Running Head: CONFESSIONS OF A COSMOPOLITAN TEACHER

Confessions of a Cosmopolitan Teacher

A year in journal entries of a teacher who explores what it means to be a cosmopolitan educator
Courtney Samuelson
North Carolina State University

CONFESSIONS OF A COSMOPOLITAN TEACHER

June 10, 2014

Its the last day of school, and another year has come and gone. Im not totally happy
with how things are going teaching eighth grade English in Durham, North Carolina. Dont get
me wrong; I have been successful in many ways. I have planned and executed novel studies my
students enjoy, I have taught important literary analysis skills, and I have devised a strong and
effective independent reading program. However, something is missing. My kids dont know
much about life beyond their little bubble. I feel that the literature I exposed them to and the
activities I engaged them in did not broaden their understanding of the larger world, nor did these
things prepare them for how to be successful in this world in the future. Even worse, I dont
even think my students really understand much about their bubble in the first place; their
knowledge of Durham history and culture is completely lacking. I want to use the curriculum
and standards Im required to teach to push my kids to learn more about their local community
but also to expose them to broader cultures, practices, and identities of people all over our world.
I have been reading Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers by Kwame
Anthony Appiah (2006), and I am realizing that this vision of what I want for my kids is one that
is cosmopolitan in nature. A lot of Appiahs tenets align with the tenets I believe good teachers
should possess. Appiah lays out two strands of cosmopolitanism: we have obligations to others,
and we take seriously the value of human life and particular human lives (2006, p. xv). This
loyalty to humanity, then, makes sense now that our world is no longer a place where
communities can live hived off from one another (xx). Appiah argues that conversations
across boundaries and cultures can be delightful or vexing, but inevitable (xxi). I want my
students to be exposed to the idea that they can and should have these conversations across
cultures, and they can do that through the study of, and engagement, with text.

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Sometimes I worry that my students will battle with me when reading multicultural texts
because they cannot relate to or agree with the actions and beliefs of the characters.
However, Appiah argues that the key or aim for cross-cultural conversations isnt agreement; it is
understanding, as hard or as interesting as it may be (52, 78). Appiah discusses what our
cosmopolitan obligations are to others, and he decides that simple morality dictates that those of
the richest or most resourceful countries can and should do more to benefit those strangers of
other lands and across boundaries (174). How much we do is up to the particular person. By
exposing my students to various cultures and practices of people all over the world and by
discussing issues of service and giving, I can help students develop what their own individual,
unique opinion of what their obligation is to serve and help others in their local communities.
Hansen, another cosmopolitan academic, argues for cosmopolitanism on the ground, or
a balance between exposure to the global and a commitment to the local. I think this would help
solve my students problem of not knowing enough about their bubble. I can expose to my
students to what Hansen calls traditional projectsthose that engage the young with their
communitys historic traditionsas well as more liberal projects, or those that allow students
to gain a critical detachment from those same traditions (2010, p. 17). When this happens,
those familiar frames of religious, cultural, or political understanding are constantly juxtaposed
with that of the unfamiliar; our students must have a traditional home or locale in order to
welcome, or be hospitable to, the new things they are exploring (17).
All of these reflections have led me to formulate a question that I want to aim to answer
this summer: How does a teacher with a cosmopolitan perspective or worldview approach
teaching young adult literature? I plan to research the academic literature on cosmopolitanism
in order to come up with a clear answer and product. My product will be two-fold: a vision for

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what I want my students to accomplish next year and a long-term plan of texts and projects Im
going to use to get them there. I guess I have a lot of work to do and should go get started!
Until next time, Ms. S.
July 15, 2014
As I was doing my research, I realized that I wanted to come up with a list of
guidelines for myselfif I had to pick 5 traits or rules for cosmopolitan teachers, what
would those rules be? After much reading and reflecting, I think I have finally solidified and am
happy with this list:
1) A cosmopolitan teacher educates her students on how to approach and critically
read any text, including texts that are apart of the classical canon and those that
include more diverse perspectives (Perry and Stallworth, 2013).
2) Cosmopolitan teachers use texts that help students move across boundaries of
cultural experiences and push students to reflect on how their own cultural
experiences impact their understanding of diverse texts (Hayn and Kaplan, 2012,
and Bean and Harper, 2013).
3) Cosmopolitan teachers dont just teach tolerance, but rather engagement with and
appreciation of differences. (Dean-Ruzicka, 2011).
4) A cosmopolitan teacher is committed to exposing her students to a diverse array of
multicultural literature, as well as texts that are culturally relevant to her students
and educate them about their communities. (Perry and Stallworth, 2013).
5) A cosmopolitan teacher also teaches students twenty-first century skills and
encourages right-brained thinking, because she knows these are essential skills to
thrive in a flat world (Beers, 2007).
Im going to use this list to impact how I write my class vision for my students, how I
choose texts, and what projects and activities I design for instruction. Thats the next step!
Until next time, Ms. S.
August 1, 2014
I am finished writing my vision for my class this year! Im so excited about these
qualitative goals I have set out for my students. Here are the four big goals I have come up
with and the research that influenced each:

