I noted that our readings were from 2005. I appreciate that Dr. Peterson gave the reasoning! I agree that the issues and discussion in each article still apply today. I found these two articles easy to understand and the other difficult to follow.
Torres-Padilla’s
(2005) Death to the Originary Narrative! Or, Insurgent Multiculturalism and Teaching
Multiethnic Literature was a challenge because there were a lot of words
that I had never seen, heard, or known existed.
I looked up many of the words to have context and meaning. I understood that this article states that
today’s American literature needs to be more multicultural, America’s
conservatism of the past is still felt today in literature, and that students
need teaching to “construct new ways of seeing and thinking” (Torres-Padilla’s,
2005, p.20). This article talks about
regions of thought in the United States.
The article made me think multicultural thinking is not just for other
countries. Still, it is also for
different areas (New England, East Coast, Midwest, Mountains, Southwest, West
Coast) in the United States.
Glazier
& Seo (2005) Multicultural literature
and discussion as mirror and window? was a much easier read for me. It made me think, and I have many questions
after reading this article. Glazier
& Seo (2005) give voice to the fact that teachers need to teach students to
assess their culture, understand it, and be able to explain it if there is
going to be a surplus of cultural diversity within schools. To do this, students must feel comfortable
and use texts that “act as both mirror- allowing students to reflect on their
own experiences- and as window, providing the opportunity to view the
experiences of others” (Glazier & Seo, 2005, p.688). I equated one’s own experiences with
background knowledge. To comprehend a text,
students must have background knowledge, which is how they connect to the text
studied (Glazier & Seo, 2005).
Question: How do teachers help students understand their
cultural voices (mirror) and other cultural voices (window) when they are in a
school with less than 1% diversity?
References
Glazier, J.,
& Seo, J.-A. (2005). Multicultural
literature and discussion as mirror and window? Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy,
48(8), 686–700. https://doi.org/10.1598/jaal.48.8.6
Torres-Padilla,
J. L. (2005). Death to the originary narrative! or, insurgent multiculturalism and teaching
multiethnic literature. MELUS: Multiethnic
Literature of the United States, 30(2), 13–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/melus/30.2.13
Emily, I wonder whether a piece of the puzzle to answering that question is by collectively acknowledging the current situation and that our efforts will always fall short no matter what our circumstances. I also teach in a situation where the minority population is lower than the national average, so I think an important emphasis for my school is to teach our students the skills they need to do their OWN future learning about other cultures. Of course, that doesn't mean that my school doesn't attempt to provide a multicultural education at all, but the most important learning occurs in real life on the streets. If I provide my students with tools to do their own discovery, I think I can still given them a solid cultural education.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of teaching students the skills they need to do their own learning about cultures and I believe that is the key. I was also thinking that in the case of my school, it's also important to make students aware of other cultures and introduce them to literature that is multicultural in nature. The most important learning definitely does happen in real life so sometimes in education it's just giving the tools to help them in that real life situation.
DeleteEmily, I had the very same question and concern. I do agree with Ben in that one of the best skills to equip our students with is the ability to learn and grow independently. We as teachers are able to start the process of curiosity and growth, but we do not have the time with them to fully cement the skill, that has to come from outside of school practice. Multiculturism in schools where there is not much representation of minority cultures is, I believe, vital to developing a well-rounded and empathetic human.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that our goal is to help students develop into well-rounded and empathetic human beings. Teachers also have to realize that teaching students these things is not all on us. We help the process.
DeleteInstilling being open to learning about other cultures and living life differently from themselves is a very good idea. I believe that teaching about cultures goes hand in hand with those ideas.
ReplyDelete