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Preservice teachers'discussion of a multiculturalyoung adult novelThomas W. Bean a , Paul Cantú Valerio a , MariaH. Mallette a & John E. Readence aa University of Nevada , Las VegasPublished online: 28 Jan 2010.

To cite this article: Thomas W. Bean , Paul Cantú Valerio , Maria H. Mallette& John E. Readence (1998) Preservice teachers' discussion of a multiculturalyoung adult novel, Reading Research and Instruction, 38:3, 197-210, DOI:10.1080/19388079909558289

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Reading Research and InstructionSpring 1999, 38 (3) 197-210

Preservice teachers' discussion of amulticultural young adult novel

Thomas W. BeanPaul Cantú ValerioMaria H. MalletteJohn E. Readence

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

ABSTRACT

The present study explored preservice elementary teachers' literature circlediscussion of a multicultural young adult novel with a focus on tworesearch questions: (a) How do preservice teachers discuss a multiculturalyoung adult novel? and, (b) What views and theories informed theirunderstanding of literature response discussion? The discussion stancesthat emerged from the data indicated participants adopted either a literaryanalysis stance in their discussions or a personal association stance. Themore distant literary analysis stance may limit important cross-culturalinsights that might be gleaned from a young adult multicultural novel.

Contemporary views of literature response emphasize the importance ofconnecting reader and character experiences in the interpretation and discussionof a novel (Rosenblatt, 1995). This view is quite different from earlier New Crit-icism models where the novel served as an artifact to be examined carefully(Webster, 1990). The reader's goal in these earlier models centered on correctlyinterpreting the novel's hidden meaning (Webster, 1990).

In the present study we explored preservice elementary teachers' literaturecircle discussion of Gary Soto's (1991) multicultural young adult novel, TakingSides. We were interested in understanding preservice teachers' perspectives onliterature response. We were also interested in how they discussed key episodesin the novel in general and, more specifically, in light of a typology charting stagesof multiethnic development. Thus, two research questions guided this descriptivemulticase study: (a) How do preservice elementary teachers discuss a multicul-tural young adult novel? and, (b) What views and theories informed their under-standing of literature response discussion?

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This study was informed by literature response theory, social constructivisttheory, and theories of ethnic identity development.

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Literature response theory. In the New Criticism, meaning resided in thenovel to be distilled through close reading and careful exegesis (Webster, 1990).The author and the reader faded into the background, and the novel became anobject of study.

A more personal level of engagement seems crucial when students are con-sidering multicultural novels where a main character may be experiencing sig-nificant disequilibrium in cross-cultural communication (Bean, Readence, &Mallette, 1996). Otherwise, the potential impact of the novel on students' beliefsabout ethnic identity development and cross-cultural communication may remainstatic. The potential for multicultural literature to engage students in a criticalexamination of their values and beliefs is greatest when they make personal con-nections with the characters and events in a novel (Chevalier & Houser, 1997).Chevalier and Houser studied 30 European-American preservice teachers whoinitially supported cultural assimilation. After reading works by Walter Dean Myersand Lawrence Yep, they progressed through a sometimes painful and haltingevaluation of their beliefs, ultimately expanding their views. "The findings inthis study suggest that multicultural novels can indeed help promote multicul-tural development" (p. 434).

Sociocultural dimensions including gender, ethnicity, age, and experiencecounter the monolithic view that readers of literature are all the same. The reader,the author, and their respective biographies are in the forefront in contemporarytheories of literary criticism (Webster, 1990). Rosenblatt's (1995) transactionalmodel of reading viewed individual readers as unique, "bringing to the transactionan individual ethnic, social, and psychological history" (p. xix). However, inclassroom discussion, Rosenblatt (1995, p. 56) speculated that "the novel or playor poem has been made for them too much something to know about, somethingto summarize or analyze or define . . ." As a survival mechanism, studentsdevelop routinized ways of responding to literature that are difficult to alter.

For example, Fox (1994) conducted a qualitative case study of preserviceEnglish teachers enrolled in a teaching of literature course that emphasized a lit-erature response curriculum. Larry, one of the students profiled, believed in atransmission model of teaching literature, despite all the class activities designedto counter this view. This view was further reinforced by his success in numer-ous college English courses where critical interpretation was valued above per-sonal response.

