| Contents |
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 4 part 2 |
| Chapter 5... | Chapter 6 | Chapter 6 part 2 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 |

Chapter Five

A literature program for junior primary
Kath Lock

The study of human rights through literature is an exciting proposition. There is a wealth of material available, and discussion takes place so naturally after reading a book. In a class of enthusiastic children who enjoy listening and talking, this seems to me to be the most appropriate place to start. I have certainly enjoyed it; my teaching skills and awareness have developed because of these studies. Even the youngest children have important comments to add to discussion, and they do. Everyone is able to contribute, often in totally unexpected ways.

'Teaching for Human Rights' is largely an attitude of the teacher. At first it is necessary to consider carefully everything that is involved, but as you become more experienced, it comes more naturally, and opportunities present themselves frequently. We must remain aware of our ideals and constantly strive to achieve them. We are learning all of the time, and it is an exciting process.

'Teaching for Human Rights'

In the junior primary area we have closely examined these principles from the United Nations Declaration of the rights of the child:

To say we have read a book and discussed it at length may seem to some to be insignificant. Certainly the listing of the title does not indicate what development of understanding has occurred. But there is no other way in which I can describe what we have done. In a classroom where we work on a literature-based reading and writing program, the books with which the children are presented play a significant part in their overall education. Frequently, the children have based their story writing on material that has come from our human rights 'studies'. On one occasion several girls wrote about how they would feel if they lost their football boots, and their parents could not afford to buy them a new pair. One child, from a secure loving family, was distressed to hear about orphaned children, and over several weeks she wrote daily about various ways a baby could be orphaned, and what could happen to the orphaned child.

I worked on the principles outlined in Self esteem: A classroom affair by M. & C. Borba:

or as was suggested by one person, 'You're breathing well today'. I tried to do this. But during third term I have been out of the classroom for 2.5 days each week, and in the 2.5 remaining days I have taught with the upper primary class for over an hour each day, and the whole school is together for one afternoon. So that guideline slipped somewhat during third term. As the students have three teachers during third term it is entirely possible that during that time some of the more quiet children have been spoken to infrequently as individuals. Even though teachers try their best to allocate time to each child, I have found that unless I go about it in a deliberate way, the demands of the more assertive students frequently take precedence. It is good practice to speak to the quiet, less outspoken children early in the day, as this often gives them the confidence to be involved in other exchanges.

I have made an effort to choose a significant proportion of books which have a female protagonist, when selecting stories for the younger children. Like the children say about many things: 'At first it was hard, now it is easy'. There are plenty of suitable books around, and the beginning stage of finding them is to go to a reputable bookseller who has a greater knowledge than oneself about what books are available. Once a small store of books is acquired, the rest fall naturally into place, and it becomes increasingly easier to find them. However, one still needs to be careful in the selection. For example Marty moves to the country at first glance appears to be suitable, until one realises that the only reason that the girl becomes acceptable to Marty is because she has attributes which are assumed by him to be masculine. She owns a motor bike and rides it well; she is brave and daring. A book like this does nothing to further equal opportunities for girls. When the text is examined closely, the book becomes even more demeaning and objectionable. However, female protagonists aside, the selection of books suitable for learning about human rights, and understanding other people's lives, is not difficult. The difficulty is in being able to use them all. There is a wealth of lessons waiting on any bookshelf.

My aim has been to have an equal opportunities class. It has not been easy. It has demanded a great deal of effort, and constant self-assessment, and I have not come out of it well. At times when the strain became too much, or when other aspects became very important, the effort lapsed. It will continue, and hopefully, the longer the effort and awareness continues, the more successfully the class will function as an equal opportunities class, and eventually, the less effort will need to be exerted in maintaining it.

We no longer have a handicapped child in our midst, and we have no children from non-English-speaking homes. So equal opportunity moves automatically to non-sexist, gender-inclusive issues.

