After our discussion on the book Habibi the other day in class, I had a lot of thoughts going through my mind. We read an article about the book and how it was banned in West Bloomfield school district. The article stated that they felt this book portrayed negative stereotypes and was one-sided. They felt is was a bad book to use for what they were trying to teach.
However, I felt the book was a good read for young adults. When I was in school I was never exposed to Arab or Jewish literature before. I felt this story was very interesting and kept my attention throughout the entire novel. I never felt that it was very one sided, I just felt that since it was written about an Arab girl, I was going to get more Arab history rather than Jewish history.
West Bloomfield is known for having a large Jewish community. I understand that when they read this book they might have felt betrayed because it did not represent their history very well. However, I believe that choosing this book to read in your classroom could turn it into something positive. I believe that this could lead the teacher to lead a discussion on the Histories of the two groups and really dig into the stereotypes of both groups. I believe this book would be a good introduction to the unit to sprout the students' interest in the Histories.
I wish I would have been exposed to culturally diverse books growing up as a child. I believe if there is always going to be debates over books like these then teachers are going to give up on picking a culturally diverse book in fear that they will be criticized for picking the wrong one. This fear is what has stopped discussion in classrooms. I believe teachers need to use books like Habibi, whether they are 100% correct or not, just to allow students to begin to think about topics dealing with cultures and religions different from their own.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Julie - I think you make a key point, that it is a book that exposes students to another historical/contemporary perspective and it is harmful to keep those perspectives out of schools - I think it is key though to use it properly and in a thoughtful manner, which didn't seem to be happening there.
I was also intrigued by this debate. I think that parents do have the right to decide what their children learn and don't learn. However, I don't think they have the right to decide for the school itself.
I think parents need to let schools decide what is best for their students as a whole and worry about their child. Yes, I think the school could have taught the book a little better, and maybe have included a source to compliment the ideas in Habibi, but I don't think the book should've been pulled. I think that the school should opened itself up to suggestion on how to better approach the subject and taken ideas from parents so that the lesson could remain. I think that just because a small group of parents are offended doesn't mean that a valuable learning experience should be passed over all together. It makes me nervous to step into a classroom where I won't be allowed to decide what I want to teach. I can only hope that I teach children with parents who understand the learning process and will let me do my job.
Post a Comment