Description
Proverbs are an important part of the multicultural experience and they are consistently intertwined with socio-cultural and political webs of the people. Proverbs depict and unveil generational continuity, wisdom, power, and humility. To a large measure, they provide deeper meanings and explications of complex situations, events, and daily activities. They portray a true picture of the originality and valuing of oral tradition to the multicultural perspective. In more ways than one, proverbs expose dialogue and discourse as a part of the vernacular of people and they are the icing on the cake in daily oral interactions of diverse communities in the United States and around the world. In 100 Multicultural Proverbs: Underlying Educational Principles for Today’s Educators and Leaders, proverbs from different African, Asian, Native American, and Latino tribes, communities, and countries are presented. These proverbs have implications for collaboration, consultation, and cooperation. Everyone has a role in building his or her community. The influx of immigrant minorities into the fabric of the United States society makes it imperative for educators and leaders to change their ways of thinking, teaching, learning, and leading. Clearly, the paradigms and powers have shifted in our society – we can and must learn from each other. To a large extent, this book exposes different ways to solve problems – some ways are through serious thinking and some are through humor. Festus E. Obiakor, Ph.D., is Department Head and Professor, Early Childhood and Special Education, Dewar College of Education and Human Services, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia. A teacher, scholar, and consultant, he has served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at a variety of universities. He is the author of more than 150 publications, including books, articles, and commentaries; and he has presented papers at many national and international conferences. He serves on the editorial boards of reputable nationally and internationally refereed journals, including Multicultural Learning and Teaching (MLT) in which he serves as co-executive Editor. Obiakor is a leader who has been involved in many landmark scholarly works in the fields of general and special education, with particular focus on African American and other culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners and he continues to prescribe multidimensional methods of assessment, teaching, and intervention for these individuals. Based on this premise, he created the Comprehensive Support Model (CSM), an intervention model that values the collaborative, consultative, and cooperative energies of students, families, teachers/service providers, communities, and government agencies.
