Minkler Week 5

 This article showed me how you, as an educator, can affect students’ perspectives and make them more well-rounded individuals by reading and introducing multicultural texts in the classroom (Ezell & Daly, 2022). By reading these books and starting discussions based on the window, mirror, sliding glass door method, students have a chance to share their voice and connect with other people who are different from them. Everyone wants to feel like they’re being heard, and it is important that students are given the platform to do so. If they practice using their voice and celebrating diversity at a young age, they will only grow to do so when they are adults. Our students are the future of our country, and it is beneficial, as educators, to prepare them for that. We want them to lead our society in the best way possible, and this starts in the classroom. 

While we practice this in the classroom, it is important to know that voices should also be heard in individual families, in the community, etc. Children should also be taught to use their voice, because what they say matters! Everyone has a need to be heard, and it is the parents’ and teachers’ responsibility to show children that they can stand up for themselves and others. Teaching children how to properly stand up for themselves and use their voices can bring these needs, expectations, and responsibilities together. 

Ezell, S. & Daly, A. (2022). Honoring multiple identities using multicultural literature. Texas 

Association for Literacy Education Yearbook, 9(2). 

https://moodle.morningside.edu/pluginfile.php/1431504/mod_resource/content/1/Ezell

%20and%20Daly%20Honoring%20Multiple%20Identities%20Using%20Multicultural%20Li

terature.pdf 

DeFord Week 4

 I enjoyed the story Recitatif this week. I actually read ahead (or listened to the audio version) so I was unprepared when I saw the instructions to have pre-conceptions noted. I also did not read the article prior to reading the short story (because stories are always more fun than research!), so my perspective may be different from other students. 

Like any good story, Recitatif leaves many questions for the reader to fill in given imagination or prior experience. I immediately felt sorry for Twyla and Roberta, but I didn't get a sense of why either of them was where they were until the end. As I listened to their escapades as young girls, I had the rosy picture in my mind that they would grow up to be lifelong friends after their bonding experiences. I was disappointed when Roberta ended up treating Twyla rudely in the restaurant, and I was disturbed that Roberta would march in a racial display in front of the school later. To be honest, I didn't want Roberta to be successful or wealthy after the way she acted. I also found it frustrating that Twyla and Roberta couldn't agree on what happened to the poor lady that the older girls were beating up in the story. The conclusion of the story, although maybe a little more satisfying than what I had thought it might be, helped draw the reader to the fact that Twyla and Roberta were not so different as they had thought after all. Both of them had personal struggles and "skeletons in the closet" that they needed to deal with, and they both had personal hurts that helped shape their responses. 

The way the author wrote the story helps draw the reader into the personal struggles of these two girls/women and gives readers a glimpse into what life must have been like from two perspectives. We end up feeling sorry for both women, despite their shortcomings. This type of story fits into the construct of the research article for this week. Szecsi et al., (2010) point out that multicultural literature helps us understand the humanity of other cultures and find out that we have more to learn. As teachers who may have students from a variety of cultures, multicultural literature can help us become a closer community as we learn more about what makes other cultures unique. It doesn't mean that we will adopt everything about the other cultures, but it does create a bridge of understanding, just like the bridge that Twyla and Roberta ended up building at the conclusion of their story. 

Szecsi, T., Spillman, C., Vazquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S. C. (2010b). Transforming teacher cultural landscapes by reflecting on multicultural literature. Multicultural Education, 17(4), 44–48. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ915271.pdf

Gill - Week 4 Post

 I read the story three times and was still confused.  The assignment asked us to think about the role/importance of memory?  People want to remember and focus on good things.  That is why Twyla is always asking about Roberta's mom.  She does not want to remember that she was sick.  Twyla also does not remember exactly what happened to Maggie.  She thinks Maggie fell down.  She does not want to remember that she possibly kicked Maggie.  She does not want to remember that she had a part in anything terrible.  Especially after her life has gotten better.  It happened after Roberta's mom shunned Twyla and her mom, so maybe she had taken it out on Maggie.  Later in her life, she does not want to think about anything she did that was terrible.  So, she changes the story and makes it fit her reality and life.  The article says that authentic narratives may be critical reflections and confrontations of their beliefs and cultural assumptions (secs et al. pg45).  So, is Toni Morrison saying that at that moment of Maggie's fall, it was all okay to treat her that way, and then the guilt makes you change the story so that you are innocent?  

Szecsi, T., Spillman, C., Vázquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S. C. (2010). Transforming Teacher Cultural  Landscapes by Reflecting on Multicultural Literature. Multicultural Education, 17(4), 44-48.

Beckman - Week 4

I think ‘travel disappointment’ is very prominent right now with the world watching Paris as they prepare for the Summer Olympics. I see lots of posts or videos on different social media sites where people are talking about the ‘expectation versus reality’ of being a tourist in Paris. I think with the rise of vlogs and short form video content, a lot of traveling is romanticized - not by people who are trying to learn more about a new culture or group of people, but by people who are working a job. As we read about last week, not every part of someone’s cultures or beliefs are going to be perfect, but everything online is shown with rose colored glasses almost. I think that as people do less of their own research about different countries or cultures and only use videos made by content creators that this problem is just going to get worse, which is one drawback of the technology available to us. 

When I think about perspective and what forms my perspective,I think a lot of it has to do with how I grew up. Every time I make a decision, or have an opinion about something, really it is just a culmination of how I was raised and how that makes me who I am today. I find that often times, when I disagree with someone and we talk about our different perspectives, both of us tie it back to how we grew up because that shaped how we see and interact with the world. Outside of that, my perspective is shape by the media I consume, either books, television, or social media. I liked the quote from the Szecsi article, because it sort of affirmed my thinking, “Mezirow (1991) also notes that transformative learning occurs when individuals change their frames of reference by critically reflecting on assumptions and beliefs, and consciously making and implementing plans that bring about new ways of defining their worlds.(Szecsi et. al., 2010, p. 44)”, in order for me to understand other people, I have to be willing to change and look outside of my frame of reference. 

