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THE DREAMKEEPERS: Successful Teachers of AfricanAmerican Children, 2nd Edition BY Gloria Ladson-Billings REVIEW BY Gretchen Liggens, Ph.D., Principal, Walton K-8 School, Cleveland Metropolitan Schools OAESA Past President
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hen thinking about the development of background and the contextual capacity of faculty and staff, the original edition from Gloria Ladson-Billings came to mind. The opening pages of the book provide a solid research base and a context for the problem of the achievement gap, or more appropriately, the opportunity gap between African-American and white students. The second edition of the book provides a knowledge base for educators who wish to understand more about culture and one’s implicit bias.
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The original book was published in 1994, and this subsequent 2nd edition was published in 2013. Ladson-Billings sought out educators who were perceived as successful by parents and principals with educating students of color. In this second edition of The Dreamkeepers, Ladson-Billings revisits the eight teachers who were studied in the first edition and profiles new teachers who currently represent examples of highquality, culturally relevant teaching. She shows that culturally relevant teaching is not a matter of race, gender, or teaching style. What matters most is a teacher’s efforts to work with the unique strengths a child brings to the classroom. Both editions highlight the need for cultural awareness in “intellectually rigorous and challenging classrooms.” I have found that Ladson-Billings’ skillful blend of personal story, literature review, and ethnography make this book easily accessible. The second edition includes reflective questions. I have used this book for a book study along with The Skin We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture edited by Lisa Delpit and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy as starting points for faculty reflections upon their understanding of the culture of the students before them. Culturally relevant classrooms improve the achievement of all students. My recommendations for engaging faculty in the work of culturally relevant pedagogy/ cultural competency would include The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of AfricanAmerican Students, 2nd edition (2013) as well as Cultural Competence Now: 56 Exercises to Help Educators Understand and Challenge Bias, Racism, and Privilege by Vernita Mayfield (2020) for their masterful blend of personal narrative, research, and application that make for beneficial work with faculty and staff.
BETTER THAN CARROTS OR STICKS: Restorative Practices for Positive Classroom Mangagement BY Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey REVIEW BY Cheri Copeland-Shull, Principal, Dorr Elementary Springfield Local Schools
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s we enter into a new school year that could have all the makings of an amusement park roller coaster ride, we are already acutely aware that we will not only be working extensively on the academic side of the educational arena but the socialemotional one as well. Our students will need us more than ever and will be looking to us
