Our picks for books, videos, websites, and other social justice resources 19.3

Curriculum Resources

BRIDGE: Building a Race and Immigration Dialogue in the Global Economy: A Popular Education Resource for Immigrant & Refugee Community Organizers

By E. Cho, F. Arguelles, M. Louie and S. Khokha 
(NNIRR, 2004). 287 pp. $30
www.nnirr.org

BRIDGE is a popular education resource that includes activities, discussion questions, and fact sheets on the following topics: immigration and immigrants’ rights, globalization, workers’ rights, race, multiple oppressions, LGBT rights, demographic change, and more.

Confronting Bullying: 
Literacy as a Tool for Character Education.

By Roxanne Henkin 
(Heinemann, 2005)  
112 pp. $14.00

A compact guide filled with ideas on dealing with bullying in the classroom. Includes specific lessons, anti-bullying web links, and an annotated list of children’s literature that relates to issues of bullying and fairness.

Confronting Islamophobia in Educational Practice

Edited by Barry van Driel 
(Trentham Books, 2004)
160 pp. $27.50

Contributors from eight countries examine how nations are coming to grip with increased societal hostility toward Islam as a belief system and toward Muslim populations. Issues of policy and teaching practices are addressed in a very readable fashion.

Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past

By Ray Raphael 
(The New Press, 2004)
354 pp. $27 (hardback)

An examination of 13 well-known tales of America’s founding whose authenticity has been disproved by recent scholarship. Despite the narrative appeal of these stories, Raphael argues, they sell our country short and impede understanding of our nation’s full history.

The No-Nonsense Guide to Terrorism

By Jonathan Barker
(Verso Press and the New Internationalist, 2004)
144 pp. $10.

Like other books in the No-Nonsense series, this informative handbook is packed with facts, charts, and essays that help teachers and students understand background to terrorism, including state terrorism and the history of terrorism dating back to colonial times. An excellent resource for social studies teachers.

Resurrecting Empire: 
Western Footprints and America’s Perilous Path in the Middle East

By Rashid Khalidi  
(Beacon Press, 2004)
223 pp. $23 (hardback)

A readable critique of the role of the United States in the Middle East that explains current U.S. policy in the context of European colonialism and occupation of the area. Iraq, Palestine, and oil are examined in depth. A helpful resource for teachers who want to explore this important subject with their students.

See You When We Get There: 
Teaching for Change in Urban Schools

By Gregory Michie 
(Teachers College Press, 2004)
224 pp. $18.95

Moving portraits of five young teachers of color who challenge the traditional models of schooling and interject passion and a sense of social justice into their classrooms. Filled with vignettes and powerful voices, this book offers a glimpse of both the dilemmas and possibilities of urban teaching.

The Wealth Inequality Reader

Edited by Dollars and Sense and United for a Fair Economy 
(Dollars and Sense, 2004)
200 pp. $15.95

A collection of 25 articles that explore the causes and consequences of wealth inequality and strategies for change. The graphics alone in the opening overview make the book worthwhile for any high school social studies, math, or economics teacher.

Policy Matters

Dropouts in America: 
Confronting the Graduation Rate Crisis

Edited by Gary Orfield
(Harvard Education Press, 2004)
294 pp. $29.95

This book, spearheaded by The Civil Rights Project, pulls together recent research on dropouts. It includes chapters describing how race and class correlate with dropout rates and how high-stakes tests affect dropout numbers.

The Edison Schools: 
Corporate Schooling and the Assault on Public Education

By Kenneth J. Saltman 
(Routledge, 2005)
238 pp. $17.95

A well-documented historical critique of Edison, Inc., which has tried to create the country’s largest for-profit network of schools. The author scrutinizes a range of important issues from the reading and math curriculum used in Edison schools to the broader political forces that are advocating privatization of schools.

Ten Common Myths in American Education

By Mordechai Gordon 
(Holistic Education Press, 2005)
160 pp. $19.95

This book addresses common educational myths, like “Good teaching means following a recipe,” “More testing results in higher standards,” “Keeping students busy enhances learning,” and “Multicultural education: It’s only about heroes and holidays.” Provocative and clearly written.

Videos DVDs

* The Children Shall Lead

2005. 30 min. VHS. 
(Free with orders from Teaching for Change.)

A documentary about the Freedom Riders of 1961, mostly young people who helped to end the system of segregation in interstate travel in the South by volunteering to integrate restrooms, lunch counters, and waiting rooms in the stations and airports. The film includes archival footage and contemporary interviews.

* February One

2005. 30 min. VHS. $50.

February One tells the inspiring story surrounding the 1960 Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins that revitalized the Civil Rights Movement and set an example of student militancy for the coming decade. This moving film shows how a small group of determined individuals can galvanize a mass movement and focus a nation’s attention on injustice.

Juvies

Directed by Leslie Neale
Narrated by Mark Wahlberg
65 min. DVD. $30.

A riveting look at the world of juvenile offenders who are serving lengthy prison sentences for crimes they did not commit or in which they were only marginally involved. Interspersed with the stories are interviews with experts and with well-known faces, like former Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti, who, in an incredible scene, admits that some sentences received during Garcetti’s own tenure as D.A. are unfair.

* Unconstitutional: 
The War on Our Civil Liberties

Sponsored by the ACLU. 
2004. DVD. 66 min. $10.

This film presents powerful and tragic examples of how the U.S.A. Patriot Act—passed with virtually no congressional debate just 45 days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001—has been used to justify the arrest of innocent immigrants based on stereotyping; the illegal detention and improper treatment (including torture) of “suspects” during extended confinement; prisoner abuse; search and seizure without due cause; bully tactics to undermine free speech; and other unconstitutional acts. A unique resource for any class on U.S. government and the U.S. Constitution.

* Available from www.teachingforchange.org