Szecsi, T., Spillman, C., Vázquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S. C. (2010). Transforming Teacher Cultural Landscapes by Reflecting on Multicultural Literature. Multicultural Education, 17(4), 44-48.

Salow- Week 4 Post

 While reading this week's article, I found myself thinking about how other people might perceive me based on their limited knowledge of what they see online or what they hear from other people. I do not actively post on any social media. The ironic part about that is my husband and I both made that decision based off of another person's social media post. We both saw a video that was a woman talking about how she had been targeted by criminals because she posted everything online and because neither myself or my husband were super attached to social media, we just decided to stop posting. That does not mean we don’t still have it. We both fall victim to the never-ending scroll, we just do not post ourselves, so I have been made fun of (light-heartedly) by a few of my friends who are very active that I am “old” because I do not participate in the way that is pretty normal for people my age. This is part of other people's perspective of me. 

I have noticed social media is formulated to show you videos that they think you will like or would be interested in. I started making a list on Amazon of things that we might get for our first baby, just found out I am pregnant. Then as soon as I go to Facebook, YouTube, or any other social media site they are throwing all of these videos about pregnancy at me! That is the algorithm that can be responsible for the echo chambers that are created by social media. They show you videos that are similar to ones that you have interacted with in the past. This type of media does not expose you to opposing views and leads to headstrong people about topics that they feel they are knowledgeable in just from watching videos on any social media site. There is so much information out there that is being thrown at anybody who accesses the internet that it can feel overwhelming. So people do not reach and go beyond that first video. Many do not go research for themselves, and those that do can still struggle because many people don’t know what sources are truthful and which ones are not. You can find a site to support any way of thinking, so this skill of being curious is absolutely necessary for our students to have, but we also have to show them how to use that curiosity in a positive and truthful way. 

Tunde Szecsi et al article Transforming Teacher Cultural Landscapes by Reflecting on Multicultural Literature discusses that ways to learn and show curiosity in a positive way are to reflect on readings before and after reading. It also lists elements of the transformative learning experience such as lasting impression, part of the person’s self-narrative, and behavioral impact. (Szecsi et al., 2010) It then goes on to talking about how “disorienting” or “shocking” the students can lead to critical reflections and lasting impressions. I have experimented with this a little in my class. We read the novel “The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963” in my class. It follows an African American family from Flint, Michigan that goes down to visit family in Birmingham, Alabama at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. I have used resources like videos and interviews of people who were in Birmingham at that time to show my students what was actually happening to people at that time. I have had to make sure that I am not crossing the line into inappropriate because they discuss in some detail the horrific things that they experienced. This was also a few days that my students left my class discussing with themselves why people did that and they had no idea things were like that. I would say it definitely shocked them. I think that a great way to make these resources more impactful would be not only to discuss them as a class, but have them reflect on their own before and after seeing the resources so they can physically see how the literature and other resources add to their knowledge and perspective. 

Szecsi, T., Spillman, C., Vazquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S. (2010). Transforming teacher cultural landscapes by reflecting on multicultural literature. Multicultural Education, (Summer), 44-48.

Bolinder- Week 4 Post

There are multiple things that affect my perspective of the world. The books I read, tv I watch, news sources, lived experiences and the perspectives of the people I surround myself with. I believe all of these pieces add together to build my perspective. The biggest of these I believe are the books I read and the digital information I get from social media. While I like to read a variety of text, I most frequently enjoy mystery thriller type novels and life doesn’t always lend to time for leisure reading. That said, I find moments to squeeze in time on social media. The information I get from the words of others, news stories(not always credible), and pictures are part of what is forming my perspectives. While I try to remain cautious about what I am seeing on the internet, I am taking in the information regardless.


Our experiences are impacted by what we know of them. It is important to be mindful and intentional with seeking out information about the world around us. Not only to see information, but to seek credible information from multiple sources that will give a more well rounded picture about the topic we are inquiring about.


Thinking about the short story Recitatif that we read, it leaves me with further thinking about our perspectives. The story recounts the tough shared experience of two girls living in a home when they were younger. They both experience older girls with behavioral issues mistreating a worker from the home. Their regrets, guilt, intentions, shame, and naivetes all clouded their memories of a traumatic moment from their childhood that left the characters questioning their own characters and beliefs about the people around them. The way the brain works to make sense of the world around us is complex as exemplified by the way the girls question their difference in memory of the same incident from their past.


There are both benefits and drawbacks to the use of technology. The first benefit is the way we can capture moments. I think of how much I love looking back on photos and moments of my son and both the ease and clarity of the memories through the use of technology. Another benefit is the ease of access to resources and information. There is an abundance of resources that are available to us at the touch of a button. However, this lends itself to drawbacks. There are issues with credibility of sources. Furthermore, with algorithms filtering the content we are exposed to, the type of information we have access to is influenced by what we search and are interested in rather than being exposed to more information that might challenge our thinking or broaden our understanding of topics. It is easy for us to simply read the information that is given to us on our feeds rather than intentionally seek out information from other sources.



While technology presents information as easily accessible and in abundance, the article shared for this week presents the lasting benefits of utilizing multicultural literature in the classroom. The article recognizes the need for a shift in mindset as classrooms are becoming more diverse and children cannot simply be told to be more culturally sensitive and respond as quoted by Wham, Barnhart, & Cook. From their research they found that exposing teachers to multicultural literature adds awareness that is the starting point for a lasting learning. They also found that it helps them reflect more on their own cultures and cultivate a curiosity for further learning about the cultures around them. These traits are beneficial to the teachers and the students who will be entering their classrooms in the future.



References:

Morrison, T. (2021). Recitatif. In Ancestral House (pp. 422-436). Routledge.

Szecsi, T., Spillman, C., Vázquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S. C. (2010). Transforming Teacher Cultural Landscapes by Reflecting on Multicultural Literature. Multicultural Education, 17(4), 44-48.

