Critical Fishbowl

I found our class today to be very insightful. I found the "fishbowl" discussion to be very eye-opening and very though provoking. Prior to the fishbowl discussion I had my own beliefs that some ages/grades may be too young to introduce such controversial issues as slavery, racism, and even socially constructed gender roles, and that these topics of discussion should wait until students are mature enough to handle and confront them. However, after hearing everyone's contributions, which were jam-packed with new ideas and beliefs resulting from Kuhlman's article on critical literacy, I think that the earlier these controversial and problematic issues are presented to children the more able they are to build their own background knowledge from which they can begin to construct their own beliefs on such topics. By presenting them at a younger age students are not only able to begin to form their own opinions, but they are also able to begin questioning their experiences and things that they see everyday that may relate to such issues; kids are intelligent, never underestimate what they absorb and what they observe on a day to day basis.

I think that it is important, though, to keep in mind that each and every piece of literature we set our eager eyes upon is strictly one person's perspective; one single point of view, which sometimes may be formulated from certain biases (as shown by Laura Ingalls Wilder in her "Little House" series). So, although I believe that a variety of literature should be presented to children at a young age, we must be sure, as it is our duty as responsible educators, to provide our students with a variety of perspectives telling multiple sides of the story and looking at these debateable issues from as many angles as literaturely possible.