Because of the Kids : Facing Racial and Cultural Differences in Schools (Practitioner Inquiry, 18) [Paperback]

Jennifer E. Obidah (Author), Karen Manheim Teel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0807740128 | ISBN-13: 978-0807740125

Here, the authors recount how they set out on a collaborative three-year study to explore the impact of racial and cultural differences in one of their urban, middle school classrooms. They describe how they learned to confront and deal with the challenges they faced.

Product Details

• Paperback: 129 pages
• Publisher: Teachers College Press (February 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807740128
• ISBN-13: 978-0807740125
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #312,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars collaboration at its best, April 7, 2007

By 

Y. Rachel (Roanoke, AL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Because of the Kids : Facing Racial and Cultural Differences in Schools (Practitioner Inquiry, 18) (Paperback)

This book gives good insight into the world of teaching and how the differences we perceive as teachers are some of the same differences our students face in the learning process. It opens your eyes to understanding your role as a teacher and how the stereotypes we bring with us may affect our effectiveness as teachers. I recommend this book to everyone trying to understand how to effectively teach a diversity of students to reach their full potential.

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful case study of classroom diversity, November 2, 2011

By 

Adrian C. Columbia - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Because of the Kids : Facing Racial and Cultural Differences in Schools (Practitioner Inquiry, 18) (Paperback)

Obidah and Teel document their own journeys as educators overcoming internal and external racism within the classroom, an issue which plagues many school systems in our nation. Although the accounts of Obidah and Teel can at times be jumpy, they read as a conversation between educators determined to overcome issues so that the students can fully benefit from the best education possible. I highly recommend this book to fellow educators, as well as anyone within academe interested in studying cultural diversity tactics within the classroom.

2.0 out of 5 stars Open but Hard to Read, February 16, 2009

By 

D. Johnson, Jr. "donato" (usa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Because of the Kids : Facing Racial and Cultural Differences in Schools (Practitioner Inquiry, 18) (Paperback)

The two authors are to be commended for taking on such an enormous topic, but in the end the product is a little hard to get through. It tends to read like a back-and-forth journal of Jennifer's subjective observations of Karen's classroom techniques and Karen's subjective responses to those observations. I'd be more interested if there were some quantitative evidence provided as to higher student performance as a result of the experiment.

I also thought the use of "herstories" as an interesting choice for the relating of the authors' biographical information. With no explanation for the choice, it makes the reader wonder if the authors had bought into the myth that "history" is a form of "his story" rather than the Greek for "learning through inquiry" or if the authors were just being clever. Also there are some stylistic inconsistencies (mostly with numbers) that could cause the reader to wonder how much time went into the editing of this book.

In the same genre, I might be more inclined to read "White Teacher Talks about Race" by Julie Landsman.

Also Lisa Delpit's "The Skin That I Speak" is a good read. In "Because of the Kids," the authors relate a summary of an interview in which Delpit asks a variety of questions about the authors' lives and experiment. This tends to be a little repetitive of the earlier portions of the book, and frankly, I'd rather the authors have interviewed Delpit about her conclusions of their findings that her interviewing them.

Just my opinion,

Donato