Supplementing traditional cultural material with presentation of African elements of the folklore and culture of Latin America is proposed as a means of increasing black student interest in intermediate Spanish language courses. Topics and suggested lesson titles reflecting diverse nonliterary aspects of the black experience in Latin America that…

Discusses cultural issues that demand attention in the classroom and in executive training sessions and suggests need for research that identifies sources of misunderstandings, such as hidden attitudes leading to wrong cultural assumptions. Relevant research concerning concept of stereotypes is reviewed, presence of stereotypes about Latin…

Examined the relationship between Latino high school students' conceptions of their futures and their school engagement. Data from interviews with 30 students indicated that there was considerable consistency in students' conceptions of the future, their understanding of the procedural knowledge necessary to actualize those futures, and the…

Cultural interference in writing classrooms includes linguistic and social differences that lead to mixed signals both for students and teachers and unshared expectations among this community of learners. This can be seen particularly at a place like the University of Texas at El Paso, where the Hispanic community of students comprises…

This study examines school and work barrier beliefs about the limitations of education for future career rewards and perceived supports for attaining the educational and career aspirations of low-income, inner-city, African American, Hispanic/Latino(a), and Caribbean immigrant youth. The authors find that higher levels of school and work barrier…

Culture is a powerful force that may affect the reception and acceptance of communication. To determine if culture has an effect on perceived speaker effectiveness, students in one introductory speech communication class in a Florida university and a variety of courses in a university in the Bahamas, were given an 80-item questionnaire that was…

This study investigated the influence of a community-based heritage culture program on Chicano students in a southwestern suburban middle school. Subjects were 61 seventh- and eighth-grade students, all Chicanos, with little or no previous instruction in indigenous Mexican culture. The pre- and post-survey, administerd a week piro to and 3 weeks…

Describes a longitudinal research project to introduce holistic-constructivistic pedagogy into bilingual special education classrooms. The authors report the process of teacher change as teachers shifted from a medical model to a contextual-performance model for viewing abilities and disabilities, the changes in students' attitudes toward reading…

This ethnographic study documents and interprets key school, work, and family life issues in the lives and experiences of a sampling of recent immigrants from the war-torn Central American nations; and suggests a psychocultural theory of achievement motivation. Information was gathered from observation in two urban high schools, interviews with 50…

The hypothesis, "children of different ethnic groups possess different political attitudes", was tested to determine: (1) whether white ethnic groups had different political attitudes; (2) if so, to what degree; and (3) how they ranked compared to each other. To verify the hypothesis, the concept of political socialization was…

Presents findings of a meeting, sponsored by the Massachusetts Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, on racial tension and religious intimidation on Massachusetts campuses. Student representatives of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Smith College at Northampton (Massachusetts) describe experiences and provides…

Reviews the recent history of racial tension at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst following a 1991 hearing sponsored by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. It is argued that approaches to multicultural education at the university have been a sham and have actually furthered inequality. (SLD)

The very high incidence of school dropouts throughout the nation is viewed as one of the major factors contributing to the failure of the American educational system, affecting not only the schools but the society as a whole. The social, political, and economic implications of the dropout problem are explored. The ability of the United States to…

Attitudes, personality, and career preference of Anglo and Cuban male and female medical students at the University of Miami were studied when they entered their surgical clerkship, and their performance was measured 12 weeks later. Most differences observed were a result of the Hispanic females, who may not be as assimilated into the core culture…