This year marks the 50th anniversary of the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee’s work is so powerful and popular that it has never been out of print, selling more than 30 million copies.
To Kill a Mockingbird was not just a hit at the bookstore. It quickly became a staple in classrooms worldwide. The book is written from the vantage point of a woman remembering her 8-year-old self in 1930s Alabama. “Scout,” as she’s called, uses simple and compelling language. The story, set against the backdrop of a racially charged rape trial, moves along briskly.
Despite its popularity, To Kill A Mockingbird can be a minefield for teachers. Much of the book deals with the matter-of-fact racism of the Jim Crow South. The n-word crops up from time to time. The few black characters—universally deferential—are portrayed sympathetically. But they are viewed as distant, inexplicable strangers—just as an 8-year-old white girl would have seen them. And today’s students (as well as some teachers) do not comprehend the explosiveness of accusing a black man of raping a white woman in that time and place.
These and other issues make To Kill A Mockingbird at once a valuable tool and difficult challenge in the classroom. Teaching Tolerance’s Teaching Diverse Students Initiative (TDSi) has produced a case study [2] to help teachers with these problems. The case study is based on principles of culturally relevant pedagogy [3], an approach used to improve learning for students of diverse backgrounds.
The basic message of To Kill a Mockingbird is one of great tolerance. “You can never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view,” says Scout’s father, Atticus. That is what using cultural relevant pedagogy is all about—teachers walking in their students’ shoes.
Links:
[1] http://www.tolerance.org/author/sean-price
[2] http://www.tolerance.org/tdsi/culturally_relevant_premise
[3] http://www.tolerance.org/blog/introduction-culturally-relevant-pedagogy