Deconstructing Imagined Histories of Immigration Through Critical Encounters With Children's Literature

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: The Complexity and Multiple Spaces of Social Justice in Action

Abstract

This study explores the ways in which critical encounters with children’s literature in university and K-12 classrooms can serve to interrogate, deconstruct, and transform deficit views of immigrants and contemporary immigration experiences. Grounded in critical literacy, this study examines the perceptions of teachers living and working in exurban communities and the potential for deconstructing imagined histories of immigration in the classroom. The findings from this study have implications for how we engage, critique, and transform curricula related to the study of contemporary immigration. Further, this study has implications for the way in which we approach working with teachers from predominantly white and/or exurban communities. Finally, it substantiates the need for critical conversations about literature’s place in the classroom and world.

Authors

• Laura A. Roy, The Pennsylvania State University

• Mary Napoli, The Pennsylvania State University