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READING TO RIGHT: TEACHING TOLERANCE THROUGH ENGLISH LITERATURE
Anna Schmidt
A Seminar Paper Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
Master of Science in Education
Curriculum and Instruction
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Oshkosh, WI 54901
May 2010
Approval Project Advisor: _______________________________________May 14, 2010_______ Dr. Eric Brunsell Date
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract 3
Introduction 4
Literature Review 6
The Need for Tolerance Education 6
Literature as a Tool of Tolerance 8
Effective Strategies for Teaching Literature 10
Methodology 12
Participants 12
Procedure 13
Results 16
The Effectiveness of Literature in Teaching Tolerance 17
Extent to Which Lessons from Literature Transfer to Real Life 20
Appropriateness of Data Sources 22
Discussion 23
References 28
Appendix A: Pre- and Post-Survey, Part A 30
Appendix B: Pre-Survey, Part B 31
Appendix C: Post-Intervention Interview Format 35
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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research project was to determine whether students can learn about tolerance through English literature and, if so, whether they can apply that knowledge of tolerance to their daily actions and decisions. The project involved sixteen high school students in grades nine through twelve who were in two different sections of ELL reading and writing courses (Intermediate and Advanced). Before beginning the intervention, students responded individually to a survey that assessed their perceptions of the school climate and of the significance of their actions towards others. Before reading the books, students also learned important vocabulary related to tolerance. Students in each class read and participated in activities about one or two novels. The teacher collected a sample of student work throughout the intervention phase. After finishing the books, students took a post-intervention survey. In addition, the teacher interviewed several students from each class about what they learned and how they felt about the books they read. A comparison of the pre- and post-survey responses showed that students did not make conclusive positive gains in their understanding of tolerance or behavior. However, these quantitative results may have been misleading. Student observations and interviews showed that students made positive gains towards tolerance, but only on the specific issues each book dealt with. The results show that students need to learn tolerance on a case-by-case basis and that teachers should select books meant to target the specific issues most urgent for a particular group of students. Future research should more closely align all data with specific books to determine how much students learned.
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INTRODUCTION
Background
Like many others, I was drawn to a career of teaching in an effort to satisfy lofty
ideals. As a would-be teacher of English language learners, I pictured myself giving
voice to those who have historically been silenced by society. When I imagined what
opponents and skeptics I might have to confront, it never occurred to me that some of the
worst perpetrators of injustice would be the very students I sought to protect. Once inside
my own high school classroom, I found it difficult to pinpoint any victories in the pursuit
of social justice. What I did notice, however, were unmistakable instances of casual
taunts and name calling, all at the expense of traditionally marginalized individuals or
groups of people. Although much of the verbal discrimination began as seemingly
innocent jokes, it was a shocking thing to discover the seeds of hatred in my own
classroom.
This observation of student behavior that began as a nagging discomfort soon
grew into an obsession and fundamental questioning: how does anything I teach matter if
we don’t all get along first? It is possible that my initial observations distorted the
broader picture. For the most part, I believed that the students I work with are good
people. Nevertheless, I suspected these same students did not realize the potential
negative power of some of their words and actions. I did not want my own students to
perpetuate acts of injustice and unhappiness in the world they live in, any more than I
wanted them to be the victims of similar acts of intolerance.
I found myself torn by how to address the underlying intolerance in my classroom
while still feeling like I was teaching English to my students. What if teaching tolerance
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to my students did not involve a departure from my curriculum, but rather meant
highlighting those aspects of it that demonstrate an inherent affinity for tolerance?
Ideally, we would all develop understanding towards people who are different by forming
real relationships with those people. Since, practically speaking, I could not force my
students into friendships with others and was limited by the relative homogeneity of my
classroom population, I decided that surely the next best thing to meeting different types
of people was reading about them. I have often wondered to what extent a book can
really change someone, or at the very least, make someone aware of previously
unconsidered issues and ideas. I believe books have certainly influenced the way I see
the world and have at times been the catalyst for significant changes in views, but I also
realize that I approached school from a very different experiential background than that
of my students. Many of my students equate school and its daily exercises with jail. If
books were to change my students' lives, I would have to carefully select each book with
a specific group of students in mind and thoughtfully guide them through it.
The specifics of this process were the heart of my research. I sought to answer
the following question: How can I use literature as a tool to teach tolerance to students
while satisfying the goals of my curriculum? In addition, I identified several sub-
questions:
• Will this literature prove an effective method of teaching tolerance to students
(Will they comprehend and retain information about tolerance)?
• To what extent will any of these lessons transfer to the reality of their daily lives?
