Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Perspectives
Multiple perspectives should be used in all grade levels. It is important to start the concept of perspective during the primary grades. The viewpoint of the Native Americans when Christopher Columbus landed on San Salvador can be shared with children using the picture book "Encounter" by Jane Yolen. Then there are articles that describe Christopher Columbus in a more explicit manner. These texts/articles can be shared appropriately with high school students. The picture book is more basic and shares feelings while the adult text is very detailed and explains how violent the crew was towards the Native Americans. During my elementary school years I was never taught to look outside the viewpoint of our history books. When I had encountered texts in high school from different sources and viewpoints I was almost convinced that history never was that way. Also, every individual in the classroom has different experiences. It is important to allow perspectives where each student can react, relate, and interact with one another to share ideas and feelings about topics. In my opinion perspectives make a lesson more engaging and exciting! :)
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The topic discussed in class today was mainly about the different perspectives people have on history and how they share that viewpoint. I agree with Julie when discussing the importance in all grade levels. One thing I have learned about viewpoints is that even if you think that there isn't a viewpoint about a topic/book, there is always the author. I liked the example of the suburbanites because even though it was stated like a topic in a history book, it had the viewpoint of Greg, someone who does not live in the suburbs. The different viewpoints about Christopher Columbus was interesting to read about because of the graphic history that not everyone chooses to include when writing about him.
When discussing viewpoints in a classroom, Julie is right when saying that every student has their own viewpoint on a topic and it is important to incorporate their viewpoints when discussing a topic. I think the literature selections shared in class today were great examples of the types of books we can use at different grade levels. I know I would like to incorporate books such as these and others which I'm looking forward to learning about in next class into my classroom now as well as in my future classroom to get the students thinking about what different perspectives mean.
I also agree with Kelly and Julie that perspectives really make a lesson much richer. In class, I got a really good feel for how big of an impact perspectives have during the activity we did with the quotes from news articles about the schools going on strikes. It was really interesting to hear the different viewpoints that parents and outsiders had on the subject. Being able to see both sides of a story or situation can really aid in looking at the big picture with less of a bias. When I was in elementary school and high school, I also just did activities out of the text book and answered the questions at the end of each unit, then took the test. I really do not remember anything that stuck out activity-wise we did to learn about the social sciences. This to me is very sad and it makes me want to strive to be that better teacher and make an impact in the lives of my students so they can embrace what I teach them. For elementary school students and even high school students, I think that picture books can really be helpful in understanding some of the "big picture" concepts in history. By using a picture book that they can relate to, really might make the connection they need to be able to fully understand the topic. All of the books that Greg shared today about Christopher Columbus were great examples of what to use and what not to use in a classroom. It really opened my eyes to watch for things to use in my classroom.
I agree that presenting information in class with many different view points is really important in any grade and subject you teach. It was not until my junior year in high school, that I was shown this, and it happened in my American Studies class. I loved looking at different articles and books, written by different people during events in history. I really got the feel for what the whole story was about, and not just parts. I find it very interesting what textbooks leave out, and I know when I teach social studies, I am going to deviate from the text, and hopefully incorporate Zinn's books. I am really enjoying his books and find them easy to read and understand, and still learn at the same time.
For my multicultural theme I am doing the American Revolution, and at the begginning was not really excited. I hated learning history, because it was straight out of the textbook. I have been doing research of how I am going to make this topic a fun one to learn about. So far in my planning, I took this idea of multiple perspectives into account, and found books that had letters and memories about the war, showing how many different individuals felt about the war. Also I found many different picture books to gain the students attention in many different ways. I feel by approaching the students with a variety of different texts, they will become more engaged and relate better to the topic, than just reading and teaching from the textbook.
I agree that it is critical as a teacher to introduce multiple perspectives in the classroom. Not only in formal instruction, but in a class library as well. After our book talk on Thursday in class it has become apparent to me how easy it can be to introduce students to multiple perspectives on a topic. In terms of instruction, I too was always taught out of a textbook. By bringing in other sources with different view points students learn to be critical thinkers teaching them an important life skill to create opinions for themselves. Instead of teaching directly out of a textbook or constantly hearing the teachers perspective, students should be encouraged to find their own sources through research driven by their interest in the subject. Another very powerful thing to bring into the classroom are guest speakers. One of my most vivid memories of middle school social studies was having a Holocaust victim come in a speak to us. Having a first hand account of the experiences of living through such a horrific event is something I will never forget. These are the kinds of perspectives that need to be voiced to students so they have an authentic experience of history and social studies.
I agree that perspectives can make student’s learning much more engaging than just reading from a textbook. The majority of us have said that while we were in school we mostly were required to read from the textbook. This is a shame because textbooks usually only portray a white person's point of view. I think this makes it difficult for students of a different race in class to connect to the material they are learning. I think it is crucial to bring in multiple perspectives because it is a skill that as teachers we want to instill in our students. We should encourage them to find out more about the topic or put themselves in another person's shoes. How would you feel? What would you have done? In order for students to get the most out of class they should be exposed to multiple perspectives.
In “Teaching History So Children Will Care” the author gives a variety of examples of how this has affected her class. The teacher in the article says how she starts off her lessons talking about the people in history who are not heard from. She then teaches the students about those people and then has her students gain respect for them before she talks about white Europeans. I think this is a great way to illustrate multiple perspectives because then the students are hearing the story from a variety of viewpoints. As teachers we need to make sure that our students leave our class understanding that there are always two sides to a story and that no one side should be forgotten.
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