As I was sitting at home at my desk wondering what to blog about I glanced at my bookshelf. Although it does not have very many books on it, one shelf is full of books that I read as a kid. I remember these books clearly and loved every page of them. Some of them include Black Beauty, Mandy, Stranded, and the BFG. When I think about multicultural literature and my collection the two really do not go together. The only books that I have that I would include in multicultural literature are Number the Stars and Esperanza Rising. The first one I remember reading and purchasing due to my background as a Jewish American and interest in the Holocaust and the second one was required for my TE 348 class. I look back to the rest of the books which were purchased when I was in elementary school and I think to myself, why the lack of diversity?
After contemplating this question I can only think of several things. The first is that as a child I wanted to read books about adventure and other things I enjoyed such as swimming and animals, these books really did not have much to do with diversity. The second thing I can think of is that at the book fairs I went to, many of the book were chosen by cover and title. I would probably read the back but it never occurred to me that I could learn about another culture and actually enjoy what the book has to say. The last thing is, the books in my elementary classrooms and libraries were lacking when it came to diversity and I was not encouraged to explore.
After thinking about all these things and taking this course, I have realized there is a lot of quality multicultural literature out there that students are not being encouraged to explore. If it wasn't for this class, I may have never picked up the books and engaged in the reading and research of finding other books. I have enjoyed all the books that we have read in class because they have great stories. They also have taught me a lot about other cultures and being able to identify stereotypes and generalizations that are written into the text. Once again I look forward to expanding my collection of children's literature for the day that I have my own classroom and I can open students eyes to the wide variety of excellent diverse literature that is out there hidden amongst the bookshelves.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Boy Meets Boy
Once I picked up Boy Meets Boy, I had a lot of trouble putting it down. I had never read a book like this in my entire life and I was very intrigued by the idea. The reality behind this book was amazing to me. The entire book I was waiting for the main character or author to just stop and say "wouldn't this be nice?". It was a world of imagination and one that I wish would replicate society today. I ask myself this question... will this ever be reality?
After two nights submerged in the life of Paul and his friends I finally finished. There was no ending that explained why the story was written like this or anything for that matter. I wanted to know more so I want to www.davidlevithan.com to see what he had to say about his book. The question I contemplated the entire book was right there in his bio which ironically is not so much about himself as a person himself as a writer and his work. He says " I’m often asked if the book is a work of fantasy or a work of reality, and the answer is right down the middle - it's about where we're going, and where we should be". Pleased with this answer I began to browse the other books he has written and I am definitely going to have to pick up several of them.
The entire time I was reading Boy Meets Boy it felt like everything made sense in the book and I loved it! I could have been reading about any high schooler dealing with life and relationships whether or not they were gay. I thought it was brilliant and relatable. The characters were diverse, the stereotypes were far from represented, except one which I would love to know the explanation for (if this character possibly represented someone from Levithans own life).
My only questions that I have about this book, which anyone should feel free to respond too, is where would this book fit in the classroom? What age is it appropriate for? Being a future teacher who will be having a very diverse collection of multicultural literature, I hope! I would like others ideas on how I or anyone else would be able to incorporate this into their collection because I think it is an excellent book and representation of a group or culture that needs to be heard from.
After two nights submerged in the life of Paul and his friends I finally finished. There was no ending that explained why the story was written like this or anything for that matter. I wanted to know more so I want to www.davidlevithan.com to see what he had to say about his book. The question I contemplated the entire book was right there in his bio which ironically is not so much about himself as a person himself as a writer and his work. He says " I’m often asked if the book is a work of fantasy or a work of reality, and the answer is right down the middle - it's about where we're going, and where we should be". Pleased with this answer I began to browse the other books he has written and I am definitely going to have to pick up several of them.
The entire time I was reading Boy Meets Boy it felt like everything made sense in the book and I loved it! I could have been reading about any high schooler dealing with life and relationships whether or not they were gay. I thought it was brilliant and relatable. The characters were diverse, the stereotypes were far from represented, except one which I would love to know the explanation for (if this character possibly represented someone from Levithans own life).
My only questions that I have about this book, which anyone should feel free to respond too, is where would this book fit in the classroom? What age is it appropriate for? Being a future teacher who will be having a very diverse collection of multicultural literature, I hope! I would like others ideas on how I or anyone else would be able to incorporate this into their collection because I think it is an excellent book and representation of a group or culture that needs to be heard from.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Jewish American Literature
For my final project I have decided to focus on Jewish American literature. There are several reasons I have decided to focus on this topic. This first one is that I myself am a Jewish American. Another reason is that growing up, the only books I had read that were related to my religion and culture were based on the holidays. These books often taught and being apart of the religion it was all repetitive and did not necessarily represent a character that I could relate too. This week we are reading Confessions of a Closest Catholic and so far, I have realized that there are books out there that are not focusing on teaching and sharing holidays. This book has more to deal with other than the Jewish holidays. Its about life and growing up which anyone could relate to Jewish or not.
