438 © 2006 International Reading Association (pp. 438–448) doi:10.1598/RT.59.5.3 BELINDA Y. LOUIE Guiding principles for teaching multicultural literature This article offers specific guidelines for teaching multicultural literature that are designed to enhance student understanding and response. M ulticultural children’s literature has bur- geoned in the last decade. Although there is much writing on booklists, rationale, and criteria for selecting multicultural literature, limited review is available on instructional guide- lines for teaching multicultural literature. Teachers need principles to guide students toward under- standing multicultural stories with contexts, values, and perspectives unfamiliar to most readers (Soter, 1997). Simply exposing children to multicultural literature may lead to indifference, lack of under- standing, and even resistance (Beach, 1998; Beach & Finders, 1999). There is much discussion on the benefits of using multicultural literature in the classroom but little information on the types of un- derstanding multicultural literature may enhance when teachers use effective strategies to present books to students (Bishop, 1997). The purpose of this article is to review studies on teaching multi- cultural literature, to provide suggestions for teach- ers on instructional principles, and to demonstrate what types of understanding students may acquire when teachers apply such principles in teaching multicultural literature. The preliminary literature review involved computerized searches of Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) for studies of instruc- tional strategies for teaching multicultural literature in grades K–12. The reference sections of these ar- ticles were used to find other studies involving multicultural literature. My recommendations are based on strategies that may work for students in grades 3 through 8. Guiding principles I have extracted elements from available class- room studies to identify strategies to help students respond to multicultural literature. The goals are to enhance students’ understanding and enjoyment of stories about diverse cultural groups. Check the authenticity of the story. Berrera, Liguori, and Salas (1993) cautioned that, “from the standpoint of multicultural education, authen- ticity of content and images in children’s literature is essential because inadequate representation sub- verts the very cultural awareness and understand- ing that such literature can build” (pp. 212–213). We should not look at the ethnicity of the authors and illustrators as a guarantee of authenticity. Instead, cultural experience and research can help individuals gain insights on the heart of a culture (Mo & Shen, 1997). Edmiston (1998) argued that teachers should “raise questions, draw attention to inconsistencies, and highlight implications” (p. 63). Wolf, Ballentine, and Hill (1999) reminded teachers to examine historical and cultural accura- cy. Teachers need to assess the story’s perspective and determine whether feelings are celebrated or exploited. They should also consider the complex issues regarding whether the stories were told from an insider’s or an outsider’s perspective. To estab- lish the authenticity of folk tales, students can examine the source notes in books, compare adap- tations to their printed sources, and examine what has been changed in tone and in content. They can use Hearne’s (1993a, 1993b) scale to rate the qual- ity of the source notes.