CONFESSIONS OF A COSMOPOLITAN TEACHER

1) By the end of the year, my students will be critical readers of any text they encounter.
In the article 21st Century Students Demand a Balanced, More Inclusive Canon (2013),
Perry and Stallworth argue that if the literature canon were currently teaching young adults is a
dinner table with invited guests, the dinner table must be inclusive, diverse, and consist of
authors of high-quality works that arent necessarily in the classical canon (2013, p. 15).
Quality literature, they argue, exists in multiple spaces and from sources with multiple
perspectives (16). They argue that canonical literature boasts excellent literary merit, but in a
21st-century global society, students must be exposed to much more, as America today is a
diverse society, full of technological advancement that exposes students to multiple perspectives
(16). However, they also posit, how we teach students to read text is more the issue than just
what they are reading we must build students critical thinking and analytical skills (17). Thus
I aim to use a variety of canonical and non-canonical texts to teach students the literary analysis
skills demanded of them by the Common Core and todays expectations of readers.
These expectations of readers are also governed by some of the 21st century skills and
right-brained thinking processes that academic Daniel Pink argues are critical in todays global
world. My students need to be synthesizers and sympathizers: they need to be able to read a
text, synthesize and critically analyze the large ideas of it, and connect it to their own lives in a
way that shows sympathy to the diverse groups represented in the text (Beers, 2007, p. 152).
2) By the end of the year, my students will be more on their way to becoming world
citizens because they will have read a diverse array of texts that expose them to cultures of
difference from around the world.
I want to aim to use young adult literature to grow my students into world citizens. Bean
and Harper (2013) state, Global literature for young adults can be considered a

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subset of young adult literature. It includes works ideally written for

adolescents that feature children or adolescent characters in narratives
where race, ethnicity, or nationality, along with other forms of social
difference (e.g., gender, religion, social class, language, or disability) are
critical (2013, p. 244). My aim will be to expose my students to many of the
young adult novels and critical themes listed in their book.
3) By the end of the year, my students will have a better understanding of their unique local
and cultural identities.
I aim to use culturally relevant instruction to increase my students understanding of
their local cultures and communities in a meaningful way. Grater and Johnson (2013), assert that
research has shown that the achievement of students from culturally and linguistically diverse
backgrounds would improve if school culture better matched students home culture (p. 33).
Ladson-Billings, who coined the term cultural relevance, highlighted teachers who executed
this extremely well with African American students (33), and I want to follow in their footsteps
to build my students understanding of the local (Hansen, 2010, p. 17).
4) By the end of the year, students will have engaged in a research project that helps them
explore how they can give back to their communities or to communities around the globe.
The inquiry process has been extremely helpful for me this summer, and I want my
students to practice questioning and research as well. I believe that after the texts we read,
students will have more consideration for their local communities and for cultures around the
world. I want my students to figure out what our obligation is to provide service to others, as I
myself have not figured this out, either. I think a project-based inquiry into this question will
provide a final cap on my students learning this year. I am ready to get the year started!

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Until next time, Ms. S.

August 31, 2014

Im done with the first week of school and am checking in briefly to jot down how it
went! This week I wanted to build a classroom culture in which students understand that this
year, we are going to be exploring our own identities and the identities of others. To do this, we
first read the story Eleven by Sandra Cisneros, in which the author argues that our identity is
the sum of our experiences. For the rest of the week, I had my students write mini memoirs
about their lives thus far through the lens of challenges they have faced. When they were
finished writing their memoirs, I displayed them around the room and the students engaged in a
gallery walk. They read each others memoirs and provided comments and questions for that
person. I think this activity did a wonderful job to get students to start thinking about their own
identities, and that the identities of others matter, especially in our classroom, where we all bring
unique perspectives and differences. I think this will set them up for our first novel study!
Until next time, Ms. S.
November 1, 2014
We have just finished our book study and project!

