EDEC 420: Child Development in the Family, School and Community 

Hunger of Memory

by Richard Rodriguez

  1. Share the excerpt that you brought to class: a passage that you found interesting and explain what it means to you.
  2. Rodriguez describes the conflict that he experienced between private and public identity. Is this a common conflict to all children?
  3. How did Richard Rodriguez’s perceptions of his parents change throughout his schooling? How did his feelings about his parents compare to the feelings that current-day youths have for their parents?
  4. In what ways did stereotypes about skin color shape Richard’s identity? What other stereotypes influenced his self-concept?
  5. What is Rodriquez’s stance on bilingual education and affirmative action? Do you agree or disagree with his beliefs?
  6. How can schools and communities support the educational success of immigrant and minority children?

True Notebooks by Mark Salzman

  1. Share the excerpt that you brought to class: a passage that you found interesting and explain what it means to you?
  2. How did the teen’s creative writing contribute to their development of identity and their outlook on their future?
  3. Mark Salzman didn’t think that he had the qualities required to be a teacher for incarcerated teens, but he was quite effective. What qualities of teaching and mentoring does Salzman bring into the writing workshops?
  4. What were some of the positive and negative attitudes and behaviors of the different adults who worked in the juvenile hall?
  5. What insights did you gain about the boys’ and girls’ perceptions of gender and race that emerged from the joint writing retreat?
  6. How did the family, school, and community fail the incarcerated youths? What suggestions do you have for ways that teens can be better supported in our society?

A Slant of Sun by Beth Kephart

  1. Share the excerpt that you brought to class: a passage that you found interesting and explain what it means to you.
  2. How did Jeremy’s participation in his preschool and kindergarten class impact him, his family, and the other children in his classroom?
  3. Beth frequently reflects on and evaluates her own parenting. How does her self-doubt compare to the anxieties of other parents?
  4. Despite the fact that Jeremy has unique qualities, how are his experiences of fitting in with his family, his schools, and his neighborhood shared by all children?
  5. Based on Jeremy's school experience, what were the qualities of the teachers who were able to effectively work with him and support his learning?
  6. How can our communities better prepare new parents for the parenting challenges that they will face?
  7. Based on Jeremy's school experience, what were the qualities of the teachers who were able to work with him and support his learning?

 

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

  1. Share the excerpt that you brought to class: a passage that you found interesting and explain what it means to you?
  2. How did poverty and homelessness impact the lives of Jeannette and her siblings? In what ways could the other adults in their lives (e.g. teachers, neighbors, extended family members) have supported the children more effectively?
  3. Rex Walls asks Jeannette, “Have I ever let you down?” Rose Mary Walls says, “Suffering when you’re young is good for you.” Examine Jeannette’s parents: what qualities and parenting practices did they use that had positive effects on her development and which others had negative effects on her development?
  4. What was Jeannette’s relationship to her siblings? How did the children help each other throughout their childhood and into adulthood? How do you and your siblings support one another?
  5. What did the glass castle represent for Jeannette? How did this image shape her outlook? How did your parents’ dreams and expectations influence your own choices and goals?
  6. Jeannette survived her childhood and was not victimized by her upbringing. What personal qualities and experiences contributed to her resiliency?
  7. In college, Jeannette was confronted by a professor regarding her views on homelessness. What was her perspective? Do you believe that homelessness is a choice?

 

Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen

  1. Share the excerpt that you brought to class: a passage that you found interesting and explain what it means to you?
  2. Bich describes the influence of popular culture on her sisters and her. How did food, advertising, television and music influence their assimilation and the formation of their cultural identity? How do children navigate the challenges of living in two (or in Bich’s life, three) different cultures?
  3. In what ways did the Vietnamese people in Grand Rapids create a viable and vibrant community? How did Bich remain connected to her Vietnamese identity? How did she separate herself from the community?
  4. Bich was an avid reader, saying, “I read to be alone. I read so as not to be alone.” But she also writes that she “didn’t have any non-white literature.” How did Bich’s reading influence her identity? Why is it important for children to read books that portray characters that look like them?
  5. Bich describes the school celebration of the Vietnamese holiday of Tet. Why was she uncomfortable with the celebration? How might a school better honor the cultural heritage of its students?
  6. How did the Bich’s family change from the time that she arrived in Grand Rapids to the end of her memoir? How is this similar to the changes that took place in your own family throughout your childhood and adolescence?

 

The Color of Water

  1. Share the excerpt that you brought to class: a passage that you found interesting, and explain what it means to you?
  2. What does James learn about himself through finding out about his mother's past? How has your knowledge - or lack thereof-about your family background shaped your own self-image?
  3. Why do you think Ruth's discipline was so harsh and stern? What aspects of her mothering did you like, which ones would you change?
  4. Prejudice is an undercurrent for most of the book.  What is it about prejudice that makes us behave in such ways? How have our society’s attitudes toward people of mixed heritage changed over generations?
  5. James' mother experienced three immigrations: from Poland to America; from Judaism to Christianity and from white to black.  How did these changes affect her values and her life? What does her life tell us about the challenges of immigrants and of drastic life changes?
  6. Faith plays an important part in Ruth's life. What impact did her faith have on her children? Do you think that faith is something that can be passed on from one generation to the next or do you think that faith that is instilled too strongly in children eventually causes them to turn away from it?

photo credits Wernher Krutein photovault.com

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