Language, Culture, and Education

Undergraduate / Graduate

In this course, we examine past and current theories and research about differential educational achievement in US schools, including: (1) theories that focus on the characteristics of people (e.g., their psychological characteristics, their internal traits, their essential qualities); (2) theories that focus on the characteristics of groups and settings, (e. g., ethnic group culture, language, school culture); and (3) theories that examine how cultural processes mediate political-economic constraints and human action. We will discuss the educational consequences of these positions, especially for low income and ethnic and linguistic minority students in the US.