Culture in School Learning: Revealing the Deep Meaning, Second Edition

The foreword by Herbert Kohl in Culture in School Learning: Revealing the Deep Meaning, Second Edition emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural dimensions in the context of teaching and learning. Kohl supports Etta Hollins’ central thesis that integrating cultural awareness into educational programs is crucial for effective teaching. He underscores how the book provides a step-by-step approach for teachers to reflect on their own cultural identities and understand their students’ cultural backgrounds.

Kohl commends Hollins for showing educators how to adapt their teaching methods and curricula to acknowledge and leverage students’ cultural strengths. He stresses that the book rejects the idea of blaming students for system failures and instead focuses on how teachers can adapt to diverse learning environments while maintaining high expectations. The ultimate goal is to foster meaningful and respectful communication across cultures, leading to complex and enriched learning experiences.

Furthermore, Kohl believes that by engaging in self-reflection and understanding the cultural dimensions of both teachers and students, educators can help cultivate a more inclusive, democratic, and just education system. This approach will benefit not only students but also the teachers themselves, enabling them to grow and adapt in ways that will positively impact their professional lives and the communities they serve.

The vision and mission of the book Culture in School Learning: Revealing the Deep Meaning, Second Edition by Etta Hollins focus on the importance of understanding cultural dimensions in education to create effective learning processes. While not explicitly stated in the text you provided, the vision and mission of the book can be inferred from its main objectives and approach. Here are the vision and mission drawn from the book:

Vision

To create an inclusive and equitable educational system by leveraging students’ cultural strengths, where cultural understanding becomes a key component in the educational process. This vision aims to promote classrooms that foster respectful cross-cultural communication, enabling complex and deep learning experiences.

Mission

  1. Enhancing Cultural Understanding in Education: The book seeks to help teachers understand and appreciate the cultural dimensions that affect how students learn and engage with the curriculum.
  2. Encouraging Self-Reflection for Teachers: Another mission is to encourage teachers to reflect on their own culture as well as the cultures of their students, so they can create a more effective and empathetic learning environment.
  3. Adapting Curriculum and Teaching Strategies: The book teaches teachers how to design curricula and teaching methods that are responsive to the cultural diversity of their students, without lowering standards or expectations.
  4. Creating a More Democratic and Just Education System: By integrating cultural dimensions into education, the book strives to contribute to a more just and democratic education system that supports diversity and fairness for all students.

Overall, the vision and mission of this book are to create an education system that is more relevant to the cultural contexts of students, while helping teachers deeply understand and respond to the cultural diversity in their classrooms in effective ways.

The vision and mission I provided are inferred from the content and themes of the book Culture in School Learning: Revealing the Deep Meaning, Second Edition by Etta Hollins, specifically from the foreword written by Herbert Kohl. Since the book itself is the primary source for these insights, the detailed interpretation is based on the information available within the text and its context.

If you’re seeking a more formal citation or source to include in your references, you would use the following citation:

Hollins, E. (2015). Culture in School Learning: Revealing the Deep Meaning, Second Edition. Routledge.

However, the vision and mission statements are based on an interpretation of the book’s key messages rather than direct quotes.