We Can't Teach What We Don't Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools (Multicultural Education Series)

Making a case for the “fierce urgency of now,” this new edition deepens the discussion of race and social justice in education with new and updated material. Aligned with our nation’s ever more diverse student population, it speaks to what good teachers know, what they do, and how they embrace culturally responsive teaching. This essential text is widely used in teacher preparation courses and for in-service professional development.

New for the Third Edition:

• A revised Introduction that places the book in the context of the 50th anniversary of the 1963 march on Washington.
• An updated analysis of White social dominance, bringing in Critical Race Theory and reflecting on the racist reaction to the election of our first Black President.
• More detail to the White Identity Orientations model, bringing in the personal life experiences of several contemporary White racial-justice activists.
• A new section, “The Whiteness of School Reform,” demonstrating how White social dominance drives much of the corporate school reform movement.
• A richer discussion of the seven principles for Culturally Responsive Teaching, drawing lessons from the author’s transformative work with school districts throughout the country.
• An expanded Reflection and Discussion Guide authored by two educators who have been using the book in professional development sessions for many years.

“More teachers need to read this book, more schools need to make sure it is in their libraries, and more colleges of education need to include it as mandatory reading.”
—From the Foreword by Sonia Nieto, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

“This Third Edition deepens the critically conscious framework it provides to support the development of highly effective, culturally relevant, and responsive educators.”
—Christine Clark, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Critical Acclaim for We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know!

“Offers a healing vision for the future of education in pluralistic nations.”
—Rethinking Schools

“An indispensable resource for anyone struggling to understand the role that Whites play in multicultural education.”
—Teaching Tolerance

“This work clearly deserves the enthusiastic praise it receives from major multicultural thinkers such as James Banks, Sonia Nieto, and Christine Sleeter.”
—Journal of Moral Education