In It Together
How Student, Family, and Community Partnerships Advance Engagement and Achievement in Diverse Classrooms
1st Edition
Published on 28. April 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
184 pages
978-1-4833-1677-2 (ISBN)
Description
Harness the power of teacher, student, school, family, and community partnerships to promote student success
Teaching effectively in diverse classrooms has become more complex than ever. The authors of this practical, compelling, and inspiring book propose that understanding the spheres of influence that connect students with teachers, peers, family members, and the broader community significantly increases the odds that every student will succeed in school. In clear, practitioner-friendly language with examples from an inspiring range of K-12 educators, the authors explore how tapping into the rich resources of teachers, students, families, the school community and the community-at-large can make the work of learning more successful for all involved. Richly detailed vignettes and concrete, evidence-based strategies help you systematically:
Build coalitions of support around learning and engagement
Develop positive relationships with students, their families and their communities
Foster positive, reciprocal partnerships
Promote peer-to-peer relationship building
Support students and families from marginalized populations
Learn to draw from the rich resources found within your learning community to build bridges to academic success for all learners. This comprehensive book shows you how!
"Building meaningful relationships in education can be difficult, particularly when the parties involved are different from one another in identity, experience, and other ways. As a result, although in principle collaborations and partnerships in education are universally lauded, in practice they are often ignored. What we need are examples of partnerships that work. In it Together by Debbie Zacarain and Michael Silverstone suggests productive ways to work with, learn from, and form authentic relationships with diverse communities. Combining their abundant experience in classrooms and schools, and using examples from caring teachers in diverse classrooms, the authors demonstrate what it means to really be "in it together." Teachers, administrators, and everyone who cares about the future of education in a diverse society will benefit from the strategies they suggest."
-Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita
University of Massachusetts
Teaching effectively in diverse classrooms has become more complex than ever. The authors of this practical, compelling, and inspiring book propose that understanding the spheres of influence that connect students with teachers, peers, family members, and the broader community significantly increases the odds that every student will succeed in school. In clear, practitioner-friendly language with examples from an inspiring range of K-12 educators, the authors explore how tapping into the rich resources of teachers, students, families, the school community and the community-at-large can make the work of learning more successful for all involved. Richly detailed vignettes and concrete, evidence-based strategies help you systematically:
Build coalitions of support around learning and engagement
Develop positive relationships with students, their families and their communities
Foster positive, reciprocal partnerships
Promote peer-to-peer relationship building
Support students and families from marginalized populations
Learn to draw from the rich resources found within your learning community to build bridges to academic success for all learners. This comprehensive book shows you how!
"Building meaningful relationships in education can be difficult, particularly when the parties involved are different from one another in identity, experience, and other ways. As a result, although in principle collaborations and partnerships in education are universally lauded, in practice they are often ignored. What we need are examples of partnerships that work. In it Together by Debbie Zacarain and Michael Silverstone suggests productive ways to work with, learn from, and form authentic relationships with diverse communities. Combining their abundant experience in classrooms and schools, and using examples from caring teachers in diverse classrooms, the authors demonstrate what it means to really be "in it together." Teachers, administrators, and everyone who cares about the future of education in a diverse society will benefit from the strategies they suggest."
-Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita
University of Massachusetts
Reviews / Votes
"Building meaningful relationships in education can be difficult, particularly when the parties involved are different from one another in identity, experience, and other ways. As a result, although in principle collaborations and partnerships in education are universally lauded, in practice they are often ignored. What we need are examples of partnerships that work. In it Together, by Debbie Zacarian and Michael Silverstone, suggests productive ways to work with, learn from, and form authentic relationships with diverse communities. Combining their abundant experience in classrooms and schools, and using examples from caring teachers in diverse classrooms, the authors demonstrate what it means to really be "in it together." Teachers, administrators, and everyone who cares about the future of education in a diverse society will benefit from the strategies they suggest."-- Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Thousand Oaks
United States
Publishing group
SAGE Publications Inc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 178 mm
Weight
388 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4833-1677-2 (9781483316772)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Dr. Debbie Zacarian, founder of Zacarian & Associates, provides professional development, strategic planning, and technical assistance for K-16 educators of culturally and linguistically diverse populations. She has served as an expert consultant for school districts, universities, associations, and organizations including the Massachusetts Parent Information Resource Center and Federation for Children with Special Needs.