Campbell - Week 4 Post

 Kirsten Campbell

ENGL 478 G

Week 4 Post 

Literature, movies, television, culture parades, the internet, and theater inform my perspective of the world. From a young age, I have been fascinated by other cultures, wanting to try foods and persuading my parents to explore outside the U.S. That has not happened yet, but they may change their mind soon. Attending a school with a sizeable Hispanic population also informed my perspective because a lot of my friends are Hispanic, and they all have different backgrounds and lifestyles. For theater, we even have a group dedicated to displaying Hispanic culture.  We had a huge showcase with various scenes, music, and dances to inform others of their perspective of Hispanic culture. Not only did my town celebrate Hispanic culture, but our high school held a culture fair every year. There are performances, food, and vendors, all run by high school students. 

“When students enter my classroom from a similar culture as mine I cannot just assume they have had the same upbringing as myself.” “The roots of a culture may be the same but that does not mean the lives that stem from the roots will all be the same, everyone is unique and that is an important thing to remember for me as a future teacher”(Szeci, P.46). This portion of the text sticks out to me because people and even our students make assumptions about how people live based on their culture. For example, if a person knows a Hispanic person whose family lives with their grandparents, they might assume it is what all Hispanics do. Or, like in the text, a student assumed all Muslims were terrorists and that the hijab that women wore represented terrorism. These resources, such as literature, movies, and the Internet, serve as a window to reaching an understanding of culture. Still, we must remember to our students that these depictions and experiences can be different for many people in the same culture. We do not want our students to stereotype a culture just because of events occurring to a book or movie character. 

There are plenty of benefits and drawbacks to using technology. We could use technology to have students do research on different cultures or watch videos of current events happening in the world around us. The drawback of technology is the amount of fake news we have today, and it could stray someone away from the truth. There is a lot of horrible fake news out there that changes people's perspectives on not only politics but also cultures. Like Kermit says, “It ain’t easy being green.” 

References:

Szeci, T., Spillman, C., Vazquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S., (2010), Transforming teacher cultural landscapes by reflecting on multicultural literature.

Dibert- Week 4 Blog Post

     My perspective on the world, as many of my other colleagues would say as well, is mainly formulated by social media or the news. I fought to keep YouTube TV, so I could still have access to new stations for important events. Unfortunately, I am finding that so much of the news is one-sided, depending on what you are watching. This means that my perspective on different situations are not always correct. What I find interesting is, the idea of someone who says they are “cultured”. What exactly does that mean? If you ask five different people, you’re going to get five different responses. Unfortunately, one of those responses could be information they get online and feel that they know everything about a culture or an event. It is very easy to get sucked into an app like Tik Tok or Facebook and feel like you are getting accurate information. I do it all the time. I cannot tell you the amount of times I see news about Disney World and come to find out that most of the news is false. Information can be so easily manipulated and falsified nowadays that people will believe anything. If information about Disney World can be falsified, who's to say that there is not more false information about other cultures that we don’t quite realize.
Even though social media has an age limit, we know, especially on an app like TikTok, many of the users are kids. Kids will believe anything that is put out there to be fact. If kids are only seeing negative information about different cultures or cultural events, then that is the only information they are going to go off of. As a fourth grade teacher, many of my students have a TikTok account. It is very interesting to hear them talk about what appears on their “for you page” and what type of information they receive. I appreciate that some of my kids are trying to learn about different cultures, but a lot of the time they come in with false information that I attempt to correct. I think this idea of social media and kids ties directly back to Tunde Szecsi et al article Transforming Teacher Cultural Landscapes by Reflecting on Multicultural Literature. We need to integrate more types of multicultural, literature, and curriculum to provide students with opportunities to be exposed to a variety of cultural narratives and help foster empathy and understanding (Szecsi et al., 2010).  If students are getting differing news from school and TikTok, then it could make the students step back and think about what is actually being presented to them.
Even though it may not seem like it, I do not believe that social media is not all bad. There are plenty of benefits that come from it. The fact that we are able to learn about the world with the touch of a button is something we should not take for granted. I think the important thing to take away is, the importance of not only teaching children how to navigate it correctly, but making sure everyone is diligent and aware. My question to everyone would be what makes somebody “ cultured?” Can you be cultured just by looking on the Internet?

Szecsi, T., Spillman, C., Vazquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S. (2010). Transforming teacher cultural landscapes by reflecting on multicultural literature. Multicultural Education, (Summer), 44-48.

Lampman- Week 4

 This week’s post poses a discussion that I have with coworkers and friends quite often.  That discussion usually entails how people portray themselves on social media.  I think this discussion can relate to some of the questions you are posing because unless we know that person or place, do we really KNOW that person or place?  I think not.  For myself, I do post to social media, but typically I post about the good things and triumphs in my life so that I have somewhere that holds these memories as I get older.  I do this because I have had experiences where I have lost precious photos or videos of loved ones who are no longer with us today.  At the same time, one of my coworkers does not post because she doesn’t feel like she wants people to be that involved in her life.  Is either way wrong? No, however, people may think my life is always roses, but we all know life is a balance of highs and lows.  

That being said, I think the same could go for perspectives of other people and places.  Many times, people buy into what the media is telling them.  If the media is heavily focused on negative attention for a certain group, people will start having those beliefs without doing fact checking and not stereotyping.  I have had many discussions with my best friend who is on tiktok and the things she will bring up in conversation.  It’s always fear-leading conversations and I always talk her down asking, “What is your source? Have you done any research on your own off tiktok?”  I worry that we have access to so much information with technology these days, but people do not fact check or see if the source is reliable.  