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LITERATURE REVIEW
The Need for Tolerance Education
At its most literal level, the word "tolerance" suggests an ability to merely put up
with ideas and practices that one does not agree with. Such a definition is not only
insufficient, but falls pitifully short of meeting the complex needs of our increasingly
diverse society. In response to these needs, many educators have come to think of
tolerance as "respecting and learning from others, valuing differences, bridging cultural
gaps, rejecting unfair stereotypes, discovering common ground, and creating new bonds
(Kids Health for Parents, 2007).” Sadly, for many students in the United States, this
conception of tolerance remains an idealistic vision, a far cry from the realities of daily
academic and social life. As schools struggle to create a climate sensitive to all types of
diversity, including race, culture, language, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion,
politics, and ability level, it is clear that a more comprehensive idea of tolerance needs to
play a key part in this process.
Unfortunately, the devastating effects of what happens in the absence of tolerance
are all too clear. While for many students, diversity is a source of pride, sometimes being
different evokes shame and anxiety. A 2006 survey of 211 middle school students
reaffirmed that "bullying most often focuses on qualities that students (and the broader
society) perceive to be different from the established norm (San Antonio & Salzfass,
2007).” Bullying is a trend so old that many mistake its significance. Yet victims and
perpetrators of bullying are more likely to feel unsafe and disconnected from their
schools, as well as more prone to aggressive retaliation and mental health problems
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(Bradshaw et al., 2008). The trauma inflicted on victims by their peers has led to results
as horrific as suicide and school shootings. Despite recent increased attention by the
media and academic researchers, bullying persists in schools at alarming levels. In the
spring of 2009, a student in Massachusetts and a student in Georgia committed suicide,
both after being "relentlessly bullied at school for appearing gay (Denizet-Lewis, 2009).”
It is perhaps equally frightening to consider that a great deal of the harassment in schools
is not perpetrated by obvious bullies, or even people who intend to cause harm. Although
it has become normal for students to use language such as "gay" and "retarded" in a
negative way, "these carelessly used words can indeed lead to hurt, discrimination, and,
on occasion, violence (Campbell, 2007).” It is impossible to reduce bullying and hurtful
language without first promoting tolerance, and through it, creating a safe environment
for diversity. It is not enough for negative behavior to stop; in its place, students must
develop positive, compassionate attitudes and relationships. As San Antonio and
Salzfass (2007) advise, "bullying is connected to diversity, and reducing bullying means
taking steps to make the community and the school safe for diversity of all kinds.”
As schools struggle to deal with the daily demands of diversity, they must also
come to terms with the fact that they need to prepare students to function in an
increasingly global society. Technology has revolutionized the way many people
communicate and travel, giving people easier access and more frequent exposure to
people in other parts of the world. As these changes spill over into the workforce,
students must "learn global competencies, embrace change, and recognize the
interconnectedness of all people and systems to be effective and productive in their lives
(Howard Community College, 1999).” For students to be successful in their lives after
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high school, they must be able to forge relationships and work harmoniously with people
who have different backgrounds, beliefs, and work styles. Approaching these
relationships with tolerance would not only make it easier to work together, but might
also be a fundamental requirement for doing so.
Literature as a Tool of Tolerance
The fact that books have been banned, burned, and pulled from library shelves
since the dawn of printed text is a testament to their power. In her book, Reading Lolita
in Tehran, Azar Nafisi (2004) reveals how a secret book group allows seven women to
escape the reality of the oppressive world around them:
A novel is not an allegory...It is the sensual experience of another world. If you
don't enter that world, hold your breath with the characters and become involved
in their destiny, you won't be able to empathize, and empathy is at the heart of the
novel. This is how you read a novel: you inhale the experience. (Nafisi, 2004, p.
111).
If empathy, indeed is at the heart of any well-read story, then literature's potential to
transform, enlighten, and expand thinking is boundless. More importantly, experiencing
empathy is perhaps a critical precursor to reaching tolerance. If, as Nafisi recommends,
students "inhale the experience" in a novel, they are likely to encounter in a very real and
personal way, characters who at least on the surface seem quite different from
themselves. Since novels often expose the reader to the innermost thoughts and feelings
of the characters, students might feel like they know and empathize with these characters
in ways they have never experienced with living, breathing people around them. That
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many students will read the novel as if they are the main character showcases the novel's
ability to evoke a level of empathy difficult to experience through anything else.
Christensen (2000) shared a similar breakthrough that she reached with her
diverse high school literature class when she tried to get them interested in a book about
China. Much to Christensen’s surprise, the violence in the book “created a contact point
between the literature and the students’ lives,” and served as a “reverberation across
cultures, time, and gender, [that] challenged the students’ previous notion[s]” about
reading (p. 18). Her students were suddenly able to empathize with the characters in the
novel because they found a connection to their own lives. This empathy that
Christensen’s students experienced, and the personal openness it unleashed, is the “key in
community building” and learning to understand people who are different.
When seeking to promote empathy and tolerance for all types of diversity,
literature may be the ideal medium. Stories are a part of every human culture and thus
"address many of the most important aspects of human life (Demircioglu, 2008).”
