Meyer -Week 2 Blog

 

I feel it is so important for students to be exposed to students of different cultures and races. An easy way to expose them is by using literature in the classroom. When I first started reading “The Way to Rainy Mountain,” I found it confusing and hard to understand. I know this is because I have never heard of the Kiowa tribe before. I now understand what my students feel like when I have them read a text with no background knowledge of the subject matter. It is so important to expose them to these cultures but to also have them be able to relate and identify with other cultures, whether this is about how they are different than their culture or the same. It is also essential for them to have prior knowledge of the subject matter before they can even understand what they are reading about. There is no way I could have comprehended the book if I did not stop to do a little research before continuing on with the novel. I found the importance of educating myself on different cultures when I read the article “ From Borders to Bridges:Making Cross-Cultural Connections through Multicultural Literature.”

When I first started reading the article, I found it interesting that they suggested against using picture books to introduce the topic of Christopher Columbus. Although, I do not teach about Christopher Columbus in my class, I have used picture books to introduce topics. I can see how it can be controversial and illustrate the wrong idea when using picture books on certain topics. One idea I might incorporate into my classroom is using children's books to introduce certain cultures. A lot of my middle school students are below grade level and become intrigued when I have read lower-level books to them. I think this is a great way for them to understand the topic of multiculturalism in an easier form than a grade level text. Another thing I am going to do is give them background knowledge on the culture before diving into the text. I will also give them more exposure than just the text. Assignments relating to multicultural
literature included a self-reflection of one’s cultural, ethnic or racial background, researching an unfamiliar culture, and reading novels and picture books across various genres representing diverse cultural experiences(Lowery and Sabis-Burns, 2007). One last thing I am going to do, and I think is the most important, is expose myself to more multicultural literature. However, teachers cannot be expected to present information that they may know little or nothing about. If teachers are expected to teach students about diversity using multicultural literature, they have to first be exposed to this literature themselves (Lowery and Sabis-Burns, 2007).  I also need to become aware of my own biases on matters and make sure to educate myself before I can effectively teach my students in my classroom. 

Momaday, N. S. (2019). The way to rainy mountain. University of New Mexico Press. 

McKoy Lowery, R. & Sabis-Burns, D. 2007. From Borders to Bridges: Making Cross-Cultural Connections Through Multicultural Literature. Multicultural Education. https://moodle.morningside.edu/pluginfile.php/1430696/mod_resource/content/2/From%20Borders%20to%20Bridges.pdf