What Happens When Students Are in the Minority

Charles B. Hutchison is an associate professor of education at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He is the author of Teaching in America and Teaching Diverse Learners with Basic Principles. He has lived and worked in Africa, Europe, and the United States. His research interests include crosscultural cognition, diversity, and global issues in education. He can be reached at chutchis@uncc.edu.

This book offers insight into the personal narratives of those who have had 'minority experiences' within multiple contexts. The narratives speak to the ways that we tend to experience and make meaning of—through place, space, and time—being 'othered.' Furthermore, it provides important implications for parents, teachers, and school administrators on ways to support youth, particularly youth of color, who have developed personal identities as members of minority groups. This clearly written and insightful book is a proudly significant addition to educators' reading list.

• Part 1 Introduction to the Minority EffectChapter 2 The "Minority Effect" as a Human Phenomenon and Its Educational ImplicationsPart 3 The Minority Experience from the Perspective of Racial MinoritiesChapter 4 My Dark Curly Thick Hair was a Nemesis as All I Wanted was the Blond Straight Hair Parted Down the Middle and Romeo: A Misunderstood StudentChapter 5 Black and Female in an All-White and Male Math Class, and Mercy's DilemmaChapter 6 Is There a Minority in the House? Why I Dropped Out of College First Time Around, and Victimized JonesChapter 7 Seeing My Student at an All-White Church Saved My Day and the Double Lives and Social Consciousness of My White StudentsChapter 8 Experiencing the White Church, A Cross-Cultural Wedding Experience, and A New Angela: A Bicultural PersonalityChapter 9 A Black Female in a Predominantly White Male Class and Reversing Roles: A White Student Acting the Minority in ClassChapter 10 Self-Conscious at Pleasant Green and Minding Mandy, the White Minority in ClassChapter 11 I Felt Like Everybody Else in the Church and It Only Took One Person to Help Me and Biracial and Double MinorityPart 12 The Minority Experience from the Perspective of WhitesChapter 13 Comparing Experiencing the Minority Exercise to a Warzone Experience: A Soldier's Reflection and Breaking Out in Cold Sweat in All-Women's CompanyChapter 14 I Already Felt Unwelcome, and …This Feeling was Completely Inside My Head, and Stuttering at a Staff MeetingChapter 15 Getting a "Good Seat" at Granite, and A Different Worldview, a Different LifeChapter 16 Experiencing the Minority at a Hip-Hop Dance Class, and A Good-Kid-Turned-Bad: Surviving Black History MonthChapter 17 A German's Visit to a Latino Church, and German Sensibilities at a Super Bowl PartyChapter 18 Understanding My Students at Church, and Finding My Feet at My In-Laws'Chapter 19 Experiencing the Minority as the Only White in Church, the Only Woman in Corporate Meetings, and as a Denominational MinorityChapter 20 Experiencing the Minority at a Black Church, Fitting in as a Reverse Minority in School, and Thinking Religion "Outside the Box"Chapter 21 Surviving in Church and Understanding the Minority through Inter-Racial MarriagePart 22 Short Narratives of Diverse of Minority ExperiencesChapter 23 Differences on a Common Ground and the Only Guy at an All-Girls PartyChapter 24 A White Female in the Class on the African Experience, North-South Linguistic Dichotomy, and Thinking about MarcusChapter 25 The Few White Girls in the Dance HallChapter 26 A Lone White Female in an All-Black CourseChapter 27 A White Guy at Black Student Union PartyChapter 28 Slowly Embracing a Different TasteChapter 29 Surviving in a New School through the School Band, but No Drums Please!Part 30 Concluding Narratives and AnalysesChapter 31 Lessons Learned from My Minority ExperienceChapter 32 Experiencing the Minority at the Local RestaurantChapter 33 The Minority Experience from the Perspective of Students of African OriginChapter 34 Experiencing the Minority: Overcoming Double Consciousness in the ClassroomChapter 35 30.Comparative Reflections: Lessons Learned about the Minority Experience