A Brave New World:
Multicultural Literature in Secondary STEAM Classrooms
Resource Packet
Presented by
Yolanda Hood, Ph.D.
Ola Kalu, Doctoral Student
What is Critical Race Theory
●
CRT is a method or way of looking at race and social relations, particularly within the
United States, in a broader context than the traditional civil rights approach.
● Learning to look critically at relations is a key part of critical race theory. Examining
everyday interactions, and finding the racial component in them, can help move the racial
equality cause forward perhaps more than a sometimes simplistic "color blind" approach.
● Intersectionality, a part of CRT, looks at the multidimensionality of oppressions and
recognizes that race, sex, class, national origin and sexual orientation can also play a
significant factor with disempowerment.
What does it state about education?
●
CRT has been used as a framework which analyzes educational inequity and barriers for
minority students.
● In addition, CRT is used as a lens to examine the curriculum, instruction, assessment,
school funding, and desegregation.
What is CRT’s relation to literature?
●
Reading scores among African American, Hispanic, and American Indian fourth graders
significantly lag behind those of White and Asian American children. )
●
Studies have demonstrated that both reading achievement and reading motivation are
affected by the availability of literature that offers children “personal stories, a view of
their cultural surroundings, and insight on themselves” (Heflin and Barksdale-Ladd 2001,
810).
●
For children of color this means multicultural literature. With repeated exposure to
engaging literature in which children of color find characters and a context that they can
recognize and to which they can relate, reading is more likely be an appealing and
successful activity.
How can CRT improve your teaching?
● CRT demands that teachers infuse the teaching of race, class, gender and culture
throughout the program curriculum.
● The “infusion discourse” (Dixson & Dingus, 2007) assumes that every instructor
understands concepts of race, class and culture, and how they are manifested in students’
learning and teacher pedagogy.
● It assumes that teacher educators are not passing on deficit notions of CLD students and
students living in poverty that are often revealed in teacher education research.
● It assumes that teacher educators share a definition of multicultural education that moves
toward social critique and societal change.
Standards that can work effectively with CRT
● LAFS.910.RL.1.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and
refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. Cognitive
Complexity: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning
● LAFS.910.RL.2.6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a
work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world
literature. Cognitive Complexity: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning
● LAFS.910.RH.2.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a
text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of
history/social science. Cognitive Complexity: Level 2: Basic Application of Skills &
Concepts
● LAFS.910.RH.3.8 Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text
support the author’s claims.
Potential Questions that CRT raises
1) Is CRT too pessimistic?
2) Is CRT being held up to the new paradigm of civil rights thought to the standard of the old
one?
3) Is it problematic that most of the original crt theory was conceptualized by a small circle of
white scholars who cited one another and ignored the growing literature written by scholars of
color?
4) Are stories based on firsthand experiences irrefutable and if they are how other scholars can
build on or criticize them?
5) Is it a waste of time for the CRT movement which seeks social justice to focus on internal
issues of identity and relations of subgroups within in?
6) Is working within the system or outside it the best way to bring about change?
7) What is the significance of race in contemporary American society?
8) Where, in what ways, and to what ends does race appear in dominant American culture and
shape the ways we interact with one another?
9) What types of texts and other cultural artifacts reflect dominant culture’s perceptions of race?
10) How can scholars convey that racism is a concern that affects all members of society?
11) How does racism continue to function as a persistent force in American society?
12) How can we combat racism to ensure that all members of American society experience equal
representation and access to fundamental rights?
13) How can we accurately reflect the experiences of victims of racism?
*** Race can be substituted with any other form of intersectionality i.e., sex, class, national
origin and sexual orientation.
Professional Development Articles
Caldwell, M. (2012). Inquiry into identity: Teaching critical thinking through a study of
race, class, and gender: Students Learn Important Lessons about Themselves through the Critical
Exploration of Race, Class, and Gender.Middle School Journal, 43(4), 6-15.
Delgado, Richard and Jean Stefancic, eds.Critical Race Theory.The
Cutting Edge. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2013. Print.
Dixson, A. D., & Rousseau, C. K. (2006). Critical race theory in education: All God's
children got a song. Taylor & Francis.
Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate IV, W. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education.
The Teachers College Record, 97(1), 47-68.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1998). Just what is critical race theory and what's it doing in a nice
field like education?. International journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 7-24.
