Investigated whether a planned engagement of white college students, which had very little contact with African Americans, with members of a black community in a safe, welcoming environment (a black church) would significantly reduce racism. Participant surveys indicated that positive interactions between Blacks and Whites resulted in positive…

This article examines the identity development of F/Pilipino Americans. Because of a distinct history and culture that differentiates them from other Asian groups, F/Pilipino Americans may experience a different ethnic identity development than other Asian Americans. A nonlinear 6-stage ethnic identity development model is proposed to promote…

This study focused on identifying intercultural attitudes associated with favorable expectations about participation in study abroad programs. A total of 282 U.S. 1st-year college students completed a questionnaire that included measures of ethnocentrism, intercultural communication apprehension, language interest and competence, prejudice,…

This article examines the ideological dimensions of educational psychology and psychometrics as they relate to the validation of the "intelligence" of the privileged and the "deficiency" of the marginalized. In this critique a critical psychology emerges that takes seriously the lifeworld experiences of culturally and…

To avoid the Anglo-Saxon culture mode, which dominates the current study of human communication in all contexts, the concept of communication competence can be examined from the perspective of Chinese culture. The conceptualization and empirical indicators used for the measurement of communication competence strongly reflect a Western cultural…

Teachers who lead classroom discussions of gay and lesbian issues are forced to confront their deepest feelings about sexuality and prejudice, a confrontation that many find uncomfortable for a number of reasons. They not only face the possibility that the discussion will turn negative but they also fear they will lose control of the situation. A…

Writing is an effective tool for investigating the problem of ethnic stereotyping, that is, grouping people from diverse cultures into broad unrepresentative categories. A first-year composition class addressed ethnic stereotyping using media critique. Class activities divided the process of deconstructing cultural stereotypes into three steps:…

A study investigated culturally shaped patterns of behavior and how receptive or resistant people in an educational setting are to different viewpoints held by members of other cultures. As background, an extensive literature review probed the definitions of "culture" and "ethnocentrism," the causes of ethnocentrism, and how…

Much of today's multicultural education is ethnocentric and has little apparent concern for cross-cultural contacts, our best hope in ameliorating racism. Increasingly, multiculturalism exalts particular racial and ethnic pride at the expense of social cohesion of the American society as a whole. However, the notion of a "common American…

Public schools are facing the largest crisis in American educational history. More and more minority students are attending public schools, and traditional methods of instruction are failing to meet their needs. The back-to-basics and belt-tightening movements within public schooling are part of a last-ditch effort to support an elitist education…

Language learning is a form of cultural learning, and cultural learning embraces language learning. The goal of cultural learning is a continuing search for understanding that bridges cultures. Language can be a bridge, a system that constructs reality as it communicates about reality. Education in the U.S. has tended to define culture as American…

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of cross-cultural counseling and advocates a "culture-using" counseling perspective as an alternative to the "etic-emic" approach. The author argues that, currently, counseling is taken as the "given"; culture is treated as a variable in counseling effectiveness; and counseling is never evaluated as a…

The back to basics movement continues to be the education media event of our time, but it appears that many advocates of the movement have interest in it other than that of education. Objectives range from strict drill in the three R's to a more vague return of religious and patriotic values to the curriculum and the elimination of such "frills"…

There are problems in using the traditional approaches of psychotherapy with various ethnic minority and national groups in the United States. Mental health practitioners, besides making errors in diagnosis, may also be handicapped in developing a therapeutic relationship with the patient. Numerous studies indicate that sociocultural factors tend…

The paper discusses the relevance of studying ethnocentrism in the secondary level social studies classroom. The study of ethnocentrism (a people's assumption that their way of life is the right way) allows students to share in the methodology of historiography, helps them to be aware of the importance of ideas and attitudes as historical data,…