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This briefly goes over what my Padlet is about and why it can meet the AASL Learners Standards I selected.
(Forgive the audio; I had a shredded voice from allergies.)

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Topic- Finding Representative Perspectives for Research and Recreation. 

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Topic- Finding Representative Perspectives for Research and Recreation. 

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My target audience is high school students, or students between 9th grade to 12th grade. I'm focusing on these grade levels since they will continue to build awareness of cultural competence, begin to engage more in the research and writing process, and recognize the impact that diverse representation can have on themselves and on society at large.

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These AASL Learners Standard are what I will focus on, for they go hand in hand. Section IV in entitled "Curate." Standard IV.1 suggests learners should look for a variety of sources, and Standard IV.2 adds to this by having students find information with diverse viewpoints.

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"Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors" essay by Rudine Sims Bishop

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"Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors" essay by Rudine Sims Bishop

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This essay focuses on recreational reading. Its main takeaway concerns the role literature possesses in reflecting a reader's own experiences, or educating a reader on the diverse experiences of others.

(Note: This PDF copy makes it easier for students to read and highlight certain sections.)

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We Need Diverse Books is a nonprofit grassroots organization advocating for changes in the publishing industry and promoting children's/YA literature that accurately reflects the lives of young individuals. This list of diverse book resources is broken down by category (African American, Islam, etc.) and service (book awards, book box subscriptions, etc.).

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Diverse BookFinder | Identify & Explore Multicultural Picture Books (from https://diversebookfinder.org)

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This online tool is great for both students and educators to look up diverse children's/YA books. Although there is emphasis on children's picture books, there are also helpful articles for students to read about representation of various groups.

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Diverse BookFinder | Identify & Explore Multicultural Picture Books

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Are you looking for multicultural children’s books? We’ve got you covered! You can search our circulating collection of picture books (2002-present), explore our quick lists, then borrow our books from your own library through interlibrary loan. We believe that too many children are left out of main…

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This video shares the advantages of letting students choose their own books. AASL Standard IV.1 is accomplished here as students seek sources, and Standard IV.2 is fulfilled since these sources could contain diverse perspectives.

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This video specifically addresses on-screen representation (films, TV shows, online social media, etc.) and its impact on teenagers. However, this can also apply to literature authored by those belonging in underrepresented groups, or literature featuring characters in underrepresented or marginalized groups.

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Why on-screen representation matters, according to these teens

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Writing Videos for Kids: How to Evaluate Sources for Reliability (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1k8rcYUmbQ&t=26s)

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How to Evaluate Sources For Reliability, by Teaching Without Frills

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How to Evaluate Sources For Reliability, by Teaching Without Frills

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This video is about evaluating sources for reliability, going hand-in-hand with evaluating sources for relevance. Topics include author analysis, types of bias, purpose, and examples of commonly unreliable sources. AASL standards apply here as students look for a variety of sources, especially reliable sources with accurate representations.

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Writing Videos for Kids: How to Evaluate Sources for Reliability

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A list breaking down the acronym "ACT UP." This is to help students determine diverse sources. The "Note" features the citation and a link to the presentation. 

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Like CRAAP (currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose), ACT UP (author, currency, truth, unbiased, privilege) is a method of source evaluation. This is useful not only to determine the reliability and timeliness of a source, but also the origin and diversity of a source. In other words, ACT UP allows students to evaluate whether a source presents a different, diverse perspective from the norm.

(Note: I wasn't able to download the slideshow, so a screenshot of the acronym breakdown will have to suffice.)

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Writing Videos for Kids: How to Evaluate Sources for Relevance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9uWqJBd1N8)

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Evaluating Sources for Relevance, by Teaching Without Frills

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Evaluating Sources for Relevance, by Teaching Without Frills

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This video is about evaluating sources for relevance. Topics include primary and secondary sources, source evaluation questions, and strategies to determine relevance. AASL standards apply here as students look for a variety of sources, especially relevant sources with different viewpoints.

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How to Evaluate Sources for Relevance - Writing for Kids

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The Information Cycle: Popular and Scholarly Sources

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The Information Cycle: Popular and Scholarly Sources

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This video touches on the differences between popular sources and scholarly sources, both of which are used for school research projects. In addition, this video reviews over primary sources and secondary sources. Knowing how the information cycle works gives students a better understanding of the research process.

