Latinx Children's Literature Employed to Unpack Our Hostile and Racist World

• In Event: Critical Analyses of Children's and Young Adult Literature: Uncovering Discourses of Power and Representation About Latinx Communities

Abstract

Objectives
Latinxs represent the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States. About 33.4 percent of all children over the age of 3 enrolled in school are identified as Latinx (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). This growth means that including more authentic Latinx literature in the U.S. classrooms is crucial. When children do not see themselves reflected in the classroom, they can feel unworthy (Bishop, 1992).

Theoretical Framework
Given our current political context where xenophobic and racist discourse is on the rise, teachers must be able to discuss issues, such as immigration, with students (Costello, 2016; Southern Poverty Law, 2017). This paper focuses on exploring the ways Latinx students' present counternarratives during discussions about Latinx children’s literature. Here counternarratives are used as a tool for analyzing and challenging the stories of those in power whose stories are presented in the dominant discourse as ‘natural’ (Delgado, 1989).

Methods & Data Sources
This study took place during the 2016-2017 school year with first grade dual language (Spanish-English) students. Data collection included audio/video recordings, field notes, and student artifacts. To capture how Latinx students’ counternarratives challenged the deficit thinking that is many times present in the classroom, media, and outside world, I employed open coding as well as conducted constant comparison (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) across data sources.

Findings
Findings demonstrate that Latinx students’ counternarratives present a wealth of knowledge in their lived experiences. It was important that the teacher give students a space to tackle difficult conversations around their lives, which given our current political climate, can include xenophobic and racist discourses spoken by individuals.

One such example is during a small group reading of the book, When a Bully is President/ Cuando un bulli es presidente by Maya Gonzalez, the students were sharing how they felt about our new president and the things he had done. One student stated, “el es malo” [he is bad]. When pushed to discuss what things he had done that were bad, students indicated “quiere sacar a todos los immigrantes” [he wants to take out all the immigrantes] and “separar a familias” [he separates families]. Here we see that in this small group discussion of the book, students were given a space to share their fears and frustrations with what is occurring in the world. These students were only six and seven years old but were greatly affected by what was occurring in their world.

Significance
This paper contributes to the growing body of literature by extending the conversation on the importance of creating an environment that promotes critical consciousness by bringing in Latinx students’ counternarratives. Rather than separating the learning from the lived experiences of students, this study examined the impact when a dual language teacher actively sought to welcome the lived experiences, fears, and stresses within the classroom, so that meaningful learning can lead towards critical and political consciousness.

Author

• Sandra Lucia Osorio, Illinois State University