I was in third grade and we were learning about how other cultures celebrated Christmas. For the month of December we would “visit” different countries and take a look at how they celebrated Christmas. We would eat different foods, play different games, and read different stories from the culture we were studying that day. If my teacher was trying to teach us multiculturalism I think there are a few problems with this lesson.
1. Not every culture celebrates Christmas
2. As students, we are contrasting other cultures to Christmas (assuming that all students celebrate this Christian holiday).
3. We were, as Hade says, taking a “tourist’s conception of multiculturalism.” We were just traveling to these other cultures for a short period of time and then going back to our own (240).
Hade discusses how for a good portion of his professional life he thought multiculturalism could best be taught by just teaching it and “addressing a lack of knowledge” (236). I think my teacher had the same idea. By making us aware of other cultures, we would understand them better and therefore have open minds regarding other cultures. After reading Hade’s “Reading Multiculturally,” I don’t think my teacher really helped us learn to have a multicultural perspective.
While reading Hade’s chapter, like every other reading in this class, I had that initial feeling of ‘how will I ever be able to do this.’ As Hade suggests, reading multiculturally is not just reading books about race, class, and/or gender, which I think we see a lot in the classroom. We think we're reading muliculturally because we're reading books about class, race, or gender, but that is the tourist conception. We are "visiting" these other cultures but only to go back to our own and compare it to that. I think Hade has a point when he says reading multiculturally is more about how we interpret it. It is how we interpret it and how our students interpret it. I think to aid our future students to read multiculturally we first need to incorporate Wilhelm’s ideas to make them engaged readers because Hade states that “signs of race, class, and gender are not just in books, it takes a reader to make them come alive” (243). Our students will not see these signs if they are merely surface reading. Then I think we need to ask our students the questions Hade presents in his last paragraph. Students need to search for their own ideas of class, race, and gender. Like Hade suggests, they (as well as myself) need to “challenge assumptions” (252). They need to read texts and question what is being said about class, race, and gender and form their own opinion. As a teacher hopefully I can encourage students to do so- it’ll definitely be a working project (as will all my other future classroom plans).
I think students will also be able to think multiculturally by somehow experiencing the life of those in different classes, genders, and races. Or as Atticus says, in our reading for this week, you can’t judge a man until you walk around his shoes. Jane Elliot had her students experience what is what like to be discriminated against based on a physical feature and look at the impact it had on her students and other observers. I mean her activity began in the 60’s and is still being looked at today. Also I thought it was pretty awesome how her activity worked on adults as well because at any age discrimination is present. I think if we were to tie in Elliot’s idea of having an experience and Hade’s approach we could really aid our students in having a multicultural perspective.
*** Just for fun, we can look at Michael Scott. I don't think he really has a multicultual perspective.
I found the video of Michael Scott really funny. He makes a good point. "Picture a convict"...but don't most people picture a man? haha. I think this is a great video because it points outs they people has prior judgements and labels.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we access these ideas when talking about a "white person" or "black person?"
Will there be a day when students do not
snicker when talking about stereotypes?
I liked how you said the gender roles, like in "The Loin King" are brought out by the reader. Surface reading is for enjoyment, but taking a closer look is really understanding what issues and ideas are discussed in texts.
Bethany: Ha, nice video! It is surprising how quickly we come to conclusions based on minor descriptions.
ReplyDeleteMy elementary school also had a special program in which they turned each classroom in the building into a different countries, and then students got into groups and "toured" each country by sampling foods, doing crafts, looking at photos, etc. This activity really sparked my interest in world travel, but, as you said, I didn't gain a multicultural perspective.
Do you think inviting guest speakers from other countries/cultures or who have diverse views of the world to speak with and interact with students for a day or multiple days would help students gain a multicultural view? I've read studies about this for college students at universities that have a lot of time and resources, and it's been effective. Would it help middle and high school students? Would it even be feasible?
I liked the video, Bethany. It brings out the point of how we do make assumptions. I like how you mentioned "challenging assumptions" and how we as English teacher's must do that in order to get our student's to think about why they think something and how we buy into stereotypes or race, class, or gender.
ReplyDeleteBethany,
ReplyDeleteThis example from your elementary school is an excellent representation of the difference between "touring" the different cultures without really becoming immersed in any of them and really ingraining the concept of multiculturalism into your pedagogy.
I like how you said that we need to help students discover and perhaps change their own ideas of gender, race and class. During this whole discussion I keep thinking... is there a way to help students relate to the views in their own community without offending them or their parents? If you don't do a simulation, I think this would be another effective way to help students put it into their own perspective if it could be done correctly.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you that it is interesting how we are still looking at Jane Eliot's experiment almost 50 years later. Honestly, I think that says something bad for our society if we still have to consider such activities in the 21st century. I also think it was really bold for Eliot to administer this simulation during the time period she did, right in the middle of the Civil Rights movement I would assume. I think that should encourage us as teachers to look at what's going on in the world around us and get our students to do the same in the classroom.