While researching articles I came across Eric Kimmel's "Joy on Beale Street". Little did I know this was the article in our course pack. I enjoy that he "wasn't interested in explain or defending the holiday. [He] wanted to find its spirit". This is one of the reasons I have always enjoyed the book "Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins". This quote is exactly how I felt looking for books on Jewish American literature. I wanted more than the usual explanation. I wanted to be able to see myself in a character not only because they were Jewish.
For my project I am focusing on books that you may look at the cover and not realize they are Jewish American Literature. You may be able to tell by the authors last name or because the character has a Jewish background but I want it to represent Jewish Americans as well as every other student one way or another. I think there are more books out there that need to be incorporated into the classroom other than the books teaching the holidays. There is more to this religion and culture that is very interesting and highly underrepresented in literature.
For others who have chose this topic, I have found this site with a list of Jewish American literature http://www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com/jewishamericans.html .
While researching articles I came across Eric Kimmel's "Joy on Beale Street". Little did I know this was the article in our course pack. I enjoy that he "wasn't interested in explain or defending the holiday. [He] wanted to find its spirit". This is one of the reasons I have always enjoyed the book "Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins". This quote is exactly how I felt looking for books on Jewish American literature. I wanted more than the usual explanation. I wanted to be able to see myself in a character not only because they were Jewish.
For my project I am focusing on books that you may look at the cover and not realize they are Jewish American Literature. You may be able to tell by the authors last name or because the character has a Jewish background but I want it to represent Jewish Americans as well as every other student one way or another. I think there are more books out there that need to be incorporated into the classroom other than the books teaching the holidays. There is more to this religion and culture that is very interesting and highly underrepresented in literature.
For others who have chose this topic, I have found this site with a list of Jewish American literature http://www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com/jewishamericans.html .
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Gender in Books
As I was reading the article "The Gendered Classroom" by M.S Kimmel for my Communications class I stumbled upon some shocking information that I thought would be interesting to share. We are talking about how many cultures are underrepresented in literature but years ago there was another issue that existed with books. Until recently, can anyone guess who were the primary characters among books? Another image that we have seemed to bypass is the roles of characters in the books, primarily the roles of the males and females.
Take from the article, here are some facts that may leave you dumbfounded from a study done in 1975 from the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. 134 text were looked at by "sixteen different publishers, looking at the pictures, stories, and language used to describe male and female characters". The results were
Take from the article, here are some facts that may leave you dumbfounded from a study done in 1975 from the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. 134 text were looked at by "sixteen different publishers, looking at the pictures, stories, and language used to describe male and female characters". The results were
- "Boy-centered" stories outnumbered "girl-centered" stories by a five to two ration
- 3 times as many adult male characters
- 6 times as many biographies about men
- 4 times as many male fairy tales
Although things have changed today in literature and women and girls are seen more as the main character than in the past but "gender stereotypes still prevail: girls are still depicted as more interested in domestic life than boys are". Even though female characters roles in stories have changed, there has been no significant change in the role of males becoming more domestic, nurturing or caring.
After reading this article I seem to have a better eye when reading and looking over literature. I am interested in the main characters and the roles of males and females and I believe this is another issue that should be represented fairly in the classroom. Girls should have the chance to relate with the main character and not just because they are doing domestic or stereotypical "girly" things. While reading Project Mulberry it was brought to my attention that while working on the project that the roles are split in a peculiar way. Julia is in charge of the sewing and entering her work in the Domestic Arts/Needlework category while Patrick was in charge of the book work and research end of the Ecotherm Farming or before it was changed Animal Husbandry project. Julia also took on the nurturing role and cared for the worms while Patrick had nothing to do with because of his phobia. Do you believe this as anything to do with the stereotypical roles that have been attributed to males and females over time?
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Personal Philosophy
TE 448 has opened my eyes to the lack of diversity I experienced in my own elementary education. As much as I enjoy children’s and adolescent literature I had not realized the absence and misrepresentations of different cultures that I was or was not reading about. This class has made me realized the importance of finding quality and accurate literature to share with my students. It has opened my eyes to how much multicultural literature is out there and how important it is to look at it from every perspective and culture that is portrayed in the text. I want to be able to choose literature that will benefit my students learning about their culture as well as others. I want them to feel comfortable reading and discussing these books in the classroom and I also would like to counter act many of the stereotypes that they may have or will be influenced by in the outside world.
