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Research Report by Heeba Kaleem

Page history last edited by Heeba Kaleem 9 years, 3 months ago

 

Research Report: Finding the "Middle Ground": Multiculturalism in Cinderella

 

By Heeba Kaleem, "Multiculturalism in Cinderella" Team 4

 

1. Abstract

     Miller’s "Middle Ground: Beyond "Multicultural Moments” is a step by step guide on how to integrate and normalize multicultural learning. Miller urges not to think about multicultural learning as an occasional learning tool, but as a way to guide students to think about cultures outside of their own in their daily lives. The “Middle Ground” can be achieved through literature, Miller notes, who lists five methods in transitioning students’ learning from being too focused on their own culture to the various cultures that inhabit the world.

2. Description

     Miller begins the paper by introducing the problem of “multicultural moments.” By learning about different cultures in brief events, such as Black History Month or International Fairs, educators run the risk of not being able to instill tolerance and understanding of other cultures in their students. It isn't enough to rely on these occasional events to spread multicultural learning; the same amount of emphasis in learning put on other subjects must be applied to learning about other cultures in order achieve the values worked toward. Miller notes that the best place to start is the classroom library (88).

     In “Building a Classroom Library of Multicultural Literature,” Miller states that adding books of various cultures is a good step toward integrating learning about them. It is especially important if the school demographic is skewed toward one race or ethnic group that limits students’ abilities to understand different cultures via exposure (88). A wide variety of books should be added that would interest students, from myths and fantasy to nonfiction and poetry (88). Additionally, Miller points toward utilizing professional journals published by the National Council of Teachers in English and the International Reading Association as good resources to choose books from, since they constantly offer reviews and annotated bibliographies of multicultural books (88).

     Next, in “Using Lit Sets to Promote Multicultural Understanding,” Miller adds that simply having multicultural books in the classroom is not enough, especially since children tend to gravitate toward books that are reflective of their own interests and culture (88). To work around this, Miller urges educators to have multiple copies of the same book and to have students read it together in small groups. Study groups that focus on multicultural books in the same manner as non-multicultural books aid in normalizing the content of diverse books and add to students’ learning of them (88). Students are able to discuss what they learned from the book and benefit from their responses to it and are also able to reflect on their findings with journal entries. Additionally, by using study groups, students are able to exchange different points of view and delve deeper into the text (88). Students who read together are more likely to be enthusiastic about what they read and are also more likely to understand the text better (88). Additionally, they are also more likely to undergo changes of viewpoints and become more empathetic toward characters in the text (88). Miller then raises an example from his own class in which a student reflects on the prejudice and ignorance toward characters of color in Bette Greene’s Summer of My German Soldier (1973). This prompted Miller to explain the historical context of such prejudice to his students and also led him to direct students toward books of the same subject that would further their understanding of why it occurred. The students’ general negative response toward the prejudice and ignorance in the stories is an example of the effectiveness of using lit sets (88-89).

     In order to make multicultural literature more effective, Miller raises the method of using “The Whole Class Novel” in his next section. Stating that while lit sets are effective, they may not be enough in exploring the entire historical context and social issues of another culture or era. By using a novel that the whole class reads together, educators can create a richer experience reading the text for both themselves and their students (89).  Miller raises his experience with Mildred Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976), a novel about African American family’s struggles in Mississippi during Jim Crow racism and the Great Depression era. To prepare for the novel, Miller gave his students historical background knowledge on the history of slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction era, and sharecropping (89). Additionally, his class learned about the 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson and the segregation and overt racism that followed (89). After reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Miller asked his students personal and open ended questions and required them to support their responses with examples from the reading and discussion (89). Students were well read and able to answer the questions with ease because of the guided learning of the text. They were passionate and outspoken in their responses, and were highly interested in the topic of the history of racism in the United States, which opened another topic of learning (89). Miller introduced his students with another Supreme Court case, this time Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, which continued off of the previous topic to explain how Plessy v. Ferguson was overturned and segregation of schools was declared illegal (89).

     Miller further examines this in-depth style of teaching in his next section, “Interdisciplinary Studies.” Using students’ ability to naturally connect language arts and social studies, Miller taught a unit on Africa while students’ social studies class was doing the same. Students wrote and produced plays, listened to stories, watched videos, and were engaged in a host of other activities (90). Students’ six week studies on Africa culminated in a celebration of what they learned, inviting administrators, parents, and teams of other students to watch student projects (90). The whole interdisciplinary unit resulted in an “unforgettable, multidimensional learning experience” for everyone involved (90).

     Lastly, in “Beyond Literature,” Miller cites another teacher’s experience in inviting parents of their students to share stories of their personal lives. Miller states that this is exceptionally powerful in solidifying the multicultural learning since it makes everyone feel part of a unified community (90). It is important to educators themselves to become prepared to learn about different cultures through paying attention to students and their families, studying about different cultures, find resources to help students learn, and to become better listeners and observers (90).

Relevance to Team Project

     “Multiculturalism in Cinderella” is a project that aims to normalize multicultural learning through using the widely known fairy tale as a foundation and is geared toward middle school and high school students. The project uses Cinderella stories from other parts of the world during various periods of time and presents them in diary format through the eyes of the main character. The goal of "Multiculturalism in Cinderella" is to connect students with the texts in a way that they would be able to relate to the character, leading them to learn about different cultures while simultaneously finding similarities to their own cultures.

      Many of the issues discussed in Miller’s article support “Multiculturalism in Cinderella” as an effective tool to teach students about various cultures throughout the world. The diary entries can open up discussion between students and lead to deeper understanding of the text. Students can also connect what they learned in their social studies classes and connect it to the context of the diary entries in addition to the links that will accompany each diary entry. Each diary entry and its related links can inspire students to research more about the story and its own historical context, which can lead to a more complex understanding of social values they are unfamiliar to. A difference in "Multiculturalism in Cinderella" and Miller's findings in his own classroom is that the blog entry format will provide a different set of challenges in leading the classroom as a group. To combat this, student groups can each take a different story and share their findings with the class, or the class can go over each character's story one by one.

Resources for Further Study

Bieger, Elaine. 1995/1996. "Promoting Multicultural Education through a Literature-Based Approach." The Reading Teacher 49.4 (Dec./Jan.): 308-312.

Ladson-Billings, Gloria. 1995. "But That's Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy." Theory into Practice 34.3 (Summer): 159-165.

Miller, Howard and Karen Dumey. 1993. "Weaving a Spell with African Folk Tales." Journal of Reading 36.5 (Feb.): 404-406.

Paley, Vivian. 1995. Kwanzaa and Me: A Teacher's Story. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

 

 

 

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