“Whose Story is This?” A Reflection on Representation in Children’s and Young Adult Literature9/30/2018 This reflection is largely rooted in these three articles: Reese, D. (2018). Critical Indigenous Literacies: Selecting and Using Children’s Books about Indigenous Peoples. Language Arts, 95(6), 389-393. ©National Council of Teachers of English. Sharma, S. A., & Christ, T. (2017). Five Steps Toward Successful and Culturally Relevant Text Selection and Integration. The Reading Teacher, 71(3), 295-307. ©International Library Association. Myers, C. (2014, March 15). The Apartheid of Children’s Literature. The New York Times. I am framing this little reflection on representation in children’s and Young Adult literature through Sue Ann Sharma’s and Tanya Christ’s “Five Steps Toward Successful and Culturally Relevant Text Selection and Integration” because 1.) their article, like the other two articles addressed above and below, is wonderful and 2.) the five-step format, while it may be cliché, is very reader- and writer-friendly. And so, without further ado, a five-step guide for selecting culturally relevant texts is: 1. Recognize the need for culturally responsive instruction. We as teachers can improve our pedagogy by “broadening [our] theme[s to better] use culturally relevant texts [to] anchor students’ culturally relevant knowledge, such as their identities, experiences, and norms, in ways that improve their literacy outcomes (Gray, 2009)” (Sharma and Christ 296). When students can make connections with texts that feel relevant to their experiences, they can better monitor their comprehension and their motivation also improves (Sharma and Christ citing Al-Mahrooqi, 2013; Christ et al., 2017; Ebe, 2010; Garth-McCullough, 2008; Keene & Zimmermann, 2007; McCullough, 2013; Porat, 2004; Pritchard, 1990; Ramirez, 2012; Tatum & Muhammad, 2012). In addition to the wealth of research mentioned here, I have also compiled research on this topic. If you’re interested in knowing more about the researched benefits of culturally responsive pedagogies, please leave a comment! You can see some of my interactions with culturally responsive pedagogies here. “Teachers are critical in categorizing, selecting, and [re]presenting Indigenous communities through children’s literature.” (Debbie Reese, “Critical Indigenous Literacies: Selecting and Using Children’s Books about Indigenous Peoples”) 2. Get to know more about your students’ lives. This could potentially look like any sort of “getting to know you” assignment, but the teacher in the article uses three methods in the following order: “one-on-one reader interviews,” “personal story projects using digital technology,” and an invitation to search for texts that students “feel are culturally relevant for them” (Sharma and Christ 296-298). The teacher then “provides time for students to browse one another’s [projects] to help them get to know one another better” (Sharma and Christ 298). I believe it’s important to not only give students the opportunity to share themselves with you, the teacher, but also to share with their peers. 3. Search for culturally relevant texts. As Christopher Myers shares in his The New York Times article “The Apartheid of Children’s Literature,” it can be difficult to find texts to represent students of color. This “scarcity of texts for nonwhite students is the norm,” Sharma and Christ observe, citing research from 2006 and 2013. Five years later in 2018, our selection of culturally responsive texts is beginning to improve, although still far from perfect. Sharma and Christ recommend the following websites:
I would like to add https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com to this list of booklists. American Indians in Children's Literature belongs to Debbie Reese, author of “Critical Indigenous Literacies: Selecting and Using Children’s Books about Indigenous Peoples” and member of the Nambé Pueblo tribal nation. Regarding the selection of Native stories in the classroom, Reese directs us to “choose books that are tribally specific,” “use present tense verbs to talk about Native Nations,” “choose books by Native writers,” and “use books by Native writers all year round” (391). “Of 3,200 children’s books published in 2013, just 93 were about black people, according to a study by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin… [leaving] children of color… outside the boundaries of imagination.” (Christopher Myers for The New York Times.) 4. Select culturally relevant texts. Sharma and Christ offer a rubric of “seven dimensions that should be considered when assessing the extent to which a text may be culturally relevant for a student:” “I think it’s necessary to provide for boys and girls... a more expansive landscape upon which to dream.” (Christopher Myers for The New York Times.) |
"Global patterns of who came to the United States when- or who came as a refugee or migrant worker versus as an invited professional, or with no prior education versus some college education- also play a role in our intergenerational snowballs... [and] today, nearly one in four schoolchildren is an immigrant or an immigrant's child" (Pollock 89). |
But back to The Snowball.
"Students' academic fates are built through real-time interactions, as educators react to students, students to educators, and both to families, other students, and experiences outside of schools" (103). This is the idea of The Snowball.
Many people find The Snowball hard to discuss. Consequently, Pollock offers some ideas to consider when talking about The Snowball.
"Students' academic fates are built through real-time interactions, as educators react to students, students to educators, and both to families, other students, and experiences outside of schools" (103). This is the idea of The Snowball.
Many people find The Snowball hard to discuss. Consequently, Pollock offers some ideas to consider when talking about The Snowball.
- Address opportunity gaps, explained further in Start Where You Are, But Don’t Stay There: Understanding Diversity, Opportunity Gaps, and Teaching in Today’s Classrooms by H. Richard Milner IV (105).
- Call students "our kids" instead of "those kids" (106).
- Recognize that research supports that "high-quality teachers are schools' most critical opportunity resource" (106).
- Understand that teachers "can't singlehandedly shape students' fates, but they still shape students' fates every day... [teachers] are not solely responsible for student achievement, but you are fundamentally responsible for it" (106-107).
- Realize that over-emphasizing obstacles is dangerous for students. Instead, we should help students "respond to opportunity systems each and every day" (109).
- Consider adopting an "asset perspective" of students, choosing to focus on what students bring to the classroom (111, quoting Milner).
- Take time to understand students' opportunity contexts (111).
- Address microaggressions (113).
- Dismantle the misunderstanding surrounding affirmative action. Recognize that all students earn their college admission. College admission is not handed out to students of color (114).
- Pause and evaluate your own opportunity context (121).
- Consider how this discussion of Pollock's chapter has made you feel. Reflect on your reaction and use those emotional responses to inform your own discussions around opportunity contexts (122).
And if nothing else, I want us to remember that research shows "that educators who analyze their own everyday acts' contributions to student success and well-being (rather than feeling overwhelmed by "systems" out of their control) actually do better by students" (Pollock 106).
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I'm a high school English teacher looking to share with students, parents, and peers some of what I'm learning in the classroom as a teacher.
I wrote the posts from 2018 as an English Education student learning to be a teacher who writes and a teacher who reads.
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