Voices in English Classrooms: Honoring Diversity and Change

Abstract

Voices in English Classrooms: Honoring Diversity and Change-Classroom Practices in Teaching English (Volume 28), edited by Lenora Cook and Helen Lodge. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1996. 248 pp. $14.95, paper. Reviewed by Dolores P. Dickerson, Howard University. The editors of this book have done a masterful job of compiling a collection of teachers' writings about English and literacy programs and teacher practices that promote a much-needed acceptance of diversity in school and college classrooms. The reports from the classroom assembled in this comprehensive work make good reading for those whose job it is to implement such programs and practices at all levels of learning. They also provide sound sources of guidance on teaching and reaching children from diverse backgrounds. Voices from the Classroom is a wonderful compendium that focuses on utilizing literature, composition skills, and to promote diversity in the English classroom. It is evident that all of its teacher-contributors believe that language, composition, and literature lead to personally meaningful experiences for students of every cultural and ethnic group. It is also evident that each views students as unique individuals who bring to the classroom the and values of the cultures into which they were born. Indeed, there is something for everyone in this book, which addresses literacy and issues relevant to African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, Native Americans, and many of the subgroups within these populations, all of whom represent the students sitting in U.S. English and arts classrooms today. The beauty of the practices and programs detailed in this book is that many of them can be replicated in almost any classroom, with little effort, using materials that are generally widely available. Although most of the articles report programs and experiences at the secondary school and college levels, many of the approaches described can be replicated with modifications at the lower levels of instruction. A word of caution, however, would be that not all of these programs will work in all schools with all students. The institutions selected for these practices and programs were ones that had large minority populations, some administrative support for their efforts, and some but not much financial support. The book is arranged into three arts-related sections. The first section, Hearing Every Voice, describes effective, culturally sensitive programs. One of the several programs described in this section engages children in writing language autobiographies, wherein teachers use students' introspective writings as mechanisms for raising students' cultural consciousness and self-esteem. Part two, Preserving Voices, addresses the subject of writing. In it, eight teachers report on programs and practices that employ writing as a means of encouraging their students to accept diversity and appreciate cultures different from their own. One program involved tape recordings of students' reading and then responding in writing to what they read. Another program, conducted in Alaska, resulted in a student-generated publication. Others involved letter exchanges, poetry sharing, and writings on the environment. …