Through this universal means of communication "we share our opinions, values,
experiences...the most personal aspects of our culture (Wan, 2006).” Current
publications claim that reading books by and about a wide variety of groups of people
can help students develop positive attitudes about differences. According to Wan (2006),
multicultural children's books "provide opportunities to make explicit and call into
question the traditional, prevailing beliefs and views people hold of themselves and of
others." Demircioglu (2008) is one of many to point out that stories can also help
students learn many critical skills and thought processes, including an awareness of
multiple points of view, problem solving, and making comparisons. Despite these
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compelling claims, most research published in books and journals on the subject of
tolerance focuses on general guidelines and recommendations for teachers alongside
personal classroom success stories. These same publications offer little to no actual data
on the benefits of teaching tolerance or the effectiveness of literature in doing so. This is
a limitation that points to the need for future studies to compare and examine data on
specific classroom practices promoting tolerance.
For better or worse, language and tolerance have an age-old bond. "Language has
been used throughout history in the service of deception, manipulation, and domination
of individuals and groups [but also] as a means of resistance, education, and liberation,"
thus making the English classroom a particularly powerful environment for discussing
tolerance (Danks & Rabinsky, 1999). Language, therefore, can create and perpetuate
intolerance, or sow the seeds of justice. Historically, literature has been a tool used to
exploit this persuasive power of language. Danks & Rabinsky (1999) prescribe teaching
literature as a "transformative social process through which students...can imagine how
things could be and come to recognize" the possibility for a better world. A single piece
of literature will not cure a person of all intolerance, but at the very least, it should ignite
the process of self-reflection that teachers can harness and expand upon through
discussion, writing, and other activities.
Effective Strategies for Teaching Literature
While reading is a task valuable unto itself, it is often the "experiences created in
response to the literature that determine" its real power (Wan, 2006). Certainly, when
faced with a goal as complex as promoting tolerance through literature, the teacher's
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responsibility to guide students to important conclusions and observations is critical. As
with most educational undertakings, it is important to capture students' interest and give
them a point of reference before beginning a new project, such as reading. Teachers can
"motivate students [to read] with introductory activities (Wan, 2006).” Introductory
activities can also help students understand a book better because they provide an
opportunity to preview some content.
With any book, teachers have a variety of choices in how they ask their students
to read. Although many think of reading as a silent, solitary activity, students often need
more guidance. Reading aloud to students can make even a "difficult book
understandable" because teachers can model fluency and expression (Morgan, 2009). In
addition, it gives teachers an opportunity to stop and engage students with questions,
observations, and analysis that might draw their attention to issues of tolerance and other
relevant themes.
Caporino and Rudnitski (1999) provided a set of guidelines for English teachers
on promoting tolerance through literature. They recommended that teachers define and
as necessary, redefine, important terms and vocabulary related to tolerance. They also
pointed out how important it is to draw students' attention to "universal patterns" of
intolerance and discrimination and to relate these patterns to events in history and the
present day. Perhaps the most important component of teaching tolerance through
literature is allowing students ample time and opportunities for oral and written
reflection. Without reflection students cannot construct meaning from what they read.
Although conflicting views exist on its benefits, drama is another activity
frequently suggested as a supplement or extension to literature. Bates (2007) advised
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teachers on the many values of having students write and perform dramatic adaptations of
stories. The advantages of drama include learning about topics like tolerance and
diversity, and practicing social skills such as collaboration, teamwork, and confidence.
Others, however, warn against attempting to teach tolerance through "simulations" which
try to recreate events that are, in reality, too traumatic and complex to capture (Caporino
& Rudnitski, 1999). Nevertheless, when used with sensitivity and caution, role-playing
might serve as a valuable exercise in conjunction with a work of literature. Allowing
students to act out alternate endings to a scene from a book could serve as a starting point
for a conversation on the consequences of different actions. Achieving empathy might be
a dangerously lofty goal for most classroom role-play, yet when used to provide students
a new avenue into a story, or inspiration for deeper thought, role-play has the potential to
be a powerful instructional tool.
METHODOLOGY
Participants
I conducted this project in my own classroom with students who attend Big Foot
Union High School, a rural school with an enrollment of approximately 570 students.
The school is located in the Village of Walworth, WI, but it also serves the surrounding
villages of Sharon and Fontana, as well as the townships of Walworth, Delavan, Linn,
and Sharon. Approximately 22 percent of the students at Big Foot are from households
considered low in their socio-economic status. Eighty-eight percent of the students are
Caucasian and ten percent are Hispanic. In addition, the population of native Spanish-
speaking English language learners has grown steadily for the last five years.
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I conducted this project with two high school ELL reading and writing classes,
each of which included seven to nine students spanning grades nine through twelve.
Students in the first class were considered “intermediate” in their English level, while
students in the second class were advanced and would ideally be ready to join
mainstream English classes after the successful completion of the course. I worked with
these students every day for a block class (93 minutes). The intermediate class was a full
year course, whereas the advanced class met for one semester, beginning in January.