Thinking about Recitatif by Toni Morrison, each main character had different memories from the same events.  I think our backgrounds and our biases play a part in what our memory holds and what ideas form from those events.  Like Szecsi et.al. states, “the term “landscape” to describe one’s personal understandings, including biases, preferences, and what she calls “vacancies” in the landscape. Vacancies are experiences to which one has never been exposed or even contemplated and likely create holes of misunderstandings.” (2010, p. 44-45).  This shows my perspective of one experience could be completely different than someone with a different culture or background.  I feel this is why it’s important to seek out each other and have discussions on the same topics and learn from each other’s experiences as well.  I think when we seek out understanding from each other, that is when we learn the most.

One thing that was confusing for me in Recitatif by Toni Morrison was when Roberta told Twyla that Maggie was black and that they too, kicked her. If anyone has an opinion on this, I would love to hear so I can ponder. Was this because she felt guilty for watching and doing nothing? Or/or was she trying to show Twyla that she still had biases about people with different ethnicity? When she came back to tell Twyla that it wasn't true, that is when I was mostly confused because I didn't quite understand the meaning behind that. It left me wanting to know more..

Schiefelbein - Week 4 Blog Post

 The article suggests that multicultural texts, along with reflection both before and after the reading experience, can provide a positive foundation from which to glean an authentic perspective.  Although this strategy can certainly help pre-service teachers gain confidence in understanding different cultures, and build curiosity to learn more, there is a lot to be said about using multiple resources in order to gain a well-rounded perspective.

Typically, I seek out a number of sources to inform my perspective of cultures different from my own.  Certainly, the internet can serve as a quick reference for information, but, just as I teach the students in my own class, multiple sources need to be viewed in order to synthesize the information.  Multicultural literature can serve as one source to gain a different perspective, but I also rely on the first-hand experiences of students, families, and colleagues.  These sources can provide unique perspectives, and help me to gain better insight into the specific experiences of the people I interact with each day.  

While technology can be a powerful tool for gaining access to information about different cultures, it can have its drawbacks as well.  In this day and age, we need to have a critical lens on the information we view online.  And, with tourism generating a significant amount of revenue, even credible sources on the internet can hold some bias.  Additionally, as access to artificial intelligence grows, it can be even more difficult to separate fact from fiction.  I tend to keep in mind that using multiple sources, and corroborating information between sources is the best way to gain an accurate and authentic perspective.

Morrison, T. (1983). Recitatif. In A. Baraka & A. Baraka (Eds.), An anthology of African American women. (Original work published in 1983).

Szecsi, T., Spillman, C., Vazquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S. (2010). Transforming teacher cultural landscapes by reflecting on multicultural literature. Multicultural Education, (Summer), 44-48.

Hamm_Week 4: Landscapes and Vacancies

It is important to recognize that through historical changes, technology has altered how humans interact with the world. That statement could not be truer in today's internet-based society. The media is controlled by individual platforms, uploaded videos, and spur-of-the-moment snapshots of lives from afar, which create ratings for the companies. There are fewer face-to-face interactions- from the littles up to geriatric adults. Communication is primarily done through screens and filters, essentially diluting the transmitted culture with pop culture.

I understand that I do not know everything about every culture. Having the benefit of knowing several of my ancestral cultures, a broken family by design, and a culturally diverse immediate family, opened my mind to different possibilities. Until recently, the internet seemed like a great tool for opening conversations. Unfortunately, it has become a place where individuals observe a moment in time without questioning anything! Then, the symbols, ideas, jokes, or whatever else seems like a good thing to pull-- are integrated into someone else's everyday life. Individuals end up promoting disrespectful behaviors because they do not understand the culture they were viewing at the time.

When I think about social platforms, I think about how different that culture is from the one I understand. I was just watching a GEN-X video. I cannot formulate in my mind how it is expected to give a 3-year-old a tablet or iPad. Not because I don't want them to have tools, but because they lose the interaction with verbal language patterns, interpersonal communication, and soft skills; as well as insinuating it is okay to spend hundreds of dollars on a toy, that will be broken because toddlers throw things. My perspective is based on numerous experiences with children, as I raised four and have many nieces and nephews. While every experience should involve interpersonal communication, technology seems to be shifting or replacing that. Or is it just changed?

Meyer- Week 4 Blog

I would have to say that social media has a big impact on what influences my perspective. We live in a world now where a lot of us do not even have cable tv anymore and we use different apps to watch movies and shows. I find myself hearing about news and events through facebook, tiktok videos, and word of mouth. If something interests me that I see on social media I will investigate further and do more research on it. I have never really traveled much and have not read a lot of multicultural books. I have lived in Sioux City my whole life and have only gone on a handful of family vacations to local places around us. Because of this, I would say that the way I experience other cultures is mostly based on what I hear about on different video clips or news clips I read about. The thing with only knowing about cultures through social media is that I am not sure what is always true and what is not. I feel like I only get certain things happening and now the whole picture. There is also no emotion attached to hearing about things. A lot of movies do not depict the facts of what is happening around us so it us up to us to do our own research on it. I know a lot of things that I think I know comes from technology and the media and this absolutely impacts how I learn about them. I know that I do need to experience and learn more about different cultures and educate myself on them. The best way I know how to do this is through different novels and different articles of what people have experienced or seen, otherwise I feel like I am just sheltered from the world and what is happening. 

There are benefits to having technology available to us. It does help us learn more about different places and different things such as cultures and events happening that otherwise we would have no idea about it. It can give us quick access to a lot of things that we otherwise would never know about.It can also connect different people and different cultures of people from around the world together. It helps us communicate with one another and it gives us answers to questions we may have about different things. 

Along with the benefits does come draw backs to using technology. I believe that now technology causes a lot of addiction in kids and students and even adults that I have seen. I have seen students hiding their computers to try to play games during the class and I have also see students walking in the hallways with their computers open playing on them and not paying attention to anything else. I have seen adults that constantly are on their phone scrolling. People have learned that they do not really need to learn anything anymore because they can find the answer to almost anything on the internet. The problem with this is that lots of times it can be false information. That false information is spread around and then more and more people start believing that false information. For example, just the other night my husband was telling me a story about a girl he saw a video about that had lost her job. I knew exactly what he was talking about but I had done more research and found out that it was actually a fake article and video about this girl. This just showed me how easy it is to believe things and spread false information around.

