Welcome to Multicultural Literature on the Web!
This site was created by graduate students at Kent State University to evaluate multicultural literature for authority and authenticity for use in classrooms.
Click on one of the links above to view the reviews completed or see the rubric used to evaluate the literature.
Why use multicultural literature?
The following are excerpts from multicultural literature manifestos...
As teachers, we can help our students see the humanity they share with people of all cultures; that though they are different, they are also similar in many ways.
While education is the obvious role of our school system, the formation of society and its values is an underlying consequence of education.
Multicultural literature is an important tool, both the window and the mirror, that increases cultural awareness, improves self concept, and promotes understanding among cultures.
Our school, whose goal is to prepare students to survive and indeed excel, in this global society, must prepare our students for a future in which they will be immersed in diverse cultures, both as neighbors in our community, school, and in our world.
We must evaluate our true purpose as educators, and if that purpose is to preserve liberty, and allow students "to know "as John Adams suggested than we must integrate multicultural literature into our classrooms.
Multicultural literature can help all of us have positive self respect and the respect for others, including the cultures, religions, and traditions.
Literature is most effective when students can relate to characters and their feelings while making connections to their own lives.
Students should be able to make personal, positive connections that reflect their own lives; this connection in turn makes their learning meaningful.
Allowing children this learning experience is imperative to raising well round children who are tolerant of those different from themselves.
Wouldn't we as a district be greatly amiss if we did not embrace the differences of others by sending unprepared, ego-centric human beings out into the world?
We would not be doing our jobs as educators if we did not use multicultural literature in our classrooms.
In order to see and respect people as individuals, quality multicultural literature is a necessity as part of the literary canon in our classrooms.
Our job is to make students feel a part of our school community, help all students learn as much as possible, and help students understand people of common, as well as opposing viewpoints, lifestyles, and beliefs.
Educating all of our young citizens to accept, respect, and understand our differences will help create a nation of democratic people.
Through the use of multicultural literature an awareness is created for young adolescents to acknowledge and build not a tolerance but an acceptance for those coming from different cultures.
This nation is quickly becoming more diverse, in not only religion and diversity, but also in opinion and choices, and our classroom literature needs to reflect this.
Providing students with multicultural literature will help shape who they are and prepare them for what they may encounter in the future.
Taking on the responsibility of educating our children does not exempt us from adults from critically examining ourselves.
We have the power to take narrow mindedness and broaden it and I believe it is our responsibility to do so.
American classrooms are becoming more diverse; therefore, the literature read and included in school and classroom libraries should reflect this rich diversity.
Including access to multicultural literature not only helps our students to recognize, understand, and appreciate other cultures, but it also helps to promote healthy self concepts.
When children read literature about their ethnic or cultural group, they engage in accretion, define who they are, and validate their place in society and their personal worth.
By introducing multicultural literature into our classrooms, we are preparing our students to live socially responsible lives and to improve the many problems confronting the United States, especially involving culture, gender, economic class, and sexual orientation.
While education is the obvious role of our school system, the formation of society and its values is an underlying consequence of education.
Multicultural literature is an important tool, both the window and the mirror, that increases cultural awareness, improves self concept, and promotes understanding among cultures.
Our school, whose goal is to prepare students to survive and indeed excel, in this global society, must prepare our students for a future in which they will be immersed in diverse cultures, both as neighbors in our community, school, and in our world.
We must evaluate our true purpose as educators, and if that purpose is to preserve liberty, and allow students "to know "as John Adams suggested than we must integrate multicultural literature into our classrooms.
Multicultural literature can help all of us have positive self respect and the respect for others, including the cultures, religions, and traditions.
Literature is most effective when students can relate to characters and their feelings while making connections to their own lives.
Students should be able to make personal, positive connections that reflect their own lives; this connection in turn makes their learning meaningful.
Allowing children this learning experience is imperative to raising well round children who are tolerant of those different from themselves.
Wouldn't we as a district be greatly amiss if we did not embrace the differences of others by sending unprepared, ego-centric human beings out into the world?
We would not be doing our jobs as educators if we did not use multicultural literature in our classrooms.
In order to see and respect people as individuals, quality multicultural literature is a necessity as part of the literary canon in our classrooms.
Our job is to make students feel a part of our school community, help all students learn as much as possible, and help students understand people of common, as well as opposing viewpoints, lifestyles, and beliefs.
Educating all of our young citizens to accept, respect, and understand our differences will help create a nation of democratic people.
Through the use of multicultural literature an awareness is created for young adolescents to acknowledge and build not a tolerance but an acceptance for those coming from different cultures.
This nation is quickly becoming more diverse, in not only religion and diversity, but also in opinion and choices, and our classroom literature needs to reflect this.
Providing students with multicultural literature will help shape who they are and prepare them for what they may encounter in the future.
Taking on the responsibility of educating our children does not exempt us from adults from critically examining ourselves.
We have the power to take narrow mindedness and broaden it and I believe it is our responsibility to do so.
American classrooms are becoming more diverse; therefore, the literature read and included in school and classroom libraries should reflect this rich diversity.
Including access to multicultural literature not only helps our students to recognize, understand, and appreciate other cultures, but it also helps to promote healthy self concepts.
When children read literature about their ethnic or cultural group, they engage in accretion, define who they are, and validate their place in society and their personal worth.
By introducing multicultural literature into our classrooms, we are preparing our students to live socially responsible lives and to improve the many problems confronting the United States, especially involving culture, gender, economic class, and sexual orientation.
