Let's Get Real: Exploring Race, Class, and Gender Identities in the Classroom

This new book is a vital resource for any teacher or administrator to help students tackle issues of race, class, gender, religion, and cultural background. Authors Martha Caldwell and Oman Frame, both lifelong educators, offer a series of teaching strategies designed to encourage conversation and personal reflection, enabling students to think creatively, rather than stereotypically, about difference. Using the Transformational Inquiry model, your students will learn to explore their own identities, share stories and thoughts with their peers, learn more through reading and research, and ultimately take personal, collaborative action to affect social change in their communities.

You’ll learn how to:

• Facilitate dynamic classroom discussions in a safe and empathetic environment
• Encourage students to think and talk objectively about complex and sensitive issues such as race, gender, and social class
• Help students cultivate valuable communication, critical thinking, and writing skills while developing their identities in a healthy way.
• Develop your teacher identity in a positive way to better support your students’ growth and self-discovery

The strategies in this book can be adapted for any middle school or high school curriculum, and each chapter includes a variety of lesson plans and handouts that you can use in the classroom immediately. These resources can also be downloaded from the authors’ website: www.ichangecollaborative.com.

Martha Caldwell and Oman Frame are cofounders of iChange Collaborative Consulting, where they train teachers, administrators, and students in diversity education, global competency, and social emotional learning. They also teach integrated middle school humanities curricula at the Paideia School in Atlanta, Georgia.