I read the article, ‘Providing Support for Dialogue in Literature Discussions about Social Justice” (Moller, 2002). It discusses how educators can introduce social issues to younger children using literature. Through the use of literature circles, children can discuss with one another their feelings about the topics introduced. If the children had some background information on historical injustice, it enabled them to make connections in their reading. By creating a safe classroom environment, students could express their views without scrutiny, especially when an individual’s viewpoint was different from the majority of the group. Teacher interaction in these discussion groups is important to “enable the children to interpret literature from personal perspectives and engage in meaningful discussions with their peers” (Moller, 2002). Unfortunately, many forms of injustice are ingrained in our society. Educators need to expose children to injustices in the past and how historically they were remedied. Children also need to realize that there are still social inequities and stereotypes in our world and that we should treat one another with respect and understanding. Through the use of literature circles, children can discuss their thoughts on these sensitive topics and they can possibly discuss how things should change to make the world a better place.
Donna
I read Out of the Box: Critical Literacy in a First-Grade Classroom. What a powerful article and powerful idea! The article details the journey of one teacher in a rural, mostly white area in the American mid-west and how she noticed significant changes in her students when she introduced critical literature. Critical literature is literature that doesn't have a "happy ending" in the text, but for Kim Huber (the teacher) and her students there really was a happy ending. By introducing books which confront soical justice (homelessness, gangs, poverty, etc.) Kim noticed that her students became critical thinkers: they asked about fairness and what could be done to change situations, and expressed great concern about prejudice. Their social awareness increased almost immediately. After a story about homelessness, Kim noticed her students brought in significant amounts of food for a Thanksgiving food drive. Children were initially motivated by the desire to "win" against other classes, but upon reading the story, the motivation changed to wanting to help other people. The teacher also noticed differences in the students writing: where they had simply drawn a picture and written a few lines to get the task done, after beginning critical literature, children (even reluctant writers) were writing much more and adding great details to both story and pictures. Another happy biproduct of adding "different" texts to the curriculum was that her students were much more caring and compassionate towards each other and the teacher. I believe this kind of literature must be included in our curriculum - not just in junior grades but in primary grades as well. What better time to begin to shape children's thinking and attitudes towards others? What better time to develop compassion and caring? We ask children to be critical thinkers in other subjects (media, math, science, social science) in primary grades, so we should also do the same for literature. It's something I will definetely do in my classroom. wendy
I read "Providing Support for Dialogue in Literature discussions about Social Justice", which discusses the importance of incorporating social and religious injustice into the learning of young students. I very much think that these issues can be introduced during the primary grades. However, as a teacher you have to establish an overall sense of your class and their levels of comprehension. One group of first graders may easily grasp the ideas behind the story as another group will need much more simplifying. I think the importance of introducing these topics allows students to build on their empathy and creates a climate for inclusion from very early on, regardless of whether this topic is being address at home. Schools are the one place students will be introduced to a variety of people coming from all backgrounds and therefore it is a great opportunity to make text to self connections while reading literature that advocates these topics. Encouraging dialogue allows us to think aloud, and by engaging in a class discussion allows students to influence their peers’ perceptions through discussing their own experiences. I find that through sharing literature that advocates social inequality literature with the class, students will be encouraged to share their opinions and further formulate them based on healthy discussion.
~Fathia Nasir
The article that I read, "Out of the Box: Critical Literacy on a First-Grade Classroom", by leland, Harste and Huber discusses teacher Kim Huber's decision to read a book based around diversity to a class that was very monocultural. This article discusses the positive transformation the class experienced throughout the year, where the students learned the serious issues surrounding race.
The reading of this book I believe was a good decision by the teacher. Growing up in an area dominated by a monoculture the students are very sheltered, which can lead to their view and beliefs towards the outside becoming very skewed. By reading this type of material to the students they are exposed to the hardships surrounding the issues of race. With this in mind though, a teacher must be careful not to bombard the students with this material as too much can be very depressing. As teachers we must understand that children must still be able to have fun. This means that along with reading material surrounding the hardships of race, children must also be able to read material surrounding fantasy and adventure among other things.
I read the article “Changing our Minds, Changing the World: The Power of a Question” by Laman, Smith and Kander where it discusses Ms. Brice’s exploration of critical inquiry into texts. Ms. Brice introduced a new book in an interactive read aloud called “Freedom Summer” about an interracial relationship between two boys. The class liked the book and it stimulated their interest in the subject. The book was the beginning of her classes’ critical inquiry by taking an active role in making connections between themselves and the world.
