Climbing the Stairs: Innovative Approaches to Teaching Adolescent Literature

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Climbing the StairsInnovative Approaches to
Teaching Adolescent Literature

• Diane Kern
• University of Rhode Island, School of Education
• Kathryn Lee Johnson
• University of Rhode Island, School of Education
• Padma Venkatraman
• Author, Penguin Books

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Secondary English Language Arts Methods Seminar,
Fall 2008

• CollaborationCo-construct
• Diane Kern, secondary methods instructor
• Kay Johnson, nonviolence trainer
• Padma Venkatraman, author
• Pre-service teachers
• Cooperating teachers
• Larger professional community (NCTE today!)

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Dianes Wikispace
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Have you ever stood up for something you believed
in? Describe. Do you think you handled this
situation violently or nonviolently? Why?
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The Protest March
Image from the National Archives
Visualize or Make Connections
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Climbing the StairsThe Protest March

• Life knowledge Have you ever stood up for
  something you believed in? Describe.
• Literal What was the main event in this chapter?
  How do you know? Cite the text at least 2
  times.
• Text implicit How did Appa feel once he knew the
  protest march was coming this way and he had
  Vidya in the car with him?
• Literature connection Do the events of The
  Protest March chapter remind you of events in
  other print or nonprint texts?
• Application to new context Why do people choose
  to respond to violence with nonviolence? Would
  you if you were Appa?

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Literature Circles Roles by Liz Ferguson, RI
Middle SchoolTeacher MA candidate

• Sensory Image Makermakes and then draws or
  describes what you see when you read the text
• Connectormakes text to self, text to text
  or text to world connections
• Questionermakes questions for discussion and
  leads the literature circle discussion
• Inference Makerfinds passages in the text that
  require you to read between the lines
• Importance Determiner/Synthesizeridentifies key
  story elements (narrative) or key facts
  (informational) and then closes the discussion
  with a synthesis of what was learned

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Fish Bowl

• Group discussion
• Signal one group as the fish bowl
• Others gather around
• Observers listen, comment summarize
• Empty chair variation

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Julia Ward Howe Boston Authors Club Award Bank
Street College of Education Best Book ALA/YALSA
Best Books for Young Adults Booklist 2008 Best
Books of the Year 2009 New York Public Library
Books for Teen Age 2009 CCBC choice NCSS/CBC
Notable SS Trade Book 2009 Capitol  Choice,
2009 CLN Top 25 07-08 ALA/Amelia Bloomer 2009
Book Starred Review, Booklist Starred
Review, Publishers Weekly Starred Review, VOYA
Booksense Notable Shortlisted for RARI, Utah
State, Maine State Booklinks Best New Books
Publishers Weekly Flying Start
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Author in the ELA Methods Class

• Author study as a starting point
• Building background knowledge
• Using Climbing the Stairs to teach theme
• Using Climbing the Stairs to explore multiple
  perspectives and spur discussion on topics
  relevant in todays classrooms

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Writing Climbing the Stairs

• Albus Dumbledore at Harry Potter-esque
• school in England
• Dealt with issues of violence (overt and
• subtle e.g. forming caste-like cliques)

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Questions of Current Relevance

• What, if anything, does nonviolence mean in my
  life?
• When, if ever, should a person or a nation act
  violently?

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Larger Issues of Violence and Peace

• Thinking of becoming a United States citizen
• What do I feel about the wars our country has
  been and is involved in?
• Same questions asked in another context by my
  family

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INDIA,1941 A TIME OF TURMOIL AN ERA OF
CONTRAST
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Mahatma GandhiEmbodiment of Peace
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Adolf Hitler
Personification of Violence
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India fighting nonviolently for independence
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A world engaged in war
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Well known Gandhijis Ahimsa Movement Worlds
1st successful nationwide nonviolent freedom
struggle
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Largest all-volunteer force in WWIIfrom Indian
subcontinent
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Indians fighting with allies for the freedom of
the world, but not free themselves (subjugated by
Britain)
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- Fight nonviolently for Indian freedom? -
Voluntarily enlist?
Families torn apart by political tension
What would you have chosen to do?
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Character born out of my question

• Narrators brother, Kitta
• Struggles most directly
• with nonviolence vs.
• violence

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VOICE When I began writing, I heard the voice
of a woman

• IMAGE
• A teenage girl standing at the foot of the
  stairs
• Afraid to climb to the forbidden library
• She would take a risk climb those stairs
• Girl was my mother

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THEMES Vidyas voice spoke about . . .

