ABC's of Cultural Understanding and Communication

National and International Adaptations

Edited by:
Patricia Ruggiano Schmidt, Le Moyne College
Claudia Finkbeiner, Universitaet Kassel

A volume in the series: Literacy, Language and Learning. Editor(s): Claudia Finkbeiner, Universitaet Kassel. Wen Ma, Le Moyne College.

Published 2006

This book is a valuable one for teacher educators and teacher education programs in the United States and Europe, since it is organized around numerous data sources. It contains national and international adaptations of the ABC’s of Cultural Understanding and Communication. Authors for this book represent many languages and cultures and know, first hand, the socially constructed issues related to language, culture, and ethnicity.

This book promises to make a significant contribution to preparing teachers to work with families and children. It should be read by all teacher educators as well as preservice and inservice teachers. In the new millennium teachers must redefine their responsibilities to ensure that ALL children have the opportunity to succeed. ABC’s of Cultural Understanding and Communication: National and International Adaptations is a perfect place to start.

CONTENTS
Contributors: Authors’ Biographical Information. Foreword, Patricia A. Edwards. Introduction: What is the ABC’s of Cultural Understanding and Communication? Patricia Ruggiano Schmidt and Claudia Finkbeiner. Constructing Third Space: The Principles of Reciprocity and Cooperation, Claudia Finkbeiner. The ABC’s: A Journey Toward Making a Positive Difference, Judy Osetek. “Doing” the ABC’s: An Introspective Look at Process, Stacy Leftwich and Marjorie E. Madden. Investigating the Role of Awareness and Multiple Perspectives for Intercultural Education, Claudia Finkbeiner and Sylvia Fehling. Revealing and Revisiting “Self” in Relation to the Culturally Different “Other”: Multicultural Teacher Education and the ABC’s Model, Jyotsna Pattnaik. The Complexity and Multiplicity of Preservice Teachers’ Exploring Diversity Issues, Shelley Hong Xu. A Successful ABC’s In-Service Project: Supporting Culturally Responsive Teaching, Andrea Izzo and Patricia Ruggiano Schmidt. The ABC’s Online: Using Voice Chats in a Trans-National Foreign Language Teacher Exchange, Eva Wilden. The ABC’s as a Starting Point and Goal: The Online Intercultural Exchange Project (ICE), Claudia Finkbeiner and Markus Knierim. Using the ABC’s Model in Management Education, LaVerne Higgins. Afterword: The Future of the ABC’s Model, Greta Nagel. References.

REVIEWS
"This highly readable and engaging text is a must for those who teach or work in the increasingly multicultural environment of the 21st century." Pat Mytkowicz, Ed.D in Education Review