Literature Across Cultures: Bolinder-Week 5

Friday, July 5, 2024

Bolinder-Week 5

Week 5: Toward a Social Justice Ethic: What is an American, Anyway?

The article discusses ways to effectively include multicultural literature in the classroom and why it's important. They affect me as a teacher and as a citizen. As a teacher, it is my job to prepare students to be positive active citizens in their community. Part of this is preparing them academically, and part of this is preparing them to be critical thinkers and how to engage in thoughtful discussions regarding what is going on in the world around them. In order to do this, students need perspective and practice with being thoughtful regarding things that are both familiar and unfamiliar. The article mentions multicultural literature as a mirror, window and a sliding glass door. Being able to utilize the text in all of these ways, depending on what they are reading is an essential skill for students. Outside of being a teacher, it is a necessary skill to have open minded, informed discussions with those around me about the world we live in. Our world is filled with so much disagreement and inability to listen to those around them. I think often we want similar things as those around us, like to live in a positive community, and have a well run country that treats people well, but how we are able to do this is what leads to different opinions.

I believe that no matter your role-teacher, mother, student, daughter, etc.- it is important to have a voice and be heard. No matter your role, you have a lived experience as a part of society that includes both positive and negative lived experiences. In order to make improvements in the space we live, we need to identify areas for improvement. For this to happen, it is necessary that people have a voice to share their thoughts and perspectives. We have discussed recently about the many intersections of identities that people possess. These different intersections also make up different experiences. By bringing them together we are able to connect with people more easily. While we may not be able to agree with someone through the lens of race, perhaps through the lens of motherhood we can connect and more easily empathize with others.

When in the classroom you attempt to respond to the question "What does it mean to be American?", utilizing the strategies mentioned in the article would be very beneficial. The article mentions explicit instruction about multiple identities which would be a great place to start. From there, using platforms to give students opportunities to use their own voices is a great strategy. The article suggests using classroom discussion, paired with proper discussion norms and rules. They also mention using a blog as digital platform for students to share their voice. The more students can share, the more opportunities they have to learn from their peers. The article also recommends using self reflection journals or surveys as another way for students to share their voice and allow both teachers and peers alike to learn more about each other.

References:

Ezell, S., & Daly, A. (2022). Honoring Multiple Identities Using Multicultural Literature. Texas Association for Literacy Education Yearbook, 9, 35-41.

1 comment:

HammJuly 5, 2024 at 3:48 PM
Great points about everyone having their own experiences to draw upon when having these conversations. Individual experiences allow us to generate authentic conversation which expresses empathy when being openminded about situations, cultures, and differences. I think it is also important to note that those similarities are the pieces that join us in a community and the differences make us individuals.
I am not sure that the nation knows what it is to be "American," but each family or individual knows what they believe it means. Thought about identity begins at home, through values and morals imparted through the nuclear family, their religious beliefs, and by extension the community they surround themselves with. Each of those components creates an identity that is transmitted to the next generation. It is my belief as a teacher, to take what I believe for myself to support my students and show them how to agree or disagree without animosity.
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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.

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 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.