Faculty Bookshelf
Books published recently by School of Education faculty members
Steven J. Taylor
Acts of Conscience
World War II, Mental Institutions, and Religious Objections
In the mid- to late 1940s, a group of young men rattled the psychiatric establishment by beaming a public spotlight on the squalid conditions and brutality in our nation’s mental hospitals and training schools for people with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities. Bringing the abuses to the attention of newspapers and magazines across the country, they led a reform effort to change public attitudes and to improve the training and status of institutional staff. Prominent Americans, including Eleanor Roosevelt, ACLU founder Roger Baldwin, author Pearl S. Buck, actress Helen Hayes, and African-American activist Mary McLeod Bethune, supported the efforts of the young men.
These young men were among the 12,000 World War II conscientious objectors who chose to perform civilian public service as an alternative to fighting in what is widely regarded as America’s "good war." Three thousand of these men volunteered to work at state institutions, where they found conditions appalling. Acting on conscience a second time, they challenged America’s treatment of its citizens with severe disabilities. Acts of Conscience brings to light the extraordinary efforts of these courageous men, drawing upon extensive archival research, interviews, and personal correspondence.
The World War II conscientious objectors were not the first to expose public institutions, and they would not be the last. What distinguishes them from reformers of other eras is that their activities have faded from professional and popular memory. Steven J. Taylor’s moving account is an indispensable contribution to the historical record.
Julie Causton-Theoharis
The Paraprofessional's Handbook for Effective Support in Inclusive Classrooms
What does a great paraprofessional need to know and do? Find out in this handy survival guide, equally useful for the brand-new paraprofessional or the 20-year classroom veteran. Packed with friendly guidance, practical tips, and relatable first-person stories, this book reveals the best ways to provide effective, respectful services to students in inclusive classrooms.
Julie Causton-Theoharis, a teacher, professor, and educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience as a paraprofessional instructor, knows exactly how to help readers stop feeling overwhelmed so they can start making a difference. She answers all the urgent questions paraprofessionals have as they navigate their complex job in the inclusive classroom, showing readers how to:
- provide skillful and subtle support to students while encouraging their independence
- resolve challenging behavior in gentle and positive ways
- find students' strengths and match support practices to them
- fade their support
- make informed decisions about content-specific accommodations, modifications, and adaptations
- presume competence and keep expectations high
- facilitate peer supports and friendships
- partner with teachers, SLPs, psychologists, families, and other members of the educational team
- relieve their own stress and avoid burnout
To help them master the daily ups and downs of the inclusive classroom, paraprofessionals will get ready-to-use practical content: tips for supporting students with specific disabilities, helpful question-and-answer sections, examples of successful problem-solving, a quick-guide to acronyms in education, easy ideas for improving teamwork, and more.
The essential guide for every paraprofessional—and a must-have for the educators and other professionals who support them—this empowering book takes the guesswork out of a critical classroom role and helps students with disabilities reach their full potential.
George Theoharis
The School Leaders Our Children Deserve: Seven Keys to Equity, Social Justice and School Reform
New book by the School of Education’s George Theoharis explores keys to effective school leadership
In his latest book, “The School Leaders Our Children Deserve: Seven Keys to Equity, Social Justice and School Reform” (Teachers College Press, 2009), George Theoharis, assistant professor of teaching and leadership, inclusive elementary and special education, draws on the experiences and words of successful public school principals committed to advancing equity, social justice, and school reform to show why social justice leadership is needed and how it can be effective. Although facing tremendous barriers, these principals made important strides toward closing the achievement gap in their schools through the use of humane and equitable practices.
The book features a mix of theory and practical strategies to show how real school leaders seek, create, and sustain equitable schools, especially for marginalized students. Theoharis identifies and explores the following seven “keys” that are crucial for social justice leadership:
- Acquire Broad, Reconceptualized Consciousness/Knowledge/Skill Base
- Possess Core Leadership Traits
- Advance Inclusion, Access, and Opportunity for All
- Improve the Core Learning Context - Both the Teaching and the Curriculum
- Create a Climate of Belonging
- Raise Student Achievement
- Sustain Oneself Professionally and Personally
In addition to being an accomplished scholar, Theoharis has extensive field experience in education as a teacher, administrator and principal in the Madison (WI) Metropolitan School District. In addition to public school leadership, his interests and work focus on issues of equity, justice, diversity, inclusion, urban schools, and school reform.
