Articles & Books | Gary R. Howard Equity Institutes

For author Gary Howard, the issues and passions that spared the writing the first edition of his now classic work are as intense today as they were then. In the Third Edition, Howard reviews the progress we have made in the interim (for example, the first Black president in the White House), as well as the lack of progress (the gutting of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the epidemic of Black youth killed by police and the persistence of race-based educational disparities). Making a case for the “fierce urgency of now,” this new edition deepens the discussion of race and social justice in education with new and updated material. Aligned with our nation’s ever more diverse student population, it speaks to what good teachers know, what they do, and how they embrace culturally responsive teaching. This essential text is widely used in teacher preparation courses and for in-service professional development.

This third edition of We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know deepns the critically conscious framework it provides to supprt the development of expecially white, middle class teachers becoming highly effective, culturally relevant and responsive educators to all students, especially those in the most poorly resourced schools. It also conveys, with the appropriate sence of urgency, the need for teacher education to recruit and retain highly race-conscious teachers of color.”

Christine Clark, Professor & Senior Scholar in Multiculural Education, and Found Vice President for Diversity & Inclusion, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)