In our first unit, titled Our

Community and Ourselves, we read the books The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Both of these novels
feature young adult characters that are non-white; the former novel featuring American Indians, a
race and ethnic group my students with which my students are not familiar. Both of these novels
explore the impact local community, family, and culture have on a teens identity, and were
recommended in Bean and Harpers list of global literature (2013, p. 245). By reading about
teens living across the country on Indian reservations or a poor Latino community living in the

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Midwest, my students had the chance to learn more about the diverse world where they live
which Henderson and May in their book Exploring Culturally Diverse Literature believe is
pivotal for students to have at the middle school age (2005, p. 118). After we finished reading
the two novels and reflecting on how race, community, and neighborhood affected the fictional
teen characters identities, I then wanted my students to understand their local identities even
further. Thus, we spent two weeks engaging in a research project on the history of Durham and
more specifically, the culture and history of the students particular neighborhoods in Durham.
Students designed a glog using glogster.edu and presented their findings on how their
perception of their local community has grown and changed. I pushed students to understand
that during the next unit we will be reading literature of young adults from beyond the United
States, and we should keep in mind how our understanding of our own culture is going to impact
how we understand these new, diverse cultures. I cant wait!
Until next time, Ms. S.
December 22, 2014
Whew, its the last day of school before Winter Breakand I am worn out! However, I
couldnt be more pleased in how our Discrimination, Outcasts, and Perseverance unit went!
My aim for this unit was to start by exploring the Holocaust with Elie Wiesels novel Night, then
move into examining other genocides and discriminatory acts through a book club unit following
Night. I really wanted my students to reflect on the perseverance of the human spirit in times of
struggle by studying people who were very different from them and come from across the globe.
I used Dean-Ruzickas ideas in Cosmopolitan Ethics and the Limits of Tolerance: Representing
the Holocaust in Young Adult Literature (2011) as well as Bean and Harpers Teaching Young
Adult Literature: Developing Students as World Citizens (2013) to inform my vision for this unit

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and to choose texts. Dean-Ruzicka argues that some novels are better than others to increase
cosmopolitan engagements, because some have historical inaccuracies, weak character
development, or portray stereotypes. The books must fundamentally deal with conflicts of
difference and power structures (2) in order to have students engage with identities other than
their own (3). Overall she argues for literature that will help teachers challenge ongoing unequal
distributions of power and privilege (iv), not just teach tolerance. I decided that Elie Wiesels
novel Night was the perfect novel to study as a class for the way in which it gives a
comprehension picture of the Holocaust from a teenagers point of view (Bean and Harper, 245).
Then, I broke the students into groups and let them choose a novel that would enable
them to study another genocide or period of discrimination in history. As they read these novels,
they continuously sought to answer this question, How strong is the human spirit at persevering
through hardships, discrimination, and struggle? I wanted to be very mindful of choosing texts
that represented genocides and/or discrimination of young adults specifically from around the
globe. I finally landed on Sold by Patricia McCormack, who Hayn and Kaplan (2012) praise for
its ability to teach the power of the human spirit through the perspective of Nepalese girl
Lakshmi, who was sold into prostitution by her father when she was thirteen (p. 144-145); They
Poured Fire on Us from the Sky by Deng, Deng, and Ajak, three lost boys of Sudan who
successfully escaped to the United States; Under a Red Sky by Haya Molnar, who documents her
experiences growing up as a young Jewish girl living in Communist Romania; and Tangled
Threads: A Hmong Girls Story, the story of Mai, who faces hardships when she moves to Rhode
Island after living for ten years in a Thai refugee camp (Hayn and Kaplan, 144).
At the end of the unit students had to design a creative performance task that synthesized
the themes of the two books: Night and their other book club novel. My goal in this unit is what

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Henderson and May boast is a key to studying multicultural literature: Even though [reading]
pleasures are bounded by our experiences through our specific cultural ways of knowing, this
boundedness need not be rigidly set. Movement out of and across bounded frames of
experience can become a part of pleasurable reading and will sustain wonderment about our
worlds (2005, p. 157). In the end, I was so amazed at a) how much my students enjoyed
reading these novels of people from other cultures and moving across those boundaries and b)
how much they were able to compare and contrast the experiences of the diverse groups of
people in deep and meaningful ways. Time to plan the next unit!
Until next time, Ms. S.
March 1, 2015
We just finished a third novel unit of study that I believe will lead nicely into the projectbased inquiry Im going to start with my students this month. I used Hayn and Kaplans chapter
Young Adult Literature as a Call to Social Activism in their book Teaching Young Adult
Literature Today to choose texts for a background unit of study before beginning our inquiry
process. My goal is to connect in-class reading and learning with out of class experiences in
order to teach students about social justice (2012, p. 204). I decided to time this unit with our
schools Pennies for Patients program, a school-wide effort our school engages in to raise
money for cancer patients. I noticed that my students were not really excited nor saw a need to
take time out of their busy day to collect change for cancer patients they didnt even know. So,
we read Audre Lordes Cancer Journals, which chronicles two teenage girls experience with
cancer and their battle with despair (216). At the end of the novel, students were definitely
better able to understand, through putting themselves in the patients shoes, why it is important to
give money to help cancer patients. However, I love that my students decided to ask an