In contrast, Fox also profiled Mario, a preservice teacher who wanted to getreluctant readers excited about literature. Mario's ethnicity meant that much ofwhat he read as an English student seemed distant. When he read Angelou's(1970) / Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, he immediately connected with thenovel. He went on to read Anaya's (1972), Bless Me, Ultima, and other powerfulmulticultural literature. Unlike Larry, Mario embraced a reader response view ofliterature. Fox found that these preservice teachers held beliefs that could beexamined reflectively in her course. They wrestled with internal conflicts abouthow to balance a transmission and transactional conception of literature teaching.

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Despite a substantial body of work on social constructivist models of teachingand the importance of intertextuality in reader response, older models of litera-ture response continue to persist.

Contemporary models of literature response take the position that differentreaders bring multiple perspectives to the interpretation and discussion of a novel.When the reader is at the forefront of socially constructing meaning from a novelwith other readers in a literature circle, "such interpretive strategies refuse toacknowledge a fixed meaning and thus liberate the text" (Webster, 1990, p. 95).The reader is also liberated in this theoretical view of intertextuality.

Intertextuality involves reading a text through the complex lens of personalexperience, other texts and signs, and social interaction. A reader layers the novelwith "a multiplicity of discourses drawn from our own culture and experience"(Webster, 1990, p. 98). In a classroom setting, intertextuality may be socially con-structed through the discussion of literature (Bloome & Egan-Robertson, 1993).However, Bloome and Egan-Robertson cautioned that a teacher's request for stu-dents to interrelate two stories may not result in intertextual connections. Cross-story connections that may be relevant to the teacher may not have any signifi-cance from the students' viewpoint.

Social constructivist theory. Social constructivist theory proposes that mean-ing is constructed through the social interaction of a group. Thus, a novel's mean-ing is multilayered and dynamic rather than static. A novel takes on multiple layersof meaning through the group's dialogue and interpretation (Green et al., 1994).

The patterned ways of interacting with text that students have internalizedover years in classrooms shape and are shaped by subsequent classroom discus-sion (Alvermann et al., 1996). In a multicase study of text discussion across con-tent areas including English, secondary students indicated that opportunities forpeer discussion were rare. But they preferred small group discussion to largegroup settings, and they valued structures where they were placed with trustedfriends (Alvermann et al., 1996). They viewed staying on task and focus as keyingredients of a good discussion.

One of the ways in which the social construction of meaning occurs inclassrooms where students read a common novel is through literature circles.These discussion groups may be highly structured with discussion questionssupplied by a teacher, or they may be more unstructured with the group deter-mining how they want to discuss a novel (Owens, 1995). Classroom studies ofliterature circles showed that students collaborated to generate meaning (Leal,1993), connected characters in the books with their own lives (Samway et al.,1991), and became a community of readers (Simpson, 1995). Thus, literaturecircles have the potential to broaden students' perspectives on cross-culturalcommunication and ethnic identity development, a major focus of the presentstudy.

Ethnic identity development. Ethnic identity searches in adolescence usuallyarise from some critical life episode or encounter (Ponterotto & Pedersen, 1993).This may be an episode where cross-cultural communication breaks down, or it

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may involve a more jarring act of racism (Bean et al., 1996). Nevertheless, theepisode produces what Wurzel (1988, p. 9) called a feeling of "disequilibrium."The individual is compelled to question previously held attitudes and beliefsabout others and must also address issues of ethnicity in this new light. Youngadults who decide not to face these societal pressures may develop a diffused orforeclosed identity (Ponterotto & Pedersen, 1993). They may choose to assimi-late in the mainstream culture by masking or removing ties with their ethnic group,or they may withdraw from the mainstream. Although separation may serve a cul-tural preservation function, a more positive alternative for ethnic identity clarifi-cation is biculturalism, an advanced stage of ethnic awareness (Banks, 1994). Atthis stage, young adults maintain their ethnic culture while adapting to the main-stream culture.

