Final Course Reflection

Over the course of the semester, I feel that I have learned a lot about not only diverse literature, but about how I will think about diverse literature, as well as diversity in my future classroom. This class and the readings in the course pack showed me the importance of looking at literature from different angles, and to consider the context in which certain things are written. I know I did not learn everything I need to know about different cultures, but I learned to look at literature in a way that I had not before. I now realize the importance of using outside sources to educate myself on different topics that I am unfamiliar with. I also learned through personal experience how literature can affect a person/student. I never had the opportunity to read about Arab characters in my experience as an elementary or secondary student. However, reading Habibi and doing my final project on Arab American literature allowed me to see a piece of myself through fictional characters. I was able to relate to these characters, their families and their ways of life. This was such a neat experience and I found myself literally smiling as I was reading because I felt apart of the story(s). From this, I see the importance of allowing my future students to have this same experience where they can read about characters who they might be able to see themselves in. Also, what might even be more beneficial about diverse literature is how one can relate to a character that may might now have normally thought they could relate to. I think that reading diverse literature can help people empathize with those who are from different backgrounds, and foster deeper understanding and tolerance for others. I think a great example of this was in the novel Bronx Masquerade. In this book, students who thought their classmates were very different from them realized that they are alike in many other ways that goes deeper than outside appearance. I would like my future students to come to these kinds of realizations, and I think diverse literature is a great way to promote this.
Looking over my papers I see how I was able to look at literature in a way that is critical. I really liked all of the books that we read for this course, and would likely use all of them in my own classroom. However, writing these papers showed me that even good literature can have bias and be stereotypical when looked at from different points of view. This class taught me the importance of using outside sources, or complementary pieces of literature to go along with novels on diversity. What I also really like about all of these books is that regardless of their diverse content, they were all enjoyable to read. If I can find enjoyable diverse literature for my students, hopefully it will create a community where diverse students enjoy each other’s differences, and also their similarities.
My biggest concerns come from my lack of understanding of how to distinguish between culture such as what country or region of the world one might come from, and how to distinguish between religions. This is something I struggle with and find difficult because I feel like there is a lot of overlapping. In my opinion, I feel like it is harder for people to be accepting of religious diversity than it is of country background. I don’t really know how to word this, but this just shows my concern for the future. Just as an example, I get confused when people identify themselves as Jewish. If I am Catholic and Lebanese, do I identify myself as Catholic, or Lebanese? I think these are two completely different things, because one shows my faith while the other shows my ancestry. Personally, I feel that my faith is my own personal business, while ancestry is more obvious or understandable to ask about because of how I/others look. I usually say that I am “half Italian and half Lebanese” because this shows my ancestry. I do not usually think to say “Catholic” until someone asked me if I am Muslim because they find out that I am Lebanese. So, when someone says that they are Jewish, I think that they practice Judaism, but this does not tell me what country they are from. So, when teaching about diversity to we teach about religion or ancestry, or both? Probably both, but when is talking about different religions too political for public schools? I also have this concern for GLBTQ issues. I think that this is a very hard topic to discuss with students, but it is also something that I want to be able to discuss with students. However, I am concerned that I will not be able to do so in the future because of school district restrictions and fear of losing a job or being harassed by parents. Then what if you have a student who is gay and from a different background from the rest of the class? How are they going to identify themselves? I guess all these things show how people can have multiple ways of identifying themselves. Which is also why it is important to have multiple kinds of diverse literature for students to read.
Overall, I really enjoyed this class and regardless of my concerns, I think it gave me the tools necessary to try and answer some of my questions. I now have a broader sense of what diversity is, and that it is not limited to only ones ancestry, religion or sexual orientation. I now know that outside sources can help me and my students to understand a piece of literature in a better way, and that discussion can also promote acceptance in a classroom.