ABSTRACT
Because students from different cultural groups may have different expectations about schooling, teachers will not be able to anticipate a given culture for all classrooms. Teacher and students will have to negotiate and create the classroom culture and community for school literacy events. Classroom culture means the norms for social interaction and cooperation in the use of space and time, for the use of resources, and for valuing and behaving in a particular classroom. A classroom culture that values diversity and encourages repertoires of behaviors and that reflects the values of the students’ homes will be more conducive to student-initiated learning. The classroom culture will also include the values of the school and mainstream society. The classroom community may be a composite culture where students can use home/community experiences and learn about the mainstream culture. In a classroom that values the students’ home language and culture, the classroom culture and community are developed and realized in such a way that life in school is not so different from life out of school. Children can use and apply in school what they have learned at home, and what they are learning in school relates to their daily lives within their homes and communities.