Multicultural, problem-solving novels offer a forum for discussing issues ofcross-cultural communication and ethnic identity development (Harris, 1994).Multicultural young adult literature provides an insider's view of African Ameri-can, Native American, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific cultures and microcultures.Criteria for novel selection, as well as a system for exploring and discussingcharacters' ethnic identity development have been explored. In an earlier studyfive criteria were used and validated in the selection of books for discussion ofethnic identity development (Bean et al., 1996): (a) books "by and about peoplewho are members of groups considered to be outside the socio-political main-stream of the United States" (Bishop, 1993, p. 39); (b) books about people of colorin the United States (Bishop, 1993); (c) books "that show the diversity within andacross human cultures" (Bishop, 1993, p. 49); (d) books that avoid stereotypingand show individual complexity (Au, 1993); and, (e) books that fit into a decision-making and social action approach to reading and discussion (Au, 1993).

We found that these criteria served to accurately identify novels that power-fully portrayed insiders' experiences in ethnic identity clarification (Bean et al.,1996). Six novels were selected, read, and discussed by the researchers in thisstudy using Banks' (1994) typology as a means of gauging the main characters'ethnic identity development. Banks' typology posited six stages: (a) Stage 1:Ethnic Psychological Captivity (the individual internalizes the negative societalbeliefs about his or her ethnic or cultural group); (b) Stage 2: Ethnic Encapsula-tion (the individual is ethnocentric and practices ethnic and cultural separatism);(c) Stage 3: Ethnic Identity Clarification (the individual accepts self and hasclarified attitudes toward his or her own ethnic or cultural group); (d) Stage 4:Biethnicity (the individual has the attitudes, skills, and commitment needed toparticipate both within his or her own ethnic or cultural group and withinanother ethnic or cultural group); (e) Stage 5: Multiethnicity and ReflectiveNationalism (the individual shares values, symbols, and institutions of severalethnic cultures); and (f) Stage 6: Globalism and Global Competency (the indi-vidual possesses knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities within and outsideone's nation).

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This study identified some novels where the main character grew in ethnicidentity development (e.g., Dragon's Gate, Yep, 1993), and others where the maincharacter stayed within the first two stages of Banks' typology (e.g., JuanitaFights the School Board, Velasquez, 1994). Banks' typology served as a guidefor character interpretation and discussion in this study.

We also explored the Banks' typology as a guide for inservice and preserviceteachers' novel discussion in a subsequent study (Mallette, Bean, & Readence,1998). The participants were multiple subjects' teachers working on their Master'sDegrees in Reading/Language arts. They were enrolled in a graduate level con-tent area literacy course at an urban university in the Southwest. Two Hispanicyoung adult novels selected for consideration with Banks' typology were adoptedas part of the required reading in the graduate level content area reading course.Students read and discussed Soto's (1991) Taking Sides which chronicles LincolnMendoza's difficult move out of his familiar barrio to a suburban house and highschool in a more mainstream San Francisco neighborhood. He must play basket-ball for the new school against his old schoolmates. In an earlier study, Bean et al.(1996) found that Lincoln progressed from stage 1 to stage 3 of Banks' typology.By the end of the novel, he had achieved ethnic identity clarification and self-acceptance.

The second novel, Velasquez's (1994) Juanita Fights the School Board, fol-lows Juanita Chavez who is expelled from school after a fight in the girls' lockerroom with Sheena, an Anglo student. Sheena was not expelled from school, andthe novel explores racial episodes and portrays institutional racism. Following anintroduction to Banks' typology, students read Taking Sides and discussed threecritical episodes in the novel to determine the main character's ethnic identitydevelopment based on Banks' stages. They followed this same procedure forJuanita Fights the School Board. Three unique cases were considered in detailbased on audio-tape, video-tape, field note, and interview data collected.

We found the typology framed the discussion to such an extent that it mayhave limited how the participants considered the novels. Indeed, they used thenovels as a means to better understand the typology. They also had a difficulttime taking the character's perspective, particularly with respect to institutionalracism. Rather, they tended to view the character's problems along the lines ofuniversal themes typical of young adults experiencing a rite of passage. They feltthe typology would be too conceptually difficult for use in their classrooms.They did, however, engage in significant exploration of their own ethnic identitydevelopment as a result of reading and discussing the two novels with Banks'stages in mind. For example, Dina was a Jewish female married to an Hispanicmale. She taught in a school that was predominantly African American and His-panic. Reading the novels affected Dina's thinking about her own identity inpowerful ways: "I came home and I was real depressed. I told my husband I feellike I don't know who I am. My parents never gave me a strong background andI know I'm white, but yet, Jewish people aren't always included in everything,and I still feel like a minority, and who am I" (Mallette et al., 1998, p. 9).

