Child's Idea About A Different Group of People

When I was in my field placement last week, I overheard a very interesting conversation between a few of my first graders. Many of the students live in the same apartment building and talk about their experiences together about being at home. One student was talking about the building she lives in. She started describing to me that all of the doors in the apartment were green. This really bugged her and she said that she wished they could all be a different color. The other girl agreed and said she wished she could change it too. I suggested to the girls that maybe they could make some artwork and hang it outside the door to decorate a little more. The girls thought this was a good a idea but then started complaining about the smell in the hallway. The first girl said, "Those dang Russians are always stinking up the hallway." I was really taken off guard by this comment. She went on, "Those Russians stink up the hallway because of all the food they make. Their food smells sooooo bad. And they cook a lot. But sometimes though they can cook up some really good meals." Well, I asked her how she knew they were Russian, and she tried to avoid my question. The best answer I got was that she had heard it from an older girl who also lives in the building. Then from the rest of the conversation I got the impression that she had been invited to dinner to eat sometime before, but I wasn't entirely sure because her comments were not consistent. This made me think that this girl had these preconceived notions about the "Russians," based on what she had been told by different people. It seemed to me however, that she very strongly believed that only the Russians in her building would cook strong smelling food. I just found this conversation very interesting and found it worth mentioning. This was the result of a young impressionable girl taking on ideas that may or may not be true of a group of people. I fear that these notions will stick with her, and begin a cycle of stereotypes or worse. It is important that as teachers, we realize how impressionable these kids really are, and that they are influenced by many outside sources. This is why in teaching it is so important to get at the students misconceptions and previous knowledge, ideas, and understandings, in order to start breaking those walls down.

First Grade Religion Debate

In my field placement full of first graders, we were discussing a social studies lesson on leadership. The students were generating a list of leaders on the white board, when one child raised her hand and said, "God." Another child raised his hand and said his leader was Jesus. This sparked a debate between five or six children. They were debating whether God and Jesus were the same person or not. One child said, "God is Jesus so he doesn't count as two different leaders." Another child said, "No God is Jesus' dad so they are two different leaders." My teacher proceeded to write both names on the board and allowed the children to talk it out with each other. Some children did not even know who "Jesus" was. This conversation among six year olds, made me come to a very important realization. Children are bringing their backgrounds, culture, religion, and diverse beliefs to the classroom even this early in their education. It is important to keep this in mind as teachers, even in the younger grades because it does have an effect on the students and how they accept your teaching.

Discussing The Text: Al Capone Does My Shirts

I really loved reading this book. I had never read a fiction piece dealing with autism, let alone any type of learning disability. I thought this piece of literature did a great job of exploring the relationships between those with and without a disability. I liked that the perspective was not of the person who had the disability, but as close as you can get to that, with the character of Moose and his insight. I think it is important to note the changing development of the relationships between the character's in the book as the result of autistic Natalie's character.

Moose's anxiety about Natalie being around other "normal" people really seems to come at ease by the end of the book, as he better realizes his place with her. Moose really struggles between being a brother to Natalie, and a more parental figure to her. He really fills some big shoes and is rewarded greatly.

Piper, the rowdy trouble-maker of the group makes a positive transition from making fun of Natalie, asking if she is "retarded," or "stupid", to becoming compassionate and sensitive to Natalie's needs, wants, likes, and dislikes. She even asks Natalie for help in counting her money and comes to tell Natalie "Happy Birthday."

Moose's mother also makes a great transition throughout the book. At first, she is super stressed out all the time about Natalie and constantly making decisions that may or may not be in the best interest of Natalie. However, she comes to realize that her young son Moose is right about a lot of things and comes to appreciate him even more for it.

I really want to explore these relationships in class, and the cause for their dynamics to shift so much in a short period of time. I believe that when the character's come to a better understanding of Natalie, they accept her and become compassionate toward her. This is a major theme across all multi-cultural diverse relationships. When the "unknown" and "different" becomes more familiar it is easier to understand and get along. A major purpose of this course and our future teachings in elementary classrooms!

