Creating Cross-Cultural Connections

Abstract

This article describes a project of varied experiences crossing cultural boundaries by public school and university students and faculty members. The project addressed the gap experienced between the expectations and understandings of urban school students toward college students and of college students toward urban school students. Experience is an integral part of constructing knowledge in becoming multiculturally literate, crucial for future and practicing teachers and for students pondering their futures. Through e-mailing, letter writing, face-to-face experiences, literary experiences with multicultural themes, idea walks, reflections, webbing, and quilt making, this multidisciplinary project coaxed its participants to break institutional and social barriers in their personal systems.

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