Papers by Michael Ndemanu
Global Journal of Transformative Education
According to the Transformative Learning Theory developed by Jack Mezirow (1991), connecting theo... more According to the Transformative Learning Theory developed by Jack Mezirow (1991), connecting theory with practice is vital because transformative learning occurs during the connection process. A theory can be defined as a set of assumptions or hypotheses about a reality. In other words, it is a mental map representing the world (Granick, 2005; Knapper, 2000). Meanwhile practice can be defined as something that one does. Theory can inform practice because it provides a rationale for a decision or action to be taken. It is often modified based on the outcome of practice. Theory, therefore, should inform practice and vice versa. It is within this theory to practi
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The paper is an autoethnographic reflection of my experiences as a graduate student in two Midwes... more The paper is an autoethnographic reflection of my experiences as a graduate student in two Midwestern universities. I argue that although “ internationalization at home” remains the only easily affordable route to bringing global knowledge to domestic students’ doorsteps, higher education institutions are not effectively exploiting the advantage of large international student population to speed up the internationalization of their curricula in the U.S. The paper offers suggestions for designing a globally responsive pedagogy which is paramount to “ internationalization at home.” Michael T. Ndemanu Faculty’s Response to Globally Divergent Thinking in American College Classrooms: An Autoethnographic Reflection 10 Journal of Learning in Higher Education 11 Fall 2014 (Volume 10 Issue 2) ingly draw from their international students to inform curriculum and instruction, the implicit message they are sending to the rest of the students is that the international students’ knowledge is inva...
An online epistolary project was conducted with Cameroonian French-speaking students in order to ... more An online epistolary project was conducted with Cameroonian French-speaking students in order to boost English language learning. The project involved email exchanges (in English) between a small group of students from Cameroon and Canada, and it was coordinated by their teachers in both countries. At the end of the study, student emails were analyzed for linguistic manipulations, elements of lexical appropriation, and features of literacy acquisition. According to the findings, there were incremental gains in the Cameroonian students’ English-language acquisition. The impact of culture, which was initially overlooked, became an interwoven highlight for the students. The study concludes with recommendations—as well as words of caution—for further international email exchanges between schools to foster second language acquisition and multicultural awareness.
Journal of Black Studies, Nov 7, 2014
Multicultural Instructional Design
Using surveys and follow-up interview data, in this chapter, the authors evaluate the influence o... more Using surveys and follow-up interview data, in this chapter, the authors evaluate the influence of an immersive service learning experience from a multicultural education course for aspiring teachers. The chapter examines how required 20-hour field experience is utilized by different professors as part of a professional disposition assessment to pre-screen students for admission into the teaching program, as well as how the field experience impacts teacher candidates' belief system and cultural competency. This research examines and seeks to provide points of discussion regarding the challenges of the service-learning component and recommendations for improving the course. To improve the course delivery and the unique partnership, the multicultural education course has with a variety of community organizations received surveys from hundreds of former students. This project builds on these initial surveys with interviews.
Multicultural Learning and Teaching
This paper discusses pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) resistance to some of the core concepts of mult... more This paper discusses pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) resistance to some of the core concepts of multicultural education in a large Midwestern university. The data collected from document reviews, observations, and interviews with a selected group of PSTs point to cultural-ecological factors as major sources of the resistance. The paper examines these cultural-ecological factors correlating to PSTs’ fear of introducing multicultural concepts in their future suburban schools as well as their fear of cultural incongruity in the the urban schools. The study calls for an intensive and extensive multidimensional field experiences to familiarize PSTs with the unfamiliar cultures while providing them dialogic tools to informally engage their own communities on sensitive topics covered in multicultural education.
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2016
There is a need to embrace translingualism in order to avert covert tensions that emanate from th... more There is a need to embrace translingualism in order to avert covert tensions that emanate from the ascription of linguistic supremacy to ‘standard’ English, especially among teachers of immigrant children and in overall public discourse. Drawing inspiration from the 1974 resolutions of the Conference on College Composition and Communication and the 1996 Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights which advocate the empowerment of students to ‘own’ their languages, this paper examines the diversity inherent in world Englishes in orthography, grammar, lexis, and phonology. A plethora of indigenous and European languages spoken across Africa have influenced the emergence of varied Englishes; as a result, Africans in the US speak English with varying accents and proficiencies. The following factors contribute to the translingual character of English spoken by most first- and 1.5-generation African immigrants in the US: medium of instruction in their countries of origin; duration of expos...
Global Journal of Transformative Education
The Editors-in-Chief offer an introduction to the second Volume of GJTE.
International Journal of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education
This article examines the historical underpinnings of multicultural education with respect to its... more This article examines the historical underpinnings of multicultural education with respect to its origin, goals, and struggles for implementation in public schools prior to the 1970s. It also discusses the impeding factors that have up to now hampered an effective multicultural education preparation for preservice teachers, who are expected to acquire instructional strategies grounded in the core values of multicultural education in order to be effective teachers of diverse student populations. The setbacks, otherwise known as areas of concerns in multicultural teacher education courses, are explored in this article and classified as unpreparedness of middle‐class white preservice teachers, scope of the curriculum andpedagogy, preservice teachers’ deficit beliefs, preservice teachers’ resistance to diversity and equity courses, racial identities of the instructors of diversity courses, and direct experiences. The examination of the setbacks are meant to raise awareness of the intric...
Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad
This essay explores the traditional African religious beliefs and practices of the people of Bang... more This essay explores the traditional African religious beliefs and practices of the people of Bangwa in the Southwestern region of Cameroon in order to uncover how those beliefs influence their thought processes and worldviews. In the course of rethinking and re-examining their belief systems and their traditional religious practices, the following themes emerged: religious sacrifices, observance of the Sabbath, belief system, incontrovertible belief in God, sorcery and divine retribution, the dead and the living, inequality and class divide, dreams and interpretation, names and religious identity. The implication of the essay is that study abroad should encompass religious studies that help study abroad students learn ways of thinking and knowing of their host countries.
The Journal of Negro Education
Journal of Black Studies
This article sheds light on the challenges African immigrant children face in navigating through ... more This article sheds light on the challenges African immigrant children face in navigating through a relatively different and unfamiliar system of education in the United States. It also provides pre-emigration background information to the systems of education prevalent in Africa as well as the culturally responsive teaching strategies that support and enhance learning for the African immigrant students. Teachers of African immigrant children around the world will find this article particularly resourceful because there is limited scholarship about this segment of the public school population in the United States and in other developed countries.
Global Journal of Transformative Education
Introduction to the first issue of the Global Journal of Transformative Education, written by Edi... more Introduction to the first issue of the Global Journal of Transformative Education, written by Editors in Chief, Michael T. Ndemanu and Serafin M. Colonel-Molina.
African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal
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Papers by Michael Ndemanu