“It’s just too sad!”: Teacher candidates’ emotional resistance to picture books
Abstract
The use of critical literacy with children’s books that focus on social issues and disrupt the status quo can be a powerful way to create spaces for conversations with students about social justice and empowerment. Teacher candidates in a semester long children’s literature course were asked to respond to a range of children’s texts that dealt with many social issues and disrupted the commonplace. Despite an explicit emphasis on critical literacy and social justice, the candidates were very resistant to using many of the texts in their own future classrooms. They had strong emotional reactions that prevented them from consideration of how the texts could foster opportunities for students to uncover power relations in texts or to discuss ways that texts either maintain or disrupt the status quo. Data from three picture books that were cited the most frequently are shared in this paper, as well as a discussion on the implications for teacher educators who work with teacher candidates in the area of children’s literature.
Reference
Papola-Ellis, A. (2016). “It’s just too sad!”: Teacher candidates’ emotional resistance to picture books. Reading Horizons, 55 (2). Retrieved from http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol55/iss2/2
Journal
Reading Horizons
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
- Children's Literature Course
Preservice Participants
- Undergraduates (university based program)
Preservice Sample Size
20
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- assignments
- Classroom Discussion
- open ended questions
- Written reflections
Data Analysis Tools
- coding (emergent categories)
Researcher Positionality
- inside (staying their own students)
Research Questions
How do teacher candidates respond to picture books that deal with a range of social issues?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Combination
How do teacher candidates use a critical lens when reading children's books that deal with social issues?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Combination
How do teacher candidates talk about how children's books that deal with social issues fit into their future classroom instruction?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Combination