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Popular and Scholarly Sources: The Information Cycle

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Section 4 of Interculturalizing the Curriculum by Christina Page

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This analysis is best used for students to understand why diverse perspectives should be offered - to promote an inclusive student environment, to broaden student's knowledge regarding global engagement, and support student's development in integrating several perspectives. Information on choosing accessible course materials, analyzing the dominant perspective, and vocalizing the underrepresented perspectives are referenced as well.

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An interculturalized curriculum provides students with opportunities to explore their course and discipline through multiple lenses. Interculturalized curriculum content can include readings, case studies and simulations that explore different cultural perspectives. Content can also include experiential learning in intercultural contexts, and guests presentations from individuals that can offer their own cultural perspective on course content.

The process involves the following five considerations (adapted from Georgetown University Centre for New Designs and Scholarship)

Choosing course materials that offer a wide range of perspectives, created by individuals with a range of backgrounds and experiences.

Analyzing dominant perspectives within a discipline, placing them within their historical context.

Intentionally giving voice to a range of perspectives in class.

Ensuring that course materials are easily available to students.

Offering culturally diverse curriculum provides several benefits to students: (1) providing an environment of welcome and inclusion to students through representation; (2) broadening students' knowledge base to support global engagement; and (3) supporting students' development in integrating multiple perspectives.

Curricula that centre dominant culture perspectives, even when this is unintentional, can communicate messages of unbelonging. Sue and Spanierman (2020) refer to environmental macroaggressions, which take place when a minority group is misrepresented in ways that do not honour their culture, or when their cultures are not visibly present in the university environment. Conversely, when individuals see their cultural identities present and positively represented, they are more likely to experience cultural safety (Purdie-Vaughns et al., 2008).

In addition, part of the task of the intercultural classroom is providing space for students to learn to engage with diverse perspectives; this requires on going efforts to "engage multiple perspectives and ways of seeing" (Lee et al., 2017, p. 102). This not only develops students' intercultural skills, but helps them to develop the perspective-taking skills necessary to be able to respectfully interact with different points of view.

A key step to interculturalizing course content is to assess current representation in the course reading list and learning activities. Whose voices are currently present in the materials students access? Whose voices are missing? Where might it be possible to replace or augment current content with voices from different national contexts, and add contributions that represent different social identities?

In some disciplines, a barrier to interculturalization is the assumption that the course content is largely universal in scope, with little space for intercultural variation; this can be particularly true in scientific disciplines (Leask, 2015). In such disciplines, the imagine phase in Leask's (2015) internationalization process may require more careful attention and thought to identify what might be possible. Consider the following examples:

Meffe (2003), observing a lack of international representation in published conversation biology papers, observes that national borders are irrelevant when considering the significant environmental crises of our time, and therefore, consideration of the global context should be considered central to the field.

Clifford (2009) suggests that faculty in science disciplines, when pursuing internationalization, should consider not only the theoretical concepts in the field, but the challenges that students will encounter when they use their scientific knowledge in a global world. This expands the knowledge base to include ethical practice in different cultural contexts.

Chamany et al., (2008) propose integrating biological concepts with social issues. Their examples include a capstone course on "Math and Science in Context" that supports integrating scientific knowledge with global applications.

In summary, in some disciplines, particularly Arts and Humanities, interculturalizing the curriculum may be easily accomplished by modifying existing readings or learning activities to include a broader breadth of voices. In other disciplines, the interculturalization process may involve consideration of how content knowledge that is often more consistent across contexts may have ethical or social implications as it is applied in a variety of real-world situations.

Analysis of course content includes assessment of dominant disciplinary perspectives, including historical analysis of how knowledge comes to be constructed within a discipline. This includes consideration of threshold concepts in a discipline. Threshold concepts are foundational understandings, ways of thinking, and worldviews within a discipline, without which a learner cannot progress deeper into the field (Meyer & Land, 2006). Often, threshold concepts become "taken for granted" within a field, and are frequently unquestioned. Additionally, for experienced academics and practitioners with a discipline, these threshold concepts may become implicit to the point where awareness of their contextual specificity is lost (Middendorf & Shopkow, 2018).

