With the amount of diversity in the world today you would
figure that there are a lot of different, multicultural books available for
children to read. However there are not
as many as you would think. In reality only about 10% of children’s books that feature diverse families and
have multicultural elements. What’s even
more surprising than that number is that according to the We Need Diverse Books organization the 10% of children’s literature that is diverse has stayed the
same since 1965. The children’s
literature of today is still predominantly about white nuclear families.
One of the main ways that children learn about and process
the world around them is by reading about different situations. The lack of range in books complicates this
learning process for all children of the world.
For example, the children who are from different cultures or are from
diverse families never see themselves in books, instead they are looking
through a window into a nuclear families lifestyle. The lack of diversity in books also affects
the white 'majority' children because they are not being exposed to the
diversity that is going on around them.
The diverse book movement is not just about books containing different
races of children. It’s much bigger than
that; it’s the movement that is trying to get more of children’s literature to
feature the new ideals that were not as pronounced in 1965 like,
multiculturalism, gender diversity, LGBTQIA, and religious minorities.
Children need these books to understand the world around them
and how the world is changing. Most of
the books that are diverse are often showcasing the minority that they are
about. These books show off what by
saying this is what I am, this is what I do, and this is what it is like. This type of books are not authentic and do
not show the actually variations in the world.
The diverse books in the world should tell a story about a certain
culture, ethnicity, or way of life that is real and believable, not just
informational. We need make books that
are authentic available for children so that they can process and interact with
the world around them.
Why is exposing white 'majority' children to diversity positive?
ReplyDeleteCan you give some examples of children's books which are diverse that you consider authentic?
How do authentic books enable children to process and interact with the world around them?
Greetings from Micronesia! I am using children's literature to teach English to my classes, and I totally agree that more diversity would be great! The times are changing, and you're right, introducing children to a more modern world early on would really help.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is that it's just easier to use the classics than it is to introduce newer, diverse material. What book did I love growing up? Frog and Toad are Friends! So what book am I using to teach my lower-level classes? Frog and Toad are Friends! I'd assume that a lot of parents and teachers pass the stories that they were fond of onto children, and unfortunately these stories come from a time in which diversity was not considered as important.
Hence why I aim to become a writer, and to write stories for children that include more diversity. But for now the classics, even if they use the stereotypical nuclear family format, should do just fine. They aren't hurting children, just not helping them quite as much as more culturally diverse material would.