National Council of Teachers of English

Review: Looking beyond Self: Striving for Peace

Author(s): Connie S. Zitlow
Review by: Connie S. Zitlow
Source: The English Journal, Vol. 94, No. 3 (Jan., 2005), pp. 93-94
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30046429
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ConnieS. Zitlow,Editor
OhioWesleyanUniversity
cszitlow@owu.edu
ExploringOur
Shared Humanity
Why do we include multicultural
literature in our classrooms?Many
of us want students to see them-
selves represented in what they
read. We also hope all students
begin to understandcultures unfa-
miliar to them as they learn what
we share as humans. We believe
that developing sensitivity to what
we read and see can heighten our
awareness of the feelings, experi-
ences, and rights of other people.
We hope the approacheswe choose
can contribute to a more civil,
peaceful, nonviolent world where
students appreciatethe literatureof
differentcultures and racesbecause
it is literature, not a token repre-
sentation, and we hope that they
begin to feel empathy, not dislike,
for those seen as others,whether na-
tive, nonnative, or dialect speakers.
Therearechallengesto exploring
our shared humanity in the class-
room and to addressing students'
resistanceto engaging with multi-
culturalliterature.Yet therearealso
multiple possibilities for ways to
help students put a face on human
difference.VirginiaR. Monseauad-
vocates developing a curriculumof
peace; Bruce A. Goebel's guide to
readingNative Americanliterature
shows how we can expand what we
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Professional
Links
considerthe literatureof the Amer- guide them to explore peaceful ap-
icas;and BaronWormserand David proaches to conflict. In her intro-
Cappella integrate poetry into the duction to A Curriculumof Peace,
curriculum as a way to honor stu- Monseau reminds us, "military
dents as human beings and to help wars aren't the only kind of war on
them see the multiethnic nature of the minds of adolescents today"
democracy. (xiv). A driving force in her work is
her concern about the lack of re-
Lookingbeyond Self: spect and understanding many
young people have toward others.
Strivingfor Peace She takes a strong position and says
A Curriculumof Peace: that we as educators must make
Selected Essaysfrom more of an effort to teach students
in ways that help them develop an
EnglishJournal
VirginiaR. Monseau, Editor.Urbana: understanding and appreciation of
NCTE,2004. 224 pp. $33.95; $24.95 the diverse cultures of the world
NCTEmembers. ISBN0-8141-1006-1.
and learn ways to get along with
Who is the other,and what changes others. What is a teacher'srespon-
can occur in our classroomsand be- sibility in this time of terror,vio-
yond if we begin to appreciate,not lence, fear, and misunderstanding
fear, differences? The chapters in about those who differ from us?
this book, so thoughtfully com- Each essay in A Curriculumof Peace
piled and edited by Virginia R. provides multiple answers to this
Monseau, point to why it is im- question and includes practical
portant for students to read multi- classroom ideas for ways to help
cultural literature and how we can students cope with personal con-
flicts and the reality of war.
During her term as editor ofEn-
glishJournal, Monseau devoted the
I May 2000 EJ to the theme "A Cur-
riculum of Peace."The majority of
the chapters in this book were first
published in that journal. Selected
pieces from other issues of EJ,
ranging from February 1974 to
November 2003, are also included
in this important new book. Writ-
ten by classroom teachers, the
English Journal Vol. 94, No. 3 January2005 93
 Exploring Our Shared Humanity

essays focus on ways educators can dents who are part of the continu- her students the opportunity to
teach for peace with the goal of ing refugee experience (6). Because view the war from the perspective
promoting "understanding of the Vietnam War was the defining of their countries of origin. Jack
others in relation to ourselves in di- experience of many people of their Huhtala and Elaine B. Coughlin
verse realms of life" (xv). The orga- parents' generation (9), young guided their tenth-grade English
nization of the book is one of the people find that adolescent litera- and government classes in "group
many features that teacherswill ap- ture focusing on the Vietnam War investigation" as they explored
preciate. The twenty chapters are has tremendous appeal. In it they ways peace might be achieved in
divided into three sections: "Peace read about teenagers like them- the Middle East (63-70).
and War," "Peace and the Arts," selves who need to understand the G. Lynn Nelson's words that
and "Peace and Our Schools." In past, their parents, and themselves open the section "Peace and the
the table of contents, Monseau has (10-11). Arts" illustrate the power and
written a brief summary of each emotion of his award-winning
chapter. Thus, teachers can readily In the table of contents, essay "Warriors with Words: To-
find ideas that fit a variety of units Monseau has written a brief ward a Post-Columbine Writing
and individual lessons. summary of each chapter. Thus, Curriculum":
A quotation from Randal W. teachers can readily find ideas In ourschools, at large,we
as in society
Withers, whose essay appears in that fit a variety of units and rushtowardcomputers andtheInternet
the first section, "Peace and War,"
individual lessons. of theInformation Agewithopenarms,
sets the stage for what is to follow: as thoughtowardsalvation.Wedon't
If weignorecontemporary antiwarlit- The chapters on teaching about seemto understand thatweareleaving
eratureand its applicationsin today's the Vietnam War, Civil War, our hearts,ourhumanity,ourstories
classroomsimplybecausesuchworks World War II, and the Middle East furtherandfurtherbehind.Wedon't
havenotyet beenlabeled'classic,'then include literary works that are cer- seemtounderstand thatourstorieswill
weruntheriskofallowingstudentsto tainly part of America's literature, getpublished,onewayoranother.(71;
graduateintoadulthoodwithouthav- whether taught individually or as a italics in original)
ing heededimportantlessonsfromthe part of interdisciplinary work such
not-so-distantpast, of whichtheyare, as that described by Rita Bornstein. He points out that there is one
at leastpartially, ignorant.(1; ital- powerful place to addressthe source
These chapters areparticularlyuse- of violence in our schools and in our
ics in original)
ful for English language arts teach- culture.
He notes that "Arthur Apple- ers who coordinate topics with
bee's 1993 researchon the teaching those being studied in other con- It is just down the hall in the En-
of literature in the secondaryschool tent areas. Carolyn Lott and glish department.It is the writing
reveals that the classics still prevail Stephanie Wasta discovered that class .... Itleaching writing is
and little contemporary literature, the power of literature can add a teaching the use of language, and
our language greatly determines
especially antiwar literature, is new dimension to events such as how we see the world and how we
being taught" (xvii). Withers does the Civil War, and students learn act in the world. Languageis both
not advocate discarding the litera- the facts as they learn "thatlooking the sourceof much violencein our
ture of "older" wars but believes at different perspectives on an issue
society-and its potential cure.
"that teaching fiction that focuses can help them better understand (104-05)
on more recent wars will enable why people assume firm stances for
students to better understand the their beliefs" (14). Joan Ruddi- Along with Nelson's essay about
impact of war on a variety of social man's school population has in- the deep human need to tell our
issues-from American history, to cluded students who spoke story are two chapters that demon-
United States foreign policy, to fifty-two different languages and strate how the arts are a medium
their own way of life" (43). dialects, and she points out that the for expression and can work to help
Larry R. Johannessen reminds "beginnings of the blending of reduce covert violence. The ap-
us that the legacies of the Vietnam multicultural, interracial families proach taken by Nancy Gorrell in
War continue to haunt us (3), and began" as World War II GIs re- teaching about the Holocaust, as
our multicultural classrooms are turned home "with war brides from demonstrated in her excellent
filled with Southeast Asian stu- far-flung countries" (23). She gives chapter about teaching empathy

94 January 2005

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