Article,
Negotiating culturally responsive pedagogy through multicultural children's literature: Towards critical democratic literacy practices in a first grade classroom
Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 9 (1): 50-74 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1468798408101105
Abstract
In this article, I present the description of the learning and social action that unfolded through critical literacy events in my first grade classroom. Resulting from teacher action research, this critical conscientization process underscores how multicultural children's literature served as enabler of culturally responsive pedagogy. Through the analysis of representative literacy events, I highlight how first grade students problematized the racially and socioeconomically segregated nature of pull-out educational programs in an American school — a clear and complex institutional issue that affected society, schooling, and the students' lives. By sharing this, I hope to draw attention to the possibilities of employing children's literature for the benefit of better serving the educational needs of all children.
