In an Era of Media (Mis)Representations: Preservice Teachers Developing a Critical Approach to Children's Literature

• In Event: 45.092 - MTCC Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: 45.092-12 - Teacher Attitudes and Approaches in Literacy Education

Abstract

Reading with a critical literacy lens is increasingly important for teachers and their students in a society where print and non-print texts tend to contain explicit or implicit messages promoting specific ideologies or biases. Within two literacy methods classes, a critical literacy framework, Five Key Questions (Center for Media Literacy, n.d.), was adapted to challenge pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) analysis of children’s literature texts. Results from the study indicated that the framework enabled PSTs to examine children’s literature in ways they had not previously considered and identified areas of difficulty in the PSTs’ critical examinations. We describe the action research project and outcomes related to the implementation of a media analysis framework with their early and middle childhood PSTs.

Authors

• Roberta A. Linder, Wittenberg University

• Francine C. Falk-Ross, Pace University