The issues of diversity play a very important role in literacy teaching and learning. Not only do I have to know and understand where I stand and where I may have biases to set aside, I have to be able to teach my students how to respect the ideas and ways of other cultures that they may not know about or agree with. Growing up, my religion has set myself aside from many of my classmates and I loved to learn about their traditions and values as well as share mine. I thought it was important for them to know where I came from and vise versa. I also have to be able to recognize and pull out quality literature that will represent cultures appropriately and respectively. I think it is imperative to children’s learning that they are engaged in a multicultural education. Students should feel comfortable in a classroom environment that displays a variety of cultures and ways of life. Students should have an equal opportunity to learn and grow within the classroom and I believe I am responsible for adhering to this environment. Children’s lit fits into this multicultural classroom because it is one tool that can engage students in learning about different cultures and open them to new ideas. A wide variety of literature needs to be displayed to make the students feel comfortable in the classroom. Each student needs to be able to relate too and be represented by more than a handful of books. There also needs to be an abundance of books that are not represented in the classroom so students can be introduced what else is outside of the classroom, community and city, state, and country.
Thinking about bringing my philosophy into the classroom is a lot easier than actually implementing it. I worry about my ability to accurately portray many cultures through literature because as we have discussed, there are many different opinions on who should write and what should count as quality multicultural literature. I want my students to feel comfortable in the classroom and I do not want to misrepresent one of them accidentally. This will also be a challenge for me to find books that make a collection that I think will help foster individual growth with all students. I look forward to exploring books in libraries as well as in my cooperative teachers classrooms that I think are beneficial to students learning and I could include in my own library. Now that I am involved in this class, I believe I have a better idea of what I need to include and what is underrepresented that I need to represent. My elementary career definitely lacked a representation of many of the cultures we are reading about and I look forward to learning and growing myself with respect to the many cultures that need to be presented in the classroom. It will be an exciting experience and challenge for me and I look forward to creating a collection of multicultural literature!
The issues of diversity play a very important role in literacy teaching and learning. Not only do I have to know and understand where I stand and where I may have biases to set aside, I have to be able to teach my students how to respect the ideas and ways of other cultures that they may not know about or agree with. Growing up, my religion has set myself aside from many of my classmates and I loved to learn about their traditions and values as well as share mine. I thought it was important for them to know where I came from and vise versa. I also have to be able to recognize and pull out quality literature that will represent cultures appropriately and respectively. I think it is imperative to children’s learning that they are engaged in a multicultural education. Students should feel comfortable in a classroom environment that displays a variety of cultures and ways of life. Students should have an equal opportunity to learn and grow within the classroom and I believe I am responsible for adhering to this environment. Children’s lit fits into this multicultural classroom because it is one tool that can engage students in learning about different cultures and open them to new ideas. A wide variety of literature needs to be displayed to make the students feel comfortable in the classroom. Each student needs to be able to relate too and be represented by more than a handful of books. There also needs to be an abundance of books that are not represented in the classroom so students can be introduced what else is outside of the classroom, community and city, state, and country.
Thinking about bringing my philosophy into the classroom is a lot easier than actually implementing it. I worry about my ability to accurately portray many cultures through literature because as we have discussed, there are many different opinions on who should write and what should count as quality multicultural literature. I want my students to feel comfortable in the classroom and I do not want to misrepresent one of them accidentally. This will also be a challenge for me to find books that make a collection that I think will help foster individual growth with all students. I look forward to exploring books in libraries as well as in my cooperative teachers classrooms that I think are beneficial to students learning and I could include in my own library. Now that I am involved in this class, I believe I have a better idea of what I need to include and what is underrepresented that I need to represent. My elementary career definitely lacked a representation of many of the cultures we are reading about and I look forward to learning and growing myself with respect to the many cultures that need to be presented in the classroom. It will be an exciting experience and challenge for me and I look forward to creating a collection of multicultural literature!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Where Can I find....
When I volunteered in my group this past Wednesday to look up and obtain books that have won the Asian Pacific American Award, I thought to myself "this should be easy enough. The book has won an award, it will most likely be in several libraries!". Was it a surprise to find out the opposite.
I immediately went to the East Lansing public library web page and to the library catalog to look up which books they had. They had almost every book that I typed in but the problem was, the majority of them were checked out. Since I had been in my home town for the weekend and several days during the week I decided to check out my pubic library and get the books from there. Upon going to the online catalog to see what books were offered, I was astonished. Book after book, author after author and nothing came up. Why were none of these books available at my library? Did they not have an interest in books about Asian Pacific Americans? I was still shocked and eager to find out the answer.
During class we discussed the availability of finding multicultural books and even books that have won awards and have been recognized in libraries. To think that a Librarian can use the excuse of not having books about a certain culture or race in their collection because that specific culture or race is not present in the community. How are students supposed to learn about people outside of their community if they do not have the opportunity to learn about them through books. Multicultural literature allows us to explore cultures and people we have no idea about. It allows us to make connections and see what is out in the world. It gives us a great opportunity to learn! Whether or not a book has won an award, I believe all libraries need to have representation of a variety of different cultures, races, etc.