I believe that technology will always be a big factor in all of out lives and it is how we chose to utilize it that can either benefit or hurt us. Learning about different cultures is important and technology does give us easy access to find out and make connections with different cultures besides our own, as long as we are learning the correct information. This is beneficial because otherwise we may never experience or know about any other culture besides our own.  

When discussing what influence out perspectives, I had stated that social media has a big influence on me but I also feel like our experiences in life can alter our perspectives on things. I think about the short story we read, Recitatif. Both Roberta and Twyla had different experiences and perceived their situations differently and what they actually remembered. We never found out what truly happened and it left us wondering whose perspective was right. Morrison made us think about race and multiculturism because we never found out exactly who was black and who was white, which in the end it did not matter. What mattered was that Twyla and Roberta found out that they were not that different after all. Before I read this, I had my own thoughts and perspectives that did alter how I felt when reading the story and about each character. . I think this can reflect on what I need to change in my teaching. Even though cultural attitudes emerge at an early age, when teacher candidates are exposed to disorienting ideas found in authentic narratives, the result maybe critical reflection and confrontation of their beliefs and cultural assumptions. Examining their own landscapes through a different cultural lens may yield other perspectives and consequently transform beliefs and practices (Szecsi, 2010). It is important to set aside our own assumptions and experience different cultures through narratives with a different perspective so we can learn and make connections to the best of out ability.

 

Szecsi, T., Spillman, C., Vazquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S. C. (2009, November 30). Transforming teacher cultural landscapes by reflecting on multicultural literature. Multicultural Education. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ915271 

Morrison, T. (1983). Recitatif.

 

Akkermann - Week 4 Blog Post

 Post Week 4: Pre- and Post-Conceptual Perspectives

 

I’ve never really thought about what informs my perspective.  Currently what informs my perspective is social media and Apple News email that I get every day.  Now when I say that I use social media I would say that it gives me a glimpse of what is popular in the news and then if it piques my curiosity enough I go searching for what it is talking about.  Apple News gives a synopsis of different happenings in the world.  Again, if it piques my interest I click on the story to read it.  Podcasts that I listen to shape my thinking as well.  One that has impacted my teaching greatly is Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong by Emily Hanford.  The reading that I have to do for classes like this informs my perspective too.  Reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini gave me a clearer picture of what Afghanistan was like previous to the Taliban taking over.  I did not know that it had been a communist country before being taken over by the warlords and eventually the Taliban. 

 

I know that the media impacted my perspective of the people and issues in Iraq when the war was happening.  My perspective was that the U.S. needed to be there to fix things, make things right, help others, and make unruly men behave civilly.  I found that it was not an easy fix and quite frankly it is not fixed.  I did not want to read A Thousand Splendid Suns for the fact that I thought I knew how women were treated, I do not like it, and I did not want to see it from a different perspective.  However, I did read it and learned a lot more than just what women endure.  There’s more to culture than the surface components but it includes deep components which is what I learned a lot about Afghan culture (Szeci et. al, 2010).

 

There are always benefits and drawbacks to the technology available to us.  The benefits are that the information is seconds away from knowing, it’s easily accessible, and there are many kinds of technology that a person can utilize.  The drawbacks are that technology doesn’t always portray truth, it’s not accurate, and it takes away from reading an actual book.

 

 

 

References

Szeci, T., Spillman, C., Vazquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S., (2010), Transforming teacher cultural landscapes by reflecting on multicultural literature

Hanford, E. (2022, October 20). Sold a story: How teaching kids to read went so wrong. Features.apmreports.org. https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/

Hosseini, K. (2007). A thousand splendid suns. Riverhead Books.

Stevenson: Week 4

    My perspective on other cultures has been formed by my own experiences more than anything.  I

have been fortunate to have lived in a variety of places and have been exposed to people from many cultures. I am also an avid reader, and I have read many books about people from different cultures. 

I have read many books that have provided me with exposure to a variety of cultures.  I know that meeting one person or family from a culture is not a representation of the culture as a whole. 

    When I meet others or read a book that includes exposure to a different culture, I try to make connections to my previous experiences, but also take note of the differences. Because of my age, experiences, and the way I was raised, I make these connections and comparisons intrinsically and internally. My children, however, form their perspective on other cultures through social media.  TikTok and Instagram introduce them to far more than my husband and I do.  They are experiencing other cultures in short clips and move one to the next video or image on their for you pages before they even question what they have seen. They literally have the world at their fingertips, but they are not taking the time to analyze what they see and reflect on the cultures they are experiencing. This is a drawback of using technology to experience other cultures. Many of these tiktoks and Instagram posts could be reinforcing negative stereotypes and viewers can misinterpret these as fact. 

Minkler - Week 4 Post

 My perspective is mostly informed by social media. I have not read that many multicultural books, and the movies I’ve seen are not always truthful. I am able to see what other countries look like and might be like based off of pictures and videos I see on Instagram and Facebook. I have taken some vacations and done activities based on what I’ve seen online. 

The ways in which we experience people, places, cultures, issues, etc. are influenced by how we first come into contact with them. For example, if you see a politically charged message on the news, you are receiving an altered message that feeds to an agenda. You are not receiving the whole truth. I think the same can be said for different social media sites. They say not to trust everything you see online, and that is completely the truth. On social media, we often see a snapshot into someone’s life, and it is usually on a good day. People don’t often film the bad days they have, or the negative things they are experiencing. This is true for other events too. For example, I am from Spencer, Iowa, which was almost completely destroyed in flood waters this week. I have seen countless videos and photographs from the horrific scene but social media doesn’t show everything. It doesn’t show the shelters of people that have lost absolutely everything. It doesn’t show my family and their neighbors cleaning out the feet of water in their basements, and all of their ruined furniture. It doesn’t show the impact that no electricity, running water, sewer, or natural gas has on citizens. Social media doesn’t show my ruined classroom, with floating desks and books. There are so many benefits to the use of technology available to us like access to quick information, advanced ways to receive knowledge, the ability to connect with others around the world, etc., but there are also these drawbacks that need to be considered. 