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As a result of this study, we revisited various theoretical constructs chartingethnic identity development (e.g., Nieto, 1992; Wurzel, 1988) and thought care-fully about creating a more parsimonious typology for classroom discussion. Wesought to collapse and reduce the number of stages and focus on events in thelives of people and characters that create self-awareness. In particular, we care-fully considered Wurzel's notion of disequilibrium where a critical event or episodein real life or in a novel causes a person to reflect on issues of ethnic identity.Based on this work, we drafted a four stage typology for novel discussion en-compassing the following stages: (a) Stage 1: Ethnic Isolation (low self-esteemand feelings of rejection); (b) Stage 2: Ethnic Pride (a strong sense of communitybelonging); (c) Stage 3: Multiethnic Acceptance (appreciating and valuing others);and, (d) Stage 4: Multiethnic Unity (being part of a multiethnic community).The first two Stages parallel Banks' while Stage 3 related to Nieto's construct.Stage 4 encompassed aspects of Banks' Stages 4, 5, & 6 where a person has suc-cessfully bridged to other cultures through personal interaction, marriage, or up-bringing in a multicultural community. In essence, an individual at Stage 4 has aculture of reference that results in an insider's perspective (Ladson-Billings,1994).

In the present study we were interested in how preservice teachers woulddiscuss critical episodes in Soto's (1991) Taking Sides. In addition, we wanted toexplore their theories of literature response.

METHOD

ParticipantsThe 20 participants were enrolled in an elementary preservice language arts

class in an urban university in the Southwest. There were 17 female and 3 males.The ethnic distribution included 18 European-American students, 1 African Amer-ican male, and 1 Japanese American female from Hawaii. Based on a demo-graphic survey of the class, we collected data on how students saw themselvesethnically. Their self-described ethnicity included: 10 Caucasian, 1 Scandinavian,1 Hispanic, 1 African American, 1 Japanese Hawaiian, 3 Irish American, 1 KoreanGerman, 1 American, and 1 Heinz 57.

The second author, a doctoral student raised in a tight-knit Hispanic com-munity in South Texas, served as the instructor of the course. The first author, aEuropean American professor raised in the multicultural community of Hawaii,was a participant-observer in the novel discussion phase of the study. The othertwo researchers were a Jewish American female doctoral student and a EuropeanAmerican male professor and administrator. All four researchers had significantlife experiences in multiculural urban contexts.

MaterialsSoto's Hispanic young adult novel, from the previous study (Mallette et al.,

1998), Taking Sides, was adopted as a course reading requirement. In addition,

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students completed a demographic survey exploring self-ascribed ethnicity andprevious multicultural courses and a Social Attitude Survey (Ponterotto & Peder-sen, 1993) providing an index of their beliefs about various multicultural issues.The Social Attitude Survey was a 25-item Likert scale that provided an index ofrespondents' "levels of awareness, knowledge, and sensitivity to racial/ ethnicminority issues and women's issues" (Ponterotto & Pedersen, 1995, p. 158). Forexample, item 7 reads: "My friendship network is very racially mixed." Item 23indicates: "I would enjoy living in a neighborhood consisting of a racially diversepopulation. Item 16 provides a counterpoint: "Overall, I think racial minoritiesin America complain too much about racial discrimination." This instrument wasused to gain a very broad indication of students' social attitudes. Ponterotto andPedersen (1995) cautioned that the Social Attitude Survey was not intended fordiagnostic or fine-grained assessment purposes. In the present study, we used thissurvey simply to get a broad picture of students' attitudes and no attempt wasmade to directly link expressed survey attitudes with subsequent discussions.

