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Using literature to model tolerance.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

There is an increased concern surrounding violence and a lack of tolerance found in some schools. In this article, we offer practical ways for teachers to integrate reading methods in and tolerance in their classrooms using recently published children's literature.

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A Context for our Concern

In the wake of the most recent outbreaks of violence in our schools and society at large, teachers, parents, students, and the community are desperately seeking answers to the question, "Why?". Sadly, it has become commonplace to regularly read headlines in the newspaper about school shootings, violence, cultural biases, bullying, and students making poor choices that negatively impact the lives of others. Researchers now believe that bullying in schools is more commonplace than originally thought (Ma, 2001). Some researchers suggest the number is as high as one out of every four children in classrooms engages in some form of bullying (Balter, 2000). As the lives of children and young adults are being scrutinized, one common thread seems to tie them together--many are fallen victims of some form of aggression, either at home or in school and feel disenfranchised from their peers (Balter, 2000).

Pellegrini and Bartini characterize bullying as "bigger and stronger youngsters' 'victimizing' their peers through the repeated use of negative actions, such as physical, verbal, or relational aggression" (2000, p. 700). Often students become victims, not because of physical characteristics, but because they lack social skills or have low self-esteem (Ma, 2001).

Now forced to grapple with two important questions concerning the well-being of students, teachers ask: 1) How do we equip students with the ability to maintain a sense of self-worth as they deal with cruel words and hurtful actions? and 2) How do we help students understand the strong impact of their negative words and actions? As advocates of students becoming effective communicators and for using the power of literature as a vehicle for such communication, we suggest the use of literature.

Understanding the Theory behind the Practice

Reader response theories vary, but may loosely be defined as "sharing a concern with how readers make meaning from their experience with the text" (Beach, 1993, p. 1). Beach describes various types of theories, but for the purpose of this article, we will focus on experiential, social, and cultural theories. Experiential reader response theorists stress the relationship between the reader and the reader's experiences with literature and how a reader might "identify with characters, visualize images, relate personal experiences with literature to the text, or construct the world of the text" (Beach, 1993, p. 8). Social reader response theories are influenced by the transaction between the reader and the text, whereas cultural theorists...