Diversity Consciousness

Description

This empowering study on human diversity helps readers develop the ability to understand, respect, and value diversity–and demonstrates how opening one’s mind to the views of other peoples and cultures is central for a quality education and successful career. Personalizing the learning experience by integrating a variety of real-life student experiences and perspectives, it discusses topics in a style that promotes self-reflection and dialogue that is inclusive and not condescending. Complete with self-reflective journal questions, case studies, and interactive exercises, it discusses diversity and workplace issues–such as teamwork, conflict management, leadership, racism, prejudice, and communication; and zeroes in on the relationship between an employee’s success and his/her ability to develop flexible thinking to positively and effectively deal with a variety of diversity issues.

• Chapter-end running case studies–Follows three individuals throughout the book.
  • Requires students to assess each specific case, and familiarizes them with complex issues and situations involving diversity.
• Grounded in research–Moves beyond anecdotal evidence by citing many research studies derived from real companies and real people.
  • Highlights the positive impact of education/training in the area of diversity, i.e., how students’ exposure to diversity issues is more apt to make them culturally sensitive and more creative and productive on the job.
• Focus on personal growth and empowerment as a life-long process.
  • Shows students how developing diversity consciousness is an ongoing process of educating oneself, requiring a great deal of self-reflection, evaluation, patience and commitment.
• Student perspectives–Infuses each chapter with genuine anecdotes from a diverse population of students who share their everyday struggles, stories, and achievements.
  • Provides perspectives from a wide variety of educational, social, and ethnic backgrounds, providing insight and letting the student learn from the experiences of their peers.
• Real-world applications–now and in the future–Explores the relevance of communication, teamwork, conflict management, leadership, and flexible thinking in the workplace.
  • Helps students understand the connections between “diversity skills” and the world of work, and their increasing relevance to creativity, productivity, and profit.
• Journal questions–Integrated throughout each chapter, Thinking Through Diversity offers thought-provoking questions  to encourage students to write and record entries in their own personal journal.  The journal facilitates both classroom discussions and/or online discussion boards.
  • Reinforces students’ learning, provides them with a record of their thoughts, promotes self-reflection and encourages dialogue.
• Engaging end-of-chapter exercises–Includes activities for completion both in class and out of class, as well as Internet exercises.  These exercises facilitate differentiated instruction.
  • Gives students an interactive opportunity to utilize different learning styles, and helps them synthesize and build upon their newly acquired knowledge.
• Wide audience appeal–Provides a rich, in-depth and realistic approach to diversity that all students will relate to, regardless of their background, and explores traditional and emerging diversity issues.
  • Treats students in a friendly, direct, and non-condescending manner.
• Instructor’s manual.
  • Provides instructor with tools for a rich classroom experience. Test questions are also included.

NEW – Chapter on Leadership – Promotes the perspective that everyone needs to be prepared to assume leadership roles.

• Examines how diversity consciousness enhances the effectiveness of leaders. Ch. 7. 

NEW – More and new thought-provoking graphic organizers and visual aids, including illustrations, photos, graphs, and tables throughout.

• Gets students attention, increases retention and aids learning, and taps multiple learning styles. 

NEW – Interactive Internet Exercises.

• Engages students and expands opportunities for learning; reinforces key concepts and promotes critical thinking. End of Chapter. 

NEW – “Profiles in Diversity Consciousness” — Profiles an individual or group of individuals whose diversity consciousness has been life-changing for themselves and others.

• Personalizes the subject matter and shows the relevance of diversity consciousness in everyday life.

NEW – Key Terms included at end of each chapter.

• Summarizes and reinforces learning of major terms. 

NEW – Data from research studies, census, and other sources.

• Explores emerging issues and provides students with the most current information available. 

NEW – Instructor resources. Powerpoint slides for each chapter.  More varied test questions for each chapter (Multiple Choice, True-False, Short Answer, Essays).

• Allow instructor more flexibility to tailor learning with a greater variety of test questions and editable slides.

TECHNOLOGY AND PEARSON CHOICES

MyStudentSuccessLab (www.mystudentsuccesslab.com) is an online solution designed to help students ‘Start strong, Finish stronger’ by building skills for ongoing personal and professional development. This Learning Outcome based technology promotes student engagement through:

·          The Learning Path Diagnostic offers for the course, 83 Full Course Pre- and Post-Diagnostic (Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels I-VI) questions, and for each topic, 20 Pre- and Post-Test (Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels I-VI) questions.

