People don’t read about subjects that they don’t know about. So, when designing an antibias classroom, it is essential that both we educators and our students have access to a wide variety of books and other media in our classrooms to expand our worldview. As Tricia Ebarvia explains, books can be thought of as windows into other perspectives, letting us readers experience things we might never even think of or be able to empathize with otherwise. In addition to acting as windows, some books are more like mirrors, affirming a reader’s own life experience.
Books are undoubtedly important, whether they act more like a mirror or a window. However, many students will only reach for mirrors. This isn’t their fault; it’s out of habit. Students will naturally gravitate toward the familiar. Additionally, many teenagers and young adults need the affirmation that a mirror-book can provide. As Ebarvia puts it, “students read what they need, whatever that may be” (285). However, as teachers, especially ELA teachers, we have a responsibility to teach students to look for and understand the perspectives that are not as familiar. By expanding our students’ schemas, or what they are mentally aware of and familiar with, we give them better tools to approach the real world with.
Strategies for Centering Diversity
How can we best promote diverse texts for our students while also teaching everything else in our curriculum? There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but there are a lot of steps, some simpler than others, that can work to make your classroom more inclusive for all different backgrounds and perspectives. Perhaps the simplest, or at least most natural thing, to do is to keep growing your classroom library. Be aware of what perspectives are missing from your library, by doing your own research and by asking co-workers and students. Label and place books appropriately so students can easily see what different types of books you are offering them, and what each one might include.
Having an expansive classroom library is no good if no one reads the books in it, of course. If your district and class schedule allow for it, building in independent reading time into your class where students read a book of their choice is a great way to encourage students to make use of your classroom library. Ebarvia suggests that we “provide students with a checklist or menu of options that encourage them to read more broadly” (285). This gives you something to reference when conferring with students one-on-one. Additionally, a checklist can be a no-pressure way to encourage students to check out new genres or perspectives, and visually see their progress as readers.
In addition to independent reading, we must center diverse texts in our unit plans and lessons as well. This way, all students will get a chance to interact with these texts on a deeper level and also discuss them with and learn from their peers. Too many of the “classic” books in the literary canon are interesting to us ELA educators, but don’t stick out to students or include much diversity. Ebarvia encourages us teachers to consider (and ask our students to consider) what voices may be missing from the classics, and find similar texts to teach alongside them, or even instead. Doing so helps us fulfill are duty to “amplify the voices of historically marginalized groups—the counternarratives—when building rich text sets for our students” (Ebarvia 220). Additionally, pre-reading activities are infinitely valuable. Providing background knowledge and creating space for active research and discussion can help students better understand what they are reading and look for similar things to read in the future.
In addition to centering physical books in our classrooms, we educators have to teach our students how to read in the world around them, to read in this ever-digital era. After all, we are “responsible for preparing students for a future with an evolving media landscape” (NCTE). In addition to teaching students to read and understand the perspective of the characters they read in books and the histories of the people they represent, we must teach them to do research. We must teach them how to read a news article and analyze it and its author for biases, which they can only do if they are aware of the bias present in all forms of media. It is likely that the reading that our students will do the most of in their lives, consciously or not, will be digital. With that in mind, we must center digital media literacy and awareness, as well as empathy and critical thinking in our classrooms. No matter the window or mirror a student is reading into, they have to be able to look for the whole story, to seek out other perspectives.
Works Cited
Ebarvia, Tricia. Get Free. Available from: Wichita State University, SAGE Publications, Inc. (US), 2023.
“Media Education in English Language Arts.” National Council of Teachers of English, 16 July 2024, ncte.org/statement/media_education/.
Thank you for your thorough and informed post, Avery! You did a great job incorporating NCTE’s statement on media education! You also make a great point that many students will “only reach for mirror” books, but I would argue, only such books are available. White, cis-het, able-bodied students often have plenty of mirror books, but students of color, students who are LTBTQ+, and students with disabilities often have fewer mirror books available to them.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you for thinking about how you can expand students’ critical reading of diverse texts. I love your idea for using Ebarvia’s checklist/menu as a framework when conferring with students about their reading. We teachers should use that same checklist for our own reading!