Jacklyn Blake Clayton challenges the notion of "tolerance" for cultural differences-a notion that implies resignation, passivity, superiority-and offers instead another challenge-to understand the building blocks of all cultures. This understanding is the keystone that holds together a variety of world views and creates a more solid structure for meaningful interactions between teachers and students.
Each chapter of her book looks at an aspect of culture that affects the classroom:
- how children are socialized
- how values can differ from culture to culture
- how learning styles may be influenced
- how verbal and nonverbal communication differ across cultures
- how immigrant children acculturate
- how the mainstream classroom in the United States has its own culture.