Tate, W. F. (1994). From inner city to ivory tower: Does my voice matter in the
academy? Urban Education, 29(3), 245-269.
Teacher Friendly Resources
Talking Race. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2016, from http://www.tolerance.org/talking-race
Why Are All the Teachers White? (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2016, from
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2015/04/28/why-are-all-the-teachers-white.html
Five-Minute Film Festival: Talking About Race and Stereotypes. (2015). Retrieved March 30,
2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-minute-film-festival-talking-about-race-andstereotypes
Uncomfortable Conversations: Talking About Race In The Classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved March
30, 2016, from http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/04/24/401214280/uncomfortableconversations-talking-about-race-in-the-classroom
Racial Equity Tools. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2016, from
http://www.racialequitytools.org/module/overview/racial-equity-learning-modules
How to Expel Hurtful Stereotypes from Classrooms across the Country. (n.d.). Retrieved March
30, 2016, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stereotype-interventions-expel-fromclassrooms-across-country/
Selected Books
A. Non-Fiction
Murphy, J. (2015). Breakthrough!: How Three People Saved" Blue Babies" and Changed
Medicine Forever. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Themes: Medicine, Scientific Process
Summary:The story of the Johns Hopkins University medical team that researched and solved the
problem (blue baby syndrome), culminating in the first successful
operation on a cr
Alfred Blalock had already made a
nam e for hi
pioneering
research
m self w ion
th hi
the
s causes and
treatment of shock, and pediatrician Helen Taussig was the worldwide expert on congenital
heart
problems, despite being a woman in a male-dominated field. The final member — and arguably the most
crucial one — was Vivien Thomas, Blalock’s African American lab assistant, who developed and refined
the surgical procedure.
Turner, P. S., & Comins, A. (2009). The frog scientist. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books -for
Children.
Themes: Nature, Environment, Scientific Process
Summary:As a boy in South Carolina, Tyrone Hayes loved to collect pond creatures, such as frogs,
turtles, and snakes. Now he’s a graduate of Harvard University and a professor at the University of
California, but he still likes frogs. Just as Tyrone began a serious study of frogs, scientists worldwide
became aware that Earth’s frogs were dying. Tyrone has spent years trying to determine why we are
losing frogs, focusing on the effect of pesticides on amphibians.
B. Fiction
Adichie, C. N. (2003). Purple hibiscus: A novel. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
Themes: Religion, Post-colonialism
Summary: Purple Hibiscus is set in postcolonial Nigeria, a country beset by political instability and
economic difficulties. The central character is Kambili Achike, aged fifteen for much of the period
covered by the book, a member of a wealthy family dominated by her devoutly Catholic father,
Eugene. Eugene is both a religious zealot and a violent figure in the Achike household, subjecting
his wife Beatrice, Kambili herself, and her brother Jaja to beatings and psychological cruelty. The
story is told through Kambili’s eyes and is essentially about the disintegration of her family unit and
her struggle to grow to maturity.
Farizan, S. (2013). If you could be mine: A novel. Algonquin Young Readers.
Themes: Gender, Sexuality
Summary: In Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by death, 17-year-olds Sahar and
Nasrin love each other in secret until Nasrin's parents announce their daughter's
arranged marriage and Sahar proposes a drastic solution.
Johnson, A. D. (2013). The summer prince. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books.
Themes: Destigmatizing Sexuality, Gender Roles
Summary: Takes place in Palmeres Tres, a far-future Brazilian city ruled by women,
where every five years a Summer King is elected to help rule for a year. Feted like a rock
star, at the end of the year the Summer King selects a new Queen and is killed to
guarantee his selection is incorruptible.
Johnson, A. D. (2014). Love is the drug. Arthur A. Levine Books.
Themes: I n t er n at i on al pol i t i cs, Bi ot er r or i sm , Substance Abuse, Young Adult
Summary: Em i l y Bir d (kn ow n pr ef er abl y as just “ Bi r d” ) i s an af f l uen t Af r i can - Am er i can
t een ager at t en di n g a pr est i gi ous pr i vat e sch ool i n Wash i n gt on , D.C. Sh e h as t h e per f ect
boyf r i en d, i s pl an n i n g on at t en di n g a pr est igi ous col l ege, an d ever yt h i n g seem s t o be
goi n g pr et t y i deal l y i n h er l i f e – except f or t he f act t h at t h e w or l d i s i n a st at e of cr i si s
due t o t he r api d spr ead of a t er r i f yi n g an d deadl y st r ai n of t he f l u, k n ow n as t he v- f l u.
