In this article, Lilia Bartolomé argues that the current focus on finding the right "methods" to improve the academic achievement of students who have historically been oppressed hides the less visible but more important reasons for their performance: the asymmetrical power relations of society that are reproduced in the schools, and the deficit view of minority students that school personnel uncritically, and often unknowingly, hold. Bartolomé argues instead for a humanizing pedagogy that respects and uses the reality, history, and perspectives of students as an integral part of educational practice. Discussing two approaches in particular that show promise when implemented within a humanizing pedagogical framework — culturally responsive education and strategic teaching — Bartolomé emphasizes the need for teachers' evolving political awareness of their relationship with students as knowers and active participants in their own learning.

This study examined the ways in which Mexican-American students construct meaning when reading school materials. It focused on the strategies they use when reading English and Spanish, the knowledge sources they call upon, and the ways in which these relate to understanding. Twelve fifth-grade students, all who come from bilingual homes, were asked to read both Spanish and English stories and informational pieces. Interspersed questions, post reading probes, and oral and written recalls were designed to tap their text understanding over time, as well as what they recalled after reading each piece. Interviews and school records provided background information about the students’ personal and school histories both in the United States and in Mexico. Transcripts, fieldnotes, and student writing samples were analyzed for patterns in the students’ approaches to the construction of meaning and in their differential uses of language and genre. Findings indicate that: (a) beyond a necessary basic, but limited knowledge of English, the students’ abilities to use good meaning-making strategies made the major difference in how well they comprehended in both Spanish and English; (b) the students’ language competence in Spanish helped them understand and respond to questions in both languages; (c) the students’ familiarity with genre affected their ability to build meanings in both languages; and (d) the kinds of questions the students were asked affected their ability to communicate what they understood.

By analyzing issues and messages in the mass media and recent news events, Lilia Bartolomé and Donaldo Macedo further the political discussion that problematizes the current discourse in education around ethnicity and race. The authors' discussion moves us beyond the monolithic constructs of Whiteness and "otherness" to recognize the complex interpenetrations and dynamics of ethnic and racial relations in the United States. In this article, the authors reveal how the politics of racism and division do not belong solely to extremist hate groups, but are an unacknowledged and potent part of mainstream American ideology, thought, and action. They provide examples of state and Congressional political figures and national mass media personalities to make their argument concrete.

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