I will state the objectives and outline your reading of Chapter 2. 

OBJECTIVES
Learning Outcomes - After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

• Describe culture and some of its characteristics.
• Identify the dominant culture  in the United States and explain its impact on people who are not members of the dominant culture.
• Understand three theories and ideologies that describe ways in which schools respond to students who do not have ancestral roots in Western Europe.
• Identify microcultureal groups to which students belong and indicate why some are more important to their cultural identity than others.
• Describe the value of teachers' being bicultural or multicultural.

• More than 1 million new immigrants annually are introducing new religions, languages, and ways of thinking and acting to areas of the country that previously tacked the rich diversity of urban areas.
• Diversity is broadly defined to include: class, ethnicity, race, religion, language, gender, sexual orientation, ability, age and geographic locations
• Children learn how to think, feel, speak, and behave through the culture in which they are raised.
• Each of us belongs to a number of different microcultural groups within our culture.
• See figure 2.1 on page 66.
•  Summary statements can be found on pages 94-96.

CULTURE AND SOCIETY 

• Culture is learned, shared , adapted, and dynamic.  People learn their culture through enculturation.
• The dominant culture in the US is that of white, middle-class, Protestants whose ancestors emigrated from Western Europe.
• Males have dominated the political system and related government positions of authority.
• Study the description of the characteristics of the dominant culture today, pages 65-67.

DIVERSITY AND EDUCATION 

• You will be teaching a diverse group of students.
• Ethnographic studies provide valuable information about how teachers and schools interact with students in the learning process.
• Learn definitions of assimilation, acculturation, cultural choice, and cultural pluralism found on pages 68-71

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS 

• SES: the economic condition of individuals based on their income, occupation, and educational attainment.
• Social stratification: levels of social class ranking based on income, education, occupation, wealth, and power in society. See poverty statistics on pages 73-74.

ETHNICITY AND RACE 

• pages 75-78 deal with ethnicity and race. See figure 2.4 on page 76 and the relevant research on page 78.
• Ethnic group: Group based on the national origin of one's family or ancestors in which members share a culture and sense of common destiny.

GENDER 

• Males and females are culturally different even when they are members of the same socioeconomic, ethnic, and religious group.  The ways they think and act are defined in part by their gender identity. Read pages 78-81.
• One's sexual orientation plays a role in their response to society - read pages 81-82.

LANGUAGE 

• Language interacts with our ethnic and socioeconomic background to socialize us into linguistic and cultural communities.  See pages 82-84.  Read professional dilemma on page 84.

EXCEPTIONALITIES 

• More than 25 million people in the United States have a sever disability.  Read pages 84-88.

RELIGION 

• REligion can have a great influence on the values and lifestyles of families and can play an important role in the socialization of children and young people. See pages 88-90.

GEOGRAPHY 

• Communities and their schools differ from one region of the US to another.  Read the differences in suburban, rural, and urban communities on pages 90-93.
• See important web sites on page 97-98.

TEACHING IS A WONDERFUL PROFESSION!