ProcedureData sources for this qualitative multicase study included students' Social

Attitude Survey data and observations of their literature response circles. Litera-ture response data included participant-observer field notes and audio-tapes andfollow-up interviews with the five groups. The interview schedule included thefollowing 6 questions: (a) Free associate (brainstorm) what you think makes for agood small group discussion of a novel like Gary Soto's Taking Sides!; (b) Whatis your definition of a novel discussion?; (c) If a new student wanted to join yourgroup discussion of the novel, what should he or she do to fit in?; (d) How didyour instructor's guidelines for discussion influence the way you participated inthe small group discussion of the novel?; (e) If your group had the instructor orparticipant observer in it, did their presence influence the discussion? If so,how?; and, (f) Please look over this summary of your discussion (field notes oraudio tape transcription). Is it an accurate account of the discussion? What wouldyou add or change? Questions (b), (e), and (f) were adapted from Alvermann et al.(1996).

Interview questions served as a member check of field notes and audio-tapedata compiled and categorized using constant comparative analysis (LeCompte& Preissle, 1993). Field notes and interview audio-tapes were transcribed andread multiple times by the researchers to identify literary analysis or personalassociation comments.

The sequence of data collection involved students first completing the SocialAttitude Survey prior to reading the novel. They then read Taking Sides indepen-dently at home the week before discussion. They were given the typology to takehome and asked to chart where they felt Lincoln Mendoza, the main character, wasat in the beginning, middle, and end of the novel.

When the novel reading was completed, students returned to class and theinstructor gave a brief refresher about Banks' typology with a focus on how it

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served as a basis for the 4-stage typology they used to consider the novel. All 20students had some experience with Banks' typology in a required multiculturaleducation class that preceded the language arts class.

On the day of the novel discussion, students were arranged in 5 small groupsof 4 students each that they normally worked in for class projects. The first andsecond authors sat in with two of the groups (i.e., groups 2 and 5) as participantobservers to take field notes. The other 3 groups were audio-taped. Thus, the 5groups identified by number comprise the bounded unit of study for the analysesthat follow (LeCompte & Preissle, 1993).

RESULTS

Social attitude surveyStudents responses on the Social Attitude Survey were remarkably similar

across the groups. Scores from 76-100 indicated moderate sensitivity to minor-ity and women's issues while scores from 101-125 represented high sensitivityto these issues. Participants' mean score was 80.42. These data indicated that, asa group, they displayed moderate sensitivity, although the range of scoresshowed that some students had low sensitivity (n=3) and one student displayedhigh sensitivity.

Literature circle discussionOur first research question was: How do preservice elementary teachers dis-

cuss a multicultural young adult novel? Based on our constant comparative read-ing and analysis of field notes and audio tapes of novel discussion in the fivegroups, the following two major categories were evident: (a) literary analysisstance (3 groups), and (b) personal association stance (2 groups). Four of the fivegroups are briefly summarized to illustrate these contrasting categories.

Literary analysis stance. Group 1 began by discussing Lincoln in terms ofcharacter flaws. They felt he didn't trust himself in his new neighborhood or hisold barrio. "Like when his new house gets broken into—he's mad at his mom formoving there..." The group viewed the robbery as "a turning point" in the novel.

In one of the more critical episodes for ethnic identity development, Lincolngazes at a camel driver in his social studies text and compares himself to the dri-ver. One of the group members said, "I remember thinking when I read it, whatdoes that camel guy mean?" Another student said, "To me, if it's written in abook, there's a reason it's there . . . This group actively searched for symbolicmeaning in the novel. In doing so, they circumvented any sensitivity to the ethnicidentity development issues Lincoln was grappling with at this point in the newsuburban school where he was a minority.

Students' affective responses were confined to judgments about the qualityof the novel. In general, they liked the book. One of the students commented thatit should be read in one sitting as, "it just keeps building."

In their discussion of the typology, they felt Lincoln moved from Stage 1 atthe beginning of the novel where he felt alienated from his old neighborhood to

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Stage 4 at the end. By the end of the novel, this group felt that Lincoln realizedhe could function in both worlds, his new school and neighborhood, as well ashis old barrio.

Their interview responses further validated a literary analysis stance. Theydefined a novel discussion in terms of turn-taking conventions. "Everyone's opinionis valued—no one monopolizes conversations."

In essence, this group conducted a literary analysis of the novel with no per-sonal narratives directly addressing issues of ethnic identity development. TakingSides was an enjoyable puzzle to figure out and complete, like many classroomassignments.