Procedure
Before beginning any interventions, I tallied and took notes on the number of
inappropriate comments I heard students make during class. For the purposes of this
study, “inappropriate” referred to comments that were directly or indirectly hurtful,
ignorant, or disrespectful to other students or groups of people (whether or not they were
present in the room). I tried to conduct the tally inconspicuously, so students did not
modify their behavior for me, and on random days over the course of several weeks to get
the most accurate average.
Just before the intervention phase began, I asked students to individually complete
a two-part written survey that assessed their attitudes and behavior on issues related to
tolerance (See Appendices A and B). Part one of the survey prompted students to agree
or disagree with a series of statements. The items on part one of the survey addressed
two different areas: students’ assessment of the school climate and students’ awareness of
the significance (positive or negative) of their own individual actions. Several issues
appeared twice on the survey, with both positive and negative phrasing to help determine
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the accuracy of responses. Since many of the students did not have a firm grasp of the
English language, I read this part of the survey out loud to them.
Part two of the survey assessed students’ feelings towards other groups of people
by prompting students to respond to a series of images. Students responded to the same
questions for each image to decrease confusion over the instructions. The questions on
part two were fairly open-ended (e.g. “How does this picture make you feel?”),
encouraging students to respond freely and personally.
Before students began reading the designated books, I taught important terms and
concepts related to tolerance. In order to emphasize that there are positive alternatives to
negative thoughts and behaviors, I presented the terms in opposing pairs (Table 1).
Table 1.
Opposing Pairs of Tolerance Indicators.
Prejudice - Tolerance
Discrimination - Equality
Hatred - Compassion
Apathy - Empathy
As a class, we defined each term using the Frayer model, a graphic organizer that
prompts students to write a definition, characteristics, examples, and non-examples.
Students kept these terms and definitions in their class folders, and as they read each
book they were expected to find and write about specific examples of the concepts.
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The Intermediate class read 2 books during the intervention (Ties That Bind, Ties
That Break by Lensey Namioka and Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes). Due to time
constraints, the Advanced class was only able to read one book (The Other Side of the
Sky by Farah Ahmedi). Students read the text in a variety of ways, including interactive
read-alouds (teacher reads to students), traditional “round robin” (students take turns
reading aloud), and silent reading. In addition, students participated in and completed a
series of introductory and extension activities (before and after the book), as well as
activities meant to increase comprehension during daily reading. The goal of all these
activities was: to give students opportunities to make connections to their own lives or
today’s world; to draw students’ attention to important scenes related to tolerance; and to
improve comprehension of difficult passages. Students also participated in short role-
playing activities that I adapted from a key scene from each book. During the role-play,
students took turns acting out scripted and unscripted responses. As a class, we discussed
the implications of certain responses and actions that emerged through the activity and
talked about their application to every day life. Throughout the course of the
intervention, I collected and analyzed a selection of student work, and also took notes on
poignant conversations and comments that happened during class.
After each class read and completed the corresponding activities for their books, I
collected post-intervention data. Once again, I tallied the number of inappropriate
comments I heard on selected days, and I re-administered part one of the survey students
completed pre-intervention. Last, I interviewed students individually to get a sense of
how they felt about the books and activities (Appendix C). I purposely selected four
students based on how willing and open they were about sharing on pre and post surveys.
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In the interviews, I also showed students their pre-intervention responses to part two of
the survey (images) and asked them to talk about whether or not they still felt the same
way about the images.
Table 2. Summary of Data Collection Techniques Data Sources
Sub-Topic 1: Will literature prove an effective method of teaching tolerance to students (Will they comprehend and retain information about tolerance)?
Student Work
Sub-Topic 2: To what extent will these lessons transfer to the reality of their daily lives?
Pre and Post-Behavior Tally
Pre and Post-Surveys
Student Interviews
RESULTS
While the results of this project focus on data, the fun part of it and that which
was most real to students was reading the books and completing supplementary activities.
Students from both classes dove into the books. We previewed the books with
anticipation guides and researched the countries where the books took place. Students
read silently, aloud, with a partner, and often listened to me read. We completed
character metaphor charts, graphed positive and negative emotions of the characters, and
found real world examples of the book’s themes. Students gave names to chapters, or
picked and justified the most important sentence from chapters. Sometimes, students
simply wrote summaries of chapters to keep track of important events. For each book,
students completed an in-depth final project. One class researched historical groups of
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refugees and wrote a first person narrative telling the story of a fictional refugee. These
are the activities not apparent in the data, but critically important to the results. These
activities also allowed literature to mean something to the students and influenced the
way they thought about it.
The Effectiveness of Literature in Teaching Tolerance
On the surface, the data I collected shows conflicting results on the extent to
which students comprehended and retained information about tolerance from the books
we read. A comparison of the students’ pre- and post-survey responses appeared highly
inconclusive. To understand the surveys fully, I divided the survey statements into
categories. The first category consisted of school climate statements (1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 12).