Wh en Bir d at t en ds a par t y an d en ds up i n t he h ospi t al af t er bl ack i n g out , she st ar t s t o
quest i on ever yt h i n g she k n ew
Lester, J. (2005). Day of tears: A novel in dialogue. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
Themes: Slavery, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Summary: Day of Tear s i s a n ovel t ol d i n di al ogue f or m . I t i s t he st or y about sl aves, an d
t h ei r r el at i on sh i ps as w el l as t h eir con quest f or f r eedom . On e of t h e pr in ci pl e sl aves
n am es i s Em m a. Sh e devel ops a l ovi n g r el at i on sh i p w i t h t he l i t t l e gi r l s she ser ves,
Fr an ces an d Sar ah . Fr an ces i s just l i ke h er f at h er an d com pl et el y appr oves of ow n i n g
sl aves, an d Sar ah i s l i k e h er m ot h er an d doesn ' t l i ke ow n i n g sl aves.
Smith, S. L. (2013). Orleans. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
Themes: Post-Apocalypse, Dystopia, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult
Summary: Af t er H ur r i can e Kat r i n a r ipped t h r ough t h e Sout h , si x m or e H ur r i can es
f ol l ow ed, each m or e pow er f ul t h an t h e l ast . Hur r i can e Jesus h i t i n 2019 an d l ef t t h e
Sout h ch an ged ir r evocabl y. Not on l y di d i t com e bear in g deat h an d devast at i on but a
n ew si ck n ess as w el l : Del t a Fever . Ever yon e in t h e af f ect ed ar eas becam e i n f ect ed an d
Th e Bl ood Rul es w er e f or m ed. A n ew f or m of r aci sm gr ew f r om t h e si ck n ess as sk i n
col or n o l on ger m at t er ed, i t becam e al l about w h at bl ood t ype you w er e.
*Summaries used here are retrieved from Good Reads
Potential Themes for Classrooms
•Destigmatizing Sexuality & Dystopianism (Political Social Structure)
•Death & Disease & How It Impacts Culture
•Looking Back & Looking Forward
Supplementary Materials
Adichie, C.N., (2013, April 12). Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: We should all be feminists.
[Video file]. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWcl
Something the Lord made. 2004. Dir. Joseph Sargent. HBO Films.
Sample Lesson Plans
Objective:
1) Assess the cultural relevance of texts, individually and as a group.
2) identify texts with higher levels of cultural relevance.
3) Write process-based reviews of the texts, focusing on cultural relevance.
4) Present their reviews to the class
• LAFS.910.RL.2.6 Analyze a
particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of
literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world
literature. Cognitive Complexity: Level 3: Strategic Thinking & Complex
Reasoning
Activity
1: Destigmatizing Sexuality and Gender Roles
a. Can read an excerpt from book that demonstrates females in positions of political power
(non-traditional gender role) or that shows sexuality being normalized.
b. Supplement reading with a 5-minute clip of We Should All Be Feminists. Start Clip at
c. Then have students List several similarities and differences between the
expectations of each gender; 2) Recognize that a person's beliefs about roles
can influence his or her decisions; 3) Recognize sources of gender
Breakthrough: How Three People Saved “Blue Babies” and Changed Medicine Forever by Jim
Murphy
Standard: LAFS.910.RL.1.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by
specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. Cognitive Complexity: Level 3:
Strategic Thinking & Complex Reasoning
Objectives:
Students will recognize the scientific method as demonstrated in a literary work
Students will be able to describe how the scientific method is used in solving a real-life problem
Students will locate evidence of the intersectionalities of inequality between Blalock, Thomas,
and Taussig.
1. Read excerpts from Breakthrough
2. Have students discuss Thomas’ method of creating the surgical procedure for blue babies
3. Discuss the intersectionalities involved with the doctors and the recognition they received
for their work--why might Taussig’s contribution to the procedure have been downplayed by historians? Why didn’t Thomas receive recognition for a procedure he
developed and taught Blalock? What is the author’s point of view on this?
4. Have students find documents (newspaper clippings, etc.) as evidence of Thomas’
exclusion from the recognition/fame of the surgical procedure