For example, Chamany et al., (2008) identify evolutionary theory as a threshold concept in biology, noting its consistent inclusion as a foundational concept in a variety of courses. To explore the concept historically, contextually, and socially, they propose a unit teaching that history of evolutional theory as a way of critically exploring its development and current dominant status as a key idea within biology.

Once the threshold concepts and other disciplinary norms have been identified, it becomes possible to critically analyze the development of these ideas and their rise to dominance. From there, it may become easier to identify which voices are missing, and which alternative or complementary perspectives may be added to enrich students' learning.

Dominant disciplinary perspectives also arise through the ways in which disciplines are "siloed" from one another in many university contexts. Interdisciplinary thinking can foster additional opportunities to include diverse perspectives in the classroom. De la Garza (2021) proposes that interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to curriculum design are sites for integrating intercultural knowledge. This, as de la Garza highlights, can include Indigenous knowledges, which, because of their more holistic and integrated epistemologies, provide space to bring traditionally separate disciplines together for meaningful inquiry. Interdisciplinary work can be another tool in creating curricula that genuinely reflect multiple ways of seeing, knowing, and learning, giving genuine expression to the fact that a single topic can be explored through multiple lenses.

Clancy and Bauer (2018) highlight that students may feel hesitant to express a perspective they perceive as different from that of their peers; students also may lack the skills needed to challenge harmful perspectives about other cultures or social groups expressed in class. Making our own work as instructors transparent by modelling our own efforts to seek out diverse perspectives and grow interculturally supports our students in developing this capacity (Lee et al., 2017). In addition to integrating content from different perspectives, taking the time to give voice to different streams of knowledge and viewpoints, particularly those that are not dominant cultures, is important to helping students develop this same capacity.

Other strategies for giving voice to diverse perspectives in a course include:

Intentionally seeking your own opportunities to learn from those who give voice to underrepresented perspectives in your field (for example, through webinars and at professional conferences).

Integrating guest speakers (either live or through the use of well-selected videos) into class sessions.

"Filling in the gaps" where a particular cultural perspective may not be represented among your students. (Georgetown University Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, 2021)

A final consideration in selecting course content and learning resources is the availability of the resources to the students. In a study by Jhangiani and Jhangiani (2017), less than 20% of British Columbia students reported being unaffected by the cost of their course materials, while 54% reported declining to purchase at least one required textbook. The high cost of many commercial textbooks hinders students from accessing these materials, pushing them towards alternative strategies such as downloading internet copies, sharing textbooks, and relying on library copies. Possible outcomes of textbook inaccessibility include taking fewer courses, dropping a course, or receiving a poor grade; these negative outcomes are more likely to affect visible minority students and students who report working more hours to finance their education. Conversely, students who are assigned open textbooks perform as well or better on exams as students assigned commercial textbooks (Jhangiani et al., 2018).

In addition to their role in ensuring students have equitable access to course materials, the use of open textbooks provides a platform to incorporate diverse voices into students' learning materials. Open textbooks with Creative Commons licenses can be adapted and modified to meet the needs of a particular course; this offers the opportunity to expand typical foundational or dominant culture content with other perspectives. By integrating multiple perspectives within a core textbook, students experience a visible demonstration that understanding through multiple lenses is both normal and valuable.

In addition to core texts, course materials can be offered to students through the provisions of fair dealing (for example, a journal article or single book chapter can be provided to students for academic purposes in the learning management system). This can provide additional space for integrating additional perspectives in ways that are accessible to all learners.
Summary
Traditional course materials may reflect a single dominant perspective, and may leave out many voices that offer a richer perspective within the discipline. Interculturalizing the curriculum strengthens engagement of underrepresented students through improved representation, and improves the ability of all students to recognize and learn from multiple perspectives. Interculturalized content can be achieved through a number of strategies, including selecting readings, videos, and presenters that give voice to non-dominant perspectives, modelling ways of learning from multiple voices, and using open educational strategies to make content accessible to students.
References

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An interculturalized curriculum provides students with opportunities to explore their course and discipline through multiple lenses. Interculturalized curriculum content can include readings, case studies and simulations that explore different cultural perspectives. Content can also include experiential learning in intercultural contexts, and guests presentations from individuals that can offer their own cultural perspective on course content.

