Rachel Davis DuBois (January 25, 1892 - March 30, 1993) was an American educator, human rights activist and pioneer of
intercultural education
Cultural competence, also known as intercultural competence, is a range of cognitive, affective, and behavioural skills that lead to effective and appropriate communication with people of other cultures.Deardorff, D. K. (2009). ''The Sage handbook ...
.
Early life
Rachel Davis Dubois was born on January 25, 1892 in the Clarksboro section of
East Greenwich Township, New Jersey
East Greenwich Township is a township in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 11,706, an increase of 2,151 from the 2010 census enumeration of 9,555, which reflected an i ...
. She grew up on a farm and was raised as a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
. She graduated from
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...
.
She was married to Nathan Stewart DuBois on 19 June 1915. Prior to the marriage, Nathan expressed doubts about having children. Following her disappointment, Rachel agreed to a childless marriage with the understanding that she would be free to pursue a career.
Teaching career and the development of the Woodbury Plan
In 1924, DuBois was hired as a teacher at Woodbury High School in New Jersey. Shortly after assuming this position, and with the support of several colleagues, DuBois formed a senior assembly centered around the subject of "
Americanization
Americanization or Americanisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is the influence of American culture and business on other countries outside the America, United ...
." The group met twice a month to stage productions highlighting the cultural contributions to American society by various ethnic and immigrant groups. While their initial emphasis was on creating tolerance for those who are different from one's self, the focus soon shifted to fostering "sympathetic" attitudes. The sessions were very popular with students and fellow teachers, but members of the community did not approve of DuBois's views on racial equality, women's rights and pacifism. At the urging of the local
American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...
, she was asked to resign. However, DuBois was a tenured teacher; thus, she was able to retain her position and continue with the assemblies. DuBois continued in this capacity until her resignation in 1930, when she left to attend
Teachers College at Columbia University
Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...
. She wanted to "study how attitudes are formed and can be changed."
The development of Intercultural Education
Even while attending Teachers College, DuBois' work with the Woodbury Plan continued. A number of schools were interested in implementing the plan into their curricula, and to manage all the requests, the Service Bureau for Human Relations was formed, with DuBois as the director. Around the same time, the organization recognized that educating fellow teachers was nearly as important as educating students. Thus, the Service Bureau began offering courses for the educators at all the schools where they operated. In 1933, DuBois was invited to teach a course on the subject at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
. Over the next several years, the Service Bureau led workshops on intercultural education at conferences and universities, including a groundbreaking workshop at
Sarah Lawrence
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...
. At this workshop, teachers were asked to share their classroom problems within small groups and then talk together to find solutions. Elements of intercultural education were woven throughout the workshop.
On page 76 of her memoir, DuBois writes, "As far as I know we were the first to use the term intercultural education."
"Americans All, Immigrants All"
In 1939, DuBois and her associates came up with the idea for a radio show, in an effort to broadcast their message to a larger audience. DuBois approached
John Studebaker
John Mohler Studebaker (10 October 1833 – 16 March 1917) was the Pennsylvania Dutch co-founder and later executive of what would become the Studebaker Corporation automobile company. He was the third son of the founding Studebaker family, and pl ...
, the
U.S. Commissioner of Education The Commissioner of Education was the title given to the head of the federal Office of Education, which was historically a unit within and originally assigned to the Department of the Interior in the United States. The position was created on March ...
, about the program and together, they arranged for CBS to air the program in a series of 26 half-hour episodes. To facilitate the coordination and planning, DuBois was appointed as a consultant to the
U.S. Office of Education
The Office of Education, at times known as the Department of Education and the Bureau of Education, was a small unit in the Federal Government of the United States within the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1867 to 1972. It is now separated ...
. After its 26-week run, CBS received an award from the Women's National Radio Committee for the best program of the year for public service.
Group Conversation
DuBois is credited with being the founder of "group conversation." Group conversation is a technique in which people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds come together and discuss various topics, such as spring festivals, in order to discover their underlying commonalities.
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...
University of Minnesota Libraries
The University of Minnesota Libraries is the library system of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, operating at 13 facilities in and around Minneapolis–Saint Paul. It has over 7 million volumes and 119,000 serial titles that are coll ...