We requested and bought some clothes for dressing up. This was the first difficulty. Most clothes provided were for women/girls. So we took an excursion to the local op-shop in search of clothes for male characters. The choice was limited to say the least. We ended up with some ties, a vest or two, a blazer and a dressing-gown. However, this did not deter the children, and the dress-up box became the most prominent feature of activity time-for the girls- the boys built things with construction materials. So we talked about how everyone could have a turn at both activities. It was suggested that boys would like to dress up, and that the girls should have a turn at building, and for a few days this happened, until the drift back occurred. We then formed a rule of including at least one girl in each boys' group and one boy in each girls' group. I had read that once this pattern is established then it comes naturally for the children to continue to include members of the other sex. But it did not come naturally, and I did not wear this rule very well- neither did the children. They took turns, but this did not fulfil my gender-inclusive ideal. Then we saw in a ballet book some pictures of Rudolf Nureyev. We read and talked about male ballet dancers in general and Nureyev in particular, and for a while the boys were very enthusiastic about dressing up. They had no compunctions at all about tulle ballet costumes. They were having fun. They no longer wanted traditional men's clothes. They were happy to role-play female characters if necessary-until one of the older boys saw one of them one day, dressed in a skirt, and that was the end of the dress-up box for boys. I would appreciate help in this area, since role-play is such an important aspect of trying to wear someone else's shoes, and to walk a mile in them, but I do not know how to go about helping the boys feel comfortable in this area.

Two junior primary boys who are particularly talkative have been encouraged to let others take their turn. Teachers and students have pointed out to them that they do most of the talking, and that they make a comment after almost every interaction which occurs. Encouragement has helped, but the activity which really brought it home to them was when they were put together for group news time. After two days of being unable to take control of the discussion whenever they wished, those students were beginning to realise not only that it's unfair if someone else talks all of the time, but just how we feel when we have something important to say, and are not allowed to do so. The gentle persuasion had elicited an effort to allow others their turns, but the feelings that the other students experience so frequently had a big impact, and they are now coming to a greater understanding of why it is important to allow others to take their turn.

It was one of these children who earlier in the year pointed out that not only is it important for everybody to have a turn at being leader, but it is just as important for everyone to have a turn at being a team member who follows the leader.

SOME BOOKS WE READ

The most wonderful egg in the world Helme Heine
Each of us is unique. Each person's role is important. We talked about the role that each of us thinks is important in our own lives. We found that we all had a role that no-one else could fulfil.

Methuen resources for reading: early reading sets A B C and D
All of the booklets were given to the children to read but we concentrated on Set A and 'The clinic' from Set C.

'My mum'
I wish that I had been better prepared and had known more about the Indian culture to have been able to answer the questions which came from this booklet. However, the children were able to recognise that the mother in the pictures was from a different cultural background, although it was possible that her family had lived in England for several generations. They could also recognise that there were many similarities with their own lives. Questions were raised about the appearance of the mother-clothing, both traditional Indian and Western; the mother of a young babe going to work; similarities and differences of foods and surroundings. We made a big book about mothers, and what they are able to do. Some mothers provided photographs, both recent and some of them as children, and the book is of great interest to all of the children.

'My dad'
There were no obvious cultural differences portrayed in this booklet, but dads came under examination and discussion. We talked about making a book about fathers, but I think we had worn out the topic of parents on our Mothers' Book, because it did not eventuate.

'Me'
Everyone talked and listened-it took a long time-a never ending topic of importance to us all. The four youngest children did 'trace arounds' of their bodies and labelled them appropriately, and spent a long time making themselves attractive. Others wrote and drew pictures about themselves.

'My school'
Discussions which arose from this booklet continued for over an hour on the first occasion. The book is simple to the point of being boring: 'This is my school. This is my playground. This is my headteacher. This is my classroom. This is my dinner lady. This is my lollipop lady.' Herein was a whole new cultural world which caused us to examine our own school, its surroundings and the people who work in it. We returned to the book and the topic many times to make comparisons. After visiting a large school in a nearby town we again examined the booklet to find similarities with that school. The words were simple, but the pictures held a whole new world.

'The clinic'
This evoked even more discussion than 'My school'. For quite some time the children argued about whether or not it is possible to have a woman doctor. Their solution was to take a vote. But the result did not satisfy them, so they talked about it some more. This was one of my first experiences of allowing them to take control of the discussion without intervening, or is it interfering? I was amazed at how they could control what was happening, although there were several children who did not get a say, and several others who had more than their share of chatter. An interesting situation developed when suddenly a child who had raised her hand to indicate that she believed a woman could not be a doctor said: 'Wait a minute. I go to a lady doctor' That changed the whole discussion. Several others realised that they too attend the same doctor. Such is the stereotyping with which we are surrounded. At this stage I pointed out that they also know a male nurse, and this interested them greatly. I suggested to them that women could also become astronauts if they wanted, and if they prepared themselves with appropriate studies. One of the girls said 'But I don't want to be an astronaut, I want to be a nurse'. I realised that perhaps I was being too pushy, and let the subject lie. However, one girl did keep insisting that she would like to be an archaeologist with the three boys who share that determination. They were not keen to have her along, and insisted that they should include a boy who was not interested rather than a girl who was.