The article goes into detail of what Ms. Brice did within her classroom by teaching her classroom reading strategies in doing critical inquiries into texts, ““In Ms Brice’s classroom touchstone texts and critical reading strategies provided tools for collective critical inquiry”(Laman, Smith, Kander, 3). Ms. Brice taught these reading strategies through different activities to help stimulate the children’s thinking and understanding of the texts. They looked at the three curricular events that happened in the critical inquiry of “Freedom Summer” in Ms. Brice’s class, they were “a whole group interactive read – aloud using the critical reading strategy, a small group discussion and an individual student presentation”(Laman, Smith, Kander, 4).
I really liked the reading strategies Ms. Brice used, as I think they helped the kids to discuss, question and form understanding about a difficult issue. It was interesting to see the amount of depth the children had in their discussions about the subject and that the students even went further to try to figure out things they found confusing. Children’s’ perceptions of cultural models in their world are being seen through different eyes after they have been opened up through critical inquiry of texts on these issues. I think using literature that reflects power in the world and doing critical inquires help children to understand their world and relate it to their own lives. In critical inquiry and conversation in the classroom, “Ms. Brice used several strategies as tools for thinking about texts and the world and helped her students participate in thoughtful discussions”(Laman, Smith, Kander, 11) using critical reading strategies and cultural models to understand the world around them and how it is reflected in texts.
~ Corisa Chamberlain
I read the article titled “Changing our minds/changing the world: The power of a question” by Laman, Smith and Kander. The article discusses the importance and need for critical inquiry in today’s classroom. As a result of diverse student populations and the different types of psychological, behaviour, economical issues children have to deal with today, a need to discuss worldly issues is crucial. The article outlines the importance of connecting the personal and the political in the sense that everyone is affected by issues outside of his or her environment. As such, critical inquiry allows young learners to explore issues in other communities, in other cultures and in other countries. As a teacher, simple approaches can be undertaken in attempt to implement critical inquiry. For example, reading the newspaper and watching the news is one method of becoming aware of issues around the world. There are individuals who have argued that elementary school students should not be responsible for worrying or thinking about issues in the world such as poverty in third world countries. I personally believe, however, that there are students who are directly affected by these issues such as prejudice in the classroom today. As a result, it is the responsibility of teachers to expose students to not only the existence of these issues but critical reflection of them also.
Harpreet Kainth
I read the article Changing Out Minds/Changing the world: The Power of a Question. After reading this article I was able to fully grasp what critically literacy actually involves. I believe that it would be beneficial if all primary/junior teachers could use the same approach to critical inquiry as Ms. Brice does in the article. I agreed with Ms. Brice when she explained the importance of rereading a book numerous times and being able to connect the personnel with the political. I feel that the debate about being too young to be burdened with the adult world is quite interesting. I believe that younger students should not be shunned away from the important issues that are surrounding the world. Instead critical literacy is an excellent learning opportunity for students to gain knowledge by conversing with their peers about sensitive issues. If the teacher is able to provide a safe environment in the classroom, younger students should also be exposed to controversial issues. When the entire class is involved in critical literacy it allows for children to become more sensitive and aware of issues that they might not have ever been introduced to before. Race, segregation, and power are all a part of students lives and the more knowledge a student acquires about these issues, the more likely there will be less stereotyping and prejudices in the classroom environment.
Jagjeet
After reading Changing our Minds/ Changing the World: The Power of a Question I learned great ideas for critical literacy using read alouds, group reading and individual presentations, but what remained with me after reading the article was the debate on whether or not young students should be addressing these issues in literacy. The article writes “some argue that the youngest students in elementary schools should not be burdened with issues of the adult world”. I agree with the article as it explains why students should be involved with these types of lessons and interact with such material. It demonstrates various ways that critical literacy benefits the classroom as a whole. Critical literacy allows students to inquire about their social worlds through texts appropriate for their age level. Issues discussed, such as racism, sexism, stereotypes, and other social issues are sometimes a part of these students’ lives. Recognizing that these children do face the adult issues and have complex lives will open up a classroom where such ideas can be critically examined. Critical inquiry is about implication, it brings about meaning in students lives with connections to real world issues and politics. It involves the “active engagement of learners as they explore issues in the world around them.”