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important question: Why cant we, as students, decide what causes we want to give money to as
a school? Many of my students are interested in the environment, while others want to help
children of abuse or neglect, and still others would like to give to the poor around the world.
What a perfect setup for my project-based inquiry Im starting next month!
Until next time, Ms. S.
June 5, 2015
Im so happy as I look back on what my students have accomplished this year and what
being a cosmopolitan teacher has lead and pushed me to do. For the last couple of months of
school, my students engaged in a project-based inquiry. The learning goals of this inquiry were
that students were able to develop a question, use research and literary analysis skills to gather
evidence to answer that question, and then to design a creative product synthesizing their
learning. Since we had studied this idea of human struggle and identity all year, I wanted
my kids to explore what they could do to help make the world a better place for all humans. I
first developed a question that would be the umbrella for all of my students questions they
were going to develop: What is our obligation to serve our local or global communities? I first
posed this question and let them discuss in groups.
Then, I wanted students to pick a topic related to service or activism that they were
interested in and develop a question around that topic. I gave students a list of causes that
they might choose from. When narrowing down to one cause, I pushed them to choose
something they would be passionate about and one that would be relevant to middle school
students. I let students discuss in groups and reflect on their own before they nailed down a
topic, and then they designed a question. For example, students developed questions like, How
can we help preserve the environment? or Which international organizations are the best for

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middle school students to engage with students from around the world? or What can American
students do to help solve the HIV crisis in Africa? I conferenced with individual students about
their questions to help make the wording exactly what they needed and wanted it to be.
Next we used laptops to engage in the research process. I started by giving my kids a list
of websites for organizations and nonprofits and informational articles about certain crises and
topics. I thought this would be more age-appropriate for my kids rather than letting them do a
simple Google search. When they did need to Google search, I helped coach them around how
to critically read the results. Students used graphic organizers to track their findings and to
follow an outline for how they were going to answer the question.
I gave the students the option of creating a Power Point presentation, written essay, Glog,
Toondoo, or Storybird to present their findings and their research that answered their critical
question. Students showcased their projects at an after-school event in our classroom in which
we invited their parents, other teachers, and administrators to come. I cant express the joy and
pride I felt when watching my kids present their products to their teachers, principal, and family
members. So many of them sounded just like global citizens. Ive never had a more
productive and meaningful year with my middle school studentsand I know it is because I
engaged in this thoughtful inquiry process and set a cosmopolitan vision for my classroom.

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References

1) Appiah, K. A. (2006). Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a world of strangers. New York: W. W.

Norton.
2) Bean, T. W. and J.D.; Harper, H. (2013). Teaching Young Adult Literature: Developing
Students as World Citizens. Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Retrieved from
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/54139_Chapter_12.pdf.
3) Beers, K., Probst R.F. and Rief, L. (2007). Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into
Practice. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
4) Dean-Ruzicka, R. (2011). Cosmopolitan Ethics and the Limits of Tolerance: Representing the
Holocaust in Young Adult Literature. (Electronic Thesis or Dissertation). Retrieved from
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/
5) Hansen, D. (2010). Cosmopolitanism and Education: A View From the Ground. Teachers
College Record Volume 112 Number 1, p. 1-30.
6) Hayn, J.A. and Kaplan, J.S. (2012). Teaching Young Adult Literature Today: Insights,
Considerations, and Perspectives from the Classroom Teacher. Lanham: Rowman and
Littlefield.
7) Henderson, D.L. and May, J.P. (2005). Exploring Culturally Diverse Literature for Children
and Adolescents: Learning to Listen in New Ways. Boston: Pearson.
8) Grater, E. and Johnson, D. (2013). The Power of Song: Cultural Relevance in the EighthGrade Classroom. Voices from the Middle, vol 12 (issue 1), pages 32-40.
9) Perry, T.B. and Stallworth, B. J. (2013). 21st-Century Students Demand a Balanced, More
Inclusive Canon. Voices from the Middle, vol 12 (issue 1), pages 15-18.

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