I decided that these statements would show students’ changing awareness of issues
related to tolerance, but could not on their own show how well students understood or
behaved in regard to tolerance. The second category of statements included what I called
“essential beliefs,” or those questions which indicated how well students understood
tolerance and the degree to which this understanding transferred into their own lives.
Table 2 shows the overall number of students who agreed and disagreed with each
statement before and after the intervention. Since the overall numbers could easily
obscure the changes of individual students, I also separately compared each student’s
responses on the essential belief statements from before and after the intervention (Table
3). For these items, I designated whether or not each student made “positive,”
“negative,” or no change. Although many students changed their responses, the overall
results seemed fairly stagnant. On essential belief statements four and six, more students
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showed positive change than negative. However, on statements five and ten, negative
changes outweighed positive. For essential belief statement eleven, an equal number of
students made positive and negative change.
Table 3.
Overall Before and After Survey Comparison.
Pre Post Statement
Agree Disagree Agree Disagree
1. I feel like people at this school respect me and my background.
14 (88%) 2 (12%) 12 (75%) 4 (25%)
2. I feel like people in this class respect who I am, and treat me that way.
11 (69%) 5 (31%) 12 (75%) 4 (25%)
3. It’s hard for me to be friends with people who don’t share my cultural background.
2 (12%) 14 (88%) 4 (25%) 12 (75%)
4. Teasing people, calling them names, or making fun of people is not a big deal and is fun to do sometimes.
8 (50%) 8 (50%) 6 (38%) 10 (62%)
5. Words can’t really hurt people. 4 (25%) 12 (75%) 7 (44%) 9 (56%)
6. In the last month, I have teased or made fun of another student.
11 (69%) 5 (31%) 9 (56%) 7 (44%)
7. In the last month, I have heard another student tease or make fun of someone at school.
13 (81%) 3 (19%) 15 (94%) 1 (6%)
8. There have been times in my life when I have been treated unfairly because I am different.
10 (62%) 6 (38%) 10 (62%) 6 (38%)
9. If someone made fun of me, it would hurt my feelings. 7 (44%) 9 (56%) 6 (38%) 10 (62%)
10. Making fun of people who don’t fit in is mean. 12 (75%) 4 (25%) 10 (62%) 6 (38%)
11. When it comes to making the world a better place, my choices and actions don’t matter that much.
6 (38%) 10 (62%) 6 (38%) 10 (62%)
12. Bullying is a problem at this school. 6 (38%) 10 (62%) 7 (44%) 9 (56%)
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Table 4.
Table Pre- to Post Individual Response Changes on “Essential Beliefs.”
Statement Positive Change Negative Change No Change 4. Teasing people, calling them names, or making fun of people is not a big deal and is fun to do sometimes.
2 (12 %) 0 14 (88%)
5. Words can’t really hurt people. 2 (12%) 5 (32%) 9 (56%) 6. In the last month, I have teased or made fun of another student.
3 (19%) 1 (6%) 12 (75%)
10. Making fun of people who don’t fit in is mean.
3 (19%) 5 (32%) 8 (50%)
11. When it comes to making the world a better place, my choices and actions don’t matter that much.
3 (19%) 3 (19%) 10 (62%)
Other data sources showed more promising results as to the effectiveness of
studying literature. After completing the post-intervention survey, I asked each student to
draw a picture representing the idea of tolerance. I gave no specific guidelines, but rather
wanted students’ instincts to guide their choices. Four students were unable to complete
the task. Table 5 shows the themes that emerged in the remaining 12 drawings. The
drawings suggest that students did have at least a basic understanding of tolerance. Most
drawings incorporated some form of physical, cultural, or ideological diversity. Only the
picture showing a clock did not have a connection to tolerance that was immediately
apparent. After questioning, however, the student explained that he was trying to
communicate the idea of patience. The fact that there was no class consensus on a
representation of tolerance shows how broad a concept it really is and further points to
the difficulty or impossibility of achieving an in-depth understanding of it in such a short-
term project.
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Table 5.
Themes in Pictorial Representations of Tolerance.
Symbols: People:
Heart- 1
Flags-1
Clock-1
Different cultures shown together- 1
Varying appearances shown together-2
Different races shown together-4
Conflicting attitudes-1
Different religions shown together-1
Extent to Which Lessons from Literature Transfer to Real Life
As I found while investigating the effectiveness of literature, there was also a
discrepancy between the quantitative and qualitative data relating to my second sub-
question. Initially, I was discouraged, as I recorded no noticeable change in the number
of inappropriate classroom behaviors tallied before and after the intervention phase. I
tallied the number of inappropriate behaviors on three random days before intervention,
and on three days after the intervention. Each time, the “tally days” were spread out over
the course of several weeks. One class had an average of 5 inappropriate remarks a day,
while the other class averaged 3. This average remained the same before and after the
intervention. Although it is possible that the degree of the behaviors lessened, the
quantity certainly did not.
