Curating the Text in a Classroom

 As I read Chapter five of Garcia and O'Donnel Allen, I came across a statement that I thought was important to note as I read on in the chapter. The quote reads,  "This is not simply about making a list of the 'right' texts to teach in your classroom, but about assembling with a care a collection of materials that deliberately reflects your commitment to culturally proactive teaching" (Garcia & O'Donnell Allen 91). I'd like to dig deeper into this quote and how important this is for teachers and future teachers in terms of the text that is offered in a classroom. It is noted in the text that english departments "curate the selection of texts that are in a classroom" (90) and the selections can be outdated and not relevant to today's teaching. So what does this mean for us as teachers who should be practicing culturally relevant pedagogy? We should curate the texts to be relevant to our students and to choose texts that are representative of members in the classroom.

                                                       I think about how I'll choose to share my thoughts about a specific

 text to my students and how I will present it in a way that allows them to critically analyze the piece of work whether it is one that the district chose or not. A quote from the text states, "we consider what purpose these texts play within our classrooms and students' worlds outside of school" (94). Figuring out what aspects of a text relate to your students and focusing on that will help them better understand and analyze the work. There are going to be novels, plays, etc. in the course of the class that one or more students may not be interested in or able to relate to, but the way in which the teacher presents the text will show their willingness to bring cultural relevance to the classroom. What I mean by this is that maybe there is a certain part of a novel that I think relates to my students and therefore, I would be vocal about this specific part of the text and to create a lesson around it or even just a class discussion that gets them thinking more about how they relate to it. I should add that this may not be possible with every work however, when you are able to relate the reading to the class, the outcome of understanding will be greater.

In terms of deciding what texts to teach to the class, "will you be complicit in perpetuating this tradition, or will you push back against common expectations that only canonical texts should be taught?" (95). Personally, I think I would push back. I want my future students to have a different experience than I did in school. I want to share a variety of genres, authors, and different types of writing styles (narrative, poetry, etc.)  to my students and not just the usual male dominated white author texts as stated in an earlier chapter from Pose, Wobble, Flow. There should be a balance of the traditional canon and works that branch outside to bring in different cultures and views.

While the students should be immersed in culturally diverse texts in the classroom, they should also at times be able to choose the books they want to read that interest them the most. These books could be the ones they read in their free time and at home. The "both/and" approach that is discussed in chapter five of the text is a good way to create a balance of texts. To summarize this approach, it is "allowing them to choose their own texts to develop their identity as a reader while also providing them with required reading to allow them to see the different contexts and perspectives of the world"(98). Students need to have the freedom to choose the genre they enjoy while also being taught new perspectives through the text that is chosen by the teacher.

 I'd also like to add that if you have not had the chance to watch the Ted talk by Chimamanda Adichie, you should go watch it ASAP! It will be a great twenty-minutes out of your day, I promise. Adichie talks about hearing "a single story" about someone or another country that we are unfamiliar with and how that is disheartening and instead, we should choose to be enlightened about the many parts of the world.  She also
shares her experience with writing and how her one view did not help her see different perspectives of the world as a child. How can this connect to the world of teaching? Well, as a teacher, you should be open to learning about new places and new things around the world. In addition, as a teacher of young students who are still learning about the world ahead of them, you would be doing a disservice to them by not allowing them to be immersed in different cultures of the world and the ways of life outside of their life. You should always be willing to speak of culture and diversity in the classroom in order to make your students feel comfortable. Adichie provides her insight on the dangers of only knowing one story and I think it can relate to being a culturally relevant teacher. If you've seen it, I'd be interested to hear your take on it and how you think it connects to yourself as a teacher or future teacher.