Last month our faculty learned our school has received a large grant to purchase books for classroom use that addresses the serious lack of texts about and by authors of Color. This grew out of the part of our mission statement that declares our school is "committed to creating a more compassionate, equitable, knowledgeable and democratic world."
In researching what books we might order and how we might use them, I came across a data set from the University of Wisconsin that showed the vast majority of picture books being published tend to leave out characters of Color (which, in all honesty, was not a big surprise). I decided to share the data with the kids to see what they thought about it. While we need to learn to create and read various tables and graphs, of equal importance is our ability to make sense of them, think about what this information means to various people or groups of people, and what we think/feel about this. Sure, there are times when we look at data sets about favorite pets or flavors of ice cream, but there are also times we use our core curricular studies to explore social issues at play in society and throughout history. For this data set, we were not so much wondering why there are so few books about people of Color as much as whether or not this is an issue for those (like each of my two sons - one born in Guatemala and the other in Ethiopia) who rarely see themselves reflected in the literature they read, the history books they learn from, or the TV shows they watch.
This was the data set.
|
Year
|
Number of Books
Received from US Pubs (est) |
African /
African Americans |
American Indians / First Nations
|
Asian Pacifics/
Asian Pacific Americans |
Latinos
|
||||
|
|
|
By
|
About
|
By
|
About
|
By
|
About
|
By
|
About
|
|
2015
|
3,200
|
105
|
243
|
9
|
28
|
156
|
107
|
56
|
78
|
Using this table, the class identified what the data was talking about and then we figured out how the numbers were set up to deliver various points of information within the subgroups. We added all the subgroups together and subtracted from the total (3,200) to find out how many of the books were about White families/characters as compared to each group of Color. I then discussed the fact data sets are designed to help us better understand something. I asked the kids what they thought this data told us about children's books.
Many of their responses spoke to the fact there weren't a whole lot of books about Native American, Latino, or African American characters. We thought about the kids in our classroom and our school and noticed there are quite a few who are unlikely to see themselves reflected in many of the books on our library shelves. I asked the class if this were a problem or not. Some said it was not because good books are good books and it doesn't matter what sorts of characters are on the pages. Others felt it was disrespectful and unfair.
I asked "If it doesn't matter so long as it's a good book, would we all be okay with only reading books with female main characters for the remainder of the year since there are more girls in class than boys, more female faculty members in our school than male, and more women in our country than men?" Suddenly, everyone agreed. Boys liked reading books with female leads but also enjoyed reading books with boys and wouldn't want to make that switch. The girls agreed they wouldn't want to do that either. They all felt it should be equal and everyone should be presented a choice. I asked, if the data shows us there are so few books being written about characters of Color, whether everyone always has as much choice as they might wish.
We also discussed the fact we ALL benefit from reading a diversity of books with a diversity of characters. It helps us know ourselves better as well as those who are not just like us in most or every way. This is particularly true of the picture books teachers use to teach from day in, day out. What if all those books were always about White characters (and, in many cases, they are)?
Everyone shared their thinking around this. As is expected in a good discussion, there was some points of agreement and other points of disagreement. I then asked them to come home and see what you thought. Your responses included...
"I cannot think of any books that reminded me of me and my family when I was a child. When I was growing up we did not have many family of Color books."
"We didn't have a difficult time finding books that reflected our ethnicity. My parents took the time to find such books. But as I've grown, it has become quite clear how difficult they are to find."
"When I was growing up I did not have any trouble finding books to read that I felt related to me and my family. I found many books where the characters resembled me and my family."
"I think there are probably more White authors than Black authors or at least more White authors with opportunities to publish books. I think it has improved since I was a child but we still have a ways to go. Do you agree?"
"I think that families are becoming different in many ways and a lot of books have not been written to represent the new families."
"Do you enjoy [the books we read together] or would you like to find books about different people?"
"It doesn't matter what kind of characters are in the book. As long as it is inspiring."
"Read what you like, seek out books you like, and enjoy the gift of learning and the privilege of so many books. If one day you feel you do not like your selection, do not complain. Count your blessing then do something positive about it."
"When I was young I do not recall any books that relate to my family."
"People normally write about themselves so presumably there have been White authors. But why? Have people of Color not had the same opportunities to write and publish their work?"
"It did not bother me when I was little but now that I have a child I want you to know about diversity."
"My friend and I have actually been talking about this. She wants to make sure her kids have the opportunity to read books that they can identify with."
A few short, but thought provoking, discussions that grew out of our mathematical thinking and work provided us an opportunity to synthesize data and respond to it from each of our individual, as well as collective, experiences. That's the power of public schools - they provide a great opportunity for a diversity of kids to come together and share their thoughts in an attempt to co-construct knowledge as well as learn how we all have perspectives that don't always align.
Other topics of study in class right now...
* In reading we are engaged in an author study of Jacqueline Woodson. We are reading across her work to identify themes and other noticings. We will soon use her work to think about ways we can each grow as a writer.
* In writing the kids have just published and shared their comics. We spent the past two days reading one another's work and providing feedback. Tomorrow the kids will complete a self-reflection where they will speak to what they feel like they are doing really well as a writer as well as identify areas where they feel they need to focus on growing.
* In math we are learning about division. Most recently, the kids have been representing various scenarios in which groups of kids share plates of cookies as mathematical equations. They will bring this home to share with you on Tuesday night.
* In social studies we just concluded our study of geography and Columbus Day and will soon begin an exploration into the Native tribes that lived in what is now South Carolina before the colonists arrived.
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