Group 4 conducted a literature circle discussion that was very similar to thatof Group 1. They felt that Lincoln was isolated at his new school as a minority.In terms of our typology, Lincoln was at Stage 1: Ethnic Isolation. Although thisgroup did not discuss any personal narratives connecting their experiences tothose in the novel, they did use the typology to frame their discussion and toaddress issues of ethnic identity development. "When Tony accused him of act-ing white, I put Lincoln at the ethnic pride stage" (Stage 2).

The flow of discussion in this group followed that typical of literary analy-sis. They would make an assertion and support the assertion with reference to akey episode in the novel. For example, toward the end of the novel, Lincoln mustplay a basketball game against his old barrio school and all his former neighbor-hood pals. The group felt "the game at the end was the big turning point. Hecould take either side—a different kind of isolation where you are above every-body—separating yourself," but the group sorted this out more. "So you're say-ing he was above everyone?" Another student said, "No, he was doing his best—I don't see him moving back to stage 1 'cause that's low self-esteem. He's cen-tered on what he's gonna do—not what people think . . . "

Shortly after he moved into the new neighborhood, Lincoln's dog "Flaco" ishit by a car. He survives but has his leg in a cast. "Lincoln was mad about every-thing at the beginning—the dog symbolizes Lincoln's slow adjustment andrecovery . . ." In this middle section of the discussion, the group shifted awayfrom the typology and moved toward literary analysis, searching for symbolsand their meanings.

"What about all the Spanish words that are in the book" Another studentsaid, "I looked them up in the back." Another commented, "I got frustrated, allthe words weren't in the back there." This discussion edged toward some per-sonal narratives and intertextuality. "I had my son translate . . . he's taking Span-ish." Another student felt "it helps you get into the dual ethnicity. At the start, Iwas looking up every word. I wish I'd taken Spanish instead of French." Otherthan this brief foray into some second language issues, the group stayed close tothe book and maintained a distant, analytical stance.

Personal association stance. The inclusion of personal narratives was an ele-ment of the discussion in two groups. Group 2 made personal connections withLincoln, saying, "He would not have grown if he hadn't experienced a new envi-

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ronment. No matter what else, you need the experiences to grow." This groupshared experiences that paralled Lincoln's and felt he progressed from Stage 1:Ethnic Isolation early in the novel to Stage 3: Multiethnic Acceptance at the end,when he realized he didn't have to "take sides." He could respect both parts of thislife, valuing his friends in the barrio and his new associations in his new school.

One of the participants, Janet, related her experience dating a Jewish Ameri-can student in college and visiting his home for a kosher dinner. In the novel,Lincoln Mendoza visits an Anglo student's home to eat, and Janice felt that herexperience mirrored that of Lincoln enjoying a meal quite different from hisday-to-day diet. In terms of Lincoln's difficult move to a new San Francisconeighborhood in the novel, Kristen, who is part Korean, recalled moving to Japanand the United States. Both moves required her to adapt to her new home andshe related to Lincoln's trials as he negotiated his new surroundings while tryingto maintain old ties. This group saw their own experiences reflected in the noveland used these parallel events to discuss Lincoln's personal growth in the novel.

On the day of the novel discussion, Group 5 consisted of two female studentsand one male African American student along with one of the researchers in aparticipant-observer role. The group felt that Lincoln didn't fit into his newschool, not because of his ethnicity, but because he wore less expensive and stylishclothes. The group member who was African American recalled similar experienceswhen he moved to a new suburban high school. Thus, this group infused the dis-cussion with some personal narratives, largely dominated by the minority mem-ber of the group who related to Lincoln on a personal basis. He believed thatLincoln's difficulties rested on socioeconomic differences but felt that Lincoln'snew coach was a racist. This group placed Lincoln in Stage 1: Ethnic Isolationof the typology at the start of the novel and Stage 2: Ethnic Pride toward theclose of the novel.

DISCUSSION

Each of the 5 groups engaged in a discussion of Taking Sides that helpedthem socially construct various interpretations of the novel. Three of the 5 groupsadopted a literary analysis stance paralleling a New Criticism approach to novelinterpretation. Two of the groups made personal connections with Lincoln Men-doza's experiences in a more transactional reading and interpretation of thenovel. While both forms of novel discussion are valid, a distant interpretivestance may limit important cross-cultural insights that emerge from personalassociations with a character's journey.

