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Re: multicultural literacy
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From: Helen Frost <helenfrost_at_comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 14:17:42 -0500
I'm learning so much from this conversation--especially loved the visual comparison of the color schemes used in CSK and Caldecott jackets.
In 1981, before heading out to a small Athabascan village to teach for what turned out to be three years, I took a class at the University of Alaska called "Language, Literacy, and Learning" taught by Ron Scollon. One paper we read described a study in which college students of different cultural backgrounds were asked to listen to stories from their own and other traditions, and then retell them. I can't find this paper online, but if anyone is interested you could find it through an academic library. Searching for the publication information brings up related papers, etc.: "Ruth Ridley. 1973. Moose Hunting on the Yukon. Theata, University of Alaska, Fairbanks."
What I recall (and this won't be perfect): Story structures differ in different cultures. Many of the stories children encounter in school are based on 3-part narratives: the Three Billy Goats Gruff; Goldilocks and the Three Bears; The Three Little Pigs, etc. Athabascan stories typically have four parts. When Athabascan college students re-told "mainstream" stories, they would often add an extra section, to make it "fit" the narrative structure that felt right to them. When non-Native students re-told Athabascan stories, they would typically leave out a section, for the same reason. This is deeply ingrained.
A problem arises in school settings, where children can have trouble with literacy based in a different tradition than their home culture. This is one reason it's important for books to be written by authors from many different cultural backgrounds, and to get those books into the hands of children from those backgrounds. Otherwise, they can feel, and be perceived as, less intelligent than those for whom school is a closer match to home.
For those of you who know my work, but do not know me personally, it may come as a surprise that I hold this view. My own work often takes place at the intersections of cultural interaction, which reflects where I live my life; I think that is important too--for our literature to reflect the possibility of cross-cultural respect and good relations.
thanks for such good conversation, Helen Frost www.helenfrost.net
Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 14:17:42 -0500
I'm learning so much from this conversation--especially loved the visual comparison of the color schemes used in CSK and Caldecott jackets.
In 1981, before heading out to a small Athabascan village to teach for what turned out to be three years, I took a class at the University of Alaska called "Language, Literacy, and Learning" taught by Ron Scollon. One paper we read described a study in which college students of different cultural backgrounds were asked to listen to stories from their own and other traditions, and then retell them. I can't find this paper online, but if anyone is interested you could find it through an academic library. Searching for the publication information brings up related papers, etc.: "Ruth Ridley. 1973. Moose Hunting on the Yukon. Theata, University of Alaska, Fairbanks."
What I recall (and this won't be perfect): Story structures differ in different cultures. Many of the stories children encounter in school are based on 3-part narratives: the Three Billy Goats Gruff; Goldilocks and the Three Bears; The Three Little Pigs, etc. Athabascan stories typically have four parts. When Athabascan college students re-told "mainstream" stories, they would often add an extra section, to make it "fit" the narrative structure that felt right to them. When non-Native students re-told Athabascan stories, they would typically leave out a section, for the same reason. This is deeply ingrained.
A problem arises in school settings, where children can have trouble with literacy based in a different tradition than their home culture. This is one reason it's important for books to be written by authors from many different cultural backgrounds, and to get those books into the hands of children from those backgrounds. Otherwise, they can feel, and be perceived as, less intelligent than those for whom school is a closer match to home.
For those of you who know my work, but do not know me personally, it may come as a surprise that I hold this view. My own work often takes place at the intersections of cultural interaction, which reflects where I live my life; I think that is important too--for our literature to reflect the possibility of cross-cultural respect and good relations.
thanks for such good conversation, Helen Frost www.helenfrost.net
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Received on Fri 07 Feb 2014 01:18:09 PM CST
