Crossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms

by Gloria Ladson-Billings

Overview

"Gloria Ladson-Billings provides a perceptive and interestingaccount of what is needed to prepare novice teachers to besuccessful with all students in our multicultural society. Thisbook is must reading for all those entering the profession ofteaching today and for those who prepare them for this importantwork."
—Ken Zeichner, associate dean and professor of curriculum andinstruction, School of Education, University ofWisconsin-Madison

"The multiple voices in Gloria Ladson-Billings's book arecompelling, provocative, and insightful-they provide a powerful'insider' perspective on what it really means to learn to teach allchildren well."
—Marilyn Cochran-Smith, professor of education and editor, Journalof Teacher Education, Boston College, School of Education

"Ladson-Billings, one of the stellar researchers and mostpassionate advocates for social justice, has written yet anothermasterpiece. By weaving the novice teachers' voices, her personalteaching journey, and language rich in compelling research andinspiring metaphors, Ladson-Billings has documented how newteachers transform schools and teach poor children of color."
—Jacquline Jordan Irvine, Candler Professor of Urban Education,Emory University, Division of Educational Studies

"Masterful teacher and teacher-educator Gloria Ladson-Billings hasgiven us—in highly readable form—a brilliant vision of whatteacher education might become. In Crossing Over to Canaan we get aglimpse of how a carefully constructed teacher education programfocused on teaching for social justice can produce excellentteaching, even by young, middle-class teachers-in-training, indiverse educational settings."
—Lisa D. Delpit, Benjamin E. Mays Professor of EducationalLeadership, Georgia State University

The author of the best-selling book The Dreamkeepers shows howteachers can succeed in diverse classrooms. Educating teachers towork well in multicultural classrooms has become an all-importanteducational priority in today's schools. In Crossing Over toCanaan, Gloria Ladson-Billings details the real-life stories ofeight novice teachers participating in an innovative teachereducation program called Teach for Diversity. She details theirstruggles and triumphs as they confront challenges in the classroomand respond with innovative strategies that turn cultural strengthsinto academic assets. Through their experiences, Ladson-Billingsillustrates how good teachers can meet the challenges of teachingstudents from highly diverse backgrounds—and find a way to "crossover to Canaan." She offers a model of teaching that focuses onacademic achievement, cultural competence, and socio-politicalconsciousness.

Drawing from her own experiences as a young African-Americanteacher working in Philadelphia, she successfully weaves togethernarrative, observation, and scholarship to create an inspirationaland practical book that will help teachers everywhere as they workto transcend labels and categories to support excellence among allstudents.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780787950019
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	03/29/2001
Series:	Janice Vancleave Science for Fun Series
Edition description:	1 ED
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.44(w) x 9.15(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

GLORIA LADSON-BILLINGS is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She worked for a decade as a teacher and administrator in the Philadelphia Public Schools. She is the author of The Dreamkeepers (Jossey-Bass, 1997).

Read an Excerpt

Crossing Over to Canaan
The Journey of New Teachers in
Diverse Classrooms

Preface

As was true for many African Americans, an important part of my education took place in the black church. Every Sunday morning meant putting on my best clothes, getting a special hairdo, and spending almost four hours at White Rock Baptist Church in West Philadelphia. We always went to Sunday School at 9:30 A.M. and to Sunday morning services from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. I do not think I was alone in experiencing a weird combination of boredom and fascination with the weekly going-to-church ritual.

Depending on the quality of one's Sunday School teacher, it was possible to learn quite a bit about the mystery of faith, even if it was difficult to understand the homiletic proclamations of the preacher. Sunday School teachers often told Bible stories in ways that made sense to children and young people. One of the stories that always puzzled me was that of Moses and the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt.

I understood the miraculous burning bush, the various plagues that were visited upon Egypt, and the parting of the Red Sea. Indeed, Cecil B. DeMille helped me to see and understand them. What I could not understand was why, after all he had done to whip the children of Israel into shape, Moses was being denied the opportunity to lead them into Canaan. Instead, the younger, less-experienced Joshua was chosen to direct the crossing into Canaan. Why couldn't Moses go into the promised land?

Crossing Over to Canaan: The Metaphor

I probably do not have enough theological knowledge to understand the subtleties of biblical exegesis. But I do know how to recognize a good metaphor when I see one. The passing of leadership from the old to the young is what those Bible stories—and what Crossing Over to Canaan—is all about.

We are in the midst of spirited discussions in this country about teachers and their preparation. There are reasons to be pessimistic about the future of our schools. In the midst of this information age, fewer and fewer of our best and brightest students choose teaching as a career. Of those who do, only a small percentage want to teach in urban communities serving poor children of color.

