Bridging Cultures through Stories 

Introduction

There are many hundreds of different cultures in our world, and each has its own tales and myths. However, in reading some of the tales from different cultures, it seems apparent that certain themes repeat themselves across many cultures; for example, the wicked stepparent who schemes to get rid of a child, the evil witch/wizard/magician who casts spells on people, transforming them into other forms, fearsome animals that must be overcome by weaker but smarter animals/people, etc. There are archetypes which cross cultural lines, and many of these may be found in the tales and myths of given cultures. There are also ttypes of stories, such as the "memory tale," where the story has an increasing numberypes of stories, such as the "memory tale," where the story has an increasing number of items to remember/repeat until at the end, the reader is presented with a whole list of items to read/recall (as in Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, an old West African folktale).

The Task  There is great concern in your community concerning multicultural education. Many approaches have been suggested, and several committees have been formed to address this issue. You are a member of one of the committees formed by the elementary school PTA to locate and evaluate fairy tales, folk tales and myths that may be used to show the students in grades 4 to 6 how different cultures often share some of the same underlying themes in their stories. Before examining stories from different cultures, committee members should read the on-line article "Fairy Tales: Origins and Evolution"  concerning universal themes in stories from different cultures. After you have located and examined some of these stories, both on and off the Web, you should be prepared to present your findings to the PTA and the curriculum committee at the school.

 

Divide your group members into the following several roles:  Assistant Principal Fifth- or Sixth-Grade Teacher President of the PTA (Parent) Fourth-Grade Teacher   Note: If your group has fewer than four members, you may choose the roles you wish to play

  . Some questions to consider:

• What are some underlying themes that you remember from the stories you heard as a child?
• Can you identify several common themes that underly stories from different cultures?
• How can your committee make these stories available to the classroom teacher?
• Should you create a sample lesson plan that will allow the students to be led to discover the underlying themes in each group of stories?
• How should students report on their reactions to the groups of stories?

Resources:      Puerto Rican Fairy Tales:  Native American Tales:  European Stories:               Russian;              German;             British;                                    Irish;              Scottish;              Scandinavian;              French;       Stories from South of the Border:                                Mayan;               Mexican;               More Mexican Stories;     Oriental Stories:                Chinese;              Japanese;              Central Asian;      Middle Eastern Tales:                                     Traditional American Tales:                                                     Appalachian;                   Stories of the South;                        French Canadian Tales:    African Tales;

Books:  Antología, Poesia y Prosa      Juana de Ibarabourou  Libro de Poemas, Primeras Canciones       Editorial Losada  El Cuento en la Literatura Infantil        Editorial Kapelusz  Canciones Infantiles         Editorial Capluez  Folklore Puertoriqueño         Aurelio Espinosa  Cuentos y Risas         Méndez de Benet    A Comperative Anthology of Children's Literature         Holt, Rinehart & Winston  Odas Elementales         Editorial Losadas  Caballero del Pincel  Dignidad y Buen Humor  El Cabro y el Pollino         Editoriales Losadas  Guereros, Dioses y Espiritus de la Mitología de America Central y Sudamerica         Douglas Gifford  Viajes a los Origenes de America         Editorial Everest  Best Loved Folktales of the World          Jeanna Cole  Niño que se fue en Árbol           Jacqueline Bacells  El Libro de Oro          Juana De Ibarabourou

The Process:

To identify stories with common themes, it would be a good idea to divide the task; each person might select one area of the world in which to specialize. After reading a number of stories, each person could sort his/her stories into thematic categories, after which the whole group could collate stories from all the cultures according to theme. Booklets with word processed stories and laminated covers might be made for each category, and presented to the classroom teachers. Lesson plans could be made for different age levels to lead them through the search for common themes.

Teacher Extension:

Written assignment:  When students have finished reading a group of thematically related stories, they should be able to write a comparison/contrast paper (different lengths for different ages) which includes similarities and differences among the cultures included in their study. This can be a group writing project. As an enrichment activity, students will be encouraged to write their own versions of some of the stories they have read.

Conclusion:

This is a very effective way to identify and collate themes that cut across cultures, thus demonstrating that all cultures have similar basic stories and symbols. It's a painless way to approach multiculturalism as well as to introduce younger children to story-telling.