are provided with an academically challenging curriculum that includes attention to the developmetn of higher level cognitive skills;

  • Instruction focuses on the creation of meaning about content by student in an interactive and collaborative learning environment;

  • Learning tasks are seen as meaningful by students;

  • The curriculum is inclusive of the contributions and perspectives of the different ethnocultural groups that make up society;

  • Scaffolding is provided by teachers that links the academically challenging curriculum to the cultural resources that students bring ro school;

  • Teachers explicitly teach students the culture of the school and seek to maintain students' sense of ethnocultural pride and identity;

  • Parents and community members are encouraged to become involved in students' education and are given a significant voice in making important school decisions related to program (e.g., sources and staffing);

  • Teachers are involved in political stuggles outside of the classroom that are aimed at achieving a more just and humane society.

<< Table of Contents >>