I was very intrigued by the novels that we had to read for class this week. I had never before read either titles and I spent all day Sunday reading To Kill a Mockingbird -- I thought it was wonderful! As I had a few spare moments today, I thought about how I had personally related to the novel (which was discussed by a few students in the earlier chapters of You Gotta BE the Book). I came to the conclusion that I felt like Scout's confidant and that she was telling me her story and allowing me to get into her head and see things how she saw them. Being able to make this connection to what I had read in YGBB was exciting!
In reference to one of the articles we read, Daniel D. Hade wrote "The way we teach has to change if multiculturalism is the reform movement so many have claimed it to be" (241). I agree with Hade's statement and think that when teaching a work that is multicultural, we have to change things up in order to get the results that will be best for our students. I like how he brings two works together in order to emphasize the deeper meaning and bring to the surface meaning that had been there all along. I believe that having a vested interest in our students' educations is one of the most important things a teacher can do. He also writes, "This, I argue, is not imposing, but exposing assumptions about gender by opposing different points of view" (Hade 247). I think that we as teachers also have to be careful not to impose meaning or thoughts upon our students. We must provide them the resources and knowledge so that they may be able to find meaning on their own.
I have never before thought about how I would teach a multicultural text, but reading the materials for class has put some perspective on all of this for me. I am excited to discuss multicultural literature in class and get some fresh views. I am also interested in learning about how I could teach To Kill a Mockingbird in my classroom and make the unit meaningful and interesting for my students.
I found this cool website that even includes NCTE standards for teaching To Kill a Mockingbird:
This weeks texts also challenged me to think about how I would incorporate that type of literature in the classroom. I feel House on Mango Street would be easy to actually bring in the classroom. The ideals present within would be able to translate to all students... or at least I feel that way. The more we work with multicultural texts now the better we can facilitate them in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that I had never thought much about teaching multicultualism in the classroom. I read To Kill a Mockingbird for 10th grade English and we only spent maybe one day talking about cultural issues (my teacher was one of those "here's a packet of worksheets with surface questions and you need to answer so many by next class" teachers).
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of ideas would you like to include in your classroom to promote deeper, meaningful messages without imposing on students?
Andrew -- I definitely appreciate the practice that we are receiving now. It will most certainly help down the road.
ReplyDeleteKatie -- I would like to explore the way that Lee wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird" and how she writes favorably in regards to the African American characters in the novel and the whites who respect/like/help them. I think that would be an interesting discussion.
First off, I am VERY surprised to hear that you've never read "To Kill a Mockingbird" before. The shock of that actually required me to re-read your blog because I couldn't stop thinking about it. This is the perfect eye-opener for me, that not everyone has learned the same "classic" novels as I have, so it's important that I don't assume all of my students have learned the same information I learned by their age. I am happy you enjoyed it though! It is one of my favorite books!
ReplyDeleteSabrina -- Thanks!! It is on my list of favorites now. I like the conclusion that you were able to draw and I believe that is definitely something that all teachers should think about. In my high school I read different books than my friends who had different teachers for the same "level" of English. It is definitely something interesting to think about!
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