Ableism. Discriminatory beliefs and behaviors directed against people with disabilities.
Ageism. Discriminatory beliefs and behaviors directed against people because of their age.
Anti-Arab discrimination. Discriminatory beliefs and behaviors directed against Arabs.
Anti-Semitism. Discriminatory beliefs and behaviors directed against Jews.
Bilingual education. Generally refers to an educational approach that involves the use of two languages of instruction at some point in the student’s school career. Other terms associated with bilingual education include:
Bilingual/bicultural education. The cultures associated with the primary and second languages are also incorporated into the curriculum.Immersion bilingual education. Students are immersed in their second language for a year or two before their native language is introduced as a medium of instruction. By their fifth or sixth year of schooling, they may be receiving equal amounts of instruction in both languages.
Maintenance (or developmental) approach. A comprehensive and long-term method that uses both students’ native and second languages for instruction. The primary objective of this approach is to build on and develop students’ literacy in their native language and to extend it to their second language as well.
Submersion bilingual education. Also called “sink or swim,” this approach, as used in the United States, places students in a total English-language environment without use of their native language and related literacy experiences as a basis for instruction.
Transitional approach. Students receive all or most of their content-area instruction in their native language while learning English as a second language. As soon as it has been determined that they can benefit from the monolingual English-language curriculum, they are “exited” out of the program. The primary objective of this approach is to teach students English as quickly as possible so that they can continue their education in a monolingual, or “mainstream,” program.
Two-way bilingual education. A program model for integrating students whose native language is English with students whose second language is English. The goal of this approach is to develop bilingual proficiency, academic achievement, and positive crosscultural attitudes and behaviors among all students.
Bilingualism. Two kinds of bilingualism that result from second-language instruction are:
Additive. Second-language learning that builds on previous literacy in the first language.Subtractive. Second-language learning that ignores previous literacy in the first language and thus detracts from developing more extensive literacy in the new language.
Bisexual. A term referring to the sexual orientation of an individual who is emotionally and/or sexually attracted to individuals of any gender.
Classism. Discriminatory beliefs and behaviors based on differences in social class and generally directed against those from economically deprived and/or working-class backgrounds.
Communication style. How individuals interact with one another and the messages they send, intentionally or not, through their behaviors.
Cultural capital. Knowledge, habits, and tastes learned by children at an early age and associated with particular social classes. As defined by Pierre Bourdieu, cultural capital can exist in three forms: dispositions of the mind and body; cultural goods such as pictures, books, and other material objects; and educational qualifications. According to Bourdieu, cultural capital is the best hidden form of the hereditary transmission of capital. See Pierre Bourdieu, “The Forms of Capital.” In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by John G. Richardson (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986).
Culture. The values, traditions, social and political relationships, and worldview created, shared, and transformed by a group of people bound together by a common history, geographic location, language, social class, and/ or religion.
Curriculum. The organized environment for learning in a classroom and school. The curriculum includes both expressed elements (usually written down in the form of goals, objectives, lesson plans, and units and included in educational materials such as textbooks) and implicit elements (i.e., the unintended messages, both positive and negative, in the classroom and school environments).
Deficit theories. Explanations that hypothesize that some people are deficient in intelligence and/or achievement either because of genetic inferiority (because of their racial background) or because of cultural deprivation (because of their cultural background and/or because they have been deprived of cultural experiences and activities deemed by the majority to be indispensable for growth and development).
Ebonics. Also called Black English/Black language or African American English/African American language, this term refers to the language system characteristically spoken in the African American community. For an indepth discussion of the controversy surrounding the use of Ebonics in teaching African American children, see Lisa Delpit and Joanne Kilgour Doudy, eds., The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom (New York: New Press, 2002).
Educational equity. Beyond equal educational opportunity, educational equity is based on fairness and promotes the real possibility of equality of outcomes for a broader range of students.
English as a second language (ESL). A systematic and comprehensive approach to teaching English to students for whom it is not a native language. ESL is an essential component of bilingual programs in the United States but can exist by itself as well.
English Language Learners (ELL). ELL refers to students who speak a native language or languages other than English and who are in the process of learning English.
Equal education. Providing the same resources and opportunities for all students.
Ethnocentrism. Discriminatory beliefs and behaviors based on ethnic differences.
Ethnography. Qualitative research used by many educational researchers uses anthropological methods such as fieldwork, interviewing, and participant/observation to study schools and students.
Eurocentric curriculum. Curriculum that focuses primarily or exclusively on the values, lifestyles, accomplishments, and worldviews of Europeans and/or European Americans.
Gay. A term referring to sexual orientation most often used to describe the identities of men who are emotionally and/or sexually attracted to men. It is used less commonly when referring to the entire gay community. Many prefer gay over homosexual, which is a clinical term referring specifically to sexual attraction, but not inclusive of emotional or personal commitment.
Gender identity. This term refers to individuals innermost concept of self as “male” or “female” and how they perceive and what they call themselves, such as masculine, feminine, or even butch, femme, tomboy, or girl. It is important to honor individuals’ right to claim these labels for themselves and to reject using these labels in a derogatory way toward others.
Gender roles. Social expectations for acceptable behavior based on one’s sex.
Heterosexism. Discriminatory beliefs and behaviors directed against gay men and lesbians.
Heterosexual. A clinical term denoting an individual’s sexual orientation. It refers to sexual attraction to those of the opposite sex, for example, women who are sexually attracted to men, and men who are sexually attracted to women.
Homophobia. The irrational fear or hatred of homosexual people and homosexual behaviors and feelings. Although many people are socialized to feel homophobic by the homophobia in our culture, people who actively express homophobic attitudes are known as homophobes.
Homosexual. A clinical term denoting an individual’s sexual orientation. It refers to sexual attraction to those of the same sex.