Families
This is a topic which is under constant scrutiny in any junior primary class. Almost every book which we pick up can be related to family composition or activity.

All kinds of families by Norma Simon was read and discussed to enable children to realise that families were not always Mum and Dad and x number of children. Storm boy by Colin Thiele also proved this. It was found that the word 'family' meant a group of people living together.

To realise that the family needs to buy things, a chart was made up of things a family bought, and why. The children came to the conclusion that a family buys a variety of things because it has a variety of needs. A set of cards marked 'employed' and 'unemployed' was made and given to the children. The employed were given money to buy at the shop, and the unemployed watched. The question was asked of the unemployed 'How do you feel?' The answers were: 'unhappy, sad, jealous'. To the same question the 'employed' gave answers such as: 'happy, pleased'. One boy said he was 'unhappy because some of his friends could not share with him'. The children were coming to realise that all families have needs, and these needs are satisfied in part depending on the amount of income coming into the household. Some people are more fortunate than others. The children were coming to realise that we must respect people for what they are, not what they eat, how they dress or what the own.

We considered several books where families are of the non-traditional type:
What Mary Yo shared, The trouble with Mum, Tight times, A chair for my mother, Something special for me.

The experience of children in families with one parent is limited in this class. Only one child lives in a one-parent household, and her experiences did not relate closely to the children in the stories. We have no non-English-speaking children; no-one lives with a mother and a grandmother- in fact no-one has a grandparent living with him or her. For these students many of these stories were just that. They could not really conceive that families could be so different from theirs.

Maisie Middleton Nita Sowter
Maisie wakes early and is hungry. Although her father stumbles downstairs and prepares her breakfast, it is inedible. Maisie is still hungry and faces the problem squarely, and prepares her own breakfast. Children easily understand that sometimes they are capable of handling difficulties like this, and such a book encourages them.

One Friday something funny happened John Prater
An interesting picture book, because apart from Uncle John, who appears rather overwhelmed by the two children in the story, there is only one faceless picture of an adult care-giver in the book. This led to an interesting discussion about why this is so. From a teaching point of view, it is unusual to find a book aimed at small children, which does not feature an adult, or care-giver. Most of the children were to concede that there probably was a parent lurking in the background, but some believed that the children were living quite independently of adult intervention or protection.

Lucy and Tom go to school; Alfie gets in first; Helpers; Alfie gives a hand; Dogger all written by Shirley Hughes
These are all comfortable stories of children where parents are kind and loving; where someone always comes to the rescue whenever needed; and where even when parents are said to be cross, they are still loving. The ideal family book for children. The pictures are attractive, the stories are sensitive and easy to read.

My dad at home Frank Willmott
The story of a father who stays at home to care for the children whilst their mother goes out to work. This elicited speculation about just what fathers should be expected to do, and what they are able to do; how each of them is an individual, and may have different abilities and wants. This was just as the children had discovered about themselves.

Mog the forgetful cat Judith Kerr
This was already one of our favourite stories. We watched Words and Pictures featuring this story. We learned the song which goes with the program.

We talked about: how the family felt about the cat; were they really angry whenever they said 'bother that cat!'; what other things might the cat do to make the family say that?; what things might we do that make family members say 'bother that child/mother/wife/sister/brother!'; how do pets show us if they are angry, excited, happy?; how do we show when we have the same feelings?; how might we react if we found a burglar in our home? The children pretended to be various members of the family in order to show how each member felt differently about the same incident.

Mog and the baby Judith Kerr
Again we watched television. We talked about why babies need to be taken care of. How have we changed since we were babies? We brought photographs and compared them. We tried to guess who was in each photo. Mine was easy. Some were difficult, but some were fairly obvious. It was fun. We talked about the scary things which can happen to babies, and the children asked their parents. We compared notes. We talked about how babies can be kept safe, and discussed why, if parents know how to keep babies safe, it sometimes happens that accidents occur.