At this point in my research I was feeling somewhat defeated and found myself
questioning the value of my project. Luckily, the four student interviews I conducted
soon gave me a sense of perspective. I selected two students from each class based on
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their willingness to talk to me and their class history of thoughtful, honest responses. I
also selected these four particular students because their survey responses had been quite
varied, and in some cases, surprising.
All students agreed that they liked the books they read. One student responded, “I
liked the book about China because it showed a different culture. It was something I
didn’t know.” Another student enjoyed a book about a girl from Afghanistan because the
character faced struggles yet still overcame them. When questioned whether they learned
anything about life from the books, all four students once again agreed for varying
reasons. Several students’ responses showed an increased level of empathy towards the
suffering of others. For example, a student said she learned how difficult life was for
Chinese women during the time of foot binding. Another student said, “I learned about
life in Afghanistan-- how they live, the culture, the women and headscarves, and how
they had to struggle to come here.” The other students’ insights focused on life lessons:
“when you face a struggle, don’t give up” and “hard decisions can make life turn out [for
the best].”
Students also agreed that a book has the ability to make someone change as a
person. They believed this could happen by (1) changing a person’s opinion on
something, (2) giving personal advice to people who can relate to the book, or (3) by
encouraging people to “value [their] own luck” in life. Three of the students did not feel
they personally had undergone any of these life-changing experiences through the books
we read. One student, however, said the book prompted him to cherish his mother more
and feel content with what he has.
In the final section of the interviews, I showed students their pre-intervention
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responses to the pictures from Part B of the survey and asked them to comment on their
original reactions. The pictures showed the following: a gay pride symbol, a man in
traditional Muslim dress, an African American teenager, and a female Asian student. I
had anticipated (correctly) that many students would respond by labeling the pictures
with stereotypes. For example, some called the Muslim man a “terrorist,” the African
American a “gangster,” and the Asian girl a “nerd.” The first two students I interviewed
said they still agreed with their original responses to the pictures, but it is important to
note that their initial responses were remarkably nonjudgmental and identified no harmful
stereotypes. A third student also said her responses did not change. This student upheld
her original comment that the Muslim man is “not trustworthy” and for religious reasons,
a gay symbol “is not something to be proud of.”
The fourth student expressed the most dramatic departure from his pre-
intervention responses. On the gay pride symbol, the student had first written that it
made him “feel weird,” however in the interview, he said he “respect[s] their choice.”
Picture two of the Muslim man proved the most evocative for this student. He had
initially said that the man was a “terrorist” who “tried to kill me because he looks the
same as a terrorist [who attacked] New York.” When I asked the student about this in the
interview, he said he realized now that the man’s clothing is “just tradition” and that it is
“normal, just different.” In the interview, this student also expressed change in attitude
towards the third picture of the African American youth. He had said at first that the
person was a “gangster” or “a rapper” whom he pitied because he couldn’t get out of the
“bad life.” When asked about this picture in the interview, the student said that this
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person “could be nice” and that he had learned to judge people by their actions and not by
their appearances.
Approriateness of Data Sources
An initial glance at the quantitative results of this study appears to paint a
somewhat bleak picture. The survey comparison and behavior tally suggest that many
students did not grasp or act on essential principles of tolerance after the intervention.
However, it is also possible that quantitative data may be misleading when it comes to a
subject as elusive as tolerance.
During analysis of the surveys, several red flags garnered my suspicions on the
reliability of my quantitative data. One problem was the high number of individual
students who disagreed with statement 4, “Teasing people…is not a big deal and is fun to
do sometimes,” yet also disagreed with statement 11, “Making fun of people who don’t
fit in is mean.” I had designed these two statements to cross check one another, and
thought that a student who genuinely disagreed with statement 4 would agree with
statement 11. The many students who gave the same response to both statements were
either confused by the wording, or interpreted them differently than I had intended.
Another problematic item was survey statement 5, “Words can’t really hurt
people,” on which a significant number of students made negative changes on their post-
surveys. I was puzzled as to why so many students would agree with this statement when
it was an issue I felt I had brought to light and discussed many times with my classes. I
wondered if perhaps students “over-personalized” this statement and in agreeing with it
were attempting to put on a strong face and say, “I won’t let words hurt me.” These
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problems suggest that the quantitative methods I used in this study are not on their own
accurate or conclusive enough to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. It might
also be difficult to capture accurate or clear quantitative data in such a short-term project.
Perhaps my own frustration with this quantitative data also sheds light on why I had
struggled to find conclusive quantitative studies as I explored existing research prior to
conducting this project.