This book is about that small number of prospective teachers who want to teach poor children of color. It is about a group of modern-day Joshuas who are excited about the possibilities for transformation that lie just beneath the surface of most urban communities.

As I did in my previous book, The Dreamkeepers, I have written this one in three voices—the voice of a teacher, a teacher educator, and a researcher. I reflect on my own early teaching career and the many mistakes I made. I reflect on my work with prospective teachers struggling to work effectively with diverse groups of students. And I attempt to systematically study the practice of novice teachers who are committed to principles of equity and social justice and high achievement for all students.

In this book I describe how prospective teachers who attempt to develop a culturally relevant pedagogy negotiate their first year. But the book is not about personalities. It is about a process—a process of change that can happen in a teacher education program.

Contents of the Book

Crossing Over to Canaan begins with an Introduction that describes my perspective on the state of teacher education in the United States. As one might imagine, my description is not particularly flattering. I explain what I see as a persistent resistance to change in teacher education that keeps the field in a reactive mode. Rather than innovate, teacher education tends to imitate. The book tells part of the story of an innovative teacher education program we call Teach for Diversity (TFD).

Chapter One focuses on the nature of teaching in the twenty-first century and the despair people seem to feel about trying to teach "these children." In this chapter I reveal my inspiration for deciding to focus on novice teachers as a part of the solution to invigorating teaching and supporting success in urban schools.

Chapter Two introduces the novice teachers who agreed to participate in this study. As I stated, I did not attempt to focus on the teachers in great detail, lest the reader become seduced by their individual personality traits. I attempted instead to tell a bit about the teachers' backgrounds and how they came to make the decision to participate in a teacher education program focused on diversity, equity, and social justice.

Chapter Three describes the first of three propositions that support culturally relevant teaching—academic achievement. In this chapter I describe how the novice teachers attempted to take up the academic responsibilities of teaching. They were all bright, knowledgeable young women who wanted to do stimulating, creative things in the classroom. However, their foremost concern was whether or not students were learning, not whether they were being entertained.

Chapter Four addresses the concept of cultural competence. The novice teachers understood that students of color may become alienated from the schooling process because schooling often asks children to be something or someone other than who they really are. It asks them to use language other than the one they come to school with. It asks them to dismiss their community and cultural knowledge. It erases things that the students hold dear. The novice teachers were attempting to recruit the students' cultural knowledge as a vehicle for learning, as well as for understanding how their own cultural background provide a very specific lens for seeing the world.

Chapter Five explores the citizenship function of teaching in public schools. It describes aspects of the community service portion of the teacher education program, as well as the novice teachers' attempts at integrating social justice and civic participation activities into their curriculum.

Chapter Six analyzes some of the shortcomings of the TFD program and creates a vision of a teacher education program that I compare to a promised land. This vision is culled from elements of a variety of teacher education programs I have observed or read about. The chapter offers some cautionary notes to teacher educators about the difficulty of maintaining the effort to innovate in teacher education. However, I trust that it does not act as a deterrent to energetic and creative colleagues who are committed to a transformative agenda for teaching and teacher education.

I have included two appendixes at the end of the book. One describes the methodology employed in the study; the other provides a more detailed description of the TFD program. I include them because I invite teachers, teacher educators, administrators, and qualitative researchers to participate in similar research and practice activities. Ultimately, I want us all to find a way to cross over to Canaan.

Table of Contents

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

The Author.

Introduction.

Can Anybody Teach These Children?

Sojourners.

They're Supposed to Learn Something.

Nobody Wants to Be Urkel.

Apathy Is Not an Option.

A Vision of the Promised Land.

Appendix A: Methodology.

Appendix B: The Teach for Diversity Program.

Notes.

Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Gloria Ladson-Billings provides a perceptive and interesting account of what is needed to prepare novice teachers to be successful with all students in our multicultural society. This book is must reading for all those entering the profession of teaching today and for those who prepare them for this important work."
—Ken Zeichner, associate dean and professor of curriculum and instruction, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"The multiple voices in Gloria Ladson-Billings's book are compelling, provocative, and insightful-they provide a powerful 'insider' perspective on what it really means to learn to teach all children well."
—Marilyn Cochran-Smith, professor of education and editor, Journal of Teacher Education, Boston College, School of Education

"Ladson-Billings, one of the stellar researchers and most passionate advocates for social justice, has written yet another masterpiece. By weaving the novice teachers' voices, her personal teaching journey, and language rich in compelling research and inspiring metaphors, Ladson-Billings has documented how new teachers transform schools and teach poor children of color."
—Jacquline Jordan Irvine, Candler Professor of Urban Education, Emory University, Division of Educational Studies.

