When doing the readings for this week in “The Joy of Children’s Literature” we had to read a chapter on Multicultural children’s books. The chapter discusses the importance of children being exposed to literature about diversity, including different race, culture, religion, etc. However, it said that “since 2002 a steady decline in the number of books published in the United States for children each year by and about people of color has been documented by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center” (Johnson 304). I found this information very surprising because later in the chapter there is a statistic stating that in 2001 “people of color (collective term for people of African American, Latino, Asian –American, and American-Indian backgrounds) comprised 25% of the United States population, and were expected to constitute 1/3 of the population further into the 21st century.
I feel as though the number of books exploring diversity should be rapidly increasing, as our population becomes more and more diverse. Schools should be required to include multicultural literature in their curriculums. At what age or grade do you feel that teachers should begin teaching multicultural Literature? Personally, I feel that students should be exposed to multicultural literature right when they begin to learn to read. I say this because this type of literature can provide a great story, in addition to a lesson about diversity, different cultures etc. Introducing diversity at a young age will encourage children to be open minded and accepting as they grow older and mature more. By reading about different cultures around the world and in the United States, children can gain appreciation for diverse customs/cultures and they can learn about different viewpoints and ways of life that people that are unlike than them have. It is important for children to learn about diversity because the world around them is becoming more diverse each day. In addition when children learn more about diverse people they will be accepting of their classmates that may be different than them and this in turn could help to decrease bullying and teasing in schools. Do you think schools that have a more diverse student body are more likely to incorporate diversity (multicultural literature) into their curriculum?
I completely agree that children should begin to be exposed to multicultural literature from the start. I think the younger they learn about cultural differences the more accepting they will be of people from different backgrounds. Growing up moving around the country, I was exposed to many different cultures. But I cannot remember being exposed to much multicultural literature during my schooling, unless it was a major ethnic holiday, for which we would do a special unit about it. Many of my schools were predominately white, but I believe if I had been to more culturally diverse schools, I would have been exposed to more multicultural literature. I think incorporating multicultural literature into the classroom is essential because in today’s society, you will always be interacting with people of different cultures.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised about the statistics presented in the chapter! I expected them to be much higher due to an increase in non-white families living in the US. One of the first things that I thought of while reading this chapter was my own inability to find books with non-white main characters at bookstores such as Barns & Noble. In the past, it has been impossible for me find children's lit emphasizing diversity at franchise bookstores. Why aren't bookstores carrying multicultural literature? Is it because of a decline in literature being produced, or is there less literature being produced because big franchises are not buying the books?
ReplyDeleteI think that we as a society will know that we have made progress when there is no longer a category entitled "multicultural literature." Hopefully one day this type of literature that explores different cultures and advocates for diversity will be the norm as opposed to the exception. Caucasian is a type of ethnicity, yet it is largely ignored in units of multicultural literature because it already dominates all of the other units. I want to see every unit using multicultural examples and texts. then maybe we wouldn't have to have a special class devoted specifically to multiculturalism. It is going to be our job as teachers to promote this idea.
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