Natalie
I also read Changing our Minds/ Changing the World: The Power of a Quetion. This title was a great link inot getting me interested in reading this article, and I am certainly glad I did. This article discusses and supports students being involved and taking action with their own learning. As connections with personal issues are linked to political connections. I particulary was interested in the part where it states, " youngest students in elementary schools should not be burdened with issues of the adult world." I found this quote to be interesting. As this is a concern by many peers, collegaues and paretns. However these children are who construct the world and it is important to discuss factos influecning and interests in their lives. By using newspapers, books, website, personal stories and interviewing familiy members is truly a learning experience. As students learn how to articulate a question and understand the meaning and reasoning. Breaking down the systematic barriers is crucial for students learning. I believe this article did a fabulous job in addressing issues that they may face in their adult lives. Such as racsim, bullying and gender equality. Through educating students, this is a perfect way of educating parents/gurdians. We know through a contructivist approach that students learn best when they are involved in their own learning. It makes sense for students to learn real concrete social justice issues, rather than irrelevant information that they may not need and more importantly does not reflect the dynamics in the classroom. This article has allowed me to have a better understanding of how critical litearcy looks like and the appearant benefits from it. I hope to remember to implement this in my future teaching practice!
Fozia Shah & Naveen Mailik
I also read the article ‘Changing Our Minds/ Changing the World: The Power of a Question.’ I thought that it was an amazing article. I really liked the interactive Read Aloud strategies the teacher used. I was amazed at how the children were able to ask such profound questions, and how they were able to relate to different people in the text by taking on the roles of the allies, bystanders, targets, and perpetrators. I am a person who has always felt that such social issues shouldn’t be taught at such a young age. I thought this way not because I don’t think children should learn about social and political issues but because I thought it was beyond their grasp and knowledge. After reading this article I am amazed at the level of understanding these young students have. I am now really interested and excited to use critical literacy in my own classroom.
Pamela
I also read the article entitled Changing our Minds/ Changing the World: The Power of a Question and found the article to be a great resource for teachers who are interested in the 'hows' and 'whys' of approaching critical literacy. I too feel that the article eloquently addressed the controversy surrounding whether or not young students should be exposed to 'adult' issues such as racism, classism, sexism and so on. As Natalie articulates, critical literacy provides students with an opportunity to ask questions about their social world, while still keeping the issues age appropriate. I agree with the position taken in this article, as I believe that young children are extremely perceptive of their social and political worlds, yet they have no outlet to explore or contextualize the issues. Critical Literacy provides students with this outlet and gives them opportunity to learn about their world around them in a way that helps them to look through a critical lens and not always take things at face value. I feel it is important to implement critical literacy and critical thinking strategies in early grades, as this will help develop students into inquirers who are not afraid to challenge and question the world around them - a skill that I feel is invaluable. I believe that the knowledge and quality of inquiry that was expressed by the grade ones in this article is proof that students are observant of their worlds and are craving the opportunity to explore their questions and develop a better understanding of the situations that cause them so much confusion. I thoroughly enjoyed this article and can not wait to have the opportunity to explore critical literacy in my own classroom!
Lindsay Taylor
The idea of ‘reading between the lines’ was a concept highlighted in Out of the Box: Critical Literacy in a First-Grade Classroom. Teaching students to ‘read between the lines’ not only in literature but in life is a difficult concept to teach, especially at such young ages. Critical Literacy is a teaching strategy that introduces the concept of empathy and critical thought. Asking question such as “who benefits from this story”, “whose voices are not heard” and “whose story is this” initiate critical thought on issues of social justice. Guiding students to read between the lines in text is teaching students the ability to critically explore notions and standpoints. I think that introducing this concept to first graders is not only acceptable but necessary. I anxiously await the opportunity to teach critical literacy in my own classroom. I think that teaching students to respond to texts such as Lady in the Box and Fly Away Home with a critical and open mind is a fantastic was to teach the social skills necessary to ‘read between the lines’ of stereotypes, prejudices and biases the students will inevitably encounter in life.