DISCUSSION
Student interviews, along with observations of class activities and student work
showed many favorable results of the project. This data, along with the pictures students
drew, showed that at the conclusion of the study, students did have at least a basic
understanding of what tolerance can mean. It is more difficult to measure and pinpoint
whether or not students were able to apply what they learned to their daily interactions.
The sad truth is that inappropriate behaviors continued throughout and after the
intervention. But this does not necessarily mean that it didn’t work or that students didn’t
learn. When a negative comment or behavior surfaced during the intervention, I didn’t
take it as evidence of failure, but rather saw these things as opportunities for growth.
When a student commented, “Chinese people are weird,” it gave focus to our book
discussions and gave me confidence that the book I had selected about China was a
necessary choice. Had this student not made his closed-minded comment at that time, it
may have lay dormant until he was far out of reach of my classroom’s influence. This
experience highlighted the critical importance of a teacher’s role in selecting books that
challenge students’ preexisting notions. The biggest opportunity for growth comes from
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reading about people who are, on the surface, different.
Even if we could agree upon a single definition of tolerance, there would still be
an endless number of situations to which one could apply it. The significance of this
became clear as I conducted the project with two different classes. Consider the
following question: why did students in one class show decreased stereotypical labeling
of Muslims, while students in the other did not? The obvious reason is that they read
different books, and indeed, one of those books was about a Muslim girl living in
Afghanistan. Tolerance is not such an overarching concept to students that once they
learn what it is, they can simply apply it to everything. In other words, I cannot expect
my students to stop labeling all Muslims as terrorists by reading a book about China. It
seems blatantly obvious when stated like that, but I think when I designed this project, I
had imagined that my students would be able to make those connections themselves, that
they would see that racism towards one group of people is no different than prejudice
towards another. This is perhaps another reason why my students’ continued
inappropriate language was not necessarily evidence of failure. The real proof of success
is that they stopped making negative comments about the people they read about. Future
research might assess student growth on issues of tolerance that are more closely aligned
with individual books.
What my students have taught me is that, at least initially, they need to learn
tolerance on a case-by-case basis. This means I need to teach by targeting the specific
issues that seem most urgent to a particular group of students. Furthermore, classroom
activities should emphasize the sort of broader connections that I ultimately want students
to make on their own. For example, the class that read a book about foot binding in
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China completed a final project that involved researching and comparing foot binding to
traditions from other cultures throughout history. The idea was not to demonize the
Chinese for this painful practice, but to consider why manipulating women’s bodies has
long been used as a worldwide symbol of status. When I suggested that foot binding
might bear some similarities to high heels, a student cried out in protest, “But high heels
don’t look bad!” Understanding registered on her face as this student suddenly realized
that bound feet also would not look bad if you had grown up in a culture where it was a
common tradition. The final project this student completed comparing high heels to foot
binding served as a guided practice in making connections between things
unquestioningly familiar and things distant and “strange.”
Success stories aside, this project also forced me to confront some unpleasant
truths. Students continued to behave inappropriately, and often made comments so
senseless I cringed. To make matters worse, students relentlessly used “gay” as the
ultimate insult and most laughable joke. Sometimes, preparing to face my class felt like
gearing up for battle. There was no sudden epiphany; no apologies; no repentance for
past wrongs. If someone had walked into my classroom at the beginning and end of the
project, I doubt they would have seen any difference. Throughout the last several
months, I have often thought about what makes teaching worth it, what keeps me heading
back into the fight day after day. It is not recognition, awards, thanks, or congratulations,
but rather moments so small you could easily miss them. So small, in fact, that it is
irrational that they can counterbalance such obvious failures. But just as these mere
moments keep me going, I wonder if a similar brief interaction, or flicker of a thought, is
ultimately the sort of thing that changes the life of a student. If my students carry with
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them even the faintest remembrance of tolerance, I hope that one day it will surface and
resonate in another setting. Perhaps my early ambition to eradicate injustice may have
been missing one key thing: patience.
This study as a whole confirmed my belief that literature is an effective tool for
teaching students about tolerance. It also showed that, when dealing with tolerance,
qualitative data often provides some of the richest information from students. The
question of the application of tolerance in students’ lives is one that needs further
investigation with narrow and specific goals. Over the course of the last few months, I
believe that my students did something atypical of most teenagers; they empathized.
Through this empathy, many of them achieved tolerance. No single book will reach
every student and no single book will address every issue. But any book also has the
chance to offer students more than just a few lessons on tolerance and that is the
opportunity to enjoy reading. The books students read in my class were undoubtedly a
rich medium for discovering lessons about tolerance and with any luck, throughout the
rest of their lives they’ll uncover a few more.