Mrs Lather's laundry Allan Ahlberg and Andre Amstutz
We discussed sharing in our families; how duties are allocated; what part we each play in the successful running of our family. Only one child declared she had no contribution to make in regard to duties. She was envied by all of us. What do we do when we get tired of doing some jobs, as Mrs Lather did? What are some ways of solving this problem?

Miss Jump the jockey Ahlberg and Amstutz
Both of josie Jump's parents are jockeys and it is her desire to become one also. Eventually, when she is the only family member available, she gets her turn. 'Am I old enough yet?': a perennial question. We talked about what we want to do that people keep telling us we are not old enough to do. Is this always the real reason? Do we feel happier when someone says 'not now' or 'no'? In what other ways do parents (adults) put children off without actually saying no? ...illuminating. In what ways can we encourage others when we want them to do better, or to keep on trying? I was pleased that they knew many suitable phrases, because that's the basis on which I try to work and it has always worried me that I might seem to be insincere, or patronising, but from the comments which the children made, they interpret my encouragement as such, and are happy with it, because they too use the phrases. There are several useful books in this 'Happy families' series-many featuring non-traditional work roles.

The Granny book Colin Hawkins
I thought that this book would be too advanced for the junior primary class, and had it ready to take to the older children. One child picked it up. The cover is very appealing. So are the illustrations inside. It is most suitable for junior primary children. Like a dictionary, or an encyclopaedia, or a poetry book (which this is), it is a book to be savoured in pieces, slowly, and in small doses. It mentions unmentionables-Granny's whiskers, her gin-tippling habits, the way she sticks her finger in the jelly, and pinches the last slice of cake. It was enjoyed by both classes, for different reasons. But for all of them, it made grannies human. They do wicked things just like we do; they tell their grown-up sons who are much bigger than they are to wrap up in a scarf when they go out; they moan; they tell stories; they bring bags of goodies.

Granny and Grandad Parker Ulises Wensell
A different type of grandparent--the buxom, cuddly grandma who is strict, but manages to give lots of wonderful treats. A grandad who works as a car salesman, potters and plays chess. It is a comfortable story in which nothing happens, but after which many children talked about their own grandparents. It was an easy book to accommodate their own feelings, and to draw out descriptions of what they do with their grandparents. They also wrote about their grandparents, on their own suggestion.

Grandmother's yarn Maria Lewitt
The story of a grandmother who comes from Poland, and how one day she tells her grandson Pete about some of her life as a child. Pete makes some discoveries about Babcia. He looks closely at her and finds that her skin is wrinkly and her hair grey and wiry. He finds that across the world and across the years there are similarities between his childhood and Babcia's. It is a very sensitively presented book which appealed to the children. Some of the children have grandparents who are more like Babcia than other images which have been presented to them, and this was their turn to be responsive. They felt more comfortable with this presentation.

Lots of Mommies Jane Severance
This is the story of a child who lives in a household of four women, and the love which she receives from each of them. It did not appeal greatly to this class. They have not asked for it to be read again, and I have not seen them reading it. I suspect it is a little too far from their own experience for them to comprehend yet. It would probably be more easily understood by a different group of children who come from, or live near less traditionally structured families.

Friends
Honey Bear Gina Ruck-Pauquet
A bear who is friends with everybody, and is frequently called upon to help out, finds that his life is not his own, until one day he decides that he has done enough. He refuses to do their jobs for them, and yet he remains their friend.

Frog and Toad Series Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad are always doing friendly deeds. We thought up ways in which we could surprise those in our family, or in the class, not by buying, but by doing; how in a friendship, it is important to think of the other person, not only on a sharing basis, but by sometimes putting oneself out in order to make the other person feel better.

I remember Georgie Joan and John Van Loon; Wilfred Gordon Macdonald Partridge Mem Fox
Both are stories of how children befriend elderly people, and the difficult consequences of such friendships. But I believe books like these put a new perspective on friendship. For many children these days do not know any elderly people. Grandparents appear to be fairly sprightly in comparison with those of my own acquaintance in childhood. Because of homes and villages for elderly people, they are seen less frequently in the community. Certainly in our community grandparents do not appear to live with their younger families. These two stories have become favourites of the children and are frequently read to and by them.

