The article suggests that multicultural texts, along with reflection both before and after the reading experience, can provide a positive foundation from which to glean an authentic perspective. Although this strategy can certainly help pre-service teachers gain confidence in understanding different cultures, and build curiosity to learn more, there is a lot to be said about using multiple resources in order to gain a well-rounded perspective.
Typically, I seek out a number of sources to inform my perspective of cultures different from my own. Certainly, the internet can serve as a quick reference for information, but, just as I teach the students in my own class, multiple sources need to be viewed in order to synthesize the information. Multicultural literature can serve as one source to gain a different perspective, but I also rely on the first-hand experiences of students, families, and colleagues. These sources can provide unique perspectives, and help me to gain better insight into the specific experiences of the people I interact with each day.
While technology can be a powerful tool for gaining access to information about different cultures, it can have its drawbacks as well. In this day and age, we need to have a critical lens on the information we view online. And, with tourism generating a significant amount of revenue, even credible sources on the internet can hold some bias. Additionally, as access to artificial intelligence grows, it can be even more difficult to separate fact from fiction. I tend to keep in mind that using multiple sources, and corroborating information between sources is the best way to gain an accurate and authentic perspective.
Morrison, T. (1983). Recitatif. In A. Baraka & A. Baraka (Eds.), An anthology of African American women. (Original work published in 1983).
Szecsi, T., Spillman, C., Vazquez-Montilla, E., & Mayberry, S. (2010). Transforming teacher cultural landscapes by reflecting on multicultural literature. Multicultural Education, (Summer), 44-48.
Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteI too find it very important to read multiple sources on a topic to be better informed as there can be bias and false information given to us instead of authentic factual information with the technology that we have. It has been brought to my attention just recently in another class that I am taking this summer that not all textbooks can be very accurate either because of the amount of people that go into actually creating the textbook. I was surprised, because growing up, I always took my textbooks as fact. I never questioned anything found within, when I maybe should have.
I liked that you brought in the fact that with AI it will be even more difficult to separate fact from fiction. It is somewhat easier for adults, but even a lot of adults lack the media literacy and attention to detail to see what is real and what is fiction. I think this will be even more difficult for students.
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