Throughout
life, we all experience different identities and need to voices to be
heard. The different subjects we are in our lives may bring on a
different importance of our voice and what we want to be heard. As a
mother and a teacher, I feel it is my job to make sure my children and
students voices can be heard and acknowledged. We owe it to them to make
sure they they feel empowered and can give them a sense of identity.
The way I teach them may be different but it is the same end goal. One way we can bring all these multiple identities together is by having multicultural literature available whether that be in the classroom or at home. Students are the voices of the next generation and deserve access to multicultural literature (Ezell and Daly, 2022).
Multiple identities are in every single classroom and set of students we teach. Many time students feel silenced in the classroom about their multiple identities. This affects me as a teacher because by silencing these issues, students do not feel empowered and they lose their voice. Every person wants to have a voice and be heard regardless of if your a child or an adult. Having a voice and feeling heard can make students more successful. It can give them a sense of belonging. It is easy for us to shut down other people's voices we may not agree with but everyone deserves to be heard. Every person develops a sense of who they are
through the relationships they hold with family, friends, and society (Ezell and Daly, 2022). Children learn at a young age who they are and eventually learn to silence that as they arrive in school and it is not welcome. That is why teachers, myself included, need to incorporate more multicultural literature in the classroom. In order for students to be fully seen and heard at school, their multiple identities must recognized and honored (Muhammad, 2018). Teachers can normalize this by incorporating students into collaborative discussions. Normalizing discussion about identity is one way to help students learn about who they are and how identities and experiences differ. ( Ezell and Daly, 2022). As a community, we need to come together to make all identities welcome!
References:
Ezell, S. & Daly, A. (2022). Honoring multiple identities using multicultural literature. Texas Association for Literacy Education Yearbook, 9.
I agree with you. I do think that schools in the past have tended to silence students. They are told to not speak, often they are uncomfortable about expressing a view. They tell teachers what they want to hear. But, I think that is changing in society and in schools. Opening classes to look at multicultural literature will help give students voices. It will challenge teachers to be more open minded and develop a safe space. Understanding that when we read literature we are looking through the window, or sliding glass door or even at a mirror will help everyone in class see different perspectives. Which, I think, is greatly needed in the world.
ReplyDeleteRachel, I 100% agree with you. It is important for all voices are heard so they are not shut down. It is an awful feeling to feel that you cannot share opinions and ideas. Besides multicultural literature, how else do you encourage mute students to collaborate in discussions?
ReplyDeleteHi Kirsten,
DeleteTo encourage collaboration in my classroom, I often have to pair students up with other students I know can lead the conversation to try to get silent students to talk. I will also have them do writing activities because sometimes they feel more comfortable being able to write it down instead of sharing it with other students.