"Masterful teacher and teacher-educator Gloria Ladson-Billings has given us-in highly readable form-a brilliant vision of what teacher education might become. In Crossing over to Canaan we get a glimpse of how a carefully constructed teacher education program focused on teaching for social justice can produce excellent teaching, even by young, middle-class teachers-in-training, in diverse educational settings."
—Lisa D. Delpit, Benjamin E. Mays Professor of Educational Leadership, Georgia State University

Editorial Reviews

Today's teacher certification programs make an honest effort to prepare teachers for multicultural classrooms, but Ladson-Billings (The Dreamkeepers) argues that most programs don't do enough to foster "culturally relevant pedagogy." In this ethnographic study, she describes Teach for Diversity (TFD), an experimental graduate program at the University of Wisconsin, which recruited participants whose ethnic backgrounds or experiences had given them a solid commitment to social justice and equality. She follows one group of TFD participants during their practicum at an inner-city school. While the challenges the new teachers overcome, as well as the author's memories of her own initiation into teaching three decades ago, make for compelling reading, most of the book is centered around the structure, development, and underlying philosophy of the program. Though hardly groundbreaking, this study offers practical advice for both new teachers and administrators and would be an excellent choice for supplementary reading in multicultural education programs. Susan M. Colowick, North Olympic Lib. Syst., Port Angeles, WA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

"Gloria Ladson-Billings provides a perceptive and interestingaccount of what is needed to prepare novice teachers to besuccessful with all students in our multicultural society. Thisbook is must reading for all those entering the profession ofteaching today and for those who prepare them for this importantwork."(Ken Zeichner, associate dean and professor of curriculum andinstruction, School of Education, University ofWisconsin-Madison)

"The multiple voices in Gloria Ladson-Billings's book arecompelling, provocative, and insightful-they provide a powerful'insider' perspective on what it really means to learn to teach allchildren well." (Marilyn Cochran-Smith, professor of education andeditor, Journal of Teacher Education, Boston College, School ofEducation)

"Ladson-Billings, one of the stellar researchers and mostpassionate advocates for social justice, has written yet anothermasterpiece. By weaving the novice teachers' voices, her personalteaching journey, and language rich in compelling research andinspiring metaphors, Ladson-Billings has documented how newteachers transform schools and teach poor children of color."(Jacquline Jordan Irvine, Candler Professor of Urban Education,Emory University, Division of Educational Studies)

"Masterful teacher and teacher-educator Gloria Ladson-Billings hasgiven us—in highly readable form—a brilliant vision of whatteacher education might become. In Crossing over to Canaan we get aglimpse of how a carefully constructed teacher education programfocused on teaching for social justice can produce excellentteaching, even by young, middle-class teachers-in-training, indiverse educational settings." (Lisa D. Delpit, Benjamin E. MaysProfessor of Educational Leadership, Georgia StateUniversity)

"...This study offers practical advice for both new teachers andadminstrators and would be an excellent choice for supplementaryreading in multicultural education programs." (Library Journal)

"Gloria Ladson-Billings provides a perceptive and interestingaccount of what is needed to prepare novice teachers to besuccessful with all students in our multicultural society. Thisbook is must reading for all those entering the profession ofteaching today and for those who prepare them for this importantwork."
—Ken Zeichner, associate dean and professor of curriculum andinstruction, School of Education, University ofWisconsin-Madison

"The multiple voices in Gloria Ladson-Billings's book arecompelling, provocative, and insightful-they provide a powerful'insider' perspective on what it really means to learn to teach allchildren well."
—Marilyn Cochran-Smith, professor of education and editor,Journal of Teacher Education, Boston College, School ofEducation

"Ladson-Billings, one of the stellar researchers and mostpassionate advocates for social justice, has written yet anothermasterpiece. By weaving the novice teachers' voices, her personalteaching journey, and language rich in compelling research andinspiring metaphors, Ladson-Billings has documented how newteachers transform schools and teach poor children of color."
—Jacquline Jordan Irvine, Candler Professor of UrbanEducation, Emory University, Division of Educational Studies.

"Masterful teacher and teacher-educator Gloria Ladson-Billingshas given us-in highly readable form-a brilliant vision of whatteacher education might become. In Crossing over to Canaanwe get a glimpse of how a carefully constructed teacher educationprogram focused on teaching for social justice can produceexcellent teaching, even by young, middle-classteachers-in-training, in diverse educational settings."
—Lisa D. Delpit, Benjamin E. Mays Professor of EducationalLeadership, Georgia State University

From the Publisher