Lansink - Week 4 Post

    I will admit, my perspective of other cultures and countries is largely informed through social media, especially the news. For example, when the plane crashes of September 11 took place, the media portrayed muslims as these horrible people wanting to do horrible things and people we should fear in society. Unfortunately, I fed into this for a while until I considered that all cultures and people have selected people who identify with their culture, society, country, etc. that choose to take part in these evil deeds. Another example of this is how the media portrays immigration and focuses on how it negatively impacts our economy, without acknowledging the immigrants’ perspective of fleeing their home countries solely to survive. 

    I am not necessarily a reader, however I do like to read romantic or mystery novels on my own time. Therefore, the book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, very heavily formed, in fact it made a perception on Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan for me, as I have never read about them, the country, or see much on social media. This is yet another way of how one person’s experiences from a specific culture or country can inform our perspective about all people of that culture or country, regardless of if it's the truth or not.

    The ways in which we experience people, ideas, issues, cultures, and so on, can be greatly impacted by how we learn of these same things. For example, if all your life you’d read and/or heard one thing about a culture, that is, whether you choose to or not, embedded into your thought process and may actually put a barrier up against learning, or acquiring, any new knowledge that goes against this previously conceived idea or belief regarding that culture.

    There are both benefits and drawbacks to the use of technology available to us. Benefits of technology include a much broader range of information available to us, more perspectives being shared more readily, communication between cultures, etc. However, drawbacks to the use of technology goes back to social media and how one person, or group of people, can totally spin things the way they want them to be heard, even if it’s not factual. Another drawback to technology is the ability it gives someone to hide behind a screen and not be held accountable for what they’re putting out there for all to take in.

Brown - Week 4 Post

        My perspective on cultures that are different from my own are based off experiences that I have read in books, classes that I have taken on different cultures, ideas from people that I know, characters that I have watched in movies or shows, and world news articles that I happen to read online. If I had more time, I believe taking classes on the different cultures that could be found within my classroom would be the best way to better understand my students. I feel that I am more knowledgeable about the cultures that I have taken classes on, because I was able to go more in-depth while learning, rather than the superficial knowledge that can be gained through word of mouth or stereotypes.

        The ways in which we experience people, ideas, issues, cultures, etc., can be impacted both positively and negatively. Stereotypes are a major problem when thinking about cultures, because a lot of them are likely to be untrue or not apply to the people we interact with. Humans fear the unknown, or a lack of knowledge. This leads to the reason why it is important to learn more about different cultures, so that we can learn not to fear people or cultures that are different from our own. The experience of a different culture is not always negative. I took four years of Spanish all throughout high school. The classes did not only focus on the language, but also explored the culture. We celebrated holidays that were specific to Spanish culture, which were fun and engaging, explored their cultural ideas on family, and much more.

        I believe there are both benefits and drawbacks to the technology that we use today. We have knowledge right at our fingertips; however, we must make sure that what we learn is based on fact rather than opinion. The technology and social media that we have today allows us to connect to others across the world that we would not have been able to connect to in the past. We can also research people’s cultures that are different from our own, as long as we ask the right questions. However, a lot of the news that we read today and the movies we watch have been politicized or opinionated. That is why it is important to read many different articles from different sources about the same topic, so that we can be better informed to come up with our own ideas about something. Social media can also spread false information, because almost anyone can post something that is untrue about a culture or idea.

Moore - Blog 4 - Cultures

     My perspective of other cultures is shaped by what I have seen, heard, and experienced by my own personal experiences, word of mouth of others, and even movies or television shows. It can be quite tricky to navigate these perspectives when they do not align. For example, I have been to Mexico to resorts and also immediately across the Arizona border; these two parts of Mexico are not alike thus making a conflicting perspective. 

    I believe that understanding other cultures is all influenced by how we learn about them, and technology plays an important role in shaping this understanding.  Technology positively impacts our understanding by giving us access to information. Through the internet, we can learn about traditions, history, and current practices around the world.  The internet also provides us with platforms to learn foreign languages. 

    Of course there are drawbacks of technology as well. The internet is not one hundred percent accurate and can lead to misinformation about cultures. This misinformation can cause false conceptions of what is appropriate in a culture or not. For example, someone may post something on social media that we see and assume it is the entire culture, when it is not an accurate representation of their beliefs. The biggest drawback to me is the detachment from empathy and understanding of their beliefs.

    While technology offers us many opportunities to learn about different cultures, it also offers challenges for us to be aware of as we navigate our attempts to understand. 

Cory - Week 4 Post

In today’s society, I find my perspectives and pre-conceptions on matters to be formed primarily through my own experiences and interactions with others. However, I find it challenging to refrain from social media’s portrayals of cultures and ideas to not influence my perspectives of other cultures. Through the ease in viewing worldwide events, political campaigns, crime, and the dynamics of relationships in other cultures, I find it hard to create my own opinions on these matters without the influence of social media. While technology can be harmful, it can also be a helpful tool in teaching our students about other cultures.

Who teaches us and the tools we use to learn greatly impact how we experience and interact with other cultures and people. For example, if we are only taught by Caucasian women who have been raised in dual-parent homes, their perspectives on what would make life challenging will be different than that of an African-American student who is an orphan. The ideas and culture of these two groups are far different, as a result of their experiences. Because of these experiences, they have different perspectives to share; therefore, we will learn different ideas from each of these people. Technology can help us understand these differences in culture, experiences, and beliefs, and have more access to ways to learn about these things. If we can understand how our experiences shape our pre-conceptions of culture can be changed, for the better, through learning about other cultures, our post-conceptions of cultural matters will be more accepting of others.