·          The Overview provides learning objectives to build vocabulary and repetition.

·          Video interviews on key issues ‘by students, for students’.

·          The Practice exercises improve class preparation and learning. 

·          Graded Activities build critical thinking skills and develop problem-solving abilities (includes Essays and Journaling).

·          Instructors benefit from an Implementation Guide to easily assign and assess progress. 

·          Students have access to relevant FinishStronger247 YouTube videos, the Pearson student Facebook page chock full of tips, MySearchLab use for doing effective research, and more.

PearsonChoices – CourseSmart and Custom Publishing.  Having choices for how to deliver course content is important.

·    CourseSmart Textbooks Online is an exciting new choice for students looking to save money. As an alternative to purchasing the print textbook, students can subscribe to the same content online and save up to 50% off the suggested list price of the print text. With a CourseSmart e-textbook, students can search the text, make notes online, print out reading assignments that incorporate lecture notes, and bookmark important passages for later review. For more information, or to subscribe, visit www.coursesmart.com.  

·    Pearson Custom Publishing allows professors to create their own professionally produced customized textbooks and media products to best complement their course. We offer high-quality content, professional design, quick production, and reliable on-time delivery. The result is a valuable textbook that students will use, cover to cover, tailored to meet exactly the needs of the professor, students, and course.  Visit www.pearsoncustom.com.

1. Diversity– An Overview.
2. Diversity Consciousness and Success.
3. Personal and Social Barriers to Success.
4. Developing Diversity Consciousness.
5. Communicating in a Diverse World.
6. Teamwork.
7. Leadership.

8. Conclusion. 

Bibliography.
Suggested Readings.
Index.

“Diversity Consciousness is user friendly, that is, the students find it easy to read and yet it does not achieve this by “dumbing down” the content.  Also, the organization of the book seems to help the student move through what can be a very difficult and troubling subject.”

For courses in Success/Orientation, Diversity, Race and Ethnic Relations, Cultural Diversity in the Workplace, Education, Nursing, Human Relations, Sociology, Hospitality, Social Work/Family Therapy/Human Services, EMS and Fire Science, Counseling, and Criminal Justice; also for teacher-training education courses, and staff/professional development workshops.

In this work on human diversity, Bucher seamlessly integrates personal and organizational perspectives, research, and theories while discussing teamwork, communication, leadership, conflict and other issues in a diverse organizations.  This allows the learner to personalize the learning experience and develop awareness and understanding of diversity within as well as between groups.  By engaging the reader on both a cognitive and affective level, Diversity Consciousness takes students on a journey of learning.  Igniting student’s curiosity and questions about the nature and relevance of diversity, this book does not allow for passive learning. Bucher makes it clear that developing diversity consciousness is a lifelong, incremental process that requires an ongoing commitment of learning.  While people of all backgrounds are apt to encounter potential barriers to their success when they communicate, work in teams, lead, and manage conflict in diverse settings, this book offers tools to recognize, understand and deal effectively with these barriers and turn diversity into an asset. 

We encourage you to visit this Blog on the subject of diversity consciousness/cultural intelligence at www.diversityconsciousness.com/blog   The author driven Blog is for faculty and educators who want to learn more about diversity and how it impacts their institutions, their communities, and their teaching.

TECHNOLOGY OFFERING: MyStudentSuccessLab is available with this book upon request. It is an online solution designed to help students ‘Start strong, Finish stronger’ by building skills for ongoing personal and professional development. Go to http://mystudentsuccesslab.com/mssl3 for a Point and Click DEMO of the Time Management module.  

Dr. Richard Bucher is a Professor of Sociology at Baltimore City Community College (BCCC).  He has been nationally recognized for his teaching excellence and teaches a variety of courses, including Introductory Sociology, Cultural Diversity in the Workplace, and Race and Ethnic Relations.  The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education recently honored him for teaching excellence.  He served as the first Director of BCCC’s Institute for Intercultural Understanding (IIU).  Under his leadership, the IIU gained national recognition as an innovative diversity education program.  Dr. Bucher received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Howard University, with a concentration in race and ethnic relations.  He is also the author of  Building Cultural Intelligence (CQ): Nine Megaskills (Prentice Hall, 2008).  We encourage you to visit his website at http://www.diversityconsciousness.com and this Blog on the subject of diversity consciousness/cultural intelligence at www.diversityconsciousness.com/blog  The author driven Blog is for faculty and educators who want to learn more about diversity and how it impacts their institutions, their communities, and their teaching.  

Additional information