Theoharis completed his Ph.D. degree in educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
More information about “The School Leaders Our Children Deserve: Seven Keys to Equity, Social Justice and School Reform” can be found at http://store.tcpress.com/0807749516.shtml.
Douglas Biklen
Autism and the Myth of the Person Alone
"The prevailing view of autism and disability is redefined in this beautifully written book. Can you ask for more than to inform, inspire, challenge, and help to create new ways of understanding? Autism and the Myth of the Person Alone forces us to confront misunderstanding, misperceptions, and lack of knowledge, and to rethink disability and autism. It demands that we embrace people who act, communicate, and socialize differently. I love this book!" --Jan Nisbet, Director, Institute on Disability
Autism has been defined by experts as a developmental disorder affecting social and communication skills as well as verbal and nonverbal communication. It is said to occur in as many as 2 to 6 in 1,000 individuals. This book challenges the prevailing, tragic narrative of impairment that so often characterizes discussions about autism. Autism and the Myth of the Person Alone seriously engages the perspectives of people with autism, including those who have been considered as the most severely disabled within the autism spectrum. The heart of the book consists of chapters by people with autism themselves, either in an interview format with the author or written by themselves. Each author communicates either by typing or by a combination of speech and typing. These chapters are framed by a substantive introduction and conclusion that contextualize the book, the methodology, and the analysis, and situate it within a critical disability studies framework. The volume allows a look into the rich and insightful perspectives of people who have heretofore been thought of as uninterested in the world.
Douglas Biklen is dean of the Syracuse University School of Education and professor of cultural foundations of education and teaching and leadership. He is a senior faculty member in the Center on Disability Studies, Law and Human Policy. He is the author of Access to Academics and Contested Words, Contested Science. He was Educational Advisor for the Academy–Award–winning HBO documentary Educating Peter and is coproducer of the CNN documentary Autism is a World.
Details
• Paperback: 314 pages
• Publisher: New York University Press (August 1, 2005)
• ISBN-10: 0814799280
• ISBN-13: 978-0814799284
Sari Knopp Biklen
A Practical Guide to the Qualitative Dissertation
A Practical Guide to the Qualitative Dissertation, co-authored with Ronnie Casella, is a how-to guide for writing successful qualitative dissertations and offers advice about and examples of the primary tasks and hidden complications in writing a qualitative dissertation. A Practical Guide takes readers through the long process of bringing a dissertation to completion, from the first formulation of the topic and selection of a committee to the development of an argument, and finally, preparation for the defense.
Biklen is a Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence and chairs the Cultural Foundations of Education Program.
Details
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Teachers College Press (March 23, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0807747602
• ISBN-13: 978-0807747605
Beth Ferri
Reading Resistance: Discourses of Exclusion in Desegregation and Inclusion Debates
Beth Ferri, associate professor in teaching and leadership, cultural foundations of education, and disability studies, recently published Reading Resistance: Discourses of Exclusion in Desegregation and Inclusion Debates (Peter Lang Publishing). In the book, Ferri and co-author David J. Connor trace the interconnected histories of race and disability in the public imagination through a nuanced analysis of editorial pages and other public discourses, including political cartoons and eugenics posters.
Ferri coordinates the School of Education’s master’s program in secondary inclusive education and the doctoral program in special education and serves on
the advisory board for the University’s Women’s Studies Program, where she also is an affiliate faculty member.
Details
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Peter Lang Publisher, Inc. (April, 2006)
• ISBN-10: 0820474282; ISBN-13: 978-0820474281
Harold Hackney
Counseling Strategies and Interventions (Seventh Edition)
Harold Hackney, professor of counseling and human services, and co-author Sherry Cormier recently published the seventh edition of Counseling Strategies and Interventions (Pearson/Allyn and Bacon). Since its first publication in 1973, Counseling Strategies has become a standard text in counseling courses in universities and colleges across the United States. The book is a practical, highly readable text that focuses on basic counseling skills within a multicultural context and is rooted in contemporary issues and the diversity of real-world counseling.