Debbie has worked with numerous state and local education agencies and written the language assistance programming policies for many rural, suburban, and urban districts. Debbie served on the faculty of University of Massachusetts-Amherst where she co-wrote and was the co-principal investigator of a National Professional Development grant initiative supporting the professional preparation of educators of multilingual learners. Debbie also designed and taught courses for pre- and in-service administrators and teachers on culturally responsive teaching and supervision practices, multilingual development, and ethnographic research. In addition, she served as a program director at the Collaborative for Educational Services where she provided professional development for thousands of educators of multilingual students and partnered with Fitchburg State University in co-writing and enacting a National Professional Development initiative that supported STEM education. Debbie also directed the Amherst Public Schools bilingual and English learner programming where she and the district received state and national honors.
The author of more than 100 publications, her most recent professional books include: Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities in Communities. Schools and Classrooms; Responsive Schooling for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students; Teaching to Empower: taking action to foster student agency, self-confidence, and collaboration; and Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students living with Trauma, Violence and Chronic Stress.
Michael Silverstone has been a full-time elementary teacher in Massachusetts since 1998. With Debbie Zacarian, he co-authored the Grade 2 chapter in Academic Language in Diverse Classrooms: Promoting Content and Language Learning, Mathematics, Grades K-2 (Corwin). His essay recounting his discovery of the vital importance of maintaining professional autonomy while fostering relationships with students, families and colleagues-in spite of all the pressures to standardize classroom practice-is the closing teacher-essay in the anthology Why We Teach Now, edited by Sonia Nieto (Teacher's College Press). Silverstone is also the author of a number of Young Adult non-fiction books including Rigoberta Menchu: Defending Human Rights in Guatemala and Winona LaDuke: Restoring Land and Culture in Native America (The Feminist Press at the City University of NY). He is a Teacher Consultant with the Western Massachusetts Writing Project of the National Writing Project. http://www.umass.edu/wmwp/
Debbie has worked with numerous state and local education agencies and written the language assistance programming policies for many rural, suburban, and urban districts. Debbie served on the faculty of University of Massachusetts-Amherst where she co-wrote and was the co-principal investigator of a National Professional Development grant initiative supporting the professional preparation of educators of multilingual learners. Debbie also designed and taught courses for pre- and in-service administrators and teachers on culturally responsive teaching and supervision practices, multilingual development, and ethnographic research. In addition, she served as a program director at the Collaborative for Educational Services where she provided professional development for thousands of educators of multilingual students and partnered with Fitchburg State University in co-writing and enacting a National Professional Development initiative that supported STEM education. Debbie also directed the Amherst Public Schools bilingual and English learner programming where she and the district received state and national honors.
The author of more than 100 publications, her most recent professional books include: Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities in Communities. Schools and Classrooms; Responsive Schooling for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students; Teaching to Empower: taking action to foster student agency, self-confidence, and collaboration; and Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students living with Trauma, Violence and Chronic Stress.
Michael Silverstone has been a full-time elementary teacher in Massachusetts since 1998. With Debbie Zacarian, he co-authored the Grade 2 chapter in Academic Language in Diverse Classrooms: Promoting Content and Language Learning, Mathematics, Grades K-2 (Corwin). His essay recounting his discovery of the vital importance of maintaining professional autonomy while fostering relationships with students, families and colleagues-in spite of all the pressures to standardize classroom practice-is the closing teacher-essay in the anthology Why We Teach Now, edited by Sonia Nieto (Teacher's College Press). Silverstone is also the author of a number of Young Adult non-fiction books including Rigoberta Menchu: Defending Human Rights in Guatemala and Winona LaDuke: Restoring Land and Culture in Native America (The Feminist Press at the City University of NY). He is a Teacher Consultant with the Western Massachusetts Writing Project of the National Writing Project. http://www.umass.edu/wmwp/
Content
1. What It Means to Be "In It Together" in Education
2. An Involved Classroom Community
3. Infusing the Assets of Students and Families Into Classroom Learning
4. Preparing for Classroom Community
5. The Academic Learning Benefits of Being "In It Together"
6. Using Classroom Events to Empower Students and Families
7. Widening the Circle Beyond the Classroom: Service Learning
8. Using Learning Partnerships in Professional Development: Applying the Ideas
Index
2. An Involved Classroom Community
3. Infusing the Assets of Students and Families Into Classroom Learning
4. Preparing for Classroom Community
5. The Academic Learning Benefits of Being "In It Together"
6. Using Classroom Events to Empower Students and Families
7. Widening the Circle Beyond the Classroom: Service Learning
8. Using Learning Partnerships in Professional Development: Applying the Ideas
Index