Africa is Not a Country: Education and Children's Literature About the African Continent in the Age of Obama
With the election of Barack Obama, a leader with family in Kenya, educators could find themselves rethinking and revising how they teach the continent of Africa. Thanks to an illustrated children's book, "Africa is Not a Country", many American students are aware of the vibrant diversity of Africa's 53 countries. Without a rounded education about the continent, generalizations about the countries and cultures can limit our understanding of the continent and create harmful stereotypes. Educators across the country will be focused on issues like this the week of November 17th as it is both International Education Week and Celebrate Geography Awareness Week.
Portland, Maine (PRWEB) November 17, 2008 -- With the election of Barack Obama, a leader with family in Kenya, educators could find themselves rethinking and revising how they teach the continent of Africa. Thanks to an illustrated children's book, "Africa is Not a Country", many American students are aware of the vibrant diversity of Africa's 53 countries. Without a rounded education about the continent, generalizations about the countries and cultures can limit our understanding of the continent and create harmful stereotypes.
Educators across the country will be focused on issues like this the week of November 17th as it is both International Education Week and Celebrate Geography Awareness Week. International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment. Celebrate Geography Awareness Week, sponsored by the National Geographic Society, fosters awareness of the world's diverse cultures and environments. Both groups encourage a more comprehensive education on the countries of Africa and the rest of the world around us.
Much was made in the press about Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's supposed error in calling Africa a country rather than a continent during the campaign. If true, the mistake and generalization is quite common and Palin would not be not the first public figure to fall prey to it. For example, at a news conference in Europe in 2001, President George W. Bush referred to Africa as a "nation."
"Palin's statement that Africa is a country is sadly a widely held misconception among Americans who are fed a steady stream of misinformation about Africa in children's books and cartoons," says Teaching for Change, Executive Director, Deborah Menkart. "This is a serious concern because in the context of the racialized culture of the United States, stereotypical representations of Africa and its people have a profound impact on racial relations and identity development for all Americans; treatment of first generation African immigrants; and U.S. global relations and foreign policy."
Children's book author, Margy Burns Knight and illustrator, Anne Sibley O'Brien, winners of the National Education Association's 1997 Author-Illustrator Human & Civil Rights Award, decided to address the issue after observing that children in classrooms could identify countries all over the world, but would identify most countries in Africa not by their country name, but by the continent's name, "Africa."
Knight and O'Brien then teamed with author Mark Melnicove to create the children's book, "Africa is Not a Country". The book allows students and educators to enter into the daily lives of children in the many countries of modern Africa. Countering stereotypes, Africa is Not a Country celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the vibrant continent as experienced by children at home, at school, at work, and at play.
"Africa is Not a Country" was awarded with the African Studies Association's Africana Award, for the "Best Book for Young Children 2001" and was named a notable Social Studies book by the Children's Book Council and the National Council for the Social Studies.
"The title of the book says it all," wrote book industry leader, Booklist. "Instead of the 'vanishing tribes' view of one Africa with tourists from different countries photographing the animals and primitive people, this informative picture book celebrates the diversity of the 53 nations that make up the continent today... readers will want to go on from here to explore in depth particular countries that interest them. The essential differences and connections are here."
Brenda Randolph and Elizabeth DeMulder in their recent article "I Didn't Know There Were Cities in Africa!" for Teaching Tolerance magazine recommended "Africa is Not a Country" and a selection of other children's books. The article addressed the need for the inclusion of stronger curriculum on the countries of Africa because, "inaccurate impressions of Africa start early, as children are exposed to stereotypical information in books, the news media, advertisements, and film and TV programs."
Author, Margy Burns Knight further addresses the need for the thoughtful teaching of African countries and cultures in her recent Teaching for Change article, "What We Want Children to Learn About Africa." Knight asks educators and creators of educational materials for children to avoid generalizations about the continent.
President Clinton in a September, 2008 interview on "Meet the Press" also addressed America's generalizations about the continent of Africa, "I wish we could have a cessation in the use of the word Africa for just 18 months while America learns that Africa is a continent... it's not just the geography, it's the politics, the culture, the language, everything is different... we've got to stop thinking of Africa as a monolith."
It is the sense of Africa as a monolith that the authors and illustrator of "Africa is Not a Country" and other educators hope to expel through classroom study and discussion. The authors and illustrator of the book were in touch with each other the week after the election of Barack Obama speaking about the impact of a president with roots in Kenya.
"We hope children watching post-elections news in schools and with their families, had their curiosity piqued by images of Obama's grandmother in the village of Kogelo in Kenya," says Africa is Not a Country illustrator, Anne Sibley O'Brien, "Perhaps more American children will now be able to point to the map of Africa and pick out the nation of Kenya with a sense of connection."
More About the Book:
http://www.lernerbooks.com/cgi-bin/books.sh/lernerpublishing.p?navaction=f6_title.w&navvalue=0761312668
For a Review Copy of the Book contact:
Elizabeth Dingmann
Lerner Publishing Group
612-332-3344, x209
To Contact the Authors & Illustrator of Africa is Not a Country:
Margy Burns Knight
http://www.margyburnsknight.com
207-377-2031
Mark Melnicove (Author)
207-266-8913
Anne Sibley O'Brien (Illustrator):
http://www.annesibleyobrien.com
207-766-5555
Blog: Coloring Between the Lines: Reflections on Race and Culture in Children's Books
http://coloringbetween.blogspot.com/
###
Post Comment:
Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/Q291cC1Mb3ZlLUNyYXMtWmV0YS1UaGlyLVNpbmctWmVybw==
Bookmark -
Del.icio.us |
Furl It |
Technorati |
Ask |
MyWeb |
Propeller |
Live Bookmarks |
Newsvine |
TailRank |
Reddit |
Slashdot |
Digg |
Stumbleupon |
Google Bookmarks |
Sphere |
Blink It |
Spurl
|
