Teaching Tolerance: Building Bridges Through Books
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With instances of hate and violence consuming our media, can literature– even in the simplest of picture books– play a unique role in fostering empathy and understanding? For an afterschool youth program, a night class for individuals with disabilities, and a class of New Americans learning about the complexities of American history, the answer was a resounding yes! With support from the United We Stand: Connecting through Culture initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Connections adult literacy program used literature as a medium to foster cross-cultural understanding and empathy; deepen understanding of our state and national history; and shine a light on hate-based violence and the ways that bias, prejudice, and stereotypes impact our everyday lives.
Students participating in the Amiko Youth program at the Southern NH Center for New Americans (CNA) in Manchester get afterschool support with homework, making friends, and learning English. They are also having fun and growing into empowered young people. Generally, these students are the children of refugees and immigrants living in the city; many are first generation Americans themselves. For Jamie Pendleton, Associate Director at the CNA, she saw Connections and the books from the program’s United We Stand reading list as a way to not only fulfill the goals of the CNA, but also teach deeper and more important lessons to her students. She shared, “The benefit of the Connections books stretches beyond reading comprehension skills. It weaves social and emotional learning throughout the lessons and story themes. All students developed the value of respect because of these meaningful book discussions. It is a truly humbling yet inspiring experience for the children.”
In Salem, individuals with disabilities at the Nancy Carney Pathways for Extended Learning Program used a series of Connections books to better understand the history of voting rights in America. With limited options available for individuals with cognitive or intellectual disabilities after they leave public schools, Pathways and Connections provide valuable opportunities for them to practice social skills and create community through literature. Guiding each book discussion was music, from women’s suffragists songs to the popular civil rights song, “We Shall Overcome,” led by the guitar of Connections facilitator Carolyn Hutton, and continued long after the book discussions by students like Tom and Alicia (pictured at right). Through these songs, hands-on demonstrations with voting, and their books, Pathways students explored how women, African Americans, Native Americans, and individuals with disabilities secured the right to vote, and ultimately made their voices heard in our democracy. Students culminated their Connections book discussion with a letter to Governor Chris Sununu about the issues that were most important to them as engaged voters of New Hampshire.
Finally, adult English as Second Language students at Salem Continuing Education used the story of Jonathan Daniels, a Keene native and civil rights activist killed in 1965 while shielding a young African American girl from gunfire, to explore the ways in which bias, prejudice, and stereotypes have fueled historic examples of hate-based violence. Students grappled with questions from the text and from Daniel’s life including: Is it possible to have a world or country without violence? Are you brave? Can one person make a difference in the world? Does Jonathan Daniels’ story leave you with hope or despair? For Ayse, originally from Turkey, this Connections book and its discussion created ripple effects reaching far beyond learning English or American history, emerging as a way to educate her own children for the future. “We learned a lot from the book. We didn’t know some words. It’s good for our class to talk with our children. How can we explain this book if you don’t know the words? We need to teach kids history. They will learn in school. Parents are the most important in their life. I like to help my kids. This book will do that.”
To learn more, visit www.nhhumanities.com/Connections.
