ERIC Number: EJ1419501
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 11
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1521-7779
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
"How Did White People Even Know Not to Like Us?": Sixth-Grade Discussions of Culturally Relevant Texts
Karla M. Zaccor
Journal of Children's Literature, v49 n2 p19-29 2023
In schools similar to the one in this study, where over 75 percent of the students were non-White, students come to their classrooms having lived experiences with racism, and yet, in many classrooms, racism is never discussed or it is relegated to the past. This means, in many classrooms, there are White teachers who are unwilling or unable to discuss racism with students who are themselves experiencing racism. This silence doesn't change the fact that students of color experience racism in their lives, so it behooves White teachers to figure out how to foster these discussions in the classroom. The purpose of this study is to show an example of how students of color engaged in classroom conversations about race(ism) that were facilitated by a White teacher. As the author discusses further, the context is complicated. This study involves the work of a class of sixth-grade students, their teacher, and the author. Choosing books that explicitly discuss race and racism and encouraging further conversation during reading allow students to share experiential knowledge, pose questions, and construct new understandings about the way racism operates in our society. This allowed students to center their lived experiences of race and racism and apply that knowledge to their comprehension of text, therefore positioning themselves as experts and successful readers, as demonstrated by the students' discussion shown below.
Descriptors: Culturally Relevant Education, Grade 6, Middle School Students, Cultural Differences, White Teachers, Student Diversity, Discussion (Teaching Technique), Racism, Race, Reading Aloud to Others, Classroom Communication, Learning Strategies, United States History, Influences, Social Environment, Adolescent Literature, Ethnic Groups, Student Experience
Children's Literature Assembly. e-mail: info@childrensliteratureassembly.org; Web site: https://www.childrensliteratureassembly.org/journal.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 6; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Junior High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A