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I hope this message finds you well. The term “Windows and Mirrors” can be found in the education world to describe books and curricular materials that are used to educate students. The word “Windows” serves as a metaphor for books and materials that give students the opportunity to gain the perspectives of people who live very different lives and experience the world differently than they do. The word “Mirrors” serves as a metaphor for books and materials that allow students to see their own lives and experiences reflected back at them. Books and materials that function as “Mirrors” can be empowering because they allow students to see how their lived experiences are part of the larger human experiences and thus increase their sense of belonging. A good book not only serves as both a “Window” and a “Mirror”, it also functions as a “Sliding Door” because it allows readers to step into the world that the author has created or recreated.
According to the CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center) of the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s School of Education, out of the 3420 books it received in 2021, 450 (13%) titles are about Black people, 74 (2%) titles are about Indigenous people, 357 (10%) titles are about Asian people, 242 (7%) titles are about Latinx people, and 22 (less than 1%) are about Arab people. Out of the 3,700 books it received in 2017, CCBC counted only 136 (3.7%) titles contained significant LGBTQ content.
The positive news is CCBC also reported that children’s book written by authors of color in 2020 increased by 3% compared to 2019, but books about racially diverse characters and subjects only increased by 1% during the same time span. Although the increase in racial diversity in children’s book are modest, the pattern has been trending upward since 2014 which until that year has remained stagnant during the previous 25 years.
I bring this topic up because McCall teachers and staff have been working hard to create Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Doors for our students. Our work in this area goes beyond selecting books and curricular materials to be part of our instruction; it is also reflected in other parts of our work such as the types of extracurricular activities we offer and the people we bring into our faculty. We believe creating Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Doors benefits ALL students because everyone’s lives are enriched when everybody is exposed to experiences that are different than their own. Everyone benefits when we all have our own experiences affirmed and see ourselves belonging to the larger society.
Learning about experiences and points of views that are different or even diametrically opposed to their own will cause students to generate questions, experience confusion, and even develop a sense of discomfort. These are all signs that learning is happening. We all want our students to experience pleasant feelings while they are learning, but we also want them to stretch themselves and to step out of their comfort zones. Limiting students to perspectives that they are used to hearing, experiencing, and agreeing with is essentially teaching them less. We all should strive to do the opposite which is to teach students more.
Thank you,
James Lin
Principal
McCall Middle School
