Blog Entry #10: The impact literature can have

While in my EDU23o class I am taking we were shown a YouTube clip that I was extremely moved by which inspired me in my blog entry this week.

 

 

“How impressionable and how vulnerable we are in the face of a story, particularly as children, “said Chimamanda Adiche in her speech, The Danger of a Single Story. As children, we begin to form opinions, make judgments, and perceive the world in a new way. Working in a preschool, I've known about the rules and guidelines as to how many books we have to have in the classroom depicting diversity, but I've never really realized the extreme importance for that until a few weeks ago. Without multicultural literature, we are not allowing children to educate themselves on other cultures. More importantly, we are hindering these children from making their own perceptions on these other cultures within our world. Without diversity in literature, there can be extreme prejudice and misunderstanding between cultures. It’s vital to have a library available in the classroom, but essential for the books on the shelves to differ and portray an array of cultures, lifestyles, languages, etc. It’s amazing how big of an impact one single book can have on a child. Also, it is key that every child in the classroom can relate to characters and see differences as well. Children learn when their young things that will follow them forever.

            When selecting books for a library full of diversity, it is important to remember a few important things. The first question to ask yourself is: are the characters a correct representation of people from a variety of cultural groups?  If you are not certain, make sure to do research. This will only make you more educated and comfortable on the topic. The next thing is to make sure that both boys and girls share similar roles in the books. Refrain from always choosing books that depict the father going to work and the mother staying at home. Simple things like that are easy to be overlooked, but can have a powerful effect on children. Possibly causing young girls to think they are not as smart as men, or somehow less superior. Most of all, it is important for the children to see a lesson within each story. It is valuable to choose stories that allow children to think, be creative, and generate a discussion.