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Teaching Cultural Tolerance and Traditions in the Middle School
Toni Barela
Schools that operate on a single cultural model will have difficulty providing meaningful services to all children. Teachers must be aware that universal lessons and activities directed to a "typical" U.S. child minimize learning opportunities because they do not take into account the unique family background and knowledge-in-progress that each child brings to school. The Teaching Tolerance Project
Narrative
Writing a curriculum unit that will be taught with middle school students on the topic of the Lady of Guadalupe, causes me to believe that it is important to give an overall perspective of the population where I work and of my personal philosophy as a bilingual-bicultural educator. Even though I teach at a school that has a population of ninety-five percent Hispanics, the umbrella term "Hispanic" does not give an actual representation of the diversity of this population. Many students come from families whohave lived in the community for several generations. Several of these students profess an allegiance to the neighborhood or "barrio" where they live. Each neighborhood becomes an area where students "claim" a gang affiliation. There are those students whose families come to the United States, mostly from Mexico, for a better life. All of these students struggle to "fit in" and to achieve their goals. They attend school with the same expectations and dreams of many other young people their age. Hopefully, I will become instrumental in helping them achieve these aspirations in a non-threatening environment. I think it helps me to be a bilingual-bicultural teacher. I can assist each student with the presentation of topics and themes that close the disparities between them. I can introduce topics that give them an understanding of all the things that make them same. I can guide them to recognize their commonalties and hope that with this guidance they learn to focus on their similarities.
Educating these students is difficult and this is compounded by their varying degrees of English acquisition. They range from Limited English Proficient to those students who are monolingual English speakers and all other variants. It is helpful to be a bilingual-bicultural educator. I think that these qualifications enhance my teaching and help me to relate in a more positive manner to each student.
This unit about the Lady of Guadalupe will be taught in the late fall semester with other culturally diverse units. Many of the students come from families who have celebrated this cultural event for many generations. There are those students who know nothing about this celebration. Students will become aware of the connection between the Americas, Mexico, New Mexico, Alburquerque, their neighborhoods, their families, and their peers. Students will be able to discover the connection between themselves and their own identity. Many of these students wear clothing that has pictures and icons of Guadalupe and other Mexican symbols that they like, but when asked for an explanation of what these pictures mean, the students have no idea or concept of their significance. Hopefully, this unit will help give them a better perspective of their ethnicity.
Personal Narrative
My own thoughts of the Lady of Guadalupe celebrations are remembered fondly. The preparations at home bring my family closer together. We all contribute to the planning of the altar to the Lady Guadalupe. Neighbors and family members decorate the streets with "papel picado" (cut colored tissue paper). Someone goes to collect wood to construct the farolitos to keep the people in the procession warm as they pass the decorated homes. Everyone helps to clean and decorate the house to make it inviting to guests and visitors. A volunteer finds the most beautiful roses to give to Guadalupe on her altar. As the days get closer to the fiestas, we all start cooking and preparing special foods: biscochitos, posole, tamales, and red chile. These are the times that have brought my family closer together. Guadalupe has become an important symbol of my own sense of being "Mexicana" and a woman. Her presence is highly venerated and respected by my family and by my "antepasados." Today, when I visit my mother, I watch her open the blinds in the morning and as she does this, she quietly greets the statues of Guadalupe and Juan Diego on the windowsill. She silently, peacefully ends her day with the same soft touch and silent prayers to each statue. I find that I look forward to watching my mother begin and end her daily activities in this serene manner.
Today, Guadalupe is identified with the Americas, Mexico, and with United States’ Hispanos. The story that I know is about an apparition in 1531, ten years after the Spaniards came to the Americas, of a beautiful lady who appeared to an Aztec peasant named Juan Diego. This woman was said to be the Virgin Mary dressed in the familiar clothes and bright colors of the Aztecas. She came with a mission in the form of a request of Juan Diego whom she had chosen as her special messenger to the bishop. She would have them build a church in her honor and for her children, on a hilltop, Tepeyac, close to Mexico City. Guadalupe has become a famous image to Hispanics of the Americas. She has many roles in Mexico and in the United States.
