After reading both articles, I thought of many different questions for myself and my reading classroom. They both hit home for me because this is the environment I am striving for, but I do not feel as if I have truly found the success I wanted. There was one line or section of text from Glazier & Seo that says “Julie’s minority students were identified as being accustomed to passivity in traditional classrooms dominated by teacher interpretations and silence around topics such as race and religion.”. This portion of text calls teachers to action, because whether they believe it or not, whether you talk about culture, race, or religion or not it is impacting your students. The authors discuss there are different ways to frame the readings to ensure that ALL students, majority, and minority, can have opportunities to “read, write, and talk” about themselves and their culture. It is the teacher's responsibility to lead students to see that they are not removed or far away from a text just because it does not directly relate to themselves or their experiences.
I have been professionally trying to implement and be purposeful in the readings and novels that are chosen in my classroom, but I still feel as though I am not utilizing the great cultural novels that we are reading to their fullest extent. This is where my question comes in. What can teachers do to try to ensure that all students are able to see themselves in a novel when you have over 100 students reading the novel throughout the day? I would love to see if anyone else has ideas or strategies that help connect more deeply with as many students as is seen in secondary classrooms.
Glazier,J., and Seo, J.-A. (2005). Multicultural literature and discussion as mirror and window?. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.
Hi Kennedy,
ReplyDeleteI do not have a definite answer to your question, but I believe having students do research into their own culture before reading a multicultural text would help students better be able to see themselves or relate to the characters in the novel. The article explains that most of the time, majority students are unable to define their own culture. If students were given opportunities to research their own culture by asking family or online research, they would be more prepared to connect with characters from different cultures. This would not only be helpful to majority students that do not know what their culture means, but also minority students because they would be able to dig deeper into their culture.
Hali, I think that students researching their own culture is a great idea. I could have them practice their reading skills using informational and short stories that exemplify their own culture. Then I also wonder if it would be beneficial for them to do the same thing but with a classmate's culture.
DeleteHi Kennedy!
ReplyDeleteYour passion for all students is evident and it's a wonderful thing. I was going to ask what grade/content you taught but then saw it was secondary later in the post. It would be hard to try and connect with every student, especially if your school is diverse. I wonder if you have an independent reading time within your day or week? Could this be the place where each student is able to explore their individuality and then you could have an exit ticket where they make some text-to-self connections? I think it depends on the funding you have to fill your classroom library with diverse literature as well. There are resources to help with this as well, but that was my initial thought when I read your question.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Sam
Sam, students do have sporadic independent reading time throughout the week, but it is not a regularly scheduled time. That is typically when students will read a book that they have chosen. I really like the idea of incorporating more text-to-self connections, so then even if a student may not identify with a characters culture, they may be able to connect to a feeling or experience that they have had. That could be a great way to show that although cultures have differences we are all human at heart.
ReplyDelete