Literature Across Cultures: Campbell

Thursday, July 4, 2024

Campbell - Week 5

Kirsten Campbell

ENGL 478 G

Week 5 Post

As the article states, “Students are the voices of the next generation and deserve access to multicultural literature”(Ezell & Daly, P.38, 2022). Multicultural literacy exposes students to diversity and plays a crucial role in shaping their identity. It allows them to see themselves as reflections in text and apply new knowledge to their communities. The importance of having a voice or being heard is that students see this in a role model; it could be a parent, sibling, an online influence, or a character in the media. Adolescence is the most influential part of our lives because we grow and discover more about ourselves than we thought. A lot of adolescent literature is about finding yourself; as you find yourself, you find your voice. While your students read, they reflect on their lives with the character, further developing the beliefs that influence them to find their voice. Your students need to be heard because how does it feel not to be heard? When you are not heard, your ideas slip under the rug with no one noticing, and you feel alone, and no one else understands you or has similar views. When you are heard, it is such a powerful thing. “With great power, comes great responsibility.” It is silly to quote Spider-Man, but it is as powerful as that. Your voice can change the perspective of others, add to views, or it can hurt others. Having diverse literature in our classrooms will provide a window, a mirror, and a sliding glass door and create open-minded learners, critical thinkers, and powerful speakers. When we have powerful voices, it can make the most essential class discussions, which impact people.

I enjoyed Figure 1 in the article because it teaches students from a young age how to appreciate others and their differences. It is also a way for students to involve their whole family. Before creating the web, you can make a little take-home sheet that parents can help with, and the questions will be about family, ethnicity, holidays, and food. I also thought about a column with rules to follow, and then the students could sign their names on it, which would be a part of our class constitution. Classroom rules, learning about diverse cultures, and encouraging voices can bring those expectations and responsibilities together.

References:

Ezell, S. & Daly, A. (2022). Honoring multiple identities using multicultural literature. Texas Association for Literacy Education Yearbook, 9.

3 comments:

Ben DeFordJuly 4, 2024 at 5:25 PM
Kristen, I appreciate what you said about what it feels like to not be heard. It makes students feel so validated to recognize their own beliefs and thoughts in someone else in the classroom. I think it's an unspoken desire among all humans to want to feel "normal," and when they recognize that someone else feels or thinks that same way, that helps fulfill that desire. If a student doesn't connect with someone in the classroom, there's a good chance someone has written a book that they might connect with!
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Hali BrownJuly 7, 2024 at 11:42 AM
Hello Kirsten,
I admire that you brought up role models who can help students be introduced to having a voice. As teachers, we can be very important role models because we are seeing students almost every day for long periods of time. I like that you quoted Spiderman as we want our students to be able to have a voice to voice their opinions, but we also want to make sure that they are being respectful to everyone while doing it.
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Brett BeckmanJuly 7, 2024 at 6:47 PM
Hi Kirsten!

I liked how you talked about the identity web and getting parent involvement, I think that would be a great way to start the school year off and opening that line of communication with parents!
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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.