The elderly
At about this time we visited two old folk's homes and sang and played instruments, and did a mini-play. In one of the homes, those who lived there were fairly healthy and aware of what was happening, but in the other there were some who really did not want to be listening to the children, and who put up a bit of a vocal struggle. This was a new experience for the children. They are accustomed to not being heard because of crying babies and small children running around, but it startled them somewhat that adults could behave in what could almost be termed a similar manner. After we returned to school there was a lot of questioning about the behaviour of those in one home compared with that of those in the other, and why there should be a difference. It gave the children a new understanding of what being old is like for some people. It was more than a little scary, but a deeper understanding and tolerance was achieved.

Amos and Boris William Steig
The story of the unlikely friendship between a mouse and a whale. It covers two aspects of friendship:
(a) the warmth of friendship, even when one knows that one's friend might never again be seen. This is comforting for a child who has recently moved, or is about to, or whose friend has or will move;
(b) the ability of an unlikely person to help another friend in time of need, as the mouse helped the whale.

This story, naturally enough, reminded the children of the traditional Mouse and Lion tale, and there are several versions of it around which they found and compared.

This has been one of the interesting aspects of considering the feelings of the story characters, and relating them to ourselves. The children appear to remember more of the stories, and frequently relate one to another by its similarity. This is not only beneficial from a humanitarian point of view, so that the feelings of characters are remembered sensitively, but it is good literary training to be able to transfer similarities in stories.

We are best friends Aliki
The loss of a best friend. The story is told, not from the view of the child who moves away, but from that of the child who is left, and of his loneliness. One section which provoked discussion was:

I believe it is important for children to realise that a fight or difference does not mean the end of a friendship; that disagreement and the solving of these disagreements is an important element of relationships. But this story emphasises the forming of new friendships and the inclusion of the old in the new friendship. One does not supersede the other, but includes it.

Poem

I think a smile can be the best
Of all the gifts I know,
'Cause smiles bring friends,
And friends bring joy
Everywhere we go.

The children made pictures of how they perceived their smiling faces to be. They examined themselves in mirrors from every possible angle. They returned to the mirror to check various aspects as they drew them. They were very pleased with the results, which were displayed for some weeks at the entrance of our classroom.

The friends of Emily Culpepper Ann Coleridge and Roland Harvey
This story was recommended by a teacher who came to meet the children prior to relief teaching for the first time. She commented that it was a favourite of hers. The children enjoyed being with her, and her enthusiasm for the book has been transferred. It is a delightful book about Emily Culpepper who enjoys talking to her friends so much that she makes them small and puts them in jam jars so that she can talk to them any time she wants to.

Do you want to be my friend? Eric Carle
A picture book which is almost wordless, where a mouse ends up with a mouse for a friend. The children made their own stories to match the pictures.

No dogs allowed, Jonathon Mary Blount Christian
The story of a boy whose friend is a dog, and how he tries to smuggle his friend into places where he Is not allowed. Jonathon discovers just why dogs are not allowed in some places, and he solves the problem by boarding his friend out, and promising to care for him always. Friends are not always people. We had talks about stones, dolls, television personalities, animals.

New arrivals
Most of the students who arrive at our school are younger siblings, or occasionally a first child who is related to other students. All of these are easily accepted, even doted on. But occasionally children arrive from another school, and their acceptance is not easy. We had one such child this year. In addition to the incoming problems, this child had been to three previous schools in her two terms of schooling and there was no certainty just how long she would be with us. She was a very defensive little girl, given to biting or pinching if provoked. And she was. Within our class we had a major campaign on the difficulties of the new.

New friends Ron Harper
The story of Vietnamese children who have been separated from their mother, and an Australian child who is separated from her father. A story where not all problems are resolved, and there is room for discussion and speculation, which there was.

