Books in Cultural and Entertainment
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Culture is all around us, even in children’s literature. One may not consciously realize the impact that the story lines and pictures have on young children’s minds. This is why it is so important to have an array of books, depicting different cultures with varying gender roles, social classes, disabilities, etc. Throughout this project I have been analyzing culture in children’s books at an elementary school and have found some interesting books that I feel portray culture well, and others that I do not. There are varying cultures conveyed and I feel that it is important for any educator to familiarize themselves with the many options that are available. Educators, as well as individuals in general, need to also truly understand what culture is. Culture is not merely a way of life, which is how I thought of it before coming into EDS 349: Education and Culture. Culture is present in our lives every day and is divided into four categories, which are social,
economic/material, political and historical culture. Each of these categories contains aspects of culture such as language, dress, morals, beliefs, financing, businesses, decision-making, etc. Basically anything that is present in our lives is related to culture. Culture is “that pattern of knowledge, skills, behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs, as well as material artifacts, produced by a human society and transmitted from one generation to another. Culture is the whole of humanity’s intellectual, social, technological, political, economic, moral, religious, and aesthetic accomplishments.” (Pai & Alder, 2000)
Children’s literature is full of culture, even if the young reader does not realize it. The pictures that are present convey many facets of culture, some which are very stereotypical and others that are not. A child may just browse the images and not read the text. It is important for the pictures to illustrate culture in a way that promotes diversity. Students should be exposed
to many diverse people and situations so that they know that other people are different from themselves. If a student sees only people like themselves all the time, then they may not be very accepting of others. Perhaps the only view of cultures a student will see will be from a children’s book, so it is imperative that cultures are portray well.Teachers should incorporate much diversity into their classroom, but this may not always occur, so the students will use the books that are available to them to formulate ideas of culture.
link: http://www.orgsites.com/ky/halla/_pgg6.php3
Bibliography:
Achieving Gender Equity in the Science Classroom. Office of the Dean of
College at Brown University. 1996
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/homepginfo/equity/Equity_handbook.html
Boutte, Gloria Swindler. Resounding Voices: School Experiences of People from
Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2002.
Core Content for Assessment. Kentucky Department of Education. 12 April 2004. http://www.kde.state.ky.us/KDE/Instructional+Resources/Curriculum+Documents+and+Resources/Core+Content+for+
Assessment.htm
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum International
Publishing Group Inc., 1993.
Knight-Abowitz, Kathleen and Kate Rousmaniere. “The Construction of Social
Categories.”
New Teacher Standards for Preparation and Certification. Kentucky Education
Professional Standards Board. September 1999.
http://www.berea.edu/EDS/documents/pdf/Ky%20New%20Tchr%20Standards
Teaching Diverse Learners: Culturally Responsive Teaching. Education Alliance
at Brown University.
http://www.lab.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crt-principles-prt.shtml
economic/material, political and historical culture. Each of these categories contains aspects of culture such as language, dress, morals, beliefs, financing, businesses, decision-making, etc. Basically anything that is present in our lives is related to culture. Culture is “that pattern of knowledge, skills, behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs, as well as material artifacts, produced by a human society and transmitted from one generation to another. Culture is the whole of humanity’s intellectual, social, technological, political, economic, moral, religious, and aesthetic accomplishments.” (Pai & Alder, 2000)
Children’s literature is full of culture, even if the young reader does not realize it. The pictures that are present convey many facets of culture, some which are very stereotypical and others that are not. A child may just browse the images and not read the text. It is important for the pictures to illustrate culture in a way that promotes diversity. Students should be exposed
to many diverse people and situations so that they know that other people are different from themselves. If a student sees only people like themselves all the time, then they may not be very accepting of others. Perhaps the only view of cultures a student will see will be from a children’s book, so it is imperative that cultures are portray well.Teachers should incorporate much diversity into their classroom, but this may not always occur, so the students will use the books that are available to them to formulate ideas of culture.
link: http://www.orgsites.com/ky/halla/_pgg6.php3
Bibliography:
Achieving Gender Equity in the Science Classroom. Office of the Dean of
College at Brown University. 1996
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/homepginfo/equity/Equity_handbook.html
Boutte, Gloria Swindler. Resounding Voices: School Experiences of People from
Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2002.
Core Content for Assessment. Kentucky Department of Education. 12 April 2004. http://www.kde.state.ky.us/KDE/Instructional+Resources/Curriculum+Documents+and+Resources/Core+Content+for+
Assessment.htm
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum International
Publishing Group Inc., 1993.
Knight-Abowitz, Kathleen and Kate Rousmaniere. “The Construction of Social
Categories.”
New Teacher Standards for Preparation and Certification. Kentucky Education
Professional Standards Board. September 1999.
http://www.berea.edu/EDS/documents/pdf/Ky%20New%20Tchr%20Standards
Teaching Diverse Learners: Culturally Responsive Teaching. Education Alliance
at Brown University.
http://www.lab.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crt-principles-prt.shtml