This multiple case study traces the influence of cultural biographies on the curriculum decision making of two Latino preservice teachers who student taught in standards-based schools. These participants drew on their personal and cultural experiences to disrupt the "official" curriculum, which they believed failed to address fundamental issues of…

Three female tenure-track faculty members at a Hispanic-Serving Institution explored how their cultural backgrounds inform their pedagogical approaches toward equity. They drew upon Mills's (1959) and Collins's (1993) frameworks to examine how their personal biographies, local social contexts, and broader systemic institutions affect their…

Background/Context: In this article, we explore the life histories of two Latino/a prospective elementary teachers in a large Midwestern university; examine their knowledge, strengths, and needs as teachers; and consider how teacher educators might capitalize on these. We explore how these prospective teachers' prior family, home, K-12 schooling,…

Notes that writing narrative stories about students' own lives has been shown to help children develop personal, social, and cultural connections. Explains a project in which second graders expanded their knowledge of their community and deepened their understanding of the reading and writing process. Describes the process in which the students…

The guide presents classroom activities for elementary teachers in the Virgin Islands to use in exploring many facets of the ethnic groups who have settled there. The objective is to increase student awareness and understanding of their own and others' ethnic heritage. The document is divided into two major sections. Section I is the teacher's…