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Diversity Resources by CCBC University of Wisconsin - Madison

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Diversity Resources by CCBC University of Wisconsin - Madison

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Presented by the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this provides resources for content reviews and critical discourse, as well as for learning about social justice and cultural competence. This list of resources includes We Need Diverse Books (on this Padlet) but also features other relevant resources outside of this Padlet.

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Diverse literature belongs in every classroom and library-on the shelves and in the hands of children, librarians, and teachers. It is essential for Black, Indigenous and children of color, and it is essential for providing all children understanding of the world in which they live. The challenge for librarians, teachers and others is identifying authentic, reliable books.

Historically, the CCBC has documented the number of books it receives annually that are by and about Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Over the years, we've seen those numbers grow, but they still represents a small percentage of the overall number of books published for children and teenagers.

Beginning in 2018, we began documenting the content of every book we receive around other aspects of diversity and representation in children's and young adult literature as well, including LGBTQ+, disability, and religion.

This page provides links to CCBC diversity resources, and selected links to resources beyond the CCBC.

Content Reviews and Critical Thinking

A great deal of critical discourse about representation is taking place online, on blogs and social media. Below are selected links. Many of them include links to others doing similar work.

Resources for Teaching about Wisconsin First Nations

On Diverse Materials and Services in Libraries

On Cultural Competence and Cultural Humility in Librarianship

On Teaching and Social Justice

On Cultural Competence and Cultural Relevance in the Classroom

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All children deserve books in which they can see themselves and the world in which they live reflected. Diverse literature belongs in every classroom and library - on the shelves and in the hands of children, librarians, and teachers. The challenge for librarians, teachers and others is identifying authentic, reliable books.

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This resource guide serves to make others aware of literature featuring Black characters or concerning Black history and other relevant topics. Filters can be set to find young adult books, adult books, and more.

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This resource guide was created in direct response to the multiple requests made by educators, parents and students. Like Marley Dias, so many of you have asked for books with black girls as the main characters. And because of you, we have received thousands of books. Here we are sharing with you the first 700 book titles. We have not yet catalogued all the books. As a small organization with only two full-time staff, our resources are limited. Beginning in April, each month we will provide you with updates of new book titles.

This resource includes words of welcome from Marley Dias, Creator of the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign. It also includes comments from Dr. Lauren Wells, Chief Education Officer, City of Newark who offers us tips on how we can foster and promote reading and literacy among our children.

As the President and Co-Founder of GrassROOTS Community Foundation, I have added a few words and call to action to the guide. My charge to parents and caregivers is a simple one: listen to your children, encourage them as well as promote their reading and literacy skills. Reading is a pathway to freedom and liberty. As caregivers it is our responsibility to develop the imagination of children so that they can dream, create and structure opportunities for freedom and equity.

We have reviewed the titles and descriptions of books to ensure that they fit the criterion of having a black girl as the main characters. We have also catalogued the books by reading level. This time-consuming task would not be possible without your financial donation to hire some interim part-time staff. We could not do it without all of you who donated, our volunteers and the librarians from West Orange Public Library.

Each month we will update the list and continue to serve as an information repository for Black Girl Books.

If you know of a black girl book, not listed here, please send us a copy so we can add it to our collection. We would like to see this list grow. Our address is:

GrassROOTS Community Foundation
59 Main Street
Suite 323
West Orange, NJ 07052

Financial donations are always welcomed. All donations are tax-deductible.

Thank you.

Welcome to the #1000blackgirlbooks Resource Guide. I started this campaign because I wanted to read more books where black girls are the main characters. With your help we have collected over 11,000 books; many of them are have the same title, but we do have lots of unique ones as well. This guide includes 1000 of those books and more is coming.

Love,

Marley Dias
Founder
#1000BlackGirlBooks

Sadly, in today's society we often lack the imagination to deal with some of the most deeply rooted social issues. Family and work obligations as well as our biases can stunt our imaginations; however, as adults it is our charge to foster the imagination of our youth. Marley Dias has an active sociological imagination. She imagined a world where black girls are the main, not minor, characters in children's books. She thought she was dealing with a personal matter, but she quickly learned from the outpouring response from the public that her personal problem is in fact an engrained social issue. Children's literature in the United States and abroad is homogeneous and exclusionary. Black girls are underrepresented and in many cases missing. Girls of color are almost completely absent relative to the majority culture.

As caregivers of children we must nurture our children's imaginations and equip them with the resources so they can be emboldened to act. The GrassROOTS Community Foundation through Super Camp enhances girls' sociological imagination and teaches them confidence grounded in the knowledge of history and self-hood so that they feel confident enough to feel like they can create change in their communities. Each year GrassROOTS encourages girls to develop a social action project. We choose the words social and action carefully. We want our children to understand themselves as social actors, connected to the world. In addition, we teach our girls that to achieve justice they must ACT. The #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign is Marley's 2015 social action project. As Marley's mom and the President of GrassROOTS Community Foundation, I have learned first hand what can happen when we foster and promote children's love of reading, educate them about their community, and their desire to create social change as well as fan the flames of their sociological imaginations.

Dr. Janice Johnson Dias
President & Co-Founder
GrassROOTS Community Foundation
#investingirls

A love of reading is the most important legacy we can offer to our children and our students. Reading opens windows to new ideas, peoples, places, and experiences. Reading also provides mirrors for students to see themselves and their lives reflected in the characters they meet in books. Reading builds vocabulary and background knowledge, empowering children with the tools needed to express themselves and think about the world around them. Nurturing joyful reading in children primes their brains for lifelong learning and develops important social emotional skills like stamina, reflection, and empathy. As we build readers, we must make reading pleasurable and help children understand that reading is a skill that builds over time.

Here are a few tips for parents and educators to create environments that invite children to confidently embrace and fall in love with stories and books.

Tips for parents:

Model reading. Read, read, read to your child, with your child, or in front your child every day.

Immerse your child in books. Transform your entire home into a reading zone by placing books in every room.

Affirm your child's culture, language, and race by choosing books and stories with characters, places, and experiences that reflect their background.

Awaken your child to new ideas, places, people, or experiences in books and stories by asking them questions and always answering the question they have.

Empower your child by allowing them to choose books to read, whether based on what interests them or on book covers and titles.

Arm your child by always leaving home with books. When your child gets older ask them if they have a book before leaving for school, the doctor, or a long ride.

Cultivate your child's use of language and words. Talk with your child about what is happening in their lives and the world around them.

Build your child's ability to make connections. When you watch television or movies, make connections to characters or ideas in books you have read together.

Expand your child's reading beyond fiction. Children have great curiosity about events taking place in the world, plants, animals, and people. It's never too early to expose them to historical fiction or non-fiction books.

Advocate for curricula, partnerships, books, and resources for classrooms and schools that are culturally relevant and responsive.

Tips for educators:

Model reading. Read, read, read to your students, with your students, or in front your students every day.

Immerse school culture in talk about books. Book talks over the intercom, book clubs, social media chats, and school-wide read alouds are a few ways to do this.

Affirm your students' culture, language, and race by integrating books and stories with characters, places, and experiences that reflect their backgrounds into the curriculum.

Awaken students as participants in their own learning by having them create reading goals for themselves, for example, minutes of reading, chapters read, and reading new genres.

Empower students by allowing them to choose books based on what interests them or on book covers and titles.

Arm your students with the power of their own language and stories by providing them with multiple ways to make personal connections to the texts they read.

Cultivate independent reading by creating comfortable reading spaces throughout schools. Classrooms, cafeterias, libraries, and cozy nooks in hallways are all fair game.

Build classroom libraries of interesting, appropriate, and relevant fiction and non-fiction texts.

Expand your reading beyond fiction. Students have great curiosity about events taking place in the world, plants, animals, and people. Use historical fiction or non-fiction books as tools to capture this interest.

Advocate for curricula, partnerships, books, and resources for classrooms and schools that are culturally relevant and responsive.

Dr. Lauren Wells
Chief Education Officer
City of Newark

Donations are the heart of the campaign. Because we value reciprocity, we donate the books we receive to schools and community members who need them. Children deserve to have windows and mirrors to the world. Please complete the form below.

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This resource guide was created in direct response to the multiple requests made by educators, parents and students. Like Marley Dias, so many of you have asked for books with black girls as the main characters. And because of you, we have received thousands of books.