Valuing the Lives and Experiences of English Learners: Widening the Landscape of Children's Literature

Koss, Melanie D.; Daniel, Mayra C.

doi:10.1002/tesj.336

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Children need to find images of themselves and their worlds, and also gain exposure to other cultures and experiences through the books that they read or have read to them (Bishop, 1990; 2003; Brooks, 2006; Hall, 2008; Hefflin & Barksdale-Ladd, 2001; Koss & Daniel, 2018; Landt, 2013; Peterson et al 2015). The self-affirming and social awareness benefits of culturally diverse books extend to both sighted and visually impaired children.…”

Section: Valuing and Analyzing Cultural Diversity In Children’s Brail...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Children’s books are a valuable educational tool for facilitating this process. Through literature, children can find representations of their worlds and be exposed to other people and places (Bishop, 1990; Brooks, 2006; Hall, 2008; Barksdale-Ladd & Hefflin, 2001; Koss & Daniel, 2018; Landt, 2013; Peterson et al2015). Unfortunately, culturally diverse characters and settings have historically been underrepresented in children’s books (Barksdale-Ladd & Hefflin, 2001; Hughes-Hassel & Cox, 2010; Koss, 2015; Larrick, 1965; Sims, 1982).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Cultural Diversity in Children’s Braille Books

Coleman

Harrison

2022

Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness

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Introduction Children’s books help all young readers develop social understanding through recognition of themselves and their worlds and exposure to different cultures and places. Prior content analyses have revealed the underrepresentation of culturally diverse characters in print children’s books; however, the extent to which braille children’s books reflect racial and ethnic diversity has not been investigated. As such, this study examined racial and ethnic diversity in published children’s braille books. Methods The authors analyzed 328 braille books from the online catalogs of Seedlings Braille Books for Children and National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), drawing from schema for describing African American children’s literature. This study presents a tactile version of Rudine Sims Bishop’s mirror, windows, and sliding glass doors metaphor for the purpose of understanding how braille books can enrich the lives of blind or low vision children. Results The results indicated that characters of color were featured in 12% and 14% of children’s braille books in the Seedlings and NLS catalogs. Culturally conscious content was found in 68% and 86% of the books with characters of color in the Seedlings and NLS catalogs respectively. Discussion In the context of a highly multicultural society, the findings from this study are remarkably unfortunate. They demonstrate that racially and ethnically diverse children who are blind or have low vision have far fewer opportunities than their white counterparts to experience NLS and Seedlings braille books that represent themselves and their worlds or expose them to different worlds. We strongly encourage the children’s braille book industry to address these findings with urgency. Implications for Practitioners Teachers of children with visual impairments need to be aware of the literary and social benefits of culturally diverse books and incorporate more of these books into their literacy instruction. They need not wait for additional research or for the children’s braille book industry to publish more books featuring diverse racial and ethnic groups. Teachers of children with visual impairments can prepare culturally diverse braille books for their students and support families in adding braille overlays to culturally diverse print books in their home libraries.

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Section: Valuing and Analyzing Cultural Diversity In Children’s Brail...mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Diversity in Children’s Braille Books

Coleman

Harrison

2022

Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness

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“…A review of existing research reveals considerable evidence that children's literature can serve as a useful resource for supporting principles of diversity [1,7,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. These studies demonstrate the importance of introducing diversity in literature from birth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Authenticity Goes Missing: How Monocultural Children’s Literature Is Silencing the Voices and Contributing to Invisibility of Children from Minority Backgrounds

Adam

2021

Education Sciences

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The importance of recognising, valuing and respecting a child’s family, culture, language and values is central to socially just education and is increasingly articulated in educational policy worldwide. Inclusive children’s literature can support children’s human rights and contribute to equitable and socially just outcomes for all children. However, evidence suggests many educational settings provide monocultural book collections which are counterproductive to principles of diversity and social justice. Further, that educators’ understandings and beliefs about diversity can contribute to inequitable provision and use of diverse books and to inequitable outcomes of book sharing for many children. This paper reports on a larger study investigating factors and relationships influencing the use of children’s literature to support principles of cultural diversity in the kindergarten rooms of long day care centres. The study was conducted within an ontological perspective of constructivism and an epistemological perspective of interpretivism informed by sociocultural theory. A mixed methods approach was adopted, and convergent design was employed interpret significant relationships and their meanings. Twenty-four educators and 110 children from four long day care centres in Western Australia participated. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, video-based observations, field notes, document analysis and a book audit. This study firstly identified that current book collections in kindergarten rooms of long day care centres promote mono-cultural viewpoints and ‘othering’ of minority groups through limited access to books portraying inclusive and authentic cultural diversity. Secondly, that educators had limited understandings of the role of literature in acknowledging and valuing diversity and rarely used it to promote principles of diversity, resulting in a practice of “othering” those from minority group backgrounds. The key challenges which emerged from the study concerned beliefs, understanding and confidence of educators about diversity and inclusion, and the impact of these on their approaches to promoting principles of diversity through the use of children’s books. This research contributes to discussion on the value of children’s literature in achieving international principles of diversity. These findings have important social justice implications. The outcomes of this study have implications for educators, policy makers, early childhood organisations and those providing higher education and training for early childhood educators.

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Promoting social justice through dramatizing children's literature: Lessons from EFL classrooms in Türkiye

Yılmaz,

Hart,

Sönmez

2024

TESOL Journal

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Social justice language education (SJLE) explores the ways in which language classrooms can be transformed to disrupt the existing oppressive policies and practices in schools and the society at large (Ortaçtepe Hart & Martel, 2020; Ortaçtepe Hart, 2023; Ortega, 2021). As an approach within SJLE, dramatizing children's literature can raise the awareness of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) of social injustices across the world, help them voice their own experiences in the class, and contribute to their language development (Caldas, 2018; García‐Mateus, 2021; Gualdron & Castillo, 2018; Koss & Daniel, 2018). Focusing on the intersections of drama, children's literature, and SJLE, this qualitative case study explored a) a preservice EFL teacher's trajectory as a social justice educator, and b) the affordances of dramatizing children's literature on developing young learners' English language skills and awareness of social justice issues. Three picture storybooks, Paper Bag Princess, William's Doll, and Amazing Grace, were chosen and scripted for drama. Data were elicited through preservice teachers' observation notes and reflections as well as through semi‐structured interviews with students. The results showed that dramatizing children's literature helped EFL young learners challenge their stereotypical beliefs regarding gender roles, gender inequalities, and racism. It also fostered their language development, especially in pronunciation (e.g., producing sounds), speaking (e.g., pitch and melody), and vocabulary by creating an entertaining and safe environment in which they could engage in contextualized language use. The study provides pedagogical implications in relation to how dramatizing children's literature can help disrupt social and educational injustices, transform students' stereotypical beliefs and biases, and promote empathy and critical awareness at large.

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Valuing the Lives and Experiences of English Learners: Widening the Landscape of Children's Literature

Cited by 6 publications

References 34 publications

Cultural Diversity in Children’s Braille Books

Cultural Diversity in Children’s Braille Books

When Authenticity Goes Missing: How Monocultural Children’s Literature Is Silencing the Voices and Contributing to Invisibility of Children from Minority Backgrounds

Promoting social justice through dramatizing children's literature: Lessons from EFL classrooms in Türkiye

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