Insider-Outsider Debate

Through reading the articles, it seems that the insider-outsider debate will continue on and on.  I don't feel that I can take a side in the debate.  Each article brought different things to light for me, but the one recurring theme in each of the articles dealt with race.  All of the articles seemed to address the fact that multiculturalism is not just about race.  I think that this is a great point to be made, through experience with students when multiculturalism comes up the response from students  is that they will be learning about people of another race or culture.  Cai states "Multiculturalism is about diversity and inclusion, but what is more important, it is also about power structures and struggle", Shannon states "Culture, then, is not limited to race because it includes region, gender, language, ethnicity, economic class, and other social markers which can demarcate a social group from others."  Multicultural literature that includes diversity as a whole can be very beneficial to the classroom setting.  When it comes to who should be allowed to write multicultural literature, I don't think that it should exclusively be insiders or outsiders.  When topics are covered by an insider the audience receives a more authentic experience and are able to see themselves in the literature.  But at the same time who is to say that an outsider can not achieve that same result.  Seeing literature through the eyes of an insider gives us the chance to hear the voices of those who have been oppressed.  I think that using multicultural literature in the classroom gives the teacher a great opportunity to inform students and give them a chance to open their minds and see things from other peoples' perspectives.  Cai states "To affirm diversity is to ultimately achieve equity.  Diversity without equity is not the goal of multiculturalism."  Multicultural literature can help teachers encourage empowerment among students, students should be able to not only learn but understand the literature.  Understanding brings about abilities to take action.  I am left questioning the insider-outsider debate, who is to say that someone cannot write quality literature as an outsider and who is to say that an insider will always produce quality literature?

Introduction

I am in my senior year at Michigan State University.  I am in the process of becoming an elementary school teacher with a focus in Language Arts.  As a child I was an avid reader and loved to explore new books.  Literature is a great resource to have in the classroom as well as a support for all subject matter.  Diverse literature is an interest to me because I know that my classroom will consist of a diverse population.  Having a quality set of diverse literature in my classroom is something that I hope to have.  Through this course I would like to gain the skills and knowledge to determine what is quality multicultural literature.  I would also like to learn appropriate and effective ways of applying the literature in my classroom so that the literature can be more than just words on a page.