Brown - Week 2 Post

One quote from the article that stood out to me was, “Their (student’s) perceptions of others, who are unlike them, are formed from a mirage of stereotypes available through cartoons, videogames, movies, TV shows, computer games, and other readily available media (Lowery & Sabis-Burns, 2007).” Before taking my Adolescent Literature class last semester which introduced some multicultural literature, I was one of these students. Needless to say, after reading a couple of the books, I was shocked to read about cultures very different from my own. I believe, like some of the preservice teachers in the study, that I have a better awareness of the diverse groups that can be found in our classrooms. When reading the article, a couple ideas stood out to me that I would like to include in my teaching.

First, before having my students dive into multicultural literature, I would like them to research their own culture so that they are better able to connect with and relate to the characters found within these books. This will hopefully make them overcome the uncomfortableness of talking about race or ethnicity. Before reading a multicultural book, I could also have my students research and explore the culture that shows up within the book. This can better prepare them for what they are about to read and build their background knowledge. For example, before having my students read The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday, I could have them research general information about the Kiowa people. More specifically to the text, I could have the students look up the Sun Dance or any of the stories given within the text, such as the story about Devil’s Tower. Another idea I would like to incorporate is making sure to give students multiple opportunities to read multicultural text. This will make them aware of other cultural customs and values, allow them to better communicate and understand people from other countries, and strengthen experiences that involve their own culture and others’ cultures (Lowery & Sabis-Burns, 2007). This means that, in order to do this, I will need to read a multitude of multicultural literature so I can find books that not only relate to students in my class but also help my students explore cultures that they may not be familiar with. Finally, I want to give students several opportunities within class time to talk with each other about what they are reading. This allows for better understanding of multicultural literature, because students will be able to share their own experiences and relate to one another when talking about a multicultural text. This relates back to me reading a lot of multicultural text, so that I am able to help guide discussions on the texts that we read.

References

Lowery, R. M., & Sabis-Burns, D. (2007). From borders to bridges: making cross-cultural connections through multicultural literature. Multicultural Education, 14(4), 50. https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.morningside.edu/apps/doc/A168587716/AONE?u=anon~7bf73067&sid=googleScholar&xid=b44165d1

Momaday, N. S. (1969). The way to rainy mountain. University of New Mexico Press.