Weaving Connections Through Response to Canