Mirrors windows and sliding glass doors article

Any issues or questions arising from the content of this post should, therefore, be directed to the author and not EECERA. Visit the Write for Us page for more info. Over fifty years later, the points she raised remain pertinent. Why is it important to have diverse literature in the classroom? The scholar Rudine Sims Bishop writes that all children deserve books which act as mirrors , so they can see their lives reflected in the text, windows into other cultures outside their own and sliding glass doors so that they can walk between and explore these different worlds through literature. If a child is unable to see a character that looks like themselves in a book but the other children can, what effect will this have on their wellbeing? What message does this send about how they are valued in the classroom and the wider world?

Sign in with Facebook Sign in options. Join Goodreads. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books. Share this quote:.