Hi!
When reading both articles, the question did pop up about why I am reading articles from almost twenty years ago. After reading the articles, I understand why we were assigned these readings. I agree that these issues are still applicable in the current day. How do we get people to understand different cultures and accept them? Why are people so closed-minded and easy to judge? The article “Death to the Originary Narrative! or, Insurgent Multiculturalism and Teaching Multiethnic Literature” stuck out to me about how people portray Americans and what makes someone an American. I was fascinated by the taxi driver's story of thinking his passenger was a foreigner strictly based on his looks and even complimenting him on his English even though he had been living in America his entire life! From this, the question on how to create a diverse culture in my own classroom comes up. How do we incorporate diversity and culture in the classroom besides just from exposure to different texts? I think when it comes to different cultures and topics in the classroom, many teachers try to avoid them. It is easiest to not talk about them than to have to answer and have difficult conversations in the classroom. Silenced topics in U.S. classrooms are usually “hot lava” topics including social class, culture, and race, that are generally avoided rather than explored (Fine & Weis, 1993; Frankenberg, 1993; Landsman, 2001; McIntyre, 1997; Morrison, 1992). By teachers avoiding these topics, students will never be able to express themselves, their views, and their questions and understanding on differences such as culture. Lots of times, myself included, teachers think that just having students read a text about a certain culture is exposing them to it but in reality it is not at all. Students cannot make connections by just reading a text. The text cannot stand alone to achieve desired ends. Adding multicultural texts to the curriculum will not by itself create respect for cultural differences or an understanding across cultures. The text must instead be interrogated from multiple perspectives and act as a comparison point for students’ own lives in order for it to be transformative, or life—and culture—affirming. As a result, it must 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 and Seo, 2005). I believe teachers need to be trained on how to bring in different cultures and teach them properly because right now when teachers try to bring it into the classroom they are experiencing resistance from students. This resistance comes from students feeling uneasy discussing issues such as racism, particularly when these discussions challenge certain students’ privileged perspectives on the world (Glazier and Seo ,2005). How can we get students and teachers to feel comfortable discussing challenging topics in the classroom?
Glazier, J., & Seo, J. (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: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, 30(2), 13–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/melus/30.2.13
I agree that teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to have conversations about certain parts of cultural identity. It is definitely a challenge to educate our students and exposing them to the world around them when religion, social class, and cultural differences need to be discussed. Our students deserve to have a safe place where they can read about people from different cultures and ask questions without fear of being offensive. To answer your question about how we can incorporate culture and diversity in the classroom beyond introducing multicultural text, I think we begin with creating a classroom culture of understanding, open mindedness, and exploring curiosity without fear of judgement. This is easier to do with some classes and others are incredibly difficult to being together. Once the environment is set, students need to see teachers modeling the thinking the teacher wants to see while reflecting and digging into the text. When the students see the teacher being vulnerable and sharing their own thoughts as they examine the character through the window, and also identifying connections to the character in the mirror. We can establish a routine where we identify through the window and mirrors with all texts that are read, not just those that feature characters from other cultures.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you, Mandy, and what you say is additionally helpful since it's about the classroom itself--any classroom. I know that some of you here in our summer class don't teach literature, so you're here for a broader discussion of teaching. Our own reading and thinking about that reading (How is this text a mirror and window for ME?) better equips us to work with the students in our classrooms, to think about establishing relationships with them that will facilitate their learning and their success.
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