Running head ANTICIPATION AND REACTION 1 Anticipation and Reaction Guides and Summary Team C RDG 350 ANTICIPATION AND REACTION 2 Anticipation and Reaction Guides and Summary The world around us is changing rapidly currently 40 percent of the students enrolled in public school in the United States are minority students NEA 2002 2012 With such a large number and numbers increasing daily it is vital that teachers make conscious decisions to ensure all students are welcomed and feel comfortable in the classroom To do so teachers must understand how their own biases and beliefs effect classroom instruction and the materials used including art work activities and literature The anticipation and reaction guide challenges teachers to examine their feelings on the use of multicultural literature in the classroom Below is a summary of our group s reactions to the survey and should provide a better understanding of our prospective on multicultural literature in the classroom Theme A primary theme within the answers of Team C was part of discovering identity by forming individual values in regards to statements provided The statement that holds for all members is that parents and children feel a special bond with people all over the world and have a renewed pride in their own heritage Also the use of multicultural literature allows for an honest view of the diversity in America and the use of literature allows those differences to come to light Forming relationships are an important theme within our answers as well Similarities Team C unanimously agreed on four of the eight topics in the survey and unanimously disagreed on one topic Team C agreed that multicultural literature should not only ANTICIPATION AND REACTION 3 be used to learn about other cultures but also to learn more about the individual who is doing the reading Comments from students and parents will help in determining whether or not a teacher is successful in his or her multicultural literature study Team C also agreed that typecasting or culturally profiling another culture by food fashion folklore or festival is doing a great disservice to the culture Team C did not agree that it should be a requirement for a multicultural book to be written by a person from that culture as we acknowledge there can be experts in this field of study who are not from a certain ethnic background Differences Although there were many agreements on the anticipation guide responses Team C disagreed on three statements Multicultural literature could include every book because all books come from the point of view of a culture and every book can be read from multiple points of view was the first disagreement Some individuals agreed with this statement while others believed that not every book can be read from multiple points of view some books are distinct and portrayed in only one point of view The second disagreement contained the importance in evaluating and selecting multicultural literature is that we include different ethnicities religions races and abilities in our selection even though negative stereotypes may be present While some individuals agreed others believed the importance in selecting multicultural literature should include different ethnicities religions races and abilities however negative stereotypes should not be present in the classroom An additional statement that Team C disagreed on is that children in the majority culture typically are conscious of racism one individual believed otherwise ANTICIPATION AND REACTION 4 Conclusion In conclusion Team C appears to be in agreement on most of the issues in the reaction and anticipation guide There were a few points where some of the team members disagreed these points are whether or not every book can be viewed as multi cultural the importance in evaluating and selecting multicultural literature is that we include different ethnicities religions races and abilities in our selection even though negative stereotypes may be present and that children in the majority culture typically are conscious of racism While these views were not agreed upon by all team members each member brought different and unique insights to the group ANTICIPATION AND REACTION 5 References NEA 2002 2012 NEA org Retrieved from http www nea org home MinorityCommunityOutreach html