Lesbian. A woman who is emotionally and/or sexually attracted to women. Lesbian is preferred over homosexual because it is more affirming than the latter clinical term rooted specifically in sexual contexts. Lesbian is also a politically assertive term that has gained more affirmative connotations through the feminist movement.
LGBT. An acronym used as an umbrella term to refer to the diverse community of sexual minorities: lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people. To counter lesbian invisibility and to indicate a feminist commitment, many people now use LGBT rather than the older GLBT, which maintained men in the traditional first place. Increasingly a Q is added to acknowledge questioning as an identity, extending the acronym to LGBTQ. This includes those who are questioning their orientation or identity in the community of sexual minorities.
Linguicism. According to Skutnabb-Kangas, this term refers to “ideologies and structures which are used to legitimate, effectuate and reproduce an unequal division of power and resources (both material and non-material) between groups which are defined on the basis of language.” See Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, “Multilingualism and the Education of Minority Children.” In Minority Education: From Shame to Struggle, edited by Tove Skutnabb- Kangas and Jim Cummins (Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 1988): 13.
Low-incidence population. A term used to identify a group of speakers of a language other than English that is too small to be legally entitled to a bilingual program. In most states with mandated bilingual education laws, the minimum number of students who speak a particular language for whom the local school district must have a program is 20.
Multicultural education. A process of comprehensive school reform and basic education for all students. Multicultural education challenges and rejects racism and other forms of discrimination in schools and society and accepts and affirms the pluralism (ethnic, racial, linguistic, religious, economic, and gender, among others) that students, their communities, and teachers reflect. Multicultural education permeates the schools’ curriculum and instructional strategies, as well as the interactions among teachers, students, and families, and the very way that schools conceptualize the nature of teaching and learning. Because multicultural education uses critical pedagogy as its underlying philosophy and focuses on knowledge, reflection, and action (praxis) as the basis for social change, multicultural education promotes democratic principles of social justice.
Pluralism. There are three basic models for understanding pluralism in our society:
Anglo-conformity. A model of pluralism based on the concept that all newcomers need to conform to the dominant European American, middle-class, English-speaking majority.Cultural pluralism (alternatively called salad bowl, mosaic, or tapestry pluralism). A model based on the premise that people of all backgrounds have a right to maintain their languages and cultures while combining with others to form a new society reflective of all our differences.
Melting pot. A model that maintains that differences need to be eliminated in order to form an amalgam that is uniquely American, without obvious traces of original cultures.
Praxis. The process of connecting reflection with action in the pursuit of knowledge and social change. See Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Seabury Press, 1970).
Queer. An umbrella term that is thought by many to be even more inclusive than LGBT. It is used to describe a community of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. Formerly considered a put-down, especially when used by heterosexuals, queer has been reclaimed and is now used by some LGBT people as a statement of pride and affirmation. Some straight allies refer to themselves as queer to express solidarity with the LGBT community. The term queer is often used as an intentional way to blur traditional boundaries.
Racism. According to Meyer Weinberg, racism is a system of privilege and penalty based on one’s race. It consists of two facets: (1) a belief in the inherent superiority of some people and inherent inferiority of others and (2) the acceptance of the way goods and services are distributed in accordance with these judgments. See “Introduction.” In Racism in the United States: A Comprehensive Classified Bibliography (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990).
Resistance theory. As applied to schools, this term refers to the ways in which students actively or passively resist learning. Reasons for this resistance may be varied, from cultural or linguistic differences to perceptions that the knowledge taught is meaningless and imposed. Resistance can take a variety of forms, from acting out, to refusing to complete schoolwork or other assignments, to dropping out of school altogether. Although resistance is rarely intentional on the part of a student, it can be extremely effective either in disrupting or preventing learning or in developing alternative ways of coping within schools.
Self-fulfilling prophecy. A term coined by Robert Merton to refer to the way that students perform based on what teachers expect of them. See Robert Merton, “The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.” The Antioch Review 8, no. 2 (1948): 193–210.
Sexism. Discriminatory beliefs and behaviors based on one’s gender.
Straight. A term referring to sexual orientation to describe people who are emotionally and/or sexually attracted to people of opposite gender identities. Also known as heterosexual, the clinical term referring specifically to sexual attraction.
Straight Ally. A non-LGBT person who actively defends the rights of people in the LGBT community.
Symbolic violence. As used by Pierre Bourdieu, this term refers to the way in which the power relations of the dominant society are maintained in the school, primarily through the curriculum. See Pierre Bourdieu, Outline of Theory and Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977).
Tracking (or ability tracking). The placement of students for instruction with others of perceived equal or matched ability (homogeneous groups).
Trans (transgender). A term referring to a diverse group of people whose gender expression runs contrary to mainstream expectations such as transsexuals, cross-dressers, drag kings/queens, female or male impersonators, transvestites, and others who do not conform to binary gender roles.
Transsexuals. Individuals whose gender identities do not match their birth-assigned genders. They may identify, for example, as male to female (MTF) or female to male (FTM) transpeople. Some transsexuals alter their bodies surgically and/or hormonally. The multi-step process that may take years is known as the Transition (formerly “sex change”).
Voluntary and involuntary minorities. The
distinction made between different kinds of
minorities by John Ogbu. See his article,
“Variability in Minority School Performance:
A Problem in Search of an Explanation.” Anthropology
& Education Quarterly 18, no. 4
(December 1987): 312–334. Involuntary
(or castelike) minorities refers to those groups
incorporated into a society against their will.
In the United States, this term generally
refers to American Indians, African Americans,
Mexican Americans, and Puerto Ricans,
all of whose ancestors were either conquered
or enslaved. Voluntary (or immigrant)
minorities refers to those who have chosen
freely to emigrate to the United States.
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