Technology can be a great tool to use to learn about other cultures. We can use technology to ask and answer questions, gather literature to broaden our knowledge of other cultures, and stay connected with people long distances from us. Many might use technology to find these advantages. Technology also allows us to understand drawbacks of its presence, such as a dependence on using it, ease in creating sedentary lifestyles, and more. Like any other tool or resource, it is important to understand the power that technology holds and use this to enhance culturally diverse learning. Using technology as a tool to help reshape our conceptions of cultural issues is a great way to get started.

Thoughts on the idea of bias

There is a large body of research that points to the existence of bias. This research has been conducted outside of the media. That's not to say that human media consumption doesn't impact human bias, but the research is academic research. The fact that bias exists or that I may have a bias or biases doesn't mean that I am a terrible person or that I discriminate or that I'm racist or ageist or anything else. It does mean that I may have tendencies to be more generous with some people over others, or less patient, or more interested in--the list could go on and on. And I think it's important to recognize that in myself, especially when I spend so much of my time with people: students, colleagues, parents, administrators. 

If anyone is interested in learning more, here's a link to Project Implicit, hosted by Harvard University in collaboration with the University of Washington, University of Virginia, and Yale University. See a definition of bias and the wide variety of implicit bias tests that have been administered to more than 20 million test subjects. Then head over to their sister site to read all about the research and the findings that have resulted. 

Return to the project site to take a test or two, if you'd like. As with any academic research, the research is regulated by an ethics board called an Institutional Research Board (IRB), whose role is to protect human subjects from harm. There's information about the IRB on the main page, and in order to proceed to take one of the tests, you must click on "I wish to proceed" to demonstrate that you are willing to have your results saved. Those results will NOT be connected to your personal information in any way, and you will not be contacted about them. Results are analyzed in the aggregate only, and they are anonymized, meaning that the researchers know nothing about names, IP addresses, or anything else that might identify you. 

You're certainly not required to take any of the tests or to access either of these links. I include them because the issues raised about bias may be of interest to some of you. I have completed several of the tests, and taking them--and considering my results--raised my awareness of who I am and how I think. I'm always interested in knowing myself better and in thinking about how I approach people. 

 

Bolinder-Week 2

The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday is a great example of multicultural text. Through each chapter he tells stories that allows the reader to gain insight into the Kiowa culture. Reading the collection of stories and legends is so fitting as the Kiowa people share a tradition of passing down stories orally to share about both their past, life lessons, and culture. While recounting many of their traditional stories Momaday also shares vital parts of their history and the reader is immersed into the Kiowa culture.


The article “From Borders to Bridges” explores the connections between multicultural literature and the classroom and ways that they should be incorporated into education for teachers. The article talks about the critical thinking skills that are necessary to teach diverse text to students. The article discusses that the success of the students in understanding these texts lie also on the beliefs of the teachers. It is important for teachers to reflect on their own bias that they bring with them to the classroom and think about how this could impact their teaching choices and instruction. Reading is a way to put yourself in the shoes of other cultures and even other time periods. Learning about history through facts is less powerful than the connection and impact that stories can have for students. The article also speaks to the powerful dialogue and tough conversations that can evolve through experiencing multicultural literature. It helps students gain awareness of other cultures while also giving students a space to ask questions.



The article shares some eye opening statistics regarding the increase in diversity within our student population while the demographics of the people teaching them remains rather white, female, and middle to upper class. There are many pieces that go in to utilizing multicultural text within the classroom. First, it is important to locate text that gives accurate depictions of other cultures which is best when written by those same people allowing them to share their stories. From there, teachers should find ways to help students ask questions and engage in discussions with their peers to help deepen their understanding. In order to effectively facilitate discussions, teachers should be informed on their topics and remind students about the importance of open mindedness and inquiry thinking within the classroom.


Unfortunately, our district has chosen our curriculum for us. They have also stated that we are required to use the text that is given by the designated curriculum. Fortunately, these texts are very well chosen and have a large focus on diversity. A big takeaway from the article is the importance of celebrating differences within the classroom. This is absolutely something that I can work to do a better job of through giving students the voice, space, and time to share their own stories within the four walls of our classroom.

Some options to utilize in the middle school might include:

1. Book discussions over multicultural text

2.Flipgrid videos sharing about their own cultures

3.Socratic Seminars where students practice respectfully disagreeing over high interest, low stakes topics such as the importance of homework.

Salow- Week 2 Post

 After reading the article and novel, I found myself questioning the way that I thought I was introducing new cultures. I had the wrong impression that just because I incorporated many readings about other cultures, I had a multicultural classroom, but that is not the case. Lowrey and Sabis-Burns say in the article, “ Individual students’ success or failure weighs heavily on the teacher’s beliefs, intentions, and personalities rather than the curriculum, materials, and class size (Fine, 1991; Irvine, 1990). Teachers’ unintentional biases may undermine the potentially positive process of teaching and learning within different cultures (Delpit, 1995, Valli, 1995).” This was a large wake up call to me that just because I am putting Multicultural readings in front of them, does not mean that they are analyzing and interpreting the writing in a way that allows them to grow and become more familiar with the new culture. I would have some class discussion, but it not often focused on the the topic, but more the “skill” or “standard” that we are assessing. I have the understanding that multicultural literature is necessary and important, but trying to balance the skills with the content is an area that I struggle with at times. 

If I were to use “The Way to Rainy Mountain” in my classroom, now, after reading the article, I would want students to make jot-dots as they are reading whenever they learn something about the Kiowa culture. This would be an exit ticket and like in the article I would also include some reflections tying what they learned, to something in their own culture to allow students to not only learn about the Kiowa culture, but their own as well. 

Lowrey, R. M., & Sabis-Burns, D. (n.d.). From borders to bridges: Making cross-cultural connections through multicultural literature. In Multicultural Education. 