Hackney, doctoral program coordinator in counseling and human services, is a national certified counselor, licensed professional counselor, approved clinical
supervisor, and fellow of the American Counseling Association. His writing draws from his experiences as a school counselor and marriage and family counselor, and his research on counseling processes and spirituality in counseling.
Details
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon (7th edition, February 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205521630; ISBN-13: 978-0205521630
M. Kristina Montero (editor)
Soul Talk: Urban Youth Poetry
Capturing the experiences of urban public school children in Syracuse, New York, Soul Talk: Urban Youth Poetry, edited by Kristiina Montero, assistant professor of reading and language arts, provides a powerful emotional and political statement about issues being faced by young adults in their public schools and neighborhoods.
Excerpts from Soul Talk: Urban Youth Poetry
Why Does It Still Happen?
by Alen Jusic
Why do our classmates drop out of school
When they know education is the best way to succeed?
Why do our friends kill each other
When we all can help prevent that?
Why does our country go to war
When war is the darkest piece of a solution?
Why do we want to be different from each other
When we are all the same in front of God?
Why are things the way they are
When we can make the world a better place?
Alen Jusic is a 17-year-old junior at Nottingham High School who
moved to Syracuse in 2001 from his native Bosnia.
POWER
Anonymous
Community is people coming together for a purpose of good,
Regardless of color, race, religion, or gender.
Change has to come from the heart, the mind will follow.
Art can communicate.
Communication is power.
Power can change.
Details
• Paperback: 89 pp, trade paper, perfect bound, with photographs
• Publisher: New City Community Press (April, 2007)
• ISBN-13: 978-0-9712996-8-9
Mara Sapon-Shevin
Widening the Circle: The Power of Inclusive Classrooms
Widening the Circle (Beacon Press) by Mara Sapon-Shevin, professor of inclusive elementary and special education, argues strongly for a broader implementation of inclusive education in all communities. In the book,
Sapon-Shevin uses powerful storytelling and argument to support a bold, even radical vision for full classroom inclusion, laying out a moral and educational case for creating school communities in which all students—regardless of race, family background, disability, special needs, or other perceived “differences”—are welcomed as full and valued members from the very start.
She argues that only through inclusive schooling can children grow into caring, responsible citizens who connect deeply with others and see themselves as change agents in the world.
The author defines full inclusion as a matter of social justice. “Understanding—and believing—that the only way for young people to learn about living in
diverse, democratic communities is by being part of one,” writes Sapon-Shevin. At the same time, the book takes a stand against traditional special education
models where children with special needs are often isolated in designated tracks until they are deemed “ready” to join their peers in the classroom.
Sapon-Shevin addresses head-on the many challenges and objections to the concept and implementation of inclusion in schools, from practical—space,
time, teacher training, resources—to ideological. She also explores the myths and beliefs that often impede inclusion and inclusion practices.
Finally, she provides examples and strategies for making full inclusion successful, addressing issues of diversity, curriculum, pedagogy, and classroom
climate.
Details
• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (First edition, March 7, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0807032808
• ISBN-13: 978-0807032800
Louise Wilkinson (editor)
Language and Literacy Learning in Schools
Co-edited by Louise Wilkinson and Elaine Silliman, this accessible and user-friendly volume presents evidence-based practices for integrating language and literacy knowledge to enhance children's learning in today's standards-based classrooms. While grounded in theory and research, Language and Literacy Learning in Schools focuses on day-to-day concerns in instruction and intervention, identifying models for effective collaboration among speech-language pathologists, general and special educators, and reading specialists. Chapters cover a range of approaches for targeting core areas of literacy--word recognition, reading comprehension, writing, and spelling--with particular attention to working with students with language learning difficulties.
Wilkinson is Distinguished Professor of Education, Psychology and Communication Sciences in Reading and Language Arts. An internationally recognized leader in education, Wilkinson is best known for her extensive research on children's language and literacy learning and has been published in 125 articles, chapters and volumes. She teaches courses on literacy learning for first/second English language learners and on comparative urban teacher education.
Details
• Hardcover: 366 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press (October 18, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 1593850654
• ISBN-13: 978-1593850654