Literature Across Cultures: Brett Beckman Week 1 Blog Post

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Brett Beckman Week 1 Blog Post

Hello everyone!

I believe these articles are still relevant, even though they were written 16 years ago. I think we are still seeing predominately white teachers, even in extremely diverse areas and districts.I found it interesting in the Glazier and Seo article how they talked about although multicultural texts are important for students to see themselves in, it can make students in the majority feeling left out, which has lead to students feeling “cultureless”. One question I had about this thought specifically was, how has this changed over the year? I feel as though history classes have changed in some ways to explore American culture, and what it means to have so many cultures present in the U.S and how it contributes overall to a sense of being American. Would students now still say because they are white Americans that they have no culture? I also wonder if this changes depending on where students live geographically? (Sorry, I realize this is several questions). The article goes on to talk about how curriculum in school often avoids topics such as race, class, and culture. I found that to be the opposite from when I taught 8th grade U.S History. This could be because we were not given a specific curriculum and rather standards to talk about, but I still wonder how accurate this part of the article is for today’s students.

Glazier, J., & Seo, J.-A. (2005). Multicultural literature and discussion as mirror and window?
Minority students in one U.S. high school class find their voices, but the majority
students have a different experience. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48(8),
686+. https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.morningside.edu/apps/doc/A132746287/PPPC?u=
morningside&sid=bookmark-PPPC&xid=61f53cd6.

2 comments:

A MooreJune 5, 2024 at 5:58 PM
Brett,
I enjoyed reading your post. I teach in the middle school for science so my curriculum doesn't necessarily avoid racial or cultural topics. However, it gets very dicey when we teach about evolution, the history of the Earth, etc. I understand that students have strong beliefs one way or another, and it can be difficult to teach without mentioning my own beliefs.

To piggy back off of one of your questions; about the geographical location... My district is not super diverse, which is surprising for its size, and just 30 minutes away we have an extremely diverse district. I would be curious to hear what that public district's expectations are with this since they have multiple races, ethnicities, religions, etc.
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Emily AkkermannJune 6, 2024 at 2:15 PM
Hi Brett,
As I did the reading I had the same question if sense of culture could be based on where students live geographically? I know in my mind when I think of culture I think of different countries but really culture can be based on where you live. My family lives in the country, we live farm life, and in the Midwest. However, my sister lives in Austin, Texas with her family where they live a very urban, city life. Totally different cultures in the same countries but we live life differently. Culture is a culmination of how you live life, how you have lived it in the past, and who you live it with. So I think part of teaching multiculturalism to students is helping them understand what their culture is now so that they do not feel like they have no culture.
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Post Week 4: Pre- and Post-Conceptual Perspectives

Some thoughts to help you brainstorm your post: Nineteenth-century travel writing caused those who read about other cultures to formulate their ideas about those cultures directly from the writing, so much so that if a person chose to travel to a country he or she had read about prior to travel, the traveller was often disappointed in the actual country and culture. In our current technological existence, our ideas of what places and people are like can certainly be informed by how they are depicted in text and on the multitude of screens we use to interface with the world. What informs your perspective? How might the ways in which we experience people, ideas, issues, cultures, and so on, be impacted by how we learn of them? Are the benefits and drawbacks to the use of the technology available to us? What might some of those be, and why?

Your post is due Thursday at 8 pm.

Responses should be posted by Sunday at 10 pm.

Post Week 2: The Way to Rainy Mountain

The critical text which accompanies your primary reading for the week explores ways in which we as teachers might use other cultures' literatures in our classrooms to move students from superficial, stereotyped perspectives to a fuller understanding of not only individuals from other cultures, but themselves, too. In your blog post, share with your colleagues how you might incorporate ideas from the article in your own teaching.

Your post is due Thursday at 8 pm.

Your responses are due Sunday at 10 pm.

Post Week 1: Questions on Reading

You've been asked to post a question on the readings as your blog post. Here are some ideas to help you get started: You may have noted the publication dates of the readings and wondered why you're reading articles written in 2005. The reason is that the issues raised and discussion in each of the articles are applicable 16 years later. Do you agree? Disagree? Both? Explain why and pose a question to help your reader understand what you find to be the same or different. Or, if one of the two of the readings stands out to you, explain why that’s the case, but also post a question based on what stands out. Or, if something is confusing or problematic for you, what do you find confusing or problematic? With what do you agree or disagree? Be sure your question is open ended so that your colleagues can use it as a basis for discussion.

As you frame your question, be sure to summarize the article, then provide context for your question. Cite the text appropriately.

Questions to be posted by Thursday.

Responses (to at least two colleagues) to be posted Sunday.

Week 5: Toward a Social Justice Ethic: What is an American, Anyway?

How do the issues examined in the article affect you as a teacher and as a person living in today’s world? What is the importance of having a voice? Of being heard? Are there differences in your response based on the role(s) you inhabit? Teacher, parent, individual community member, brother, sister, child, global citizen, and more—we inhabit many subject positions. Are there ways to bring those needs/expectations/responsibilities together?

Posts are due by 8 pm Thursday.

There is no set number of required colleague responses this week, but you are expected to read all posts and to respond as class discussion.

Post Week 6: Article Summaries and Commentary

In this week's reading, you met a narrator who draws the reading into a short story with a decidedly hushed, slower tone. The couple introduced to us has experienced an unimaginable loss. How might that loss be affected by their cultural dislocation? Draw on the supplemental readings as you consider the question.

Your post is due Thursday at 8 pm. As was the case last week, there is not a set number of responses, but you are expected to demonstrate through responding that you have read and engaged with all class posts.