Objectives: CA ECSE TPEs1.5 Communicate effectively & in a culturally & linguistically appropriate manner with families & other service providers to facilitate & strengthen ongoing partnerships & collaborations that can support young children’s learning goals & outcomes.2.2 Promote children’s access, learning & participation in a variety of environments using models of support​ ​that​ ​are​ ​strengths-​ ​based, ​​family-centered, ​ ​and​ ​culturally & linguistically​ ​responsive.6.7 Effectively​ ​articulate​ ​the​ ​rationale​ ​for​ ​instruction​ ​and​ ​intervention​ ​plans​ ​through culturally & linguistically appropriate verbal​ ​& ​written​ ​communications​ ​to and with​ ​family​ ​members, ​ ​other​ ​service​ ​providers, administration, ​ ​&​ ​other​ ​stakeholders.

With ever increasing cultural diversity in our schools, how do educators establish and maintain effective relationships with those whose experiences and beliefs differ from their own? Dr. Darryle Craig, program manager for Fairfax County Public Schools College Success Program, presents her ideas and strategies for becoming "Culturally Competent.” According to Dr. Craig—cultural competency is “the ability to interact effectively with people from different cultures.” During the program, Dr. Craig defines and examines the importance of cultural competence. Using first-hand examples and questions from the studio audience, Craig advises how to use this important skill to help close the achievement gap, and promote best practices that create success among diverse learners.

This resource is to educate others on the importance of cultural competence in special education and the lack of cultural awareness that is currently in special education classrooms. It includes history of special education and the laws surrounding it, the importance of cultural awareness and competence, what the current system is doing and why it does not work and what the future will hopefully look like for culture in special education.

How do we, as youth, engage our communities to positively address human rights issues? The Rights of the Child curriculum explores human rights in an effort to foster cultural awareness, bring to light the rights of the child, and activate global citizenship among youth through international dialogue and collaboration.

Video recreations that teach world legends and folktales will be enjoyed by all audiences.

Afghanistan - Eight Strands for Afghanistan; Albania - The Land of the Eagles; Algeria - The Legend of Tin Hinan; Angola - Kianda Takes a Bride; Azerbaijan - The Dove and Peace; Bolivia - The Legend of Chijchipa; Brazil - The Amazon River; Burma - Moguk - The Legend of the Rubies; Cambodia - The Tale of Thunder and Lightning; China - Journey to Dadu Marco Poso, The Silver Fish and The Great Wall.

Colombia - The Legend of Furatena; Djibouti - The Legend of Hadal Mahiss; DRC - The Kingdom of Kongo; Egypt - Cleopatra; Eritrea - Queen of Sheba; Ethiopia - The Lion's Whisker; Georgia - The Pheasant of Tbilisi; India - Taj Mahal; Indonesia - The Legend of Merong Mahawangsa; Iran - The 1001 Nights; Iraq - Abul Abbas the Elephant; Israel - Solomon the Wise King; Ivory Coast
The Legend of Queen Pokou.

Japan - The Naming of Mount Fuji; Kazakhstan - The Legend of the Dombra; Kenya - The Spirit Wife; Kurdistan - Legend of Zembilfiroz; Kuwait - Mariam and Salim: Defenders of Kuwait; Lebanon - Cadmus The First Teacher; Liberia - The Chief's Wise Wife; Libya - The Legend of Cyrene; Mali - The Lost Manuscripts of Timbuktu; Mexico - The Lengend of Popocateptl & Iztaccihuatle; Mongolia- The Camel and the Rat; Morocco - The Legend of the Almond Tree; Nepal -Boudhanath; Nigeria - Bayajidda; North Korean - The Legend of Tangun; Oman - The Frozen Dates.

Philippines - The Legend of Apo Lakay-Lakay, The Chocolates Hills of Bohol Island, Legend of Alitaptap and the Fireflies; Poland - The Mermaid of Warsaw; Portugal - The Rooster from Barcelos; Saudi Arabia - Poetry in Pre-Islamic Arabia Qays and Layla, Poetry in Pre-Islamic Arabia Antara and 'Abla; Serbia - Marko - Hero and King; Somalia - The Camel in the Sky; Syria - How the West Was Won by the Arabs; Thailand - Ta-in and Ta-na; Tunisia - Queen Ellissar, The Punic Wars; Turkey - Troy; Turkmenistan - Sultan Sanjar and the Fairy; UAE - The Milk Container; Uzbekistan - How Samarkand Got Its Name; Venezuela - The Five White Eagles; Vietman - The Legend of Betel: Cao Tan and Cao Lang; Yemen - The Discovery of Coffee.

The Malaysia Sustainable Cities Practicum is an intensive field-based course that brings 15 graduate students to Malaysia to learn about and analyze sustainable city development in five cities in Malaysia. The students in the Practicum will help determine the extent to which these efforts have been successful. They will identify specific projects or policy-making efforts that the following year’s cohort of International Visiting Scholars can examine more closely. 
Lead Faculty
Professor Larry Susskind
Teaching Assistants
Jessica Gordon
Yasmin Zaerpoor
Administrative Staff
Takeo Kuwabara
Selmah Goldberg

The Malaysia Sustainable Cities Practicum is an intensive field-based course that brings 15 graduate students to Malaysia to learn about and analyze sustainable city development in five cities in Malaysia. The students in the Practicum will help determine the extent to which these efforts have been successful. They will identify specific projects or policy-making efforts that the following year’s cohort of International Visiting Scholars can examine more closely. 
Lead Faculty
Professor Larry Susskind
Teaching Assistants
Jessica Gordon
Yasmin Zaerpoor
Administrative Staff
Takeo Kuwabara
Selmah Goldberg

This course is the first intermediate-level course in Spanish, with a focus on grammar review, additional vocabulary, writing of essays in Spanish and enhancement of cultural awareness. Group activities and projects, and conversation are emphasized. There are detailed simulation activities, readings about literature and art from Latin America and Spain, activities with music videos and interviews, and viewings of recent films such as El espinazo del diablo, Juana la loca, and María llena eres de gracia. Students also participate in the MITUPV Exchange project, a multimedia-centered Web site that deals with university life at MIT, the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in Spain, and other universities.

These two Google Sheets were created to assist teachers using the Legends and Folktales "Lecture" found here: https://www.oercommons.org/courses/legends-and-folktales

The videos are organized by theme on Sheet 1. On Sheet 2, problematic or adult/mature themes are noted as this was originally published as a third grade "lecture". There are some fantastic, concise, interesting videos on the site, but they are jumbled by theme and it is time consuming to search through them. This list was created to save teachers time.

The author is not affiliated with the Department of Defense or the Defense Language Institute - Foreign Language Center.