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
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
I really enjoyed reading your blog. Race is also the social justice issue that I am facing within my school. I really like the idea of using literature to help with this issue. This is something that I would not have thought of. I have done some reading on the Teaching Tolerance website and I have gained many useful teaching strategies for many different social justice issues. Thanks for sharing the list of books and what they could be used for to help address different issues. Great blog with very useful information.
ReplyDeleteIt may be helpful to first offer the book club as voluntary if you are having a significant problem at your school. This may give you a good trial run before targeting and inviting specific students to a group.
DeleteHi, Alecia,
ReplyDeleteToo often, teachers or parents are quick to say that students must have heard it from somewhere else. The students you mentioned earlier should be educated about diversity and why it was wrong to say what they said. I also believe they should be disciplined as well so they realize the severity of their comments. It is great that you are educating students about diversity through your classroom guidance lessons.
I loved your idea about educating teachers! Often times, I only think about educating the students and their parents, but forget to educate the teacher's because I just assume that they should already know about social justice issues when in fact they may not know or perhaps don't care to know. It is important to address these biases with teachers.
I am excited to look up We Need Diverse Books and perhaps educate the teachers in my school about this resource. Thank you for providing the list of books that can be useful for counselors and teachers.
Hi Myra,
DeleteI agree with your statement that we should educate and/or discipline children when they make racially insensitive comments. I had a discussion with one of the students and the other was handled by the teacher via a conversation and him missing "brain break." It is possible that these students are repeating things they have heard from parents, but it is still concerning that they do not realize these things are inappropriate or care that they may hurt someone's feelings.
As a former literature teacher turned school counselor, I LOVE the idea of book clubs or book studies. Thank you for sharing your sources! I once taught Anne Frank's story, The Diary of a Young Girl. This is a very powerful story. I was not only able to incorporate literary elements, but also history. I also received several helpful resources from Teaching Tolerance to assist in teaching the novel. I was amazed to watch students as their eyes were opened to the horrors people experienced during this time and to even more impressed with how I saw their attitudes toward one another become more open and accepting.
ReplyDeleteBooks are powerful. I have found that more often than not, students find themselves in a character in the book and this allows them to see character flaws in themselves that they may not have otherwise noticed.
How could I have forgotten about Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl? I read this book in high school and felt so connected to the story! I had a similar experience reading Night by Eli Weisel. A book can change our thinking without us even realizing it.
DeleteI think it's a great idea to start a book club for teachers to create more awareness about diversity, especially given the fact that you've also been teaching diversity lessons in their classrooms. There are certainly misconceptions and misunderstandings by many adults in schools and in the community that can create barriers to the work you're doing. I think that using books can certainly add to the awareness you're attempting to create in your school and community.
ReplyDeleteI also used storybooks for almost every classroom guidance lesson I provided when I worked in an elementary school. There are so many great books available that have diversity related messages that are easy for students to understand and to relate to, even if they had never experienced the situation personally. I agree that books can help both children and adults gain a better understanding of topics by forcing them to see things through the eyes of a character in a story.
Zeigler (2017) also mentioned having guest speakers come in or Skyping the author for a book club discussion. This would allow an even deeper connection to the book topic or idea.
DeleteHi Alecia,
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome idea to use books to help educate teachers about diversity! Teachers need to recognize what is happening in their classroom and be ready to guide their students in a more accepting and tolerant direction. The books you recommended are a good variety to discuss different religions, ethnicities, and comparing immigrants and refugees. I have read a few of these books and they definitely helped me understand the plight of people in different situations than me. Reading a story helps you get completely wrapped up in someone else's life and lets you walk a mile in their shoes so you can understand their choices and thoughts much better. Great post!
Thanks, Carolyn! I also found it very interesting when I found the Zeigler (2017) article addressing a teacher book club. Teachers are often the first ones to hear student interactions. Their initial reactions are so important!
DeleteGreat blog Alecia! I too have had the experience of giving a lesson in which it seems that the students are engaged and great discussion has taken place and when the student is faced with such a situation, they act inappropriately. The idea of using literature throughout the school to combat social issues is an amazing idea. I often tell students, "You can go anywhere in the world with a book." Literature has the unique ability to connect us to others and make situations feel more personal. This brings about empathy and teaches diversity.
ReplyDeleteI love, "You can go anywhere in the world with a book." I often tell me students to read in a safe place if they have parents who fight often or live in a neighborhood that is not safe.
DeleteHello Alecia!
ReplyDeleteIt can be frustrating to believe that our lessons are not sticking with our students. This is my second year in school counseling and I have heard a lot of negative reports from students in regard to race and tolerance. I believe that your book club idea is a great start to help students learn some common interests, as well as getting them into a diverse setting to enforce tolerance. Reading books on diversity allows students to also become more versed in empathy and understanding the struggles of those in our immediate school setting. Speaking to those students on a private basis can also help get an idea of where the words and thoughts came from, and from there focus on challenging and changing those thoughts patterns.
I agree that a diverse setting within the book club could be extremely helpful in opening new windows of thought for these students. They may not be accustomed to working with people unlike themselves.
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