Classrooms and museums have long provided the perfect environment for students to engage information on multiple levels. Some of the information is in the form of worksheets, textbooks, and interpretive panels others in the form of societal conceptions derived from their surroundings. Museums are supposed to be equitable spaces where facts can be…

The Bantu Education system, which replaced missionary-run black schooling in the mid-1950s, expanded schooling to accommodate the basic economic needs of the South African economy but it was done as cheaply as possible. The state paid teachers' salaries and in return it expected obedience and conformity from its employees. It was a tight-fisted,…

The article explores the multifaceted process of creating the large-scale annual public puppetry event, The Barrydale Giant Puppet Parade, in the rural town of Barrydale, South Africa. It unpacks the complex layers of meaning and making arising through a co-creative puppetry project in a region of South Africa marked by poverty and the on-going…

Discusses Alain Locke's 1925 text, "The New Negro," which offered the world the first comprehensive look at black literary and cultural achievements as seen through the eyes of African Americans, and which launched the Harlem Renaissance. Compares Locke with W.E.B. Du Bois and notes that Locke's contributors were nearly anyone who had…

Describes the content and pedagogy of a three-week unit using "Kwanzaa" to validate the Swahili roots of African American cultural heritage. Emphasizes that Kwanzaa is a holiday of principles that applies to all students by emphasizing community, purpose, and personal and collective action. (RS)

Explores Black and White attendance in American art events. Blacks generally participated more in Afro-American events, Whites in Euro-American. Differences greatest in public consumption, smaller in private. Assesses cultural convergence and competition theories with survey data. Discusses need for middle-class minorities to cultivate membership…

Contends that poetry is a particularly useful and engaging vehicle for revealing the complexities of a historical moment. Outlines three exercises on poetry and history designed as adjunct activities that may be used with the specified historical periods. Focuses on the experiences of African Americans. Includes three handouts with reading…

Maintains that holidays provide opportunities for teaching about history and cultural diversity. Presents a bibliographic essay of recommended resources for elementary teachers on this topic. Materials include reading resources, activity books, and audiovisual materials. (CFR)

Presents an interview with Walter Turnbull, founder and conductor of Boys Choir of Harlem (New York). Turnbull discusses the origins of the choir and the positive affects it has had on its many participants. He also discusses the role of music in arts education and the importance of the arts in the curriculum. (MJP)

Examines the link between racial inequality in schooling and differences in cultural capital, parents' socialization of their children into high-status culture. Reveals an interconnection between the integration of blacks into high-status culture and the black-white convergence in schooling. Suggests cultural capital possesses potential for upward…

Provides a series of guidelines, suggestions, and teaching activities designed to promote multicultural awareness during the December holiday season. The instructional activities, developed by a group of teachers and clergy, aim to educate students about holiday celebrations from many cultures. Includes lists of activities counterproductive to…