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REFERENCES
Bates, L. (2007). The play's the thing. Literary adaptations for children's theatre. International journal of early childhood, 39(2), 37-44. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from ERIC database. Bradshaw, C.P., Sawyer, A.L., & O’Brennan, L.M. (2007). Bullying and peer victimization at school: Perceptual differences between students and school staff. School Psychology Review, 36(3), 361-382. Retrieved February 15, 2009, from ERIC database. Campbell, E. (2007). More than words: what can stop the language that hurts? About Campus 11(6), 19-21. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from ERIC database. Caporino, G., & Rudnitski, R. (1999). Pedagogical guidelines. In Danks, C., & Rabinsky, L. (Eds.), Teaching for a tolerant world, grades 9-12. Essays and resources (4-8). Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English.
Christensen, Linda. (2000). Reading, writing, and rising up: Teaching about social justice and the power of the written word. Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools.
Danks, C., & Rabinsky, L. (Eds.). (1999). Teaching for a tolerant world, grades 9-12. Essays and resources. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English. Demircioglu, I. (2008). Using historical stories to each tolerance: the experiences of turkish eighth-grade students. The Social Studies, May/June, 105-110. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from ERIC database. Denizet-Lewis, B. (2009). Coming out in middle school. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved September 27, 2009, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/magazine/27out- t.html?pagewanted=1&emc=eta1. Howard Community Coll., C. (1999, January 1). Preparing Students as Global Citizens. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED449872) Retrieved September 29, 2009, from ERIC database. Kids Health for Parents. (2007). Teaching your child tolerance. Retrieved September 27, 2009, from http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/tolerance.html. Morgan, H. (2008/2009). Teaching tolerance and reaching diverse students through the use of children's books. Childhood Education, 85(2). Retrieved September 21, 2009, from ERIC database.
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Nafisi, Azar. (2004). Reading Lolita in Tehran. New York: Random House. San Antonio, D.M. & Salzfass, E. (2007). How we treat one another in school. Educational Leadership, May, 32-38. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from ERIC database. Wan, G. (2006). Teaching diversity and tolerance in the classroom: a thematic storybook approach. Education, 127(1), 140-154. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from ERIC database.
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APPENDIX A: Pre and Post Survey, Part A
1. I feel like people at this school respect me and my background.
Agree or Disagree
2. I feel like people in this class respect who I am, and treat me that way.
Agree or Disagree
3. It’s hard for me to be friends with people who don’t share my cultural background.
Agree or Disagree
4. Teasing people, calling them names, or making fun of people is not a big deal and is fun to do sometimes.
Agree or disagree
5. Words can’t really hurt people.
Agree or Disagree
6. In the last month, I have teased or made fun of another student.
Agree or Disagree
7. In the last month, I have heard another student tease or make fun of someone at school.
Agree or Disagree
8. There have been times in my life when I have been treated unfairly because I am different.
Agree or Disagree
9. If someone made fun of me, it would hurt my feelings.
Agree or Disagree
10. Making fun of people who don’t fit in is mean.
Agree or Disagree
11. When it comes to making the world a better place, my choices and actions don’t matter that much.
Agree or Disagree
12. Bullying is a problem at this school.
Agree or Disagree
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APPENDIX B: Pre Survey, Part B
source: http://www.gettysburgflag.com/images/PrideRainbowTriangleLogo.jpg 1. What does this picture make you feel (write whatever words come to mind)?
Why do you feel that way (write one sentence)?
2. If you saw someone with this, what type of person do you think he/she would be (write words)?
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Source: http://www.csupomona.edu/~plin/turbans/turban2.html 1. What does this picture make you feel (write whatever words come to mind)?
Why do you feel that way (write one sentence)?
2. If you met this person, what type of person do you think he would be (write words)?
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Source: http://www.menshairstylesonline.com/Hair/Short-Mens-Hairstyles/cornrows-hairstyle.jpg 1. What does this picture make you feel (write whatever words come to mind)?
Why do you feel that way (write one sentence)?
2. If you met this person, what type of person do you think he would be (write words)?
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Source: http://www.natcom.org/index.asp?bid=10915 1. What does this picture make you feel (write whatever words come to mind)?
Why do you feel that way (write one sentence)?
2. If you met this person, what type of person do you think she would be (write words)?
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APPENDIX C: Post-Intervention Interview Format
Before the interview, the teacher will prompt all students in the class to individually draw an image/picture that they think represents or shows tolerance in some way (see questions 5-7). 1. Did you like the books we read? If yes: What did you like about them? If no: Why didn’t you like them? 2. Do you think you learned anything about life from the books?
If so, what? 3. Do you think a book could make someone change as a person?
If so, how? 4. Do you think you have changed at all from reading and talking about these books?
In what way? For questions 5-7, refer to the drawing the student made. 5. What did you draw/Can you explain your picture to me/What is happening in your picture? 6. Why did you decide to draw that? 7. How do you think your picture represents “tolerance”? For question 8, refer to Part B of the student’s pre-intervention survey responses. 8. (show pictures) This is how you responded to the pictures before we read the books. Do you still agree with everything you wrote?
Why do you still agree/Why do you think you changed your mind?
