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Re: Little House Informs/Inspires Vietnamese Author
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From: Crystal Brunelle <brucr_at_onalaskaschools.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 14:36:36 -0600
Hi. I think we have to work at this from an educational standpoint if we are in a school library - not judging or making students feel bad for wanting to check out a certain book, but teaching them to read critically. Even elementary students are not too young to look at a book and ask whose perspective is being shown. I have worked with fourth and fifth grade students with questioning information in media and texts. In fact, this is something that works well with what the common core requirements are asking. Students are to "read like detectives" asking questions about the author's intent & viewpoint & what is being said or not said. Another thing that we are meant to be teaching is evaluation of media/information with tools such as RADCAB <http://www.radcab.com/>. In teaching students and staff about evaluation of print and online sources, we are teaching them to question what they are seeing which is not a censorship issue, but is really being a responsible consumer of information. If we teach them to question, they will be able to do that with any books or information they come across whether it is from our library or not.
For teachers, at times I have provided them with a review that points out the issues with books like Indian in the Cupboard or Touching Spirit Bear. I don't do this in a rude way, but just explain that I have read the review and think they could take a look at it before teaching with that text and I offer alternatives or pairings if they are interested. Some have gone ahead and used texts in spite of the reviews, and others have removed texts from their class libraries or changed texts. While it isn't necessarily a comfortable discussion to have, if done with professionalism, I think it works. Like with students, it isn't a time to be shaking my finger at them, but just letting them know. We have also been providing professional development in our district around evaluating and using diverse literature. This is a conversation that is ongoing as we work toward culturally responsive practices. We have not "arrived" by any means, but we are making progress.
Crystal
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 14:36:36 -0600
Hi. I think we have to work at this from an educational standpoint if we are in a school library - not judging or making students feel bad for wanting to check out a certain book, but teaching them to read critically. Even elementary students are not too young to look at a book and ask whose perspective is being shown. I have worked with fourth and fifth grade students with questioning information in media and texts. In fact, this is something that works well with what the common core requirements are asking. Students are to "read like detectives" asking questions about the author's intent & viewpoint & what is being said or not said. Another thing that we are meant to be teaching is evaluation of media/information with tools such as RADCAB <http://www.radcab.com/>. In teaching students and staff about evaluation of print and online sources, we are teaching them to question what they are seeing which is not a censorship issue, but is really being a responsible consumer of information. If we teach them to question, they will be able to do that with any books or information they come across whether it is from our library or not.
For teachers, at times I have provided them with a review that points out the issues with books like Indian in the Cupboard or Touching Spirit Bear. I don't do this in a rude way, but just explain that I have read the review and think they could take a look at it before teaching with that text and I offer alternatives or pairings if they are interested. Some have gone ahead and used texts in spite of the reviews, and others have removed texts from their class libraries or changed texts. While it isn't necessarily a comfortable discussion to have, if done with professionalism, I think it works. Like with students, it isn't a time to be shaking my finger at them, but just letting them know. We have also been providing professional development in our district around evaluating and using diverse literature. This is a conversation that is ongoing as we work toward culturally responsive practices. We have not "arrived" by any means, but we are making progress.
Crystal
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