• Gender equality
• Nonviolence
• Hindu philosophy/spirituality
• vs. oppressive Indian societal customs
• 4. WWII - Indian perspective
• 5. The universality of human experience
• through literature, books
• 6. Social justice (caste), guilt and more

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Nonviolence

• Nonviolence an active force for social change and
  in daily life
• Violence at various levels
• overt and subtle political and personal
• Appas imperfections a silent bystander at
  Thathas home, although a hero during protest
  march
• Every character struggles with ideal of
  nonviolence

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Layering of Nonviolence Theme

1. Hitler vs. Gandhiji
2. Holocaust vs. WWII
3. Colonial oppression vs nonviolent independent
   movement
4. Indian society (caste) vs. ahimsa
5. Gender inequality within a caste vs. Hindu idea
   of equality
6. Family hierarchy among women vs. religious ideals
   of nonviolence
7. Individual conflicts of violence vs. nonviolence
   personal struggles, choices and debates

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Hindu Philosophy and Spirituality

• Vidya grows in her understanding of the
• inner realities of Hinduism
• Vidya learns to distinguish between
• philosophical underpinnings of a religion
• and unjust societal traditions (a divide
• that exists in every religion/society)
• Appa vs. Periappa extremes of thought
• within cultures and within families
• Appas liberal and egalitarian ideals
• are as firmly rooted in Hinduism and
• Indian-ness as Periappas
• conservatism

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Universality of Human Experience, Ideals

• Through books and exposure to Indian and Western
  literature, Vidya understands the fundamental
  similarities between cultures
• Similar ideas and feelings expressed by Indian
  and non-Indian authors
• Nonviolence connection USA/India (Civil Rights
  -Gandhiji)

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Multiple Perspectives on Nonviolence

• STRENGTH OF CHARACTERS
• Kitta Vidya - both equally strong
• Kitta and Vidya agree to disagree
• leave the violence vs. ahimsa question
  open-ended
• Neither person/path wins
• though Vidya (and her father) believe in
  nonviolence
• a part of Appa was still alive sacrifices
  body not soul

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My Hopes
More than a story about a young woman growing up
long ago and far away Richness of themes has
current relevance to adolescents The nonviolence
thread that is woven into Climbing the Stairs may
also be intertwined into the fabric of your
teaching
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Infusing Nonviolence into the English Curriculum

• An Introduction to
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• the Nonviolence Movement in America
• by
• Kathryn Lee Johnson
• School of Education - URI

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The Dreamer

• Intelligence plus character - that is the
  goal of true education.

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• Everybody can be great.
  Because anybody can serve. You only
  need a heart full of grace and a soul generated
  by love.

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• Love is the only force
  capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

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• Forgiveness is not an occasional act
  
• it is a permanent attitude.

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Influenced by Gandhi
You must be the change you want to see in
the world. - Gandhi
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Segregation
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Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Dr. Kings 1st Campaign, 1955
• Proof of effectiveness of nonviolence

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Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.
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• "The strong person is the one who can stand up
  for his rights and not hit back."

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• Keep your eyes on the prize,
• Hold on, hold on

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TV Showed the Country

• Powerful Images
• Brutality Suffering
• Passive Resistance
• Won Public Support

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Birmingham Jail
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March on Washington1963

• I Have a Dream

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Nobel Peace Prize1964

• True peace is not merely the
  absence of tension
  it is the presence of justice.

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Landmark Legislation

• Civil Rights Act 64
• Voting Rights Act 65

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Worked for Civil Rights

• The ultimate measure of a man is
  not where he stands in moments
  of comfort and convenience, but where he
  stands at times of challenge and controversy.

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Worked for Better Living Conditions (Chicago
Campaign, 1966)

• Economic Equality
• Housing
• Jobs

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Worked to Bring Peace in Vietnam

• The war in Vietnam must be stopped.
• (1966)

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Worked to End Poverty
1967 Poor Peoples Campaign

• As long as there is poverty in the world I can
  never be rich, even if I have a billion dollars.

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• Deep in my heart, I do believe,
  
• We shall overcome
  some day.

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What is Violence Nonviolence?

• Violence
• Nonviolence

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Nonviolence

• Why Teach Nonviolence in the classroom?
• Violence in Families
• Violence in Schools
• Violence in Communities
• Violence in the World

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Family - Child Abuse

• A child is abused every 11 seconds.
• 800,000 children per year were victims of child
  abuse nationwide (reported).
• By age 18, over 200,000 acts of violence have
  been seen on TV (excluding news video games)

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School - Bullying Harassment

• In the average classroom, 3 students are victims
  or bullies
• 3/4 of all students report having been bullied
• 1/3 of victims have plans for retaliation

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Communities - Homicide

• Second leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds
• Most with handguns
• Leading cause of death for African-Americans.

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Text-to-Self Connection

• Write about a personal experience related to
  violence or nonviolence.

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Principles of Kingian Nonviolence

• Courageous Way of Life
• Beloved Community
• Attack Problems, NOT People
• Suffer without Retaliation
• Avoid Internal External Violence
• Universe is on the Side of Justice

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Explore the Principles

• Discuss 1 principle with your group
• Write in your words what this principle could
  mean to middle/high school students
• Give a personal example of this principle

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Connect a Principle to Text

• Select a passage from Climbing the Stairs
• Connect it to one of Kings Six Principles of
  Nonviolence

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Be Part of the Legacy
Nonviolence