Using Literature to Teach Social Justice

            I recently experienced two concerning instances within a two week time-frame at my elementary school.  The first involved a second grade Caucasian male who wanted to be moved from his new classroom.  His reasoning, "That class is just too dark." The second incident involved a third grade Caucasian male.  This student said, "Get your Mexican self off the slide."  This is my fifth year in school counseling and I have yet to hear such racially charged comments from students.  Both boys come from upper middle-class families, make good grades, and have zero behavior referrals.  Upon considering these situations, teachers are adamant that these boys must have heard these words from parents or friends.  Although this may be true, I am still concerned that they did not realize these words and phrases were incorrect and insensitive.  I previously taught a diversity lesson to these specific classes, but it is apparent that my lesson did not appropriately address these needs.

          While reading my newest Teaching Tolerance magazine issue, I found the article Allowing In the Light by Chelsea Tornetto (2017).  This article focuses on considering literature as a way to teach social justice topics through a school based book club.  This idea sparked my thinking about these boys and the need to introduce more than my guidance lessons.  Tornetto (2017) specifically states "no matter how engaging the lesson plan or how lively the discussion, there will always be a level of personal experience missing from what I teach."  I can relate to this situation because many of my students will never experience fear of deportation or walking on the streets when it is dark.  They will never understand the students who sit next to them in class.  This is also true for many of our teachers.  Zeigler (2017) discusses the use of a teacher book club to address possible teacher biases and lack of knowledge.  They listed Primary Source and We Need Diverse Books as great online resources for teachers.  These websites offer grade level content specific to racial groups and areas of the world.  I found Primary Source to be the most helpful.  Chung and Bemak (2017) also address the holistic importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to facilitate change.  Collaboration between the school counselor, coaches, parents, and teachers is imperative to the reinforcement of topics and ideas discussed in book club.  Tornetto (2017) states that parents reported learning from the books the students were reading.

          Literature provides a personal connection between very different people and situations.  People are more willing to accept new ideas when they know they are reading a story.  These stories can open new doors without them feeling the need to argue or defend themselves.  Once their hearts and minds are open and willing to accept new information, the student can begin to view the main character as human instead of African American, Jewish, Asian, Latino, etc.  They become real people. Books should be discussed in a respectful manor and the school counselor, facilitator, should remain neutral by addressing each view point discussed by students (Tornetto, 2017).

Listed below are a few books you may want to consider when planning a social justice book club.  Please comment below with book recommendations.

1. Night by Eli Wiesel (Jewish - Holocaust)

2. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes (Polish American) 

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (African American)

4. Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs (Mexican immigration) - recommended by Tornetto (2017)

5. Outcasts United by Warren St. John (Refugees) - recommended by Zeigler (2017) for adults

                                                           References

Chung, R.C., & Bemak, F.P. (2012). Social justice counseling: The next steps beyond
            multiculturalism in application, theory, and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage  
            Publication.
Tornetto, C. (2017). Allowing in the light. Teaching Tolerance, 57, 43-45.
Zeigler, S. (2017). When Teachers Read the World. Teaching Tolerance. Retrieved from
            https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/when-teachers-read-the-world