Nice new neighbours Frans Brandenberg and Aliki
The recurring line of the story is: 'They will one day when they know you better!' A story which children love--no doubt aided by Aliki's illustrations. This became the topic of how we do come to like people. All of the children could remember and talk about when they came to school for the first time. Some could remember things that happened when others arrived. They remembered about one child's shyness, and how excited everyone was when after several weeks she spoke to someone other than her brother and sister. (This had also happened outside of school hours. It had been some months since she had spoken to anyone other than her immediate family and there had been a great deal of professional consultation before she had started school.) They remembered how long it took for various children to contribute their first 'news'. This is always an important occasion, and worthy of much praise and ego-boosting. They remembered how some children contributed on their first day. That demands real respect. They talked about playing, or not playing with others, and their initial unhappiness. This bothered me, because I had thought that everything possible was done to ensure a happy start to school life, but felt that if I had interrupted the flow of conversation it would change direction. The major fear is of not getting to the toilet in time, but for one child it was considerably compounded by a spider in the handbasin. Prominent are their fears of being wrong, of getting into trouble, of losing lunches, of no-one wanting to play with them. I told them of my fears when I came to the school, and when the new principal came. We often believe that we are the only ones who experience particular fears, and are embarassed by them, and it is heart-warming to hear children openly talking about them to each other, and taking each other seriously when they do so. There is often visible relief when another child says: 'I did too'. But the message from this book is that friendship is not instantaneous, and the message which we received from our new child was that she was not very happy being there, because she missed her dad, from whom she was separated; she missed her lovely teacher; and she missed all of the children in her old school. Eventually she accepted us. It was a proud moment when one day she confided: 'This is the second-best school that I've been to'. It was some time before she was confident enough to stop biting and pinching, and tolerance was needed on all sides until that time. Sadly, she has moved again, and will probably face the same insecurities when she is confronted with another school and all that goes with it.

Death
I was to be away for several days to travel to the funeral of a family member. I told the children where I would be and for how long. We discussed it at length. Many of these students were in my class last year when my father was in hospital for several months before he died. They had talked about death then, and remembered things which had been said.

We discussed the difference between the death of someone who is old, and someone who is young; between death after a long illness and sudden or accidental death; death of a loved one, and death of a friend; death of a person whom we know, but to whom we are not emotionally attached; death of a stranger; death of a loved one, of someone we know. I was more than a little surprised at how much they could talk about this subject. We read two books, I remember Georgie and Wilfred Gordon MacDonald Partridge, which we had discussed and read many times when talking about friendships. Now we were looking at them differently.

The discussions were wonderful. Every child had something to contribute. What began as a brief explanation of imminent absence turned into a full-session discussion. The children asked if they could write about something that dies. Every child did. They had all had a bird, a cat, a rabbit or some animal die. They all knew of the pain and sorrow, and they could all sympathise with me.

This was a topic which I would not deliberately have undertaken with junior primary children, but it was one which turned out to be extremely valuable. Later in the year when one child's budgerigar died, and the grief seemed to be disproportionate to a non-bird lover, this child could remember what had been said at this time, and it helped.

There were many ways of considering death, and I think that we talked about most of them. When I returned we talked more about what had happened and how people had reacted differently. It seemed to be a healthy way for them to find out about the topic, sort of twice-removed from the harsh reality.

These were for me powerful lessons into the understandings of young students. It is so easy to assume that experiences are outside their understanding; to trivialise their experiences as cute, or unimportant, when in fact they are not. The death of a budgerigar to a child is as important as the death of a loved one to an adult. We sought out other books:

When Grandpa died Margaret Stevens
A sensitive book of photographs showing a child with her grandfather explaining the death of a bird by pointing out death's part in nature. Her grandfather becomes sick, goes to hospital and dies. The readers share the immediate grief of the child as the formalities are explained.

We remember Philip Norma Simon
Helps to explain the later stages of grief, although I thought that this might be a little advanced for junior primary children, and when I began to read it I paraphrased it to a simpler version. Their attention was held and I was soon reading the story as it is written.

These two books, I believe, are especially good in helping children to understand about the grief one feels when a loved one dies. The first was a book new to me this year, the second I have read many times over perhaps five years, but each time I read them I cry. The impact never diminishes for me.

Nana upstairs and Nana downstairs Tomie de Paola
A book which for me has less impact, but it is in many ways a gentler book. It is more of a story than a revelation, but the topic is nevertheless treated naturally and sensitively.

Non-traditional roles
Daniel likes dancing Juliet and Charles Snape
A book which shows that Daniel is just like the other children.

Oliver Button is a sissy Tomie de Paola
The story of a boy who wants to dance and act, but is constantly teased by his school mates.

These books were enjoyed by the children when we read them, but apart from perfunctory discussion after reading, they were not interested enough to follow with involved discussion, or an activity.

I'm busy too Norma Simon
Everyone in the family is busy. The book features two single parent families-one headed by a male, one by a female--and a black family. We all like to say: 'Not now, I'm busy'. But we don't like to be told the same thing.

Helpers Shirley Hughes
An adolescent boy in a care-giving role.

