Why Should Children Read Multicultural Literature and What is the Role of These Materials in the Elementary and Secondary Classroom? For ECE 215 Presenter: Hope Marie Cook February 7, 2008 Why Should Children Read Multicultural Literature and What is the Role of These Materials in the Elementary and Secondary Classroom? HMC 2008 Why Should Children Read Multicultural Literature and What is the Role of These Materials in the Elementary and Secondary Classroom? HMC 2008 Some of the real reasons to have children exposed to this type of literature • The racial makeup of the classroom has and continues to change. • Close to 3 ½ million school children in the U.S. are English-language learners who come from families where English is not their native tongue. • From those statistics 3 out of 4 come from Spanish-speaking backgrounds. HMC 2008 Percentage of public elementary and secondary students, by race/ethnicity: School year 2000–01 •SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 2000–01. HMC 2008 Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities • SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2000 and 2004, Population Estimates Program, 1980 to 2000; Annual Estimates of the Population by Sex, Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2005 (NC-EST2005-03), released May 10, 2006; and U.S. Interim Projections by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin, released March 18, 2004. HMC 2008 Percentage distribution of population in the 5 states with lowest percentages of total minority population, by race/ethnicity and state: 2005 State White Total Minority Black Hispanic Asian Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander American Indian/ Alaska Native More than one race Maine 96.0 4.0 0.7 1.0 0.8 # 0.5 0.9 Vermont 95.9 4.1 0.6 1.1 1.0 # 0.3 1.0 W. Virginia 94.4 5.6 3.2 0.9 0.6 # 0.2 0.8 N.Hampsh. 94.1 5.9 0.8 2.2 4.1 # 0.2 0.9 Iowa 91.5 8.5 2.2 3.7 1.4 # 0.3 0.8 # Rounds to zero. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce Census Bureau. Released July 15, 2006. HMC 2008 The Facts • In six states (California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas and the District of Columbia, 50 percent or more of students were non-White. • Black, non-Hispanic students made up more than 50 percent of all students in the District of Columbia and Mississippi. • New Mexico reported 50.2 percent of its students as Hispanic • Hawaii reported 72.3 percent of its student body as Asian/Pacific Islander. • On the other hand, five states (Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and West Virginia) reported that over 90 percent of their students were White, non-Hispanic. HMC 2008 The Facts • • • • • In 2005, minorities made up 33 percent of the U.S. population. Hispanics were the largest minority group, representing 14 percent of the population. Blacks made up (12 percent), Asians/Pacific Islanders (4 percent), and American Indians/Alaska Natives (1 percent). • In addition, over 1 percent of the persons in 2005 identified themselves as being of more than one race. • Between 2005 and 2020, the minority population is expected to increase by 32 percent, compared to 4 percent for the White population. • By the year 2020, minorities are predicted to represent 39 percent of the total population. HMC 2008 The Facts • In six states (California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas) and the District of Columbia, 50 percent or more of students were non-White. • Black, non-Hispanic students made up more than 50 percent of all students in the District of Columbia and Mississippi. • New Mexico reported 50.2 percent of its students as Hispanic • Hawaii reported 72.3 percent of its student body as Asian/Pacific Islander. • On the other hand, five states (Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and West Virginia) reported that over 90 percent of their students were White, non-Hispanic. HMC 2008 America’s Increasing Diversity • According to demographer Harold Hodgkinson, by 2040 half of the people whom the United States calls minorities will be the majority. • 2010 Whites will account for only 9% of the world’s population, compared to 17% in 1997. HMC 2008 Some of the real reasons to have children exposed to this type of literature • Improves self-concept – Students benefit from reading stories with characters similar to them and their family situation. – Shows positive images and role models – Good form of bibliotheraphy • Increases students’ awareness of themselves and others • Helps students expand their understanding of geography and natural history HMC 2008 Some of the real reasons to have children exposed to this type of literature • Helps children understand their place in history and the world through reading about their culture • Can decrease negative stereotyping of unknown cultures • Repeated theme of the importance of relationships with elders • Shows students how others have coped with diversity and survive injustices with strength and dignity HMC 2008 Some of the real reasons to have children exposed to this type of literature • Students can learn that language and cultural differences are not barriers to friendship • Teachers can show that language is just vehicle by which we tell our cultural story. HMC 2008 What Is Multicultural Children’s Literature? • Its roots began in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s and was lead by African Americans. • The effort was again started in the 80’s by Latinos, American Indians, Asian Americans, women, people of varying abilities, the elderly, and people of varying sexual orientations. • Now multicultural literature refers to literature that includes themes and main characters from the above and religious and regional groups. • According to Bishop it is literature that focuses on people whose identities, contributions, and histories “have been omitted, distorted, and undervalued in society and school curriculum” (Bishop, p.3). HMC 2008 Multicultural Literature and Publishing History in Last 40 Years • 1965 –In Saturday Review article written by Nancy Larrick pointed out that books were being written exclusively for white children – Survey found that only 6.7% of the 5,200 books written from 1962-64 by the 63 responding publishers included 1 or more African American character, but most were portrayed in a stereotypical manner. – Publishers reported pressure from some areas (mainly the South) to not include African Americans in children’s literature. 1970’s Rise in African-American authors and illustrators Other ethnic groups joined in and started to publish HMC 2008 from small presses. Multicultural Literature and Publishing History in Last 40 Years 1970’s YA literature with topics that pertain to real life issues Late 70’s We started to see an increase in publishing Early and Mid 80’s There was a drop-off in publishing. In 1985 only 18 children’s books written by African-Americans were published, less were published by other ethnic minorities Late 80’s and Early 90’s Multicultural Books were being published in great numbers. Small presses dealing with literature containing people of color continued to grow About 50 presses were identified as being operated by people of color HMC 2008 Why the Increase in Publishing? • Big market for all children’s literature • Awareness and sensitivity on the part of publishers • Minority children made up a third of total enrollment for public schools • Still the percentage of books focusing on multicultural literature is smaller than the percentage of such people in the general population. HMC 2008 Multicultural Literature Formats • • • • • • • • • Picture Books Biographies Autobiographies Poetry Non-fiction Fiction Fantasy Folktales Fairytales HMC 2008 What are the Practices of In-service Teachers? • Studies reveal that they tend not to select books that focus on women, on racial and ethnic groups other than Whites of European decent, or on those who are socioeconomically marginalized (Wollman-Bonilla, 1998). • Why? Fear of frightening and saddening children • Fly Away Home (Homelessness) • Tar Beach (family struggling for financial security) Fear that books will corrupt HMC 2008 What are the Practices of In-service Teachers? •Why? Reject Texts Which Fail to represent what they see as dominant social values Amazing Grace (broken English) Teachers fear that realistically representing linguistic diversity suggests and over-tolerance of differences that they would prefer did not exist. Even if they realize that these values are myths. e.g. Anyone who is willing to work hard can get a job Objection to books that identify racism and sexism as social problems The Paper Bag Princess (Male teachers tended to be disturbed with the reversal of traditional gender roles). One said “A terrible story. The young lady in the story was so aggressive, rude and tricky. I don’t want girls to think this is acceptable behavior.” William’s Doll Many teachers had a problem with the reversal of HMC 2008 gender roles whereas a boy had a doll. When Choosing Literature The Purpose Should be Twofold • According to (Taylor, p. 25) Teachers should choose multicultural literature to: – Assist their students in better understanding others’ life experiences and society’s pluralism and – Assist themselves in exploring and entering the lives of their students HMC 2008 A QUESTION TO PONDER • Are there any books that you might not allow in the classroom, and what are your reasons for not allowing these books? HMC 2008