Abstract
This project is established on the belief that it is essential to teach race interactions in U.S. classrooms as a fundamental skill. Race, a concept that has been uniquely constructed in the United States, however, is a complex subject—as it is intricately interwoven into the fabric, and embedded in the power structure, of society—and discussions around the topic are still too rarely held, especially in classrooms. In order to facilitate a discourse on race in everyday classrooms, this project attempts to tap into other aspects of human experience, such as the humans’ relationship with nature. For example, some aspects of race are paralleled with how food is conceived of in the US—a clean and sterile under-appreciation of diversity in order to capitalize on the status quo. The invitation to discuss such differences and appreciate diverse people is presented in a wordless picture book series, Saisons D’Etre (Seasons of Being), which is targeted to an extremely young audience. The racial-discourse nature of these lessons is drawn out and explained in an educators’ handbook, specifically designed to aide educators to begin a discourse on race, coupled with different activities to facilitate experiences through which students find themselves closer to a critical awareness as human beings living in nature and with each other. The handbook will explicate how the world which Saisons D’Etre offers through images, consisting of original watercolor paintings, can embody valuable lessons about race experienced by school children. Each of the four picture books, one for each season, will delineate a particular aspect of human subjectivity vis-á-vis nature, while drawing from insight gained through juxtaposing postcolonial theory (macro-level) and identity management theory (micro-level) in a critical pedagogical framework.