Final Thoughts

Before coming into this class I did not really know much about diverse literature. I thought of it more as literature that is about different people, countries, and ethnicities. That is what it’s mostly about, however evaluating it was something I did not know how to do or even think about doing. I am now much more aware of stereotypes that are put in books and how some of them could be hurtful towards a specific group or persuade children to think a certain way. I now know what to look for in book and what types of literature would be good to have in the classroom.

Something else I learned is what an inside and outside author is. The term is something that is pretty easy to figure out, but I have never really thought about evaluating a book based on that. It is very important to know if you are reading from an insider or outsiders perspective, because things could be very different between the two. Many of the books we read for class were by inside authors. This made them, with the exception of a couple, seems more real and the reader knew the facts were correct. This is not to say that outside authors shouldn’t write about things they are not insiders to, but it is just helpful to know whose perspective you are reading from.

I also found the video clip on Chief Illinwek very interesting and helpful. Before seeing the video I never really thought of mascots being offensive and what an impact it had on some people. I think showing this helped all of us become more aware of this type of situation and we were able to see what it was like from another perspective.

I now know what type of literature I would like to have in my classroom. Claire brought in many books for us to look at and evaluate and this was a great way to get us thinking about different books and become familiar with them. By taking this class I learned a great deal about books and authors in general. Going into my own classroom I will still have questions about books, and wonder what is considered good and what is not so good. I think I will always wonder about GLBTQ issues in the classroom because this seems to be a very touchy issue with many people.