Best Selling Books by Jim Cummins

This is a remarkably interesting and useful book...it makes a significant contribution to our knowledge and understanding of both bilingualism and education.'' Journal of Education Policy

This book examines the effectiveness of alternatives to assessment and pedagogical practices for bilingual children. A central theme of the book is that practice can be improved only by a thorough re-examination of the assumptions underlying the special education enterprise.

A ground-breaking and topical commentary from a leading thinker within the field of multilingual education. Over the past 40 years, Jim Cummins has proposed a number of highly influential theoretical concepts, including the threshold and interdependence hypotheses and the distinction between conversational fluency and academic language proficiency. In this book, he provides a personal account of how these ideas developed and he examines the credibility of critiques they have generated, using the criteria of empirical adequacy, logical coherence, and consequential validity. These criteria of theoretical legitimacy are also applied to the evaluation of two different versions of translanguaging theory – Unitary Translanguaging Theory and Crosslinguistic Translanguaging Theory – in a way that significantly clarifies this controversial concept.

Population mobility is at an all-time high in human history. One result of this unprecedented movement of peoples around the world is that in many school systems monolingual and monocultural students are the exception rather than the rule, particularly in urban areas. This shift in demographic realities entails enormous challenges for educators and policy-makers. What do teachers need to know in order to teach effectively in linguistically and culturally diverse contexts? How long does it take second language learners to acquire proficiency in the language of school instruction? What are the differences between attaining conversational fluency in everyday contexts and developing proficiency in the language registers required for academic success? What adjustments do we need to make in curriculum, instruction and assessment to ensure that second-language learners understand what is being taught and are assessed in a fair and equitable manner? How long do we need to wait before including second-language learners in high-stakes national examinations and assessments? What role (if any) should be accorded students’ first language in the curriculum? Do bilingual education programs work well for poor children from minority-language backgrounds or should they be reserved only for middle-class children from the majority or dominant group? In addressing these issues, this volume focuses not only on issues of language learning and teaching but also highlights the ways in which power relations in the wider society affect patterns of teacher–student interaction in the classroom. Effective instruction will inevitably challenge patterns of coercive power relations in both school and society.

The contribution of Jim Cummins to bilingualism and bilingual education has been substantial and profound. This reader provides a comprehensive compilation of his most important and influential texts. The book also provides a detailed biographical introduction and a commentary on the growth of ideas over three decades.

"Brave New Schools" is the first book in the cultural literacy debate that considers the impact of the information superhighway and its presence in the classroom. Stunning in its implications for the future of learning guided by technology, the book offers hopeful solutions to the problems of cultural differences and the future of our children.

This handbook provides an introduction to research findings related to bilingualism in minority-language children, and describes the implications of these findings for issues of current concern in Canadian education. Bilingualism is defined as the production and/or comprehension of two languages by the same individual. The phrase "minority-language children" refers to children whose first language is different from the language of the wider community. The topic is discussed under five headings: (1) issues dealing with bilingual and bicultural education, providing for instruction in a variety of languages, psychological and educational ramifications, and a case study; (2) the historical perspective and the context for bilingualism and bilingual education at present in Canada and in other countries; (3) a presentation of research findings and a consideration of the patterns of bilingualism and cultural identity typically developed by minority children; (4) a review of theories related to learning two languages and a formulation of a cognitive "think tank model" for language learning; and (5) a consideration of the practical implications of the research findings for "heritage-language" teachers and minority parents who are eager to promote a high level of first language proficiency. The book concludes with a summary of what is known about bilingualism and children''s development. (AMH)

This book confronts the patterns of school failure often faced by subordinated minority groups in the United States. It does so by presenting a socioacademic framework that is based on the notion that all groups can have comparable access to quality schooling, comparable participation in the schooling, and derive comparable educational benefits from their participation. Organized around three key, interrelated components--communication, integration, and cooperation--the book combines theoretical concepts with actual classroom practices that support change. It moves us from a position of rhetoric about educational equality to one that actively addresses the socioacademic needs of students in a culturally diverse society.

An invaluable resource for both practicing and pre-service teachers, this long-awaited book offers a fresh and much-needed point of view of how to "rethink" literacy and technology in today''s diverse classrooms. Authored by some of the most respected researchers in the field today, Literacy, Technology, and Diversity reflects on the idea that great expectations are achievable through educational projects that foster academic growth, with classroom diversity and technology as catalysts for deeper learning, and that a narrow focus ongrade expectations yields superficial results. Arguing today''s learning principles need to incorporate the core values of community learning, critical pedagogy, multilingualism, anti-racist education, high academic standards, and technological fluency, Cummins, Sayers and Brown provide a thought-provoking introduction into these learning principles that will inspire the life-long learning of students. Take a peek inside... Provides examples of projects, backed by research-based theories for their effective adaptation to help both pre-service and practicing teachers become more independent and creative in the ways they use technology. Gives useful suggestions on how to effectively integrate literacy and technology into the classroom. Presents Portraits (Case studies) of collaborative projects promoting literacy learning and often involving technology on such topics as: Cognition, Assessment, Community of Learning, and Tools and Resources in Section II (Chapters 5-9). Contains an appendix of short vignettes of exemplary projects that promote learning of standards-based expectations for academic achievement. Includes a complimentary CD-ROM of additional resources for teachers as well as updated portraits on exemplary projects.

Jim Cummins was born in 1944 and grew up in a small rural community in county Kildare Ireland; he finished school at age 13 and immediately went to work as a farm labourer. He learned to drive trucks at age 17 and later immigrated to Australia where he worked as a miner and learned all about using explosives as part of the job. On returning to work in Ireland he resumed work as a truck driver but soon progressed to senior management and eventually started his own business as co-founder of Primo Oil Company which went on to become a big player in the oil distribution scene in Dublin employing up to 125 people at its height. Jim liked to be adventurous and loved water sports and at one time formed part of the crew in a Trans Atlantic yacht race. He became involved in fundraising for Barretstown the childrens charity and the Make a Wish foundation which is also a childrens charity and went on treks to Brazil, Vietnam, Lesotho and the Inca trail to Macchu Picchu in Peru. Jim and his wife pat also went on charity building projects in Africa building school rooms and an orphanage. In 2011 Jim undertook his greatest adventure to date when he went with his wife Pat to climb Mount Kilimanjaro the worlds highest freestanding mountain. This is the story of Jims journey from Kildare to Climbing Kilimanjaro.

Jim Cummins offers answers to the problems of the devaluation of children because of their ethnic, social or cultural backgrounds in this revised and expanded edition.

"myView Literacy is a comprehensive English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum for students in Grades K-5. It provides a balanced approach to teaching reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking through Reading and Writing Workshops. The all-new, print and digital curriculum includes authentic texts and minilessons, flexible resources, and meaningful differentiation."--Publisher''s website.

This book analyses policy issues regarding the education of minority students in western industrialised societies and presents a number of case studies of programs that have been successful in reversing the pattern of minority students'' academic failure.