Multicultural Literature- Article Review

I recently read an article on teaching with multicultural literature by Yuko Iawai. Below is my review of the article.

Books that we read as children often hold a dear place in our hearts. Children who are lucky enough to have access to literature cherish the characters and illustrations from their favorite storybooks, insisting on reading them as bedtime stories over and over again. The lack of diversity in those characters and images can be taken to heart. Students who cannot identify with those books can feel unimportant, while the white, typically abled students who see themselves in the literature can come to view those unlike them as unimportant. 

In the article “Culturally Responsive Teaching in a Global Era: Using the Genres of Multicultural Literature” Yuko Iwai speaks on the important role that multicultural literature plays in educating students beyond the material in the standards. Iwai emphasizes the importance of culturally responsive education, because “when students learn academic content in situations within which they can make more personal connections… their learning becomes richer and more meaningful” (Iwai 4). As U.S. classrooms continue to become more culturally diverse, with a 5% decrease in white students and a 4% increase in Hispanic students by 2026, teachers’ ability to incorporate other cultures into the classroom will continue to gain importance. It is important to keep the population of the class in mind while choosing high-quality multicultural literature, as sometimes the students need to use the books as mirrors, making “personal connections, and [reflecting] on themselves and on social and cultural situations” and other times students need to use the literature as windows to “gain new perspectives about the world around them and also to understand themselves better” (Iwai 10). 

This article conveys the importance of using multicultural literature in the classroom. Iwai shares that reading these types of stories with students can open the door to creating open, age-appropriate conversations on oppression and cultural differences. Reading this article has strengthened my view that diverse books are needed in the classroom. Reading books about minority cultures helps build positive feelings about those who are different than us. This includes not only diversity by culture, but by ability, age, and sexual orientation as well. When children are able to see and understand diversity, they are better able to accept it and have an open mind.

Yuko Iwai (2019) Culturally Responsive Teaching in a Global Era: Using the Genres of Multicultural Literature, The Educational Forum, 83:1, 13-27, DOI:10.1080/00131725.2018.1508529