Background
Today, Guadalupe has gone beyond the bounds of religion and institution to become an iconic folk symbol of the spirit. Her image has unified and protected those who believe in her. Her image is found throughout Mexican-American neighborhoods: as a statue or painting decorating a sacred corner of the home, as a medallion worn around the necks of young and old believers, as an image on T-shirts and on the sides of buildings. Her image can even be found on business logos. The name "Guadalupe" is bestowed to both male and female children and is given not only to parishes and churches. Guadalupe is the name of many streets, towns, cities, rivers, mountains, and bridges. It would appear to be of Mexican descent is to recognize the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Rodriguez, Jeanette xxv). She is esteemed as a guiding mother and as a protector. There are those who see her as someone who is open and sensitive to the diversity of life in the present. She attracts followers from every aspect of life in today’s world of diverse backgrounds. Many invoke her image equally at home, on altars embedded in folk art, as an icon of religious significance or as piece of art that may be seen dangling from earrings, on clothing, and on street murals in neighborhoods. Her followers are the "mestizo," who are the children of Native Mesoamericans and Iberians (Dunnington, xi).
I have chosen this topic to teach and share with the students at the school where I
work because of their own "antepasados" and because in their own barrio there is
a great devotion and celebration to Guadalupe. This devotion has been an important part of
their cultural traditions in their communities. On December 12, or the closest weekend,
the community and former residents (children and their families) of Saint Francis Xavier
Church in the South Broadway area of Albuquerque, have celebrated this feast day for more
than seventy-three years. My own mother remembers cutting "papel picado" as a
three-year-old. She has shared with me and my siblings how this was a community and family
event where everyone helped decorate the streets and homes while vecinos (neighbors)
waited with great anticipation for the procession of believers, blessings and family
gatherings. Today there are many new immigrant families who have continued to migrate from
Mexico to this area. Teaching this unit will be a way that I can build tolerance and
mutual respect for each other, and I can stress the students’ connections and
similarities to each other by using a tradition that they may have in 
common.
Historical Background
It is important to site the significance of the events beginning with the European connection to Guadalupe. On January 2, 1492, the last Crusade ended with the battle of Granada in Spain. The Christians were triumphant over the Moors under the rule of the Spanish Monarchs. There was a great Marian devotion in Spain during the end of this crusade. The Iberians had many Marian apparition stories. In one of the accounts, the Spaniards perceived their Guadalupe from Extremadura as the Patroness who helps in the conversion of pagans. The Moors were the pagans of Spain whom Guadalupe helped to end eight hundred years of Moorish rule. Her connection to the Guadalupe in Mexico helps many to understand her role in the conversion of the Aztecas. The King and Queen of Spain were called "Los Reyes Catolicos" (The Catholic Monarchs). When Columbus went to persuade the Royal couple to underwrite his planned exploration to the Indies in 1486, they were at a monastery in Extremadura, Spain, praying to "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, La Virgen de las Villuercas, Reina de la Hispanidad y Patrana de Extremadura." [Our Lady of Guadalupe, The Virgin of the Villuercas, Queen of all Spain and the Patron of Extremadura; (Fig. 1; Dunnington)]. There are many accounts of the Spanish Guadalupe. During this same time period, Pope Alexander VI had granted Portugal and then Spain patranata real or royal patronage. This gave Spain rights of spiritual conquest of indigenous peoples making it possible for explorers and missionaries to acquire missionary matters as agents of both church and state. It is this writer’s belief that this set the stage for future historical events in Mexico and the Americas.
The pursuit to find a shorter route to the Orient provided a new focus and the promise to convert pagans. For Europe, there were regions with apparently unlimited resources such as the vast land, gold, and the fountain of youth in the newly discovered world. The New World natives’ their war tactics seemed useless against the invasion of the men who seemed like gods, who carried guns, and weapons, and whose logistics of war made them seem impotent. For the natives of this newly discovered land, this was to be the emergence of their condemnation to humiliation, hard labor, destruction, sickness, enslavement, and death. This would be the beginning of an encounter of two distinct groups- Europeans and Amerindians- that had never suspected the existence of each other. Their encounter would become an experience of a great historical progression. Each civilization had produced languages, philosophies, artistic works, crafts and complex religions. Each group had their own social mores and values. Both groups were fascinated with each other as much as they feared each other.
