Chapter 11:

Literature for a
diverse society
Kathleen merriman, catherine weisbrod, sarah schachterle
 Education Today

▶ Significant mismatch between what is

presented in the curriculum and the students
in the schools
▶ Curriculum often does not reflect the diverse
cultural backgrounds of many students in
U.S. schools today
▶ Culture affects both teaching and learning
 Benefits for students

▶ Understand personal cultural identity

▶ Value unique perspectives of diverse culture groups
▶ Connect to the universal experiences that cut across
cultures
▶ Critique the injustices that certain groups experience
▶ Develop a commitment to taking action
 Multicultural curriculum

Three Goals of
“Children’s Literature plays
Curriculum:
a crucial role by providing
▸ Culturally Responsive students with the
▸ Culturally Expansive opportunity to immerse
▸ Culturally Critical themselves into story
worlds and gain insights
into how people feel, live,
and think.”

-Essentials of Children’s
Literature, p. 214.
 Culturally responsive curriculum
Focus: Make teaching strategies and materials more consistent
with the cultural orientations of diverse students

Teachers Should:

▶ Select reading material that is relevant to

students’ lives
▶ Ensure that classroom and school libraries
contain a diversity of literature
▶ Give students a choice in reading material
▶ Conference with students about their
reading as often as possible
 Culturally Expansive Curriculum

Focus: Builds from students’ own culture to help them

consider viewpoints beyond their own

▶ Literature can provide an in-depth

inquiry into a particular culture or into
multiple cultures
▶ Introduces students to many different
perspectives across content areas
▶ Considering many different viewpoints
should help students become less
ethnocentric, and challenge any
prejudices
▶ Challenges the “norm”
 Culturally Critical Curriculum

Focus: To raise and discuss social justice issues

of inequality, power, and discrimination and be
made
Students need to learn to read critically
and ask:

“Who benefits?”
“Why are things this way?”
“What if…?”
 Multicultural literature

“
All books about people and their individual or group
experiences within a particular culture, including
mainstream cultures (p. 217)
 International literature

Books set in countries outside the United States, or

written and published in other countries and then
published in the United States
▸ English Language Books
▸ Translated books
▸ Foreign language books
▸ Global literature
 Value of multicultural literature

▸ Understanding and appreciation

▸ Addresses contemporary issues
▸ Engage in social action
▸ Multiple perspectives about
history
▸ Cultural literacy/global
perspective
▸ Textbooks vs. trade books
 Evaluation

Cultural authenticity
▸ Authenticity from
perspective of that
group
▸ Accuracy
▸ Integration of language
▸ Power relationships
▸ Perspective/audience
▸ Historic vs.
contemporary views
▸ Adequate
representation
selection
Book awards
▸ Coretta Scott King
Award
▸ Americas Award, Pura
Belpre Award
▸ Asian Pacific American
Award
▸ American Indian Youth
Literature Award
▸ Batchelder Award
▸ Outstanding
International Books
List
▸ Notable Books for a
Global Society
Multicultural
Literature
 Historical Overview

1949 1950s 1960s

Newbery Honor More sympathetic Caldecott Medal

Award for Story of attitude toward awarded to The
the Negro by Arna diverse ethnic Snowy Day by Ezra
Bontemps culture emerged Jack Keats
 Historical Overview

1969 1975 1976

Coretta Scott King Virginia Hamilton, Why Mosquitoes Buzz

Award established First author of color in People’s Ears by
to win The Newberry Leo & Diane Dillon
Award for M.C. wins Caldecott Medal
Higgins, the Great
 Historical Overview

1990 1993 1996

First picture book by Americas award Pura Belpre award

a Chinese- American founded founded
illustrator, Ed Young,
to win the Caldecott
Medal
Types of Multicultural Literature

▸ African-American Literature
▸ Asian-/Pacific-American Literature
▸ Latino Literature
▸ Native American Literature
▸ Religious Cultures Literature
▸ Bilingual Literature
 African-American LIterature
▸ Largest and most rapidly growing type of children’s
literature
▸ Types of African-American literature:
○ Folktales brought from Africa to the United States
○ Reclaiming of stories written by European-American
authors by African-Americans
○ Telling the stories of the lives as historical and
realistic fiction
▸ Many focus on historical events
○ Ex: slavery or civil rights
▸ African-American nonfiction literature is typically
biographies of sports heroes and of people who had
major achievements
Poetry
“
Originally African Folktales

Retold by African-Americans African-American lives in the United States

Asian-/Pacific-American LIterature
▸ Mainly stories about Chinese Americans, Japanese
Americans, and Korean Americans
▸ Common themes:
○ Oppression that drove people from their homelands
○ Prejudice and adjustments they had to face in
America
○ New appreciation of cultural heritage while adjusting
to their new lives
▸ Many European characters were written into Asian
counterparts
○ Ex: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
▸ Pacific-American literature is still underrepresented
“
 Latino Literature
▸ Very few have been published in United States
▸ Focus on experiences of Mexican Americans and Puerto
Ricans
▸ Stereotyped portrayals of Latinos
▸ Typically includes superficial aspects of culture
▸ Begun to incorporate Spanish into books written in
English
▸ Americas Award and Pura Belpre Award for Latinos
 Native American Literature
▸ Common themes:
○ Oppression and racism
○ Appreciation and celebration
○ Protection of nature
▸ More has been written about Native Americans than by
Native Americans
▸ Issues that arise:
○ Majority is outsider perspectives
○ Problems of authenticity
○ Many tribes have few to no books about their nation
 Religious Cultures
Literature

▸ Christianity dominates as the mainstream religious

culture
▸ Other religious cultures include Buddhism, Hinduism,
Judaism, and Islam
▸ Very few books written from the perspective of a
member of a specific religion
▸ Nonfiction and folklore are much more plentiful
 Religious Cultures Literature

▸ Children’s literature is dominated by Judaism as the

nonmainstream religious culture
▸ Jewish literature mainly focuses on the Holocaust
▸ It also includes topics such as Jewish holidays and
traditions
▸ 2 Book Award Programs:
○ National Jewish Book Awards
○ Association of Jewish Libraries’ Sydney Taylor
Awards
 Bilingual Literature

▸ Bilingual books provide the text in 2 languages

▸ Typically picture books and short chapter books
▸ Provide a way to value and maintain literacy in a child’s
first language
▸ Be advised: Some do not have artful or accurate
translations
“
International
Literature
 Historical Overview

Milestones in International Children’s Literature (p.230):

Title: Date of Publication:

Orbis Pictus 1657

Robinson Crusoe 1719

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 1865

Heidi 1880

The Jungle Book 1894

Anne of Green Gables 1908

Bambi 1928

The Story of Babar 1931

Pippi Longstocking 1945

 “
Children’s literature can build bridges of
understanding across cultures and show that the
uniqueness of culture contributes to a richly diverse
world.
 ACtivity:
Bookwalk!

-TAke 5-10 minutes to peruse the books

-take notes on a book that stands out to you
-keep in mind two questions:
1.) What culture or religion Does this book
portray?
2.) What message about that culture is this sending
to students?

Write down the title and answer the two questions

on your notecard

- Share your ideas with the class!

LEt’s play a game!

play.quizshow.io