Teaching Racial Diversity and Equality Through Poem Writing: A Case Study of a Korean Kindergarten Classroom

• In Event: Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Dialogues on Race and Dis/ability in Early Childhood: Voices From the Classroom

Abstract

Despite the importance of poetry writing in children’s social, cognitive, and literacy development, very little research has been done on poetry writing in early childhood classrooms. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, the current study explores the scaffolding potential of poetry writing in early childhood classrooms, focusing on how poem writing followed by multicultural picture books helps children develop an understanding of racial diversity and equality. As part of a large-scale research project on multicultural education in South Korea, we focused on data collected over a five-month period. The findings showed that the poem writing served as a powerful medium to explore children’s ideas about other races and cultures in creative and poetic ways.

Authors

• So Jung Kim, The University of Texas - El Paso

• Su-Jeong Wee, Purdue University - Calumet