European Christians came with a preconceived ideology that anything linked to other religions had to be destroyed or conquered. For them, the story of the Lady of Guadalupe was the beginning of the conversion to Christianity of the pagans in the New World. Yet, in my readings there are many researchers who did not find any written records of the "vision" until the 17th century. Not even Bishop Zumíarraga, the bishop who met with Juan Diego, had any mention of such an occurrence in his archives and he was supposedly meticulous at recording events in this time period. For the natives, the event was not recorded until 1649 in a text called Nican Mopohu (The account of the apparitions in the Nahuatl language translated to Spanish by Mario Rojas: Nican Mopohua, Narracions de las Aparicions de la Virgen de Guadalupe; Librería Parroquial de Clavería, Mexico, Valeriano, Antonio). The poem, which was written in the language of the Aztecs, became the beginning of their conversion. There are narratives and interpretations of the native Nahuatl people and the Iberian invaders. Each group gives their own perspective. The historical epoch, when the Spaniards invaded and conquered the Aztec-Nahuatl Empire, becomes the end of a world known to the indigenous inhabitants and the beginning of a new world. For the natives, their entire world of meaning had been destroyed and discredited. They questioned their ancestors, their parents, their traditions, their relations, and their gods, who seemed to have deceived them. The Conquerors claimed their God was all-powerful. The natives began to question their own beliefs: Were the white men and women, the Europeans, whose God was all-powerful, an indication that their brown skin was their manifestation to inferiority?
The next ten years after the invasion and conquest was a period of many changes for
Aztec people. The indigenous people were waiting for many events that had been predicted
by their own priests. There was a solar eclipse at the same time of the first appearance
of Guadalupe, according to the account in the poem Nican Mopohu. The Aztecs had
been taught to expect the end of their fifth world, and because they were waiting for the
end, they believed that the Spanish Conquerors played an important role in what was to
happen. Many historians believe that this was one reason the Aztecs did not fight as hard
as their Spanish invaders. The Aztec priests had predicted such events and the arrival of
their god, Quetzalcóatl. Some believed to be Cortez on his horse was this god. They had
never seen a horse and this vision of Cortez was seen as one entity. The Aztecs were
waiting for the beginning of their sixth world, and they believed that the Conquest was
the beginning of events predicted by their priests. The Nahuatl people believed that the
appearance of Guadalupe at Tepeyac was the beginning of their sixth world. Her appearance
is said to have been a manifestation of the Christian God’s acceptance of the Aztecs
as a people because she appeared to an Aztec peasant, as a beautiful brown skinned mother
of God. She was dressed in the colors that the Aztecs wore in their ceremonies. The area
of her appearance also coincides with an important Aztec deity, the goddess Tonantzin who
was in charge of rainmaking and lunar cycles. All these circumstance are said to have
contributed to the convergence of the Mesoamericans. These events influenced the Aztec people to
believe and accept the Christian and European teachings of one God.
In my readings, I have discovered two main historical approaches and beliefs to the data and research of the apparition of Guadalupe. There are those who believe that there was an apparition. They are the Apparitionists who view the religious significance of Guadalupe (Elizondo, 39-40). Then there are many who have the approach known as the liberation theology: They believe that Guadalupe has been adapted to the needs of contemporary agendas. The natives needed Guadalupe to sanction their culture, which had been literally raped by the "conquistadores." By speaking in his own language and by appearing to Juan Diego as Mother of Christ and as his own loving Mother, she restored to a conquered people a sense of worth and dignity. Juan Diego was a way to restore the national identity of a people (Poole, 13). My intent is not to change other’s convictions or beliefs, but I am hoping to invite middle school students to learn tolerance using culture and tradition as the medium.
