Effective multicultural studies are so imperative in today's classrooms, and something that is very close to my heart.
My ideal classroom is an environment in which students can be real. I want my students to feel comfortable expressing raw thoughts because it is through this honesty that real reflection, discussion, and questioning will flourish. The English classroom should not be safe or complacent; it should challenge and stretch students.
Overall, I agree with Daniel D. Hade's ideas about teaching multiculturalism. He defines multiculturalism as a movement instead of a standard of stocking the bookshelves with diverse authors. "Multiculturalism disappears without the challenge of critique... Challenging assumptions . . . must be at the core of multicultural education" (252).
Why is multiculturalism important in the classroom? Because it is a study of humanity and since we all live together, we must strive to understand each other.
There are a multitude of texts that have the potential to spark real discussions about race, class and gender (which are the three areas that Hade focuses on). I would further add sexual orientation and disability as focus areas in his discussion of multicultural studies. In this class alone, we have read American Born Chinese and To Kill a Mockingbird. Both novels explore themes of race and identity, as do many others. I am also currently reading Native Son (by Richard Wright), which was a novel that I read paired with Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man in high school. Other novels that come to mind include The House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros), the curious incident of the dog in the night (Mark Haddon), and Exile and Pride (Eli Clare). Although at first glance it appears to be a children's book, Susan Jeffers's Brother Eagle, Sister Sky contains a mature message that explores friction between the values of two cultures. All of these texts have revealed preconceptions that I have harbored and, primarily through class discussions, have encouraged me to challenge thoughts that I now recognize as "western" assumptions.
Again, I want to reiterate Hade's thought that multiculturalism is not enough if its goal is merely to raise awareness and appreciation for diversity. Multiculturalism needs to "challenge the domination of assumptions . . . [and is] the challenge of living with each other in a world of difference . . . based on equity and justice" (240).
I dispute arguments that the culture of prejudices that killed Tom Robinson is not present in the public anymore. Three years ago, while one of my friends (who is an Indian American) was taking the scaffold apart after marching band practice, another student walked by and yelled: "Watch out. A----- is taking down the tower!" Two years ago, there was a race riot at my high school that resulted in a few police officers being placed under investigation because of questionable violence. Last year, after kicking a student out of class, the teacher proceeded to tell the class that the student (who was a student affected by poverty who permeated the area around him with the scent of smoke) was a "dirty good-for-nothing that just sits around and smokes all day."
The value of multiculturalism and incorporating texts that further multicultural studies is that they open these kinds of situations up to an honest discussion. A bit ago, there was a controversy regarding the censorship of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The most impactful statement that I gathered from that argument is from one of the scholars in the video that Shannon provides on D2L. He said that the censorship offers an opportunity to talk about why people react the way they do to the term "nigger." He argues that if the term and censorship of the term can provoke such strong reactions, then it is something that needs to be talked about!
A slightly humorous but very serious questioning of censorship:
That is what multiculturalism needs to express to students. We need to discuss things that cause conflict or make us uncomfortable or that we don't understand in order to understand them. We need to be able to challenge our assumptions and thoughts and be willing to accept that maybe we do not know as much as we assume. No one ever knows the full story of anyone else, and we must listen to others to begin to fill in that gap (which is something that the Brown Eye/Blue Eye experiment did successfully).
Once we join this movement, we will be able to "become readers not just of the word but also of the world" (241).
"We need to discuss things that cause conflict or make us uncomfortable or that we don't understand in order to understand them."
ReplyDeleteI agree. Absolutely. I also agree that those who believe that bigotry no longer exists are fooling themselves. Opening students' eyes to the injustices that persist in society is important, in my opinion.
Too often, students lean on old cliches: "We're all equal" and "I don't care what X person does as long as it doesn't affect my life" without really "unpacking" what their words really mean. But when we teach students to think critically about sensitive issues, there is always a certain amount of backlash involved. My own students have told me: "We're done with this stuff. Why do we have to keep learning about it?" and many feel that the only lasting prejudice today is against "white males"....
So what do we do with all of this?
That's interesting. I have never heard the idea of a prejudice against white males, but I understand that argument.
ReplyDeleteAs to what we do with all of this... I believe that multicultural studies must be out-of-the-text learning experiences. In order for what the text says to have any meaning (such as "oh wow - bigotry still does exist"), students need to be able to connect it with the real world around them.
So, I will need to expose them to this. In my high school, this is an extremely easy task. I put some examples above, but I could easily continue the list of discriminatory and bigoted examples that I had seen, heard or experienced in my high school alone.
However, I was challenged in class because the "classroom" that I was given was the classroom with the "rich, privileged, white kids." This is a whole different world from what I have experienced, and it required me to begin to think about how I will incorporate challenging multicultural experiences for students whose environment is so far removed from real life multicultural interactions.
Good Blog, Sarah. I completely agree with pretty much everything you have written and appreciate your honesty about the difficulties of teaching this. I just wanted to add to what Dr. Shannon said about prejudice against "white males." I have heard this said, and in fact am personally acquainted with white males who use this argument. I find it very hard to challenge because they take the view that they are the "victim" of anti-discrimination laws and practices. I find they have little understanding of what it actually is to be discriminated against. That is why I really believe in a lesson like Jane Elliot's. The best way to teach it is for a student to experience it. That said, I too, struggle with how I would teach multiculturally. I had the "farming" community in class, and that is similar to what I experienced in highschool, and really struggle with how to best reach students who have little experience with multicultural interactions, if I didn't feel I could do a lesson like "A Class Divided."
ReplyDelete