My Philosophy on Multicultural Education and Literature

Issues of diversity is a very important topic in education, especially when looking at the literature we are exposing our students to, this is why I am taking this class. I feel that a key component of education is to teach critical thinking and to expose students to the idea of reading critically. As a practicing teacher it is important to take classes like this that are not pedagogical but expose you to culturally diverse literature to test your misconceptions, any possible prejudices, your comfort with different topics (such as race, gender, sexuality, ability, and class), and how socially and culturally conscious you are. After taking a class like this you can apply what you have learned to your classroom by exposing your students to diverse literature and pushing them to test themselves, read critically, and read a wide variety of literature that might allow them to see the world or understand other cultures outside of their own.

My personal philosophy about multicultural education is to use multiple sources of literacy, such as technology, signs, symbols, and text, to open student’s eyes to race, ability, gender, sexuality, and class in order to provide them with a different perspective on the world. Children’s literature fits directly into my philosophy, students should be motivated to read and teach them strategies, like reading against a text, so that literature can be a window or a mirror for our students to see people and places from all over the world. However it is to be said that bringing in any diverse literature without analyzing its content for authenticity and validity and reading critically is not teaching the students anything.

My only concerns about putting my personal philosophy about multicultural education and literature are if I can provide enough diverse literature to my students so that everyone can see themselves in a text, and if I can be wise enough to determine which texts are the best representation of a culture. It is important that images and generalizations in texts do not portray stereotypes, topics of unease are discussed, and that students are always open to new perspectives, and all of this has to happen in order to attempt to educate students to read diverse literature well. It is intimidating and in my mind impossible to find only the best multicultural books, which withhold stereotyping, negative generalizations, negative images, and/or text that could hurt one of your students. However, as a teacher it is my role to try my personal best when choosing literature, though it may not be perfect. I will work to apply the ideas I have learned in this class to better my classroom, my library, and my students’ exposure to diverse literature.