Jennifer Gordon
I read the article "Out of the Box: Critical Literacy in a First-Grade Classroom". When I was in elelmentary school, the majority of the books that I read or that were read to me where those "feel good" books with happy endings, that were mentioned in the article. Although I think that these books are fantastic to read to children, I feel you can do much more with picture books. I really like the idea of teaching the children "to read between the lines", and examine questions such as "who benefits from this story and who isn't heard?" Story books have the ability to teach the students about many areas, which may be difficult for teacher's to address. In the article, the teacher focused on the books "Fly Away Home" and "The Lady in the Box", both talking about homelessness. It may be difficult to address issues such as homelessness, because you may have students in your classroom who are affected by these issues that you are unaware of. Addressing these tough social issues through a story book is a non-threatening way to talk about these issues, and get students thinking. The teacher in the article mentioned that once she started using critical literacy books, students started to treat each other better and be more respectful. If these story books are able to enhance your classroom environment and teach the students about various social issues, why not use them?
Leigh Ann Coady
I read the article ‘Providing Support for Dialogue in literature discussions about social justice. While this article is quite in depth I think the most basic and most important idea that should be taken from this is what exactly our responsibility is as educators when it comes to teaching social justice. There is specific reference in this article that children are aware and often blinded by the injustices and racial actions that occur within our world. They understand this and are aware of it, and it reflects through discussions they have with their teacher. However students, like the grade 4 classes they made reference to, also understand the concept of equality and how it is important to always have equality in our world. In one incident the students created a drama skit and a type of read-aloud based on violence they have occurred in their lives. The teacher monitored their creation of social skits and came in and interacted with them when needed, to ensure the skit was being conducted in an appropriate manor. The idea is that educators must ‘trust the literature, students and themselves.” When talking about real life issues amongst the students and transforming it into critical literacy, educators must establish an environment of trust first and foremost, so the students feel comfortable expressing themselves fully. The teacher in this particular situation laid out the ground rules for a safe environment in which mutual respect was strongly enforced. It is important that the educator play a key role when facilitating any type of critical literature discussions where children are going to be free to express themselves. This way social justice can prevail in a fair manor so all students learn to their fullest capabilities.
Lindsey Strong
I also read the articel "Providing Support for Dialogue in literacture discussions about social justice." I found this articel very interesting and creates a different spin on the way you use texts. Simply exposing children to text that deal with issue of social justice or racial inequalities is not enough. If you just give a grade 4 student a book about black history and tell them to read it, they probably will do just that, read it. It is our job as teachers to have the students do more than just read the material. By creating dialoge generated from the texts they are exposed to children can relate to the material and create connections to the real world. Children then can become able to tap into their feeling and express themselves through various resources. Through skits these children where able to take the dialoge they had with each other and interact together to make a representation of their thoughts and feelings. Through teacher assistance, teachers are able to further advance the children's thinking and create a safe environment that children express themselves in. This process creates deeper meaning in the text and a better understanding a real life connections.
Maryann Chilton
I too read Out of the Box: Critical Literacy in a First-Grade Classroom, I feel that it is imperative to introduce social issues at a young age to children in order to create an atmosphere of tolerance and justice in the classroom. I agree that picture books and "feel good" stories have their place in our educational system but I also feel that in order to develop the skills necessary to be a well rounded contributer to society, we need to address areas of social injustice and what better way to do that than through literature. Children have a natural curioustiy in areas of injustice and are open to new ideas. Teaching children to "read between the lines" empowers them in order to critically evaluate what they are reading and why something is written the way it is, i.e. who is targeted in this piece of literature, and who benefits from it? This ensures that children become active participants in the literature they read and not only read for the sake of reading but also read in order to achieve understanding of the world they live in.
Jennifer Jaeger-Rodych
The “Out of the Box” article takes a look the attempt and success of a first grade teacher introducing social justice books into her classroom. One of the books she read to the class was The Lady in the Box, and it addressed the issue of homelessness. The teacher found that after introducing these texts and discussing them as a class, her students began to make deeper connections between text and self, and text to the world. She also saw her students begin to treat each other with more respect and compassion.
Other books looked at issues related to gangs and family member’s participation in gangs. As children explored these books, they increased their ability to view information from other perspectives – much more so than when the teacher had read “happy ending” texts.
The idea of using social justice texts in the classroom is one I interesting, but something I am somewhat hesitant about. I was a very emotional child, and topics without “happy endings” were stressful and something to be scared/worried about. If a teacher had introduces those topics into my class then I don’t think I would have been able to handle it emotionally – I always felt as thought it would happen to me. While it is important for students to be aware of the social issues of the world we live in, I think the topic must be approached with gentleness and an awareness of where your students are.
