Multicultural Children’s Literature
Multicultural education must be integrated into the curriculum and focus on the appreciation of all cultures and ethnic differences. Much research has been documented supporting the use of high quality multicultural children’s literature as a powerful medium to develop varying cross-cultural understandings of perspectives concerning cultures, roles, insights, traditions and beliefs (Au, 2001; Callins, 2006; Howrey & Whelan, 2009; Lowery & Sabis-Burns, 2007; Mei-yun, 2007) . Teachers also can use multicultural literature depicting children's worlds as a means to bridge home and school cultures personally as well that of the students. Within Howrey and Whelan’s (2009) research project, utilization of multicultural children’s literature was used to enhance teachers to become culturally responsive educators. “According to Villegas and Lucas (2002), exposure to the literature of different groups can give future teachers access to the rich textures of people’s lives, hopes, aspirations, dreams, disappointments, pains, and joys” (p. 27). Literature can be a powerful vehicle for understanding cultures and experiences different from our own. Howrey and Whelan (2009) research analysis concluded that multicultural children’s literature provides not only “a mirror on one culture and a window to another” for children, but for adults as well. (p. 132).
In parallel, the work of Evans (2010) highlights the use of multicultural literature to address racial, ethnic, and linguistic equality. In this qualitative study, demonstrated that through using an innovative critical literacy practice with multicultural literature, students’ awareness and understanding of others was positively impacted. Over a period of ti...
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... diversity of our society and understand that all teachers enter the classrooms with personal social identities and cultural biases. Respecting, valuing, and celebrating personal and students’ unique strengths foster in creating equitable classroom communities. Taking the time to develop appropriate knowledge bases, having high expectations for all students, providing a welcoming environment, and working with family members and the community, depict a multicultural classroom atmosphere. Sheets (2009) provides on culturally responsive instruction, “it is important to become conscious that the arduous journey from novice to expert requires hard work, relentless commitment, and a high investment of time and energy” (p. 17). All teachers must continually acquire the ability to apply and translate ideologies immersed within diversity to enable all students to achieve.
Cowhey’s book is broken down by the major themes and concepts she teaches her first and second grade students. Each concept relates back to her personal pedagogy of implementing a Multicultural Education. These major themes include empathy, freedom, peace, activism, community, and social justice. Cowhey’s pedagogy uses “language and literacy to teach about the world with rigor, depth, and challenge in a way that engages and
Fegar, Mary-Virginia. “I Want to Read: How Culturally Relevant Texts Increase Student Engagement in Reading.” Multicultural Education, 13:3 (Spring 2006): 18-19. [E Journal]
“Critical multicultural analysis is the discursive leveling of texts, a way of placing books in the total discursive field” (Botelho & Rudman, 2009, pg. 113). Critical multicultural analysis will not be effective without consulting secondary sources and examining multiple titles.
Richards, H., V., Brown, A., F., Forde, T., B. (2006). Addressing diversity in schools: culturally responsive pedagogy. Retreived March 30th 2014from http://www.nccrest.org/Briefs/Diversity_Brief.pdf
When looking at why multiculturalism in school and classroom libraries it is important to understand why there is the need. According to Ruth A. Oswald and Lynn Atkinson Smolen have multicultural books is “timely” because of the “increasing diversity in our schools”. According to the National Center of Education Statistics (2010), 45 percent of U.S. public school population enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade comes from diverse racial and ethnic background” (Multicultural Literature and Response: Affirming Diverse Voices pg.xi). Educators want to help develop children become empathic, understanding, and tolerant adults, by doing these things educators hope to lessen bullying and
Manning, L. & Baruth. L. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th Ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
As an educator one must understand that the children you will be teaching will all come from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different homes with different values. No one student will be the same, and no one student will learn the same. The role of a modern educator is to harness this idea of diversity and channel it into a positive learning atmosphere for children of all backgrounds. “I define culturally responsive teaching as using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them” (Gay, 2013, p.50.). The hope for all teachers is to capture the minds of their children, as educators we must learn how our students learn, adapt to their skill set and channel our curriculum to their strength.
Manning, L.M. & Barruth, L.G. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Multicultural literature is a way of increasing cultural awareness. Through multicultural books many young readers are able to make a connection with their own culture
Diversity in classrooms can open student’s minds to all the world has to offer. At times diversity and understanding of culture, deviant experiences and perspectives can be difficult to fulfill, but with appropriate strategies and resources, it can lead students to gain a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably from a judgmental and prejudiced view. Diversity has a broad range of spectrums. Students from all across the continent; students from political refugees, indigenous Americans, and immigrants bring their cultural and linguistic skills to American classrooms. Students not only bring their cultural and linguistic skills, but they bring their ethnicity, talents, and skills.
As we proceed further into the 21st century, multiculturalism becomes more relevant to obtaining a truly global society. Dr. James A. Banks defines the meaning of multicultural education and its potential impact on society when it is truly integrated into American classrooms. In his lecture, Democracy, Diversity and Social Justice: Education in a Global Age, Banks (2006) defines the five dimensions of multicultural education that serve as a guide to school reform when trying to implement multicultural education (Banks 2010). The goal of multicultural education is to encourage students to value their own cultures and the diverse cultures of those around them without politicizing their differences but rather, as Banks passionately explains in his lecture, “to actualize the ideals stated in the Constitution” (2006) forming “civil, moral, and just communities.”
Students in the United States experience varying degrees of Multicultural Education. To my benefit, I was brought up in a learning environment that was culturally accepting and engaging. I was enrolled in the Franklin Pierce School District for my entire public education career and at Pierce College during my last two years of high school. Since the beginning of my academic career, I’ve been exposed to a learning environment filled with a rich amount of diversity among students which in turn produced well-roundedness in myself. In my experience as a FPSD student, I’ve shared experiences with fellow peers of different races, cultures, and socioeconomic standings. Pierce College boasts an even more specific type of diversity within the student
The world is currently undergoing a cultural change, and we live in an increasingly diverse society. This change is not only affect the people in the community but also affect the way education is viewed. Teaching diversity in the classroom and focusing multicultural activities in the programs can help improve positive social behavior in children. There is no question that the education must be prepared to embrace the diversity and to teach an increasingly diverse population of young children.
Bigelow, W. (1993). "Limits of the New Multiculturalism: The 'Good' Children's Literature and the Quincentenary." Unpublished manuscript. Available from NECA.
The concepts included in providing a more diverse, multicultural education are requiring teachers to review their own issues and prejudices while expanding their knowledge of the many cultures that make up the classroom. These efforts help the educator recognize the various individual and cultural differences of each student, as well as gain an understanding on how these differences impact the learning process. The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon individual and cultural difference research and why diverse students struggle to succeed in school. Furthermore, I will share some instructional approaches I could implement in the classroom to accommodate diverse students. Finally, I will discuss the responsibility of educators in addressing the issue of how our o...