My dad at home Willmot
Previously examined in the family unit, but drawn attention to in this area.

Max Rachel Isadora
Yet another story about a boy who likes to dance, but this one must be sure to leave dancing practice in time to get to his baseball game. A useful book to counteract stereotyped characters. Although the book does not appeal greatly to me, the children enjoy it.

Rules
Eat your carrots David Ridyard
An interesting book when talking about rules, and how different families function with differing needs. There were many rules which appeared to run through most children's families, but some were amazed at what was expected of others at particular times. They easily came to understand that not every family runs under the same type of Organisation. This is borne out in our own classroom where during this last term the children have had three teachers. They know which rules are necessary for which teacher, and if I should happen to come back into the room when they are waiting for, or being taught by, my colleague Trevor, I find them sitting in different places, and generally being much more tidily arranged, and quiet. But, because they see us as being co-operators rather than separated by our different rulings, these different sets of rules do not disturb them. They have another set on the two days when I am out of the school, and have no difficulty in accommodating all three of us. They quite enjoy the different expectations that are made of them. It helps them to see that rules are flexible, and formed to suit each group of people.

We cooked each week for two terms, then frequently during third term. We had turns at everything, which is wonderful for sharing, but very, very time consuming. We tasted everything, after the first few weeks of not being forced to do so. It was really pleasing to have the children taste foods which were for them, unusual. Other classes in which I have worked have had many children who simply refused to taste unfamiliar foods, and I found this extremely frustrating.

When we tasted foods which came from another culture--pizza, fried rice, spaghetti, paella, 'camel' soup, pancakes and maple syrup--we talked about the country from which the food originally came. They often wrote about how a food was made, or where it came from, but fried rice has the notoriety of being the only food which everyone in the class likes. We have made it several times.

The little red hen Vera Southgate
Always a good story for helping us to understand that if a group is to function successfully, then we all need to help. It is more fun than the expression of moralistic ideals.

Multiculturalism
Since we do not have children from non-Anglo-Celtic cultures in our school this topic has been very theoretical and lacking in appropriate experiences.

One of the students has parents who worked for a year on an Aboriginal reserve. They talk frequently with him about their experiences, and on one occasion the child's mother came to school to speak with parents and children about her year's work, and to show us various artifacts and pictures. She left the artifacts and photographs with us for some time for close examination, and the children spent a lot of time being taught about them by the child who owns them. He is an articulate child whose ideas are respected by other children, so he is listened to attentively, and this could well be the basis for children understanding and embracing non-racist views. One day when we were examining some pictures of Aborigines in their traditional role he said: 'Do you know Mrs Lock, some of the Aborigines do different things from us, but they are just like us aren't they?' It would be wonderful if all of the children could believe this eventually.

It was our intention to take the young children to a city school where a multicultural class is operating, but circumstances have prevented that from happening this year.

We have looked at the 'City kids' books extensively, and it was encouraging to note that the children did not comment on the nationality aspect. Several of the children have parents or grandparents who come from other countries and so can contribute facts that are beyond the experience of the rest of us.

Grandmother's yarn, New friends, My mum previously referred to are useful books.

We considered Aboriginal legends:
The giant devil dingo Dick Roughsey
The rainbow serpent Dick Roughsey
The magic firestick Percy Trezise and Dick Roughsey
The quinkins Percy Trezise and Dick Roughsey

We found a lot of information about Aborigines and their culture in National Geographic magazines, one of the favourite pictures being of a honey ant.

Disabilities
Helen Keller Margaret Davidson
This was a scrialised reading with a non-contact teacher. From what the children relayed to me they had obviously talked about the story. They had a good understanding of it.

Blue boat Dick Bruna and Peter Jones
This followed the reading of Helen Keller and showed the difference in what facilities are available for deaf people now. Deafness is a difficult topic to discuss, since, unlike many disabilities, it is extremely difficult to simulate. A temporary ear blockage isolates us incredibly, but cannot be explained satisfactorily. Turning down the sound on a television can give some idea, but it is obviously only pretend, and not understanding what is said does not make any appreciable difference, whereas other simulated handicaps can be very real and very scary.

I have a sister, my sister is deaf Jeanne Peterson
A very sensitive book which explains some of the difficulties and pleasures of living with a deaf child. It points to the feel of sounds, and the compensations which must be made in the family for a deaf child. It shows the isolation which the deaf child must live in, and how that isolation has to be compensated for. It shows how this deaf child likes to play the piano and run and tumble and play. The children were very impressed with this story.

