How Children Learn

Terese Fayden, a kindergarten teacher on an Indian reservation for many years, iscurrently teaching in the rural Southwest. She is committed to having her students draw upon the strengths of their culture.

“Terese Fayden’s How Children Learn: Getting Beyond the Deficit Myth is a book that unfolds Fayden’s experience and analysis of her students’ acquisition of knowledge through their emergent writing, art, language use and development, and actions. Fayden’s book molds theory and practice rooted in a multicultural perspective. … Fayden’s critical look at teaching pedagogy will no doubt open people’s minds to look at their own teaching pedagogy. Teachers, trainers, practitioners, and researchers alike will find some interest in this book. All will find some sliver of information in that culture is a pathway, not an obstruction, to learning.” —Teachers College Record “Fayden’s story is an inspiring one of hope, embedded in the poignant detail of her classroom, and eliciting possibilities for all who have taught at this level. A reading of this book will provide a powerful counter-message for all teachers who have been told that the family values and culture of their students are obstacles to learning.” —Henry M. Levin, Columbia University “Fayden provides a thought-provoking pedagogical framework that is sure to get teachers to think more critically about their pedagogy and to begin to imagine a more humanistic and emancipatory education for all students.” —Lilia I. Bartolome, University of Massachusetts, Boston

• Introduction; Chapter 1 Background; Chapter 2 A Short History of the People; Chapter 3 The Social Construction of Knowledge; Chapter 4 The Children’s Pre-History of Writing; Chapter 5 The Emergence of Writing; Chapter 6 Curriculum: Two Kinds of Literacy; Chapter 7 Multiculturalism Enacted: An Equity Pedagogy;