Momady, N. S. (2019). The way to Rainy Mountain (50th ed.). University of New Mexico Press.

Beckman - Week 2

As I was reading From Borders to Bridges: Making Cross Cultural Connections through Multicultural Literature, by Ruth McKoy Lowery and Donna Sabis-Burns, I found myself agreeing with a lot that was said. When I was in my teacher preparation program, we heard a lot about how diverse schools are becoming while the profession of teaching itself is not so diverse. As stated in the text, “While the student population is dramatically changing, the racial makeup of teachers remains overwhelming White, female, and middle and upper middle class (Chevalier & Houser, 1997; Johnson, 2002). With this astounding projection, it is important that schools’ curricula reflect this changing culturally diverse student body” (Lowery & Sabis-Burns, 2007, 50). This quote to me just shows why multicultural literacy is important in the classroom.

When I think of ways I can use this in my classroom, I am thinking about how this could align with the new curriculum my school has picked. I said in another blog post that our first unit for the year is about the Chinese Cultural Revolution and reading Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang. Starting the year off with a book that is about a culture that isn’t the dominant culture at my school is a good learning opportunity for students to understand different perspectives people have. This aligns with what Lowery an Sabis-Burns wrote, “Multicultural literature is a powerful medium that can help students to construct varying perspectives about their cultures and roles in society, as well as provide opportunities for understanding other cultural surroundings, insights, traditions and beliefs of others (Hefflin & BarksdaleLadd, 2001; Yokota, 1993).” (Lowery & Sabis-Burns, 2007, 50). As far as an activity that would go with this, I think it might be interesting for students to think about what they would do in the situations that Ji-li dealt with as a child. It would be interesting to talk about how their perspectives are different, and why they think they would do something similar or different to what Ji-li did. I also think it is important for students to understand the history behind the cultural revolution and how things that happen in parts of the world that seem far away still have an impact on the global community. 

The article also discussed using literature circles to learn about your own culture or a culture different from your own. I think this is a great idea. I think it would be interesting for students to pick a culture different from their own, and read some children’s books and maybe a chapter book about that culture and talk about it in groups with people who read the same stories, but even discuss with groups who read about a different culture. I also liked the idea from the article about bringing in guest speakers, showing pictures, or doing webquests.

I think the biggest takeaway for teachers should be that multicultural literacy is not a month to month or one and done thing. You shouldn’t only talk about Black or African American writers during February. Thanksgiving is not the only time to talk about indigenous peoples. Don’t subject a culture or ethnicity group to a month and then be done and say you did your job teaching students about different cultures.

Lowrey, R. M., & Sabis-Burns, D. (n.d.). From borders to bridges: Making cross-cultural connections through multicultural literature. In Multicultural Education. 

Schiefelbein - Week 2

 The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momady could be a wonderful text to engage students in exploration of a culture that is different from their own.  One of the striking features of the text is the way that the author presents ancestral stories and historical records alongside his own personal memories and experiences with members of the Kiowa people.  His personal relationship with his grandmother, Aho, and the stories from the oral tradition she shares, provide unique insight into the stories and history of the Kiowa, and the challenges they faced as the American government took their land.

Book clubs could be an effective way to engage students with this text.  Particularly with junior high students, it would be important to first explore the themes of identity in the book.  From there, I would have students draw more personal connections to the text through reflection on their own cultural backgrounds, experiences, and what has helped to shape their identity.  Lowery & Sabis-Burns discuss how making these connections could be a powerful way for students to explore the lives of people from different cultures, while simultaneously reflecting on their own experiences and identities.  I think it would also be important for students to explore how our identities are continually evolving,, the factors around these changes, and the impact that evolving identities have had on their lives.

While this text could provide an anchor for identity exploration, I think it's also an excellent text to help students explore other topics such as the complexities of relationships, and inequalities within a culture.  I might have students bring in a photograph of a family member that they are close to.  After reflecting on their relationships with that family member, I would have the students revisit parts of the text to compare and contrast their own familial relationship, to the relationship between Momady and Aho.  Drawing from the examples throughout the text, students would gain both a stronger appreciation for the Kiowa people, as well as a new perspective on their relationships with their own family.  Through sharing both the oral traditions of the tribe, alongside his personal experiences, these stories provide a unique opportunity for students to explore complex issues in small doses.  

Lowrey, R. M., & Sabis-Burns, D. (n.d.). From borders to bridges: Making cross-cultural connections through multicultural literature. In Multicultural Education. 

Momady, N. S. (2019). The way to Rainy Mountain (50th ed.). University of New Mexico Press.

DeFord - Week 2

I have to admit, it took me a little while to figure out what Momaday was doing as he wrote his people's traditions and history in The Way to Rainy Mountain. The coupling of his own personal experiences with the myths and traditional folklore of the Kiowa people made for an interesting contrast; on the one hand myth, and on the other hand his own experiences. I am no expert in Kiowa lore, but I doubt there are many accounts of this type that help the Kiowa understand their cultural heritage. On the other hand, many of us can point to countless books that tell something of our own culture. Sometimes, confronting what we find can be difficult to share, as McKoy and Sabis-Burns (2007) discovered with their student-teachers. While literature from our own culture helps us expose our own preconceived ideas, multi-cultural literature brings other cultures into our classrooms and helps us examine them in light of our own. As we read books like The Way to Rainy Mountain we get a sense of what it must have been like growing up in Momaday's culture. Circumstances look very different from ours, but since we're all human we all understand each other on the deepest levels. Understanding each others' contexts helps us make sense of the choices and desires of other people we may not understand at first. I think that's the most important part of multi-cultural literature: we are able to walk a mile in the shoes of another person because the books give us a pair of shoes to wear. 

McKoy, R., & Sabis-Burns, D. (2007). From borders to bridges: Making cross-cultural connections through multicultural literature. Multicultural Education.

Momaday, N. S. (1969). The way to Rainy Mountain. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA30189497