Clair Green

9/8/2016
Articles from Google Scholar:
1. Learning to Write and Writing to Learn: Insights from Teacher Candidates by Nancy P.
Gallavan PhD, Freddie A. Bowles, and Christopher T. Young. Published online on
January 3, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2007.10463449
2. RESPECTing Culture with All Learners by Freddie A. Bowles and Nancy P. Gallavan.
Published summer 2011. http://www.socstrpr.org/wpcontent/uploads/2011/12/ms06374_Bowles-9.pdf
3. Avoiding the Its a Small World Effect: A Lesson Plan to Explore Diversity by Jason
L. Endacott and Freddie A. Bowles. Published winter 2013.
http://search.proquest.com/openview/3b10d1f39d36ed84d2410ea025399ef6/1?pqorigsite=gscholar (I then had to log into my UARK LibGuides to get the full text, and this
is the link: http://0-gm3ed7jh6d.search.serialssolutions.com.library.uark.edu/?
ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid
%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx
%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Avoiding+the+%22It%27s+a+Small+World
%22+Effect
%3A+A+Lesson+Plan+to+Explore+Diversity&rft.jtitle=Multicultural+Education&rft.au
=Endacott%2C+Jason+L&rft.au=Bowles
%2C+Freddie+A&rft.date=2013&rft.pub=Caddo+Gap+Press&rft.issn=10683844&rft.volume=20&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=43&rft.externalDocID=EJ1015028&param
dict=en-US)
Summary of Avoiding the Its a Small World Effect: A Lesson Plan to Explore Diversity
Avoiding the Its a Small World Effect: A Lesson Plan to Explore Diversity is an
article by Jason L. Endacott and Freddie A. Bowles that introduces teachers to a way to
discuss diversity in the classroom. The article refers back to the ride at Disney World called
Its a Small World that passes through 100 nations and has electronic children dressed in
stereotypical costumes. The intention of the ride is to show that the world has many
differences, and yet people from different cultures are still the same. Although harmless, the
intention shows that there is a lack of understanding among other cultures and the very
distinct differences between cultures and within. Most history lessons go right along with

Its a Small World and cover stereotypes, cultural ceremonies but do not go into depth on
different cultures around the world. Endacott and Bowles provide teachers a way to teach
about other cultures in a different way.
There is a four-step way to arrange curriculum when speaking about cultural diversity.
The four steps are: Contributions Approach, Additive Approach, Transformation Approach,
and Social Action Approach all of which build on each other and go deeper in students
learning and acting on cultural differences. The lesson uses pictures from a book published
by the Sierra Club to have students look at pictures and discuss cultural contrasts and
comparisons. It takes on three parts: introducing culture and cultural universals, cultural
values, and exploring cultural universals. In the end, students learned that families in the
same culture vary family by family. The students also pointed out that they should never
assume things about people for what you think and that to learn the best about a culture, you
must be immersed in it.
The students began the lesson by sitting in groups and discussed their ideas of culture
and universal and reported them to the class. After coming up with what some cultural
universals might be, the idea of cultural values was introduced. The discussion of cultural
values pinpoints importance, similarities, and differences among their cultural values (45).
Finally, students looked at pictures of families from all around their world with their
belongings displayed in the photos. The noticed familiar possessions, pets, and signs of
wealth, but discussed whether or not one family is wealthy means that another family in that
same place is. This idea was best understood when an American family was shown and
students realized that their family is not like the on in the photo. All together, this lesson

ended with a far deeper and more authentic appreciation for how small our cultural worlds
can be (48).