Dealing with diversity
Nasser Mansour and Rupert Wegerif (eds)
Springer
2013 | 400pp | £90 (HB)
ISBN 9789400745629
In life, occasionally there are funny coincidences. About a week before I received the invitation to review this book, I had heard about it and was about to order a copy. I was particularly interested in the subtitle ‘theory and practice’ and the combination of the two topics in one volume.
From the beginning, I was very impressed. Since the community uses the words ‘diversity’ and ‘heterogeneity’ a lot, I like that the authors make it clear from the outset the particular definition of the word diversity they use.
The book focuses on cultural issues in science education. This is examined from different angles such as pedagogical strategies, teacher education and learning. In my opinion these are topics that are rarely mentioned at conferences and in some countries researched randomly.
I was expecting a list of different studies and discussion of the results: this is included, however I was also fortunate to read about empirical experiences and expert research from some extremely diverse groups around the world. The book also presents strategies for how to teach and deal with diverse groups in science classes.
Furthermore, this book is not only for science educators. Some sections I would also promote to trainees as well as experienced teachers. Reading it made me change one of my seminar sessions, to use some of the examples given in the book and reflect on them with my student teachers.
The book is well written and easy to read (even for non-native speakers). While reading some sections I found it difficult to put down! I think that it will be of interest to researchers working in the field of diversity in science education, as well as for others.
Purchase Science education for diversity from Amazon.co.uk
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