Fiona
I also read the article Out of the Box: Critical Literacy in a First-Grade Classroom and share many of the same thoughts as Fiona and Jenny. I believe that critical literacy expands a child's mind to new information that they would not receive in their day-to-day lives and does allow for those questions and "reading between the lines". I also think that certain topics should be introduced with care. By reading critical literacy, children will expand their social/emotional learning and their development of empathy. I was teaching in a guided reading centre today and the grade 2's were reading a book about the weather. When they filled out their activity sheets they all responded that the book was boring and that they would never read it again. When I asked them to tell me why they felt this way they responded that they already knew that when it rained it could be windy and when it was winter it was cold. This group would have been far more interested in a critical literacy book designed for their age group. There are many children arriving new to the schools in the GTA and a book about being a new student and/or a new student from another country would have been far more interesting than a weather book. "Happy" ending books should be part of a child's reading library, but these critical literacy stories are what broaden the mind.
Carol
The article that I read, "Out of the Box: Critical Literacy on a First-Grade Classroom", by leland, Harste and Huber discusses teacher Kim Huber's decision to read a book based around diversity to a class that was very monocultural. This article discusses the positive transformation the class experienced throughout the year, where the students learned the serious issues surrounding race.
The reading of this book I believe was a good decision by the teacher. Growing up in an area dominated by a monoculture the students are very sheltered, which can lead to their view and beliefs towards the outside becoming very skewed. By reading this type of material to the students they are exposed to the hardships surrounding the issues of race. With this in mind though, a teacher must be careful not to bombard the students with this material as too much can be very depressing. As teachers we must understand that children must still be able to have fun. This means that along with reading material surrounding the hardships of race, children must also be able to read material surrounding fantasy and adventure among other things.
Eric Radtke
My reading was on "Providing Support for Dialogue in Literacture discussions about Social Justice". This was an article that helped put the idea of racial, social and religious injustice into a relevant context for younger grades. The issue of addressing this topic in a younger grade I find to be percieved as taboo because the subject matter is considered by many to be to complex or too confusing to be taught. I am one of these teachers who feel that the topic should be at least introduced as soon as possible. This article compliments my assumptions by showing prime examples of class discussions regarding the issue of racism. I like how the teacher was both supportive and open-minded in this article. At times she was directing the discussion, she simply wanted to hear the students opinions, finding out their personal demons or questions regarding this issue. She allowed room or direction when needed and always put things that were confusing to the students into context of the topic. I agree that dialouge should at least be introduced to students as soon as possible, especially in literature. This allows students who may in fact have backgrounds of their own to be addressed and shared, allowing for a richer discussion on the issue of inequality.
Jay
I feel that it is extremely important to bring Critical Literacy into the classroom. This being said, however, we cannot be expected to analyse absolutely everything that we read. As a student, I felt like everything we analyzed and studied in class was ruined for me. Now as a teacher, however, my perspective has changed, and I can see the value of gaining as much from a text as you possibly can.
The article that I read for this week was "Providing Support for Dialogue in Literature Discussions about Social Justice". The article really allowed me to see the reasons why Critical Literacy needs to be a part of our teaching every day. I was very pleased with the wide variety of issues that were brought up through the texts the students were reading. I feel it is extremely important that we raise issues of racism, discrimination, and equality in the classroom. Teachers need to create a safe environment in their classrooms, so that discussions around these topics can be had, and be successful. Some rules would need to be in place as well.
Christine
I read the article, ‘Providing Support for Dialogue in Literature Discussions about Social Justice” (Moller, 2002). It discusses how educators can introduce social issues to younger children using literature. Through the use of literature circles, children can discuss with one another their feelings about the topics introduced. If the children had some background information on historical injustice, it enabled them to make connections in their reading. By creating a safe classroom environment, students could express their views without scrutiny, especially when an individual’s viewpoint was different from the majority of the group. Teacher interaction in these discussion groups is important to “enable the children to interpret literature from personal perspectives and engage in meaningful discussions with their peers” (Moller, 2002). Unfortunately, many forms of injustice are ingrained in our society. Educators need to expose children to injustices in the past and how historically they were remedied. Children also need to realize that there are still social inequities and stereotypes in our world and that we should treat one another with respect and understanding. Through the use of literature circles, children can discuss their thoughts on these sensitive issues and they can possibly discuss how things should change to make the world a better place.
Donna
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