I can't always hear you Joy Zelonky
This book is about a child who wears a hearing aid, and is very self-conscious about it. Eventually she comes to understand that everyone has something unusual about them which could be a problem, and she accepts herself as one unique person in the group. She is, of course, then accepted by the group. It is more than a book about a deaf child. It approaches the problem of deafness from a different view and is worth including in any study of disabilities.

We saw the film Let the balloon go and talked about the protectiveness which surrounded John. We discussed a child whom they know who is handicapped and whose life is quite different from John's.

The little old man who could not read Irma Simonton Black
It was decided that being unable to read would definitely be a handicap for an adult. We discussed our need for others; the short-comings which we have, and how others help us out; how we, are able to help others who have needs; the fact that some people cannot read, or cannot read English; how they would find life difficult, and what clues they would have to use to help them out of those difficulties. This led us into signs, and their importance. Road Safety--understanding the various signs.

Fear
I hate Red Rover Joan M. Lexau
I can sympathise with the child in the story. I had thought until we read this story that all of the children liked Red Rover. They certainly put on a good imitation of enjoying it. But several of the seemingly most enthusiastic participants confessed that it scares them. Some are scared by the larger bodies of older children; others are scared of bodies whatever their size.

But Jill in the story had her grandfather to turn to, and he too was experiencing difficulties with the removal of his teeth; the two were able to console each other. Such is the aim of these discussions, that the children learn that they are not alone in their fears, nor do they have to solve everything for themselves.

Today was a terrible day Patricia R. Giff
For Ronald Morgan, it certainly was. After we talked about the happenings of his day, and how the children feel at the end of each day, I began to feel very disheartened. If I hadn't been fair with the children at the beginning of the year, then surely I had developed in my fairness and treatment of them since then. But I was depicted as a tyrant, who needlessly picks on certain students, and makes them feel very unhappy. This needed some talking out. The only good thing is that the children felt comfortable enough to be able to talk about it with me. Perhaps I'm not quite so tyrannical.

I was only trying to help J. J. Strong
The story of a child who spends one day seemingly unable to do anything right. The children could all think of awful things which they had done when they were really trying to be helpful. Not all of the parents reacted the same way as the parents in the story, but no-one seemed to regret that. No-one laughed when we read of the awful deeds which Kate became involved in. They understood.

Angry Arthur Hiawyn Oram
An imaginary gory of what happens when Arthur gets very, very angry. The Guardian is quoted: 'Children will love it', and indeed they do. I'm sure they find it encouraging to find that others get angry just as they do, and do say hateful things. One child confided that she told her mother about Arthur, and her mother told her that when she was a girl she used to sometimes think that she hated her mother, when she was very angry. That put a new dimension on the child/mother/grandmother relationship.

Similarities with Where the wild things are Maurice Sendak
Discussing books such as these all help children to realise that we are very complex creatures, and that it is quite normal to feel upset, angry, hateful, sad, wanting, weird, happy. I believe bibliotherapy is a satisfying way of solving problems; even of anticipating them. Group discussions after reading, and personal writing, elicit wonderful responses from children. It is easy to find out whether or not they need to respond to a story. If they are allowed to have a sense of security about the information which they divulge, they will continue to divulge it without fear, and this helps not only themselves, but all of the other children, even, perhaps especially, those who are sitting quietly and not contributing, because they too can observe in others what they feel in themselves. We must not allow ourselves to think that because a child does not contribute, he/she has nothing to offer.

CONCLUSION

This study of 'Teaching for Human Rights' through literature has been very rewarding. Some of the lessons have been extremely exciting. The children have certainly developed in their understanding of themselves, and of others. I have developed understandings of them that could not have otherwise occurred. My professional development has been considerable. There have been advantages that could not have been anticipated at the beginning of the program.

As a lover of children's literature, I have always known that what happens after a book is read is as important as the reading itself, but timetables and programs are such that it is not always possible to spend as much time as one would want. This program allowed us to do just that, and the proof is that it was justified by other gains.

Books help us to understand better the problems which we face, and which others face. If we are able to discuss those books with others then our understanding is further developed by that discussion.

| Contents |
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 4 part 2 |
| Chapter 5... | Chapter 6 | Chapter 6 part 2 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 |