Pre‐service teachers explore cultural identity and ideology through picture books

Abstract

This paper draws on early data from a cross-Canada research project in which researchers at six Faculties of Education have been engaged in introducing picture books with multiple and diverse representations of Canadians to classes of pre-service teachers, inviting them to explore the pedagogical possibilities of the picture books and to discuss their cultural identities in focus groups and interviews. The paper reports the participants' expressed understandings of multiculturalism and their own relations and experiences with it, as well as their thoughts on classroom implementation of curriculum that incorporates picture books with multicultural and diversity themes. The paper also includes a case study of one Canadian province to further explore the wider context of pre-service teachers' understandings and ideologies by examining discourses in policy and practices in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Features of the Jordanian Cultural Identity in the Islamic Education Books for the Two Phases of Primary and Secondary Education in Jordan

“…It should be noted that many of the inclusions in the basic stage came through the visual content, the thing that underlines the importance of visual organizations (photos, graphics and table formats) to deepen the concepts of cultural identity of Jordan, as the Islamic Education Textbooks highlighted many of these features through photos and maps. This study is also consistent with a study of (Hammett, & Bainbridge, 2009), which results showed the existence of cultural diversity in the embedded photos in the curricula and school textbooks.…”

Literacy Teacher Educators Creating Space for Children’s Literature

“…The LTEs understood that "stories are a way of knowing as well as a way of teaching" [48] (p. 12). The types of children's literature LTEs select and share in their courses can help inform the texts teacher trainees will value and feel comfortable sharing in their future classrooms [23,52,53,55]. The LTEs utilized children's literature, which foregrounded complex social issues and marginalized voices, as a vehicle to encourage teacher trainees to reflect upon their own assumptions about diversity, to expand their conceptions of literacy, and to create opportunities for them to apply this knowledge in the design of culturally responsive instructional strategies.…”

“…Within the context of this paper, critical texts refers to texts that actively take up issues of difference and dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender identity, class, or linguistic diversity. Relevant research reveals that LTEs have used children's literature to create spaces of learning, which encourage teacher trainees to consciously reflect upon categories of difference, to inquire into multiple perspectives, and to actively explore the relationship between language, culture and identity [45,[51][52][53][54][55][56][57]. These spaces of learning can encourage teacher trainees to engage in conversations that centre marginalized voices and a range of lived experiences.…”

“…The LTEs used children's literature to invite teacher trainees to engage in critical conversations about the complex issues likely to be relevant to the lives of the young learners and families they will work alongside in school contexts. The examination of the LTEs' instructional practices provides insight into how children's literature can be utilized to consciously reflect upon and inquire into categories of difference [45,[50][51][52]. Ella, for instance, believed that "children's literature is central to the whole course in terms of equity and having diverse representations of literature and giving teacher trainees suggestions of texts they can bring into their own classrooms that showcase linguistic or racial diversity."…”

A Convergent Parallel Mixed-Methods Study of Controversial Issues in Social Studies Classes: A Clash of Ideologies

“…Turkey also uses educational activities as a means to realize its own ideology and ensure the state's perpetuity (Babahan, 2009). Kerr (2002) argued that these objectives can be achieved through the content in instructional programs via teachers and other components of education like books, activities, and so forth (Hammett & Bainbridge, 2009;Levinson, 2010;Shkedi & Nisan, 2006).…”