I look forward to walking into my home library and asking them... "where can I find (insert multicultural book they do not have)? And when they say they do not have it, I can't wait to ask "why not?"
I immediately went to the East Lansing public library web page and to the library catalog to look up which books they had. They had almost every book that I typed in but the problem was, the majority of them were checked out. Since I had been in my home town for the weekend and several days during the week I decided to check out my pubic library and get the books from there. Upon going to the online catalog to see what books were offered, I was astonished. Book after book, author after author and nothing came up. Why were none of these books available at my library? Did they not have an interest in books about Asian Pacific Americans? I was still shocked and eager to find out the answer.
During class we discussed the availability of finding multicultural books and even books that have won awards and have been recognized in libraries. To think that a Librarian can use the excuse of not having books about a certain culture or race in their collection because that specific culture or race is not present in the community. How are students supposed to learn about people outside of their community if they do not have the opportunity to learn about them through books. Multicultural literature allows us to explore cultures and people we have no idea about. It allows us to make connections and see what is out in the world. It gives us a great opportunity to learn! Whether or not a book has won an award, I believe all libraries need to have representation of a variety of different cultures, races, etc.
I look forward to walking into my home library and asking them... "where can I find (insert multicultural book they do not have)? And when they say they do not have it, I can't wait to ask "why not?"
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Insider/Outsider Debate
After reading these articles I find myself more interested in the definition of multicultural literature then the discussion of who writes it better: insiders or outsiders. But since this post is about the latter, I am going to stick with the topic and share my views.
Insider or outsider? Well, we have all seen and read that it is easier to find books written by the outsiders but should we be using them? I think that to write multicultural literature you do not necessarily have to be an insider to the culture. I think that an insider has an easier time writing about their culture and sharing ideas then an outsider but that doesn't mean that it is necessarily going to be better. If an outsider takes the time to "get to know a culture intimately" as Sims Bishop says, why wouldn't they have an accurately portrayal of those people? Harris gives us a great example of author Donnarae McCann, an European-American who "possesses the critical consciousness that enabled her to create an excellent examination of the depiction of Native-Americans". That being said, outsiders can and do have the opportunity to write multicultural literature about another cultural group that is beneficial to its readers.
With multicultural literature, the culture being portrayed needs to be looked at carefully. Both insiders and and outsiders need to avoid stereotyping. Even if a book is written by an insider it doesn't mean it is an accurate reflection of the entire culture. One person does not reflect an entire culture but just one aspect and one person living within that particular culture. With that being said, should readers assume that if a book is by an insider that they are more credible than a book about the same culture from an outsider? I think there are many questions to ask about the quality and authenticity of multicultural literature and who the author is and what their relationship to the culture is just one of them and should not be the determining question. With that being said I believe that there should be a combination of insider and outsider written books about a culture in a classroom to show that everyone has the ability to write about a topic whether it is close to them at home or an interest they have taken expert credibility in. Outsider literature should not be turned away but should be looked at just as critically as an insiders piece of literature to make sure that the culture is being represented the best and honest it can be.
Insider or outsider? Well, we have all seen and read that it is easier to find books written by the outsiders but should we be using them? I think that to write multicultural literature you do not necessarily have to be an insider to the culture. I think that an insider has an easier time writing about their culture and sharing ideas then an outsider but that doesn't mean that it is necessarily going to be better. If an outsider takes the time to "get to know a culture intimately" as Sims Bishop says, why wouldn't they have an accurately portrayal of those people? Harris gives us a great example of author Donnarae McCann, an European-American who "possesses the critical consciousness that enabled her to create an excellent examination of the depiction of Native-Americans". That being said, outsiders can and do have the opportunity to write multicultural literature about another cultural group that is beneficial to its readers.
With multicultural literature, the culture being portrayed needs to be looked at carefully. Both insiders and and outsiders need to avoid stereotyping. Even if a book is written by an insider it doesn't mean it is an accurate reflection of the entire culture. One person does not reflect an entire culture but just one aspect and one person living within that particular culture. With that being said, should readers assume that if a book is by an insider that they are more credible than a book about the same culture from an outsider? I think there are many questions to ask about the quality and authenticity of multicultural literature and who the author is and what their relationship to the culture is just one of them and should not be the determining question. With that being said I believe that there should be a combination of insider and outsider written books about a culture in a classroom to show that everyone has the ability to write about a topic whether it is close to them at home or an interest they have taken expert credibility in. Outsider literature should not be turned away but should be looked at just as critically as an insiders piece of literature to make sure that the culture is being represented the best and honest it can be.
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