Teaching Mexican-American Literature in Siberia: Global Perspective on Universal Values in Character Education of Students

Abstract

Globalizing world forces students to turn from narrow-minded to open-minded thinking that promotes intense interest to
other, even distant, cultures. The purpose of the study is to examine universal values in the texts of Mexican-American
writers that are under study in Chita, Transbaikal Siberia, use of these values in literary teaching and learning process and
their contribution to character education of students living in another, distant region. The study results reveal that works
of Mexican-American authors contain basic universal values that bring people together beyond distance and can
contribute to character education of students worldwide. A methodology to study includes axiological approach,
comparative and historical methods. The authors explore novels “The Squatter and the Don” (1885) by María Amparo
Ruiz de Burton and “River of Angels” (2014) by Alejandro Morales, that are included in MA courses (Graduate Program
Director – prof. T. Voronchenko) in Transbaikal State University and considered effective in the process of teaching and
learning and character education of students. Arguably, Mexican-American literature is of lively interest for RussianSiberian students due to the ethnocultural parallelism of US-Mexico and Russia-China-Mongolia border zones. Teaching
Mexican-American literature in such a remote region as Transbaikal Siberia provides upbringing of students based on
universal values possible beyond distance and beyond stereotypes. The authors conclude that teaching literature of
geographically distant regions promotes intense development of students’ open-minded thinking since it initiates
acquirement of other values and, taking into account difficulties in real travel, the emergence of interest, empathy and
understanding the commonness of basic universal values.
Keywords: Mexican-American literature; character education; universal values; moral values.