Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/i-see-myse/5024122/
“Knowing more about the cultural background of the children you teach serves as the starting point for creating a learning environment that supports multiple opportunities for more children to do what they do and know best.”
Debra Sullivan, Cultivating the
Genius of Black Children
Children’s literature offers a place of fantasy and wonder. The images are of people, places and adventures that stir curiosity and endless possibilities. Children imagine being the hero, displaying autonomy that builds a positive self-image, one of the foundations of school readiness. However, imagine being a child in a world of books where the main character does not consistently look like you. What does this mean for young children? When children do not receive a healthy dose of literature that represents them, the lesson may be one of insignificance and unimportance in their community or in society.
According to the 2015 publishing statistics compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, about 14 percent of children’s books depicted characters from diverse backgrounds. However, for African Americans the percentage is 7.6 percent, significantly lower than for books depicting animals, trucks, etc. at 12.5 percent, while 73.3 percent represent white children. Imagine ...