Delving Beneath the Covers: Examining Children s Literature

Transcription

1 Chmamanda Ngoz Adche: The danger of a sngle story Personal Bases Delvng Beneath the Covers: Examnng Chldren s Lterature Hdden Messages of Gender, Ablty, Dversty, Body Image Commercalsm, Power & Prvlege Who Am We? What are Our Bases? Our own values, belefs & experences affect our understandngs, experence, and expresson of culture and can be helpful to acknowledge n dscussons about Bas.

2 Ddactc & Implct Messages D d a c t c I m p l c t How do chldren feel when the only tme that see themselves represented n lterature s n books that ddactcally dscuss dfferences? Can you thnk of Books wth postve mplct messages about chldren who are: Gender nonconformng? Members of relgous mnortes? In non-tradtonal famles? Of dfferent body types? Lvng wth dsablty? Developmentally Approprate Practce NAEYC outlnes three questons to ask when consderng DAP: The Transmsson of Bas Chldren's books 1. What s known about chld development and learnng? 1. Omsson: A group may be excluded from an entre collecton, or from the books selected for use n a lbrary, school, or classroom. 2. What s known about each chld as an ndvdual? 2. Illustratons: Stereotypes, Tokensm, Who s dong what? 3. What s known about the socal and cultural contexts n whch chldren lve? 3. Storylne: What are the standards of success, how are problems resolved, how are people of dfferent genders or cultures portrayed? What socal and cultural contexts could be n our room that we re not aware of? Whle teachers must consder the cultural contexts of our classrooms and be senstve to them we are also responsble to help chldren understand that all persons have value [and] accept and welcome ndvdual dfferences. 4. Relatonshps between characters 5. Author: Cultural appropraton, cultural perspectve, and authentcty. 6. Language used to descrbe characters and places.

3 An Example of Deconstructon Gender Gender n Chldren s Books Gender messages are pervasve, whether t s ntended or not, we are always teachng chldren about gender. Often we are teachng the gender messages of the domnate culture and t goes unnotced by us. Chldren s books stll generally contan portrayals of the domnate culture n regards to: Gender roles n famles. Famly structure. Expressons of gender. Genderng lkes and nterests. Sexual orentaton. Although femnsm has made great strdes n how women are portrayed n chldren s books there s stll more to do. Further, femnsm does not necessarly address LGBT or male portrayals n chldren s books. (e. Boys can t be femnne.)

4 Culture n Chldren s Books Culture n chldren s books, f t s depcted at all, s often lmted to the colour of one s skn, cultural events, and food. When lookng for cultural messages n books educators should also be mndful of the relatonshp between characters, the relatonshp wth the envronment, the characters values, belefs, and relgous expresson. Does havng no expresson of relgon n chldrens books help create an nclusve classroom or s t actually an act of omsson aganst chldren who belong to vsble faths? Dversty n Chldren s Books Dversty n chldren s books s one of the least represented categores. Where are the examples of people wth dfferent vsble abltes? heros and herones wth dfferently shaped bodes? levels of attractveness? Why are there so many examples of physcal charactercs beng ted to moralty? (We re lookng at you Dsney) Consumersm n Chldren s Books Accordng to the Meda Awareness Network we see an average of 3000 ads a day. But what are the possble effects on chldren? Materalsms effect on chldren's self mage and values. What does t teach chldren about nutrton? Marketng toys based on teen and adult entertanment Young consumers as collectors

5 Age Approprateness CAARPE Remember Developmentally Approprate Practce The complexty of the sentences The sophstcaton of vocabulary The sophstcaton of the concepts (concrete to abstract) Ages and Stages Aesthetcs & Desgn Pctures and desgn act as scaffoldng to the content of the book and help chldren unlock meanng behnd the words. Pctures should: For further Reference look onlne: Choosng Age Approprate Books Content, Age Approprateness, Aesthetcs & Desgn, Purpose, Extentons be of approprate sze & complexty for the ntended purpose be engagng and nvtng be part of the story rather than been seen as supplementary to the story Aesthetcs: pertanng to a sense of the beautful Involvng, or concerned wth pure emoton and sensaton. Changes wth culture, tme, experence etc. Desgn: to plan and fashon artstcally or skllfully. The form and the structure. These elements come together to make an attractve & effectve book.

6 Purpose Alex Cruckshank Forward To The Past Artcles for Your Interest Why are you choosng ths book? For crcle tme? For the Lbrary corner? For a partcular chld? To teach a specfc dea? To provoke dscusson of an dea? As a reference book? As a teacher's reference book? How to Talk to Lttle Grls - Lsa Bloom r_b_ html Evaluatng Chldren s books for Bas - In Tme About a Grl: Coy Maths Fght to Change Gender - Sabrna Rubn Erdely -fght-to-change-change-gender Dscourse of the Strong Chld Your Image of the chld: Where Teachng Begns - Lors Malaguzz