Regionalism in a multicultural classroom Research paper

Shelby Jackson

Research Project 1

 

Regional Literature in a Multi-Educational Classroom

           

          To ensure that all students have an equal

and fair education, multicultural practices are

needed. Multi-cultural education is a concept that

makes certain that all cultures and ethnicities are

represented and not discriminated against (Banks).

In order to uphold this ideology, content

integration is used. It infuses various cultures,

ethnicities, and other identities into the curriculum

and reduces bias against certain racial groups.  

Regional literature can be used as a method to

incorporate the racial and ethnic backgrounds into

the classroom. Regional Literature can be defined

as “a quality in literature that is the product of

fidelity to the habits, speech, manners, history,

folklore, and beliefs of a particular geographical

section” (Oxford English Dictionary). By using

regional literature as the subject matter for a

curriculum, multi-cultural education can be

utilized in the classroom through the

understanding of regional cultural, habits, beliefs,

and morals that are present within literature.

Regional literature focuses on the characters and the environments from which they came. It forces the reader to research the cultures and societies from which the story comes from in order to understand the message of the text at a deeper level. This supports the principles of multi-cultural education because it encourages the students to understand other cultures and come to value the ideals of others. Students should be allowed to be different, but also respect the differences in customs and traditions. Regional Literature can do this because literature promotes the relationship between the reader and the story. The story line usually brings out some sort of passion from the reader. Social injustices like those that are presented in Harlem Literature and texts written by Sherman Alexi, allows readers to empathize with other cultures and more aware of the struggles that other ethnicities face.

Regional Literature not only promotes cultural understanding and content integration within the classroom, it also allows for a diversified curriculum. By assigning texts whose origins are from various regions of the world, all cultures are represented and no culture is held above the rest. The esteems of those from a different culture (Latin-American, Asian-American, African-American, Native American, etc) are elevated because it is seen as important and that their classmates can come to see the importance of their culture and their cultures value.  Regional literature can help the principles of Multi-cultural education because it encourages full participation from various regions and cultures, which inspires social change within the education system (Bode).


Works Cited
Banks, J. A. (1991). The dimensions of multicultural education. Multicultural Leader, 4, 5–6.
Banks, J. A., (1979). Shaping the future of multicultural education. The Journal of Negro Education 48(Summer), 237–252.
Banks, J. A. (2004). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and practices. In J. A. Banks & C. A. McGee Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 3–29). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Banks, J. A. (2006). Cultural diversity and education (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Bode, P. (2005). Multicultural art education: Voices of art teachers and students in the postmodern era. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.