Thus, simply introducing students to multicultural literature without explicitlyconsidering and discussing models of literature response may not have the desiredimpact. Despite Gary Soto's powerful writing and Lincoln Mendoza's difficultjourney toward ethnic identity clarification, students in 3 of the literature circlegroups seemed to approach the novel as a literary puzzle. This stance undoubtedlyreflected many years of reading and discussing literature from a New Criticism

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interpretive stance where personal connections were not part of the discussionrepertoire modeled in a classroom. Possibly adding a personal association promptquestion to the typology would engender more reader connection to multicul-tural literature.

For example, Newell (1996) contrasted reader-based and teacher-centeredapproaches to literacy engagement with lOth-graders. Students in the reader-basedclassroom produced significantly more interpretive and personal associations intheir short story response essays than their conterparts in the teacher-centeredclassroom. A recent reader-response study using prompt questions designed toelicit personal associations shows the potential of this simple means to engagestudents in linking events in a story with their life experiences (Bean, Valerio,Money-Senior, & White, 1997). Using a multicultural young adult novel about acharacter attempting to integrate her Navajo and Hispanic ethnicity (Hernandez,1992), 9th-grade students completed freewriting in electronic dialogue journalsbased on prompts like the following examples: (a) Describe your heritage andhow it influences your character, style, actions, or beliefs; and, (b) prove that youare an individual. Seventy-one percent of students' written entries fell withinNewell's (1996) interpretive and personal association categories, demonstratinga high level of literary engagement (Bean et al., 1997).

A crucial implication of the present study is that we need to find ways toextend students' reading and interpretation of multicultural literature if it is tohave an impact on self development and social action (Chevalier & Houser, 1997).Multicultural literature, particularly in this relatively early stage of the genre,challenges simplistic assimilationist views of ethnic identity and provides a vari-ety of responses to conflict resolution. Clearly, a novel can simply be read as agood story just as a song can be appreciated for having a good beat. But theepisodes and instances of disequilibrium characters like Lincoln Mendoza expe-rience as they grapple with cross-cultural conflict have tremendous instructivepotential, particularly for students living in multicultural urban communities.The participants in the present study were all future multiple subjects teachers,likely to be student teaching and employed in urban schools. Despite courses inmulticultural education, work with typologies on ethnic identity development,and exposure to multicultural literature in children's literature classes and othercourses, they had a difficult time moving beyond a New Criticism stance.

LIMITATIONS

In this study we used a single young adult multicultural novel preserviceelementary teachers read independently a week before engaging in a literaturecircle discussion in class. It is possible that a different novel selection mightengender more personal associations. However, existing research suggests this isunlikely. For example, in a study comparing teachers' reading and discussion ofSarah, Plain and Tall (MacLachlan, 1985) with 3rd-8th grade students, children

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put more of their feelings into the book than their adult counterparts who tendedto analyze the novel for hidden meaning (Lehman & Sharer, 1996).

It is possible that a combination of an informal book club setting and moremainstream literary selections might encourage more personal associations onthe part of adult readers. For example, in a study of teacher book clubs readingAmy Tan's (1989) The Joy Luck Club and other selections, participants made con-nections between their experiences and the experiences of various characters"regardless of cultural background" (Flood et al., 1994, p. 8). However, participantsviewed the more informal book club setting as distinctly different from school.This more relaxed setting possibly contributed to their greater willingness toengage in personal associations with a novel.

The typology served as a discussion guide which may have contributed tostudents tendency to adopt a literary analysis stance. Yet not all groups gravitatedtoward this traditional discussion mode. The typology needs further study in avariety of contexts including secondary classrooms before its strengths and limi-tations can be fully evaluated.

FUTURE RESEARCH

A number of strategies may help students expand their approach to noveldiscussion. Ali (1994) recommended a combination of teacher facilitation andreader prompt questions that place the reader in the role of the main character.For example, "imagine you were Lincoln moving to a new suburban neighbor-hood after years in your barrio . . ." Ali argued that increased self-knowledgeshould be a part of interpretive reading. Indeed, preservice teachers may benefitfrom studying themselves reflectively as readers (Lehman & Scharer, 1996).

Our multicase study and work by others suggests we need to continue quali-tative exploration of literature response if powerful multicultural young adultnovels are to have an impact on social action.

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