Multicultural Literature Awards

There seems to be a little bit of a debate in the children's literature community about book awards for multicultural literature. In class this last week we were assigned to groups for researching a different book award. My group was assigned the Sydney Taylor Award, an award given to outstanding examples of Jewish children's literature. In the rationale for the award, the Association of Jewish Libraries, stated that the purpose of the award was to "inspire authors, encourage publishers, inform parents and teachers, and intrigue young readers." The AJL also stated that the Sydney Taylor award is meant to, "engender pride in Jewish readers while building bridges to readers of other backgrounds." Some would argue that multicultural awards actually draw clearer lines among groups, but in this statement from the AJL, the goal is actually quite the opposite. While I myself am not Jewish, I like that there are organizations such as the AJL who have these award systems to help educate others about our differences. It is important to recognize that there are different groups, races, ethnicities, cultures, etc. and these awards help to shed a positive light on each groups' unique qualities without stereotyping and without racism. The awards enable a sense of pride to know that you can pick up a good book about one of "your own," or if you are an outsider to the group you know that you will be reading without false judgements. This is the beauty of these awards and I am thankful they are here.

Habibi as a Banned Book

While reading the book Habibi, I really enjoyed learning about a culture in the Middle East. I have not had the opportunity to read very much literature which takes place in a country such as Israel. I felt that the book gave me a good foundation to the political conflict of the Middle Eastern territory. I realize that a lot of details were left out, but it gave me a solid starting point to begin to understand it. Also, while reading I thought the narrator did a good job of keeping the feelings neutral between the Arab and Jewish conflict. Realizing though, that the point of view would always be slighty biased being that it was told from an Arab-American standpoint. The book was constantly referencing hopes for peace between the two peoples and recognized that they did not fully understand the Jewish point of view. Therefore, I was sort of embarassed with myself when I heard that this book had upset some members of the Jewish community. How could I have ignored these scenes in the book which made the Jewish seem "misrepresented"? I understand now the reasons for the school district in West Bloomfield seeing this book as being problematic. However, I do not agree with banning the book. I feel that this book could still be taught and the issues should be pointed out when the arise in the reading. It could be a good lesson on biased stories and the sterotypes that can be labeled on specific groups of people. I still believe, despite some of these issues that this book can be benefical to students and teachers.

The Great Debate: Insiders vs. Outsiders

I still feel conflicted about the insider vs. outsider debate. Some would argue that in multicultural children's literature, an insider should have the ultimate voice in producing an authentic and cultural piece of work. An insider would be defined as a person who lives within the chosen cultural group. They have an "inside" perspective. Others argue that outsiders can contribute to the multicultural works as well with extensive research and knowledge of the chosen group. To me, I guess it depends. An insider most obviously seems to have the most information ranging from experiences, emotions, and opinions. An outsider can only observe these experiences, emotions, and opinions. Therefore, it seems that an outsider would be telling the insider's story for them. Sort of like someone else writing your biography. I think both can be revealing. The only conflict I see, is if the outsider misinterprets or misconstrues something because they are telling someone else's story. So I guess in my opinion, the insider would be the most accurate... BUT if the outsider is going to make an attempt, they should make sure to be as accurate and authentic as possible, because I believe observations can also be very telling. An outsider can observe something that an insider doesn't even realize because they are an insider. This is still something to debate I think......

Beaner's to Biggby Coffee

For those of you who do not know, the coffee shop "Beaner's" has changed their name to "Biggby's" now as the result to much controversy over the original name. This topic has sparked a few conversations among myself with some friends and family. At first, I took an ignorant perspective and really did not understand why the change. I asked a barista working in the coffee shop one day why the store had changed its name. She told me that the word "beaner," was actually a derogatory slur against people of the Mexican ethnicity. This may be surprising for some people, but I had never heard this term before and I was really surprised. This is where my ignorance came in. I was talking with a friend trying to work out my misunderstanding. I thought, they didn't name the coffee shop to be offensive, they named it after the coffee BEAN in a fun way. If it's not meant to be offensive why would someone say it was. I want to make it clear that I completely recognize my own ignorance and I am thankful that I have learned since then. What I learned was that the name didn't have to INTEND to be offensive in order to BE offensive. I was not thinking about it from a different point of view, a point of view that would take it offensively. I relate this to the video we watched in class, "In Whose Honor," where a Native American woman protests against the University of Indiana's "Chief" mascot. The fans who were mostly not of Native American descent argued that the "Chief" was not intended to cause offense, only to honor the Native Americans. But the Native American woman felt strongly offended to the point of mockery. I have never personally experienced something like this but I can only imagine the feelings it must ignite. So, I am proud to say that my feelings on this topic have grown a little more and my awareness of others feelings, even if I cannot personally identify. Now I feel personally responsible for educating others in any way I can and help them to work out their misunderstandings the way I had to... even if it is just starting with this little blog.