The Potential of Multicultural Literature: Changing Understanding of Self and Others

Authors:
  • JSJudith Y. Singer
    Judith Y. Singer
  • SSSally A. Smith
    Sally A. Smith
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Abstract
This article is part of the ongoing conversation about how to provide support and appreciation for diversity in teacher education programs and, by extension, elementary school classrooms. The authors propose that reading and discussing multicultural young adult and children's literature in reflective social contexts has the potential to help teacher education students develop a deeper understanding of themselves and of different others. The participants in our study are teacher-education students from 2 universities, 1 mainly Black and 1 primarily White. In the discussion which follows, we look at the responses of students from each group to the same piece of young adult literature: From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson.

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