Before Readings: Insider/Outsider debate

In order to get an accurate depiction of the culture, race, disability etc., I think that it is important for an insider to write books based on their experiences. Many of the articles last week talked about different stereotypes that were found in books about Native Americans. I feel that these stereotypes could be avoided if people from that cultural background wrote about these books rather than an outsider. This is a very controversial subject and I am wondering if my mind will change at all after I read the articles. I personally trust books more that are written from the insider perspective because these people have actually been exposed to what they are writing about. They have experienced some of the things that they are writing about first hand. It just does not seem as credible if an outsider were to write about a culture that was not apart of them. If an outsider does write a book about another culture other than their own, I think it is important for the author to expose themselves to that culture and use people from that culture as their best resources for writing the book. It seems that an insider would do the best job avoiding stereotypes and these books would not be offensive.

Link to TE 448

http://msute448fs07.blogspot.com/

First Post

My name is Tara Tandon and I am a Post-Bachelor student in the Elementary Education program with a focus on Language Arts. I currently have a Bachelor's degree in Social Work but decided to return to MSU after only a year of being out in the real world. After doing my internship for Social Work, I realized that I loved being surrounded by kids in the classroom setting. Although I was not thrilled about going back to school, I know that teaching is what I am meant to do. I am interested in diverse literature because I love celebrating culture. I am half Indian, (not Native American), and I have always been intrigued by my culture. I think that it is so important for individuals to embrace their differences and teach others about diversity as well. I also find it important for teachers to incorporate diverse literature into the classroom as much as possible. There was very little diverse literature at my Elementary school and this was very disappointing. Some of the questions that I hope to address in this class are how to choose age appropriate books and how to avoid books containing stereotypes when looking at diverse literature. I really enjoyed TE 348 and I hope to further my knowledge about diverse literature throughout this class.