ERIC Number: EJ784853
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 7
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1068-3844
EISSN: N/A
Teaching Children of Catastrophe
Gay, Geneva
Multicultural Education, v15 n2 p55-61 Win 2007
Teaching children who are victims of Katrina is not a multicultural education issue per se. However, there are some intersections between the victims of Katrina and the educational responses to them, and some of the primary constituent groups and issues that multicultural education represents and intends to serve. These are children of color and poverty who are marginalized in schools relative to resource allocation, learning opportunity, and academic achievement. Unfortunately, the lessons learned from the educational responses prompted by the aftermath of Katrina are not nearly as positive as one would hope, nor are they the kinds of attitudes and actions that are most desirable or should be pursued in the long run if educators expect to produce positive effects for the children of Katrina beyond immediate reactions. Several of these lessons learned are suggested in this article for critical analysis, reflection, and reconstruction to generate better educational opportunities and outcomes for ethnically, racially, and culturally different students regardless of their specific circumstances at any particular point in time. These include the infeasibility of charity as pedagogy; the limitations of good intentions; the pernicious nature of racism; isolation and invisibility; and the certainty that some children are always left behind.
Descriptors: Multicultural Education, Student Needs, Educationally Disadvantaged, Disadvantaged Youth, Educational Opportunities, Resource Allocation, Natural Disasters, Minority Group Children, Academic Achievement, School Administration, Student Diversity, Racial Bias, Social Isolation, Social Justice, Poverty
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A