This powerful book tells the story of one teacher's odyssey to understand the inner world of immigrant children, and to create a learning environment that is responsive to these students' feelings and their needs. Featuring the voices and artwork of many immigrant children, this text portrays the immigrant experience of uprooting, culture shock, and adjustment to a new world, and then describes cultural, academic, and psychological interventions that facilitate learning as immigrant students make the transition to a new language and culture.
Particularly relevant for courses dealing with multicultural and bilingual education, foundations of education, and literacy curriculum and instruction, this text is essential reading for all teachers who will -- or currently do -- work in today's school environment.
Biography
Cristina Igoa
"Igoa brings us to the understanding that academic achievement can not be divorced from the child's affective dimensions. Her results are often remarkable, sometimes disappointing. But even the disappointments move us closer to understanding these children, and their world."
—Multicultural Education"Readers who are concerned about the education of immigrant children in today's schools will find this book very inspiring."
—Multicultural Perspectives"Unique in the recent North American literature on bilingual/multicultural education....Original and powerful....The voice and struggles of the author are expressed eloquently and speak directly to the many thousands of teachers who are struggling to adjust to a radically new demographic reality. For mainstream teachers who are looking for ideas and inspiration the book has some very important messages."
—Jim Cummins
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education"Highly readable, engaging, and free of educational jargon....Absolutely essential for today's teachers....I kept thinking as I was reading how lucky her students were, and how I would want all immigrant children to have Cristina Igoa as their teacher."
—Sonia Nieto
University of Massachusetts Amherst"Presents the immigrant children's stories in an easily readable and understandable fashion....Has a lot to offer both new and veteran teachers who are faced with increasing diversity in our schools."
—Henry T. Trueba
University of Wisconsin/Madison
