Literature Across Cultures: Schiefelbein

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Schiefelbein - Week 4 Blog Post

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.

2 comments:

Hali BrownJune 26, 2024 at 3:49 PM
Hi Jen,
I 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.
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Brett BeckmanJune 30, 2024 at 7:26 PM
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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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.