The Lady of Guadalupe has also been a source for many Latino/a writers. In an anthology written by Ana Castillo a reader can find many references to the importance of Guadalupe. She is described in detail as an icon that is on the tilma, painted by the hands of the Mother of God, who appeared as the Lady of Guadalupe. Juan Diego wore this tilma as written in "The Anatomy of a Virgin" by F. Gonzales-Crussi. (Castillo, A. 9). Yeye’Woro Luisah Teish describes her as the warrior queen who many encounter as the "Latin Lady." Octavio Paz makes an historical comparison between Guadalupe and the "Malinche," also known as Doña María, the guide and translator to Hernán Córtez, in "The Sons of La Malinche." In this same anthology, there are many poems and personal accounts that contribute to the literature of the Americas. These authors and a multitude of artists have made an extensive study and a spirited celebration of the Lady of Guadalupe. Ms. Castillo does a magnificent job collecting these works and putting them in one source.
During the planning of this unit, I think it is useful to discuss some terminology with students before we begin to read and learn about cultural events and celebrations. I will do this with each lesson presented.
According to Dunnington the word legend generally refers to an idealized narrative about cultural leaders, rulers, military heroes and religious figures, real or apocryphal. Legends play a prominent role in literature. The usual distinction between history and legend center on the fact that legend is unverified narrative handed down by tradition, whereas history has been verified as far as possible by the study of available records. The distinction becomes blurred where history, especially ancient or local history, relies more on tradition than on records. The word legend comes from the Latin word legó (legere)- to collect, to gather, and to read (Dunnington, xiv).
According to Dunnington’s discussion of folklore, the word first appeared in print in English in 1846 in a work by W.J. Thomas and was expanded by Max Mullen who maintained that human histories are fundamentally the history of religion that stems from beliefs of the masses. The modern folklorist is concerned with the origins and history of folklore and with the ongoing function in any given group. Folklore reveals the curious of the obscure elements that underlie cultural continuities. (Dunnington, xiii).
Allen Dundes gives four functions of folklore: 1) amusement (as diversion from daily life, 2) validation of culture and justification of ritual, 3) education, and 4) maintenance of conformity to norms of group behavior. (Dunnington, p.xiii)
Finally, before I start my lessons, I will give a definition of ‘culture’ found in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Languages:
4) The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns characteristic of a people
5) A style of social and artistic expressions peculiar to a society
Teaching this unit to any student dictates that there would be an extensive need to
conduct lessons on the above vocabulary, melding these definitions with the students’ own
experiences and knowledge.
Lessons
Building Tolerance and Accepting Diversity:
Keep Celebrating Diversity
You’ve got to be taught
To hate and fear.
You’ve got to be taught
From year to year.
It’s got to be drummed
Into your dear little ear.
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
You’ve got to be taught
To be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a different shade.
You’ve got to be taught
Before it’s too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate.
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
---"Carefully Taught"
from South Pacific
MOVING TOWARD THE CELEBRATION OF DIVERSITY
BIGOTRY>>>>PREJUDICE>>>>TOLERANCE>>>>CULTURAL>>>>CELEBRATION
Vocabulary Building Lesson:
- Nahuatl – the language of the Aztecs
- Antepasados - ancestors
- Mestizos – Iberian and Spanish, the Latino/a
- Tilma – calf-length cloak styled by the Indians, worn over the front of the body and fastened with a knot over the shoulder and made from the cactus plant
- Alburquerque – the Spanish spelling of Albuquerque
- Nican Mopohua – a poem written in the Aztec language, translated to Spanish that gives the apparition story of the Lady of Guadalupe
- Tamales - a food made from corn meal masa stuffed with red chile/pork
- Chile - Spanish for chili
- Masa - dough made from ground corn
- Pan de huevo - Mexican bread made with eggs
- Pan dulce - sweet bread (same as #10)
- Pan Mexicana - Mexican sweet bread (same as #10&11)
- Santero – a carver of wooden saints and other objects
- Fiesta – a celebration
- Mural – images on walls (from Latin muralis, of a wall)
- Retablo – a New Mexican/Hispanic art from, painting on wood – usually saints
- Mariachi – a style of music developed from the traditional music from the state of Jalisco
- Farolitos – a large fire that warms the way for pilgrims
Making Books (shape books, accordion book, etc.).
