Issues in Latino Education is based on the realities of high school life from the perspectives of young Latinos'.
Educators and social researchers spend considerable time and effort studying issues in multicultural/bilingual education, but have few opportunities to experience the subjective realities of the students themselves. This text compares these realities to a variety of viewpoints offered by high school teachers on matters of community, learning, race, culture, and school politics.
The text transports aspiring teachers and other college students interested in race relations, educational sociology and anthropology, and Latino/Chicano studies into the daily school life of Latino high school students, revealing their feelings and often startling insights into the processes of American schooling. An appreciation of these perspectives is important for 21st century teachers who will be challenged with changing institutional cultures of schools to meet the new realities of diversity.
The text challenges assumptions while creating new understandings about diverse students and their worldview. Its comparisons concerning students and teachers readily provoke discussion about the nature of multiculturalism. The text reveals shortcomings in the American educational system but suggests paths and paradigms for effective change.
While this text will be primarily useful to instructors in education, it can also be used in a variety of disciplines. Sections of the text that highlight transcribed student interviews make it particularly useful as a reference for research and writing about multicultural education.
