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How do your students learn how to know? And what does your teaching look like in the face of a devaluing of shared truth, deepening political polarization and the mainstreaming of intolerance?

This educator discusses the pedagogical frameworks and the educational tools for challenging common misconceptions about the African continent.

When a student directed an LGBT slur at a classmate, this teacher missed the teachable moment. He won’t let that happen again.

I needed to expose my preservice teachers to a real, lasting experience with diversity. I had one day. Growing up in South Dakota, where 86 percent of the population is white, my students come to college with few experiences interacting with culturally diverse students. The reality is that classrooms today are becoming increasingly diverse.

I felt myself straighten in my chair. I quickly shook off the tiredness of a long day of teaching when our professor explained most of us found it difficult to understand multicultural education “because our viewpoint was that of the white, upper middle class.”

My nana is laughing as she tells me one of her favorite childhood stories. As her cheeks lift into a smile, I can see the teenager who boldly told her teacher that threats to visit Nana’s parents about her behavior are ineffective. “You see,” she said, “they don’t speak any English.”