To find instructions, use Writing Poetry with Children, Joy Evan and Jo
Ellen Moore, p. 61-63.
- Include parts of a book:
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Preface/Introduction
- Interviews (Content)
- Index
- Glossary
- Bibliography/References
- Have an Authors’ Sharing Party
- Invite parents and other distinguished guests
- Mexican chocolate, pan de huevo, pan dulce, pan Mexicano
- Students will share their books and research
Interview a Neighbor or Relative about a Special Tradition They Remember
- Share Tesoros del Espirito; CD and book
- Ask if they can be recorded/photograph
- Name/family information
- Relationship to you
- Suggested questions for interviews
- What do they remember about a special celebration?
- What was their "job" or responsibility in the celebration?
- What was their relationship/role in the family?
- How many people lived in their family? (list them)
- Was this a celebration in their church, school, home, and neighborhood center?
- Who came?
- Was this special/important to them? Why?
- What is the best thing they remember?
- Students can include any of their own questions.
Suggested Reading Materials for Students
Too Many Tamales, Gary Soto, Ed Martinez
Miguel and the Santero, Sandra E. Guzzo
Fiesta! Beatrice McConnie Zapter
The Lady of Guadalupe, Tomie DePaola
Las Christmas: Favorite Latino Authors Share Their Holiday Memories: Joie Davidow and edited by Esmeralda Santiago. This book includes favorite recipes from different areas in Latino communities throughout the United States.
- These are great stories that explain traditions and culture
Learn About Murals and Muralists:
- Read about and discuss murals
- Use: "The Classroom Teacher’s Famous People Encyclopedia" by Sherrill B. Flora
- Jose Clemente Orozco p.55
- Diego Rivera p.58
- David Afario Siqueiros p.59
- Create a Mural:
- Find a picture you would like to trace.
- Use grid paper and make transparencies; tape together so that a picture can be traced by students
- Use butcher paper and make larger size grids.
- Make copies of the painting on transparencies and tape them together.
- Students will be given one or two squares of the copied picture.
- Each student can copy one grid on to the larger grids.
- When all are done, tape large squares together to form the mural.
- Hang in a hall or a large wall.
Lesson on Murals: from Juntos Uno 270-279 (Liapunov).
Internet Link Using the Technology as a Tool to Learn
- Students surf the internet for information/research
- Teachers can create a lesson using any software such as Hyperstudio or PowerPoint
- Web sites can be used to create other topics and units for study
Suggested Web sites:
Chicano Mural Tour – http://latino. Sscnet.ucla.edu:
80/murals/Sparc/sparctour.html
Diego Rivera Museum – http://www.diegorivera.com/
Mariachis on the Web- http://mexico.udg.mx: 80/Udg/Extuniv/mariachi
Mexican Flag –http://www.udg.mx:80/cultfolk/bandera/bandera.html
La Comida Mexicana-http://www.users/dmg/mexico/cocina/cocina.
Links to the Aztecs –http://kira.pomona.claremont.edu/mesoamerica.html
Genealogy – http://www.soc.genealogy.hispanic.html
All About Chocolate – http://www.grc.com/~sholubek/choco/faq.html
Bilingual Newspaper in San Antonio, Texas-http://www.hispanic.com:
80/LaPrensa/headlines.html
Aztec Calendar- http://www.napa.diva.nl/~voorburg/aztec.html
Mexican Flag- http://www.udg.mx:80/cultfolk/bandera/bandera.html
Major Links to Latin Music- http://www.bart.nl:80~dtheb/musica.html
Chicano/Latino Net- http://latino.sscnet.ucla.edu:80/research/research.html
Access to most Latino Web Sites-http://www.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Cultures/Chicano_Latino_American
Chile Pepper Magazine: http://ww.hot.presence.com:80/g/p/H3/chilepepper/
Neighborhood Visits During the Fiestas de Guadalupe in the St. Francis Xavier Church neighborhood of the South Broadway area in Albuquerque, New Mexico (church celebrations are on the nearest weekend of the saint’s day)