This artifact represents my knowledge of diversity and what I expect to teach in my classroom. My artifact discusses a childrens book that discusses being treated unfairly because of race. My curriculum will be based on teaching every child that people are to be treated fairly no matter what their race or religion. Any type of prejudice in my classroom will not be tolerated. Each child will celebrate their culture and share with the others what makes their diferences special.
Artifact:
Multicultural Evaluation
When discussing multicultural literature one cannot ignore the obvious, that there is not enough children reading these types of books. Each can add so much to a child’s perspective on attitudes, history and how they perceive life. The first book is about what happens to a women in another culture while the second discusses how society treats men all because of skin color. Both books are a welcome addition to any teachers classroom.
One book that would be beneficial to children is entitled The Last Princess: TheStory of Princess Ka’iulani of Hawaii. First things first this book is a biography of the life of Princess Ka’iulani from birth to death. She was the last princess born to be born in Hawaii, as the story progresses her mother dies and she is sent to London to learn the ways of the world so that she can be a better princess when the time comes. She returns to Hawaii after hearing the United States is forcing Hawaii to be annexed with them thus no more royalty and no more heritages and she tries to save her people from jail. It is a moving story that introduces children to the history of Hawaii while reminding them of some of the unsavory dealings that bigger countries (such as the United States) will and can do to smaller less powerful places. Kids get a accurate account of what really happened and at the same time find out about a fascinating individual. Princess Ka’iulani also demonstrates to young women the power they have to make a difference. In the era she was raised woman were not given the advantages they have today, and though she live in a male dominated society she presented herself with poise and strength that other girls could admire.
The book addresses how people from Hawaii lived and how they were looked down upon from other societies. This book helps children to recognize prejudice and helps them to understand why it should not be tolerated. This book also will give kids a more complete understanding to how Hawaii became part of the union. Culturally The Last Princess initiates a conversation about Hawaiians and how they live and how they were treated. They were not savages as others have portrayed but people with different beliefs, ideals and looks that are different than that of the average white anglo American. Children need to see this, they need to know that they can be different and yet still accepted by society. Teaching with this book would be a great advantage to the readers. It not only teaches accurate historical details but also teaches them tolerance. The only quandary may be that the children depending on age may be find it difficult to read such a long and lengthy book. It is captivating in its pictures and details of the history and while the kids do not realize it they are learning from this story to.
The second book I would recommend is called We are the Ship The story of the Negro League Baseball written by Kadir Nelson. This book is a great representation of the good and bad of what happened to the African American baseball players. It begins with how and why the Negro leagues got started and tells the story in depth of their history. It continues with Jackie Robinson and ends with him also, when he left the Negro leagues to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers after that the Negro League was never the same again. African Americans began playing minor league baseball hoping to get their shot at going to the “show” and soon the owners of the Negro Leagues disbanded, their just was no more money in it and inadequate players shut them down.
If you want to teach students about prejudice in a more modern way other then Harriet Tubman and still capture their attention particularly boys then this book is for you. It is accurate and detailed in the telling of these stories. It establishes a vision in the child’s mind of being there and actually being part of the events. The authentic pictures alone help the child to become engrossed in this book. This book will strengthen those that are from the African American community and make them feel proud of their heritage while teaching others history that is not widely known. The history lesson this book tells will be appreciated by sports enthusiatists, students and adults. It helps the African American child’s improve their self esteem and not feel so alienated especially if there are not a lot of black children in the school.
Discrimination was prevalent during the time frame this book portrays, it accurately represents it and will make the kids think. During discussions of this book the kids can ask the questions why were the players treated in such a way although they were sports stars in their own right is this how they are treated today. Why would people think they are better then the players? And who was the Klu Klux Klan? When this book is read it should help develop empathy for others of a different race. Kids need to ask questions to understand history and by better understanding history they may try to improve the world to be a better place.
The real life characters in this book were shown in a positive way, even if they had mad tempers and bad habits they were emotion filled people and they were still revealed to be regular human beings the only thing different about them was their skin color and maybe mannerisms. Bad stereotyping was not what Kadir Nelson created in his book, authentic, rich and colorful (no pun intended) were the men the readers will see as they enjoy the book.
Both books are good representations of multicultural literature. Each represent a different cultural going through their own challenges. Both books give the reader a chance to understand and gain compassion for what others have to endure all because they are different from the norm. They will allow the reader to experience things in history they have not before. Proving both these choices are great to add to any school library.
