Seeking Diversity in Children's Literature Utilized in Elementary Classrooms

2021 ◽  
pp. 87-102
Author(s):  
Mary-Kate Sableski ◽  
Jackie Marshall Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Elementary Classrooms ◽  
Multiple Perspectives

Utilizing literature in classrooms that is representative of all provides opportunities for students to find within a book the truth of their own experiences. Literature provides the windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors that afford opportunities to consider multiple perspectives and lenses in life. This chapter discusses different representations of diverse literature in classrooms and explores what educators might consider for their teaching and learning. Specifically, the chapter describes books student teachers identify using in their classrooms and considers how the books aligned with the different categories of a rubric used to assess them. Of the 113 books sampled, only nine books distinctly represented diversity. Implications of these findings and how they can support and challenge the children's literature utilized in today's classrooms are discussed.

scholarly journals “I don’t really have a reason to read children’s literature”: Enquiring into Primary Student Teachers’ Knowledge of Children’s Literature

2021 ◽  
pp. 217
Author(s):  
Jennifer Farrar
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Reader Identity ◽  
Primary Student ◽  
Literate Identities

Research into in-service teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature indicates there is a powerfully symbiotic relationship between teachers’ perceptions and projections of themselves as readers and students’ engagement with reading as a pleasurable activity (Commeyras et al., 2003; Cremin et al 2014). Less is known about pre-service teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature or their attitudes towards reading and the Scottish context is unexplored in this regard. Inspired by and aligned with the work of Cremin et al (2008) with in-service primary teachers in England, this project investigated the personal reading habits of more than 150 student teachers over a two-year period by capturing snapshots of their knowledge of children’s literature and perceptions of themselves as not only readers, but as readers of children’s literature, at various stages of their initial teacher education. Framed by understandings of literacy practices as socially and locally constructed (Barton & Hamilton, 1998) and of literate identities as fluid, contingent and plural (Moje et al., 2009), this paper also outlines how project findings linked to knowledge of texts for children and reader identity have informed the teaching and learning of children’s literature at university level.

Emergent bilinguals as text designers: rendering meaning through signs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Brown
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Emergent Bilinguals ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Content Type ◽  
English Only ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
The Social ◽  
Semiotic Resources ◽  
Multilingual Learning

Purpose The main purpose is to investigate what resources young emergent bilinguals use to communicate a multimodal response to children’s literature. In particular, attention is paid to the ways students translanguage as part of the learning process. Design/methodology/approach An ethnography-in-education approach was used to capture the social and cultural aspects of literacy learning in an English-only context. A multimodal transcript analysis was applied to video-recorded data as a method for examining semiotic resources and modes of learning. Findings The results revealed that students used technology, paper-based resources and peers to construct meaning relative to books. Experimentation or play with the affordances of the tablet computer served as avenues to determine the agentive selection of resources. As students wrestled with constructing meaning, they gathered multiple perspectives from peers and children’s literature to involve symbols and representations in their texts. Signs, multiple language forms and meaning came together for the social shaping of situated perspectives. Originality/value This study addresses the call for educators to engage in multiliterate, multimodal practices with young learners in the contexts of classrooms. It provides insight into the need to create multilingual learning spaces where translanguaging freely occurs and the meaningful ways early childhood learners use technology. To fully understand what emergent bilinguals know and can do, they must be afforded a variety of semiotic resources at school.

scholarly journals The Effects of Children’s Literature on Preservice Early Childhood Mathematics Teachers’ Thinking

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Jett
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Children's Literature ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Education Majors ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Mathematics Teaching And Learning

In this article, the author shares an intervention of using children’s literature as a pedagogical frame for an undergraduate mathematics content course with early childhood education majors to influence their thinking about mathematics teaching and learning. With this case study of 29 preservice teachers, the author found that literature increased preservice elementary teachers’ excitement about mathematics, heightened their self-efficacy in mathematics, and motivated them to design innovative mathematics lessons. By elaborating on these findings, the author makes a case for the continued need for mathematically competent teachers in elementary classroom spaces, and the author advocates for the incorporation of literature as a means to do this work. Finally, the author provides implications for future research and practice with other SoTL-related projects involving children’s literature.

scholarly journals Perspectives on Inclusive Education: Need for Muslim Children’s Literature

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 450
Author(s):  
Antum A. Panjwani
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Children's Literature ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Muslim Students ◽  
Unique Position ◽  
Curricular Resources

Muslim students and communities in Western sociopolitical and educational contexts confront substantive challenges of racisms, Islamophobia, and under- and misrepresentations in media as well as in literature. Creating a robust repertoire of curricular resources for teaching and learning, teacher development programs, and schooling in general offers a promise of developing classroom practices, which in turn promotes an inclusive discourse that recognizes the unique position and presence of a Muslim child. The present article examines the prospects of developing such a curriculum called Muslim Children’s Literature for inclusive schooling and teacher development programs in the context of public education in Ontario, Canada. It is situated in the larger umbrella of creating specific theory and methodology for education that lend exposure to Muslim cultures and civilizations. Development of such a literature as curricular resources addresses the questions of Muslim identities through curriculum perceptions so as to initiate critical conversations around various educational challenges that the development and dissemination of Muslim curricular resources faces today. I make a case for developing Muslim Children’s Literature to combat the challenges of having limited repertoire to engage with Muslim students in public schools and teacher candidates in teacher development programs. With the description of the necessity of such a literature, this article outlines characteristics of the proposed genre of Muslim Children’s Literature, as well as the unique position of a Muslim child in the current educational scenarios. A brief peek into select fiction on Muslim themes available in English internationally that can be used as curricular resources at elementary and secondary level serves towards reinforcing the definition of Muslim Children’s Literature. Further, these offer a sample that may be promoted under the proposed genre of Muslim Children’s Literature.

Implementing Constructive Controversy in a Hybrid Children's Literature Course

2021 ◽  
pp. 235-256
Author(s):  
Danielle E. Hartsfield ◽  
Angelica Marquez
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Children's Literature ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Constructive Controversy ◽  
Critical Issues

Constructive controversy is a cooperative learning approach that invites students to research and present both sides of an issue. This approach has many positive outcomes; these include improving academic achievement and motivation, fostering interpersonal relationships, and encouraging students to consider multiple perspectives. This chapter describes the implementation of constructive controversy in a hybrid children's literature course for undergraduate students in an elementary/special education dual major program. Students in the class investigated and discussed several critical issues in the children's literature field. Students' perspectives of participating in constructive controversy are shared, and recommendations are made to support instructors seeking to implement constructive controversy in hybrid or online classroom settings.

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