ABSTRACT

This chapter explores that by exposing teachers and students to multicultural literature, they will be more open to learning about other cultures. The group process was found to be successful in the effort to bring multiculturalism into the classroom. The chapter then explores the value of teachers taking time to talk to each other in personal and professional ways. It also discusses the teachers' excitement in being part of their own professional development, engaged in meaningful discussions that were not characterized by the initiation-recitation-evaluation (IRE) pattern. This IRE pattern begins with the teacher asking a question, receiving a response from the student, and then evaluating that response. The teacher's conception of discussion is what Cazden called "deliberate action" against the default option of IRE. Finally, the chapter recognizes that the teachers became better acquainted with multicultural literature and previously unknown authors, and in some cases, experienced greater cultural awareness.