Resources for Creating and Enhancing Culturally Relevant Partnerships

One of the first classes I took during my current grad work was focused on building successful collaborations and partnerships between families, schools and community organizations.  I developed this list of resources for culturally relevant/sensitive partnerships as a handout for a chapter discussion, but I felt it may be useful to share here.

Source 

And so, without any further ado...

Resources for Creating and Enhancing Culturally Relevant Partnerships

Welcoming Schools http://www.welcomingschools.org/

Welcoming Schools is a project of the Human Rights Foundation. The site collects together professional development, lessons and additional resources on embracing family diversity, avoiding gender stereotyping, and ending bullying and name-calling. There are resources on specific teachable moments that arise in everyday classrooms. The resources available include lesson plans, annotated bibliographies on a number of subjects, research, and support in advocating the need for welcoming schools for all students and families.

Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network http://glsen.org/

The GLSEN is an organization focused on fostering safe, respectful and inclusive school spaces for every student, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The site has a variety of resources for teaching and social action. Their educational resources are more focused towards late elementary and secondary students. Many are focused on broader issues of tolerance and bullying prevention. GLSEN also offers professional development resources.

Multicultural literature pathfinder from Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/48493

This is a pathfinder put out by the Internet Public Library focused on multicultural literature. It presents vetted resources including themed internet resources, print materials and directions to pursue further print materials.

Global Fund for Children book lists

https://www.globalfundforchildren.org/store/religious-diversity/

https://www.globalfundforchildren.org/store/diversity-in-the-united-states/

The Global Fund for Children is an organization focused on helping vulnerable children in communities around the world. Their resources page “connects parents and educators with high-quality resources for teaching children about diversity, tolerance, and global citizenship.” There are a lot of great resources here. I am highlighting the annotated book lists about Religious Diversity and Diversity in the United States. These lists are extensive, and feature books from preschool level to grade 8 (most are appropriate for the elementary grades).

Teaching Tolerance http://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources

Teaching Tolerance is an online presence and print/digital magazine aimed at providing resources, news and support for those interested in diversity, equal opportunities and respect for differences in schools. The magazine is free for teachers to subscribe to. The classroom resources page features a searchable list of activities and lessons in multiple subjects, at levels from K through 12 on a variety of tolerance-focused topics.

Bonus: Family Echo http://www.familyecho.com/

This resource is a family tree maker that is entirely online, free and ad-free. It is very user-friendly and allows a lot of different kinds of information to be included. The product can be simple or complex and is attractive and easy to read.

Bonus: Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/

This is an extra resource that I wished to share. It is where the multicultural pathfinder listed came from, but it has many vetted resources: magazines and newspapers, resources listed by subject, and pathfinders on several topics. In addition, ipl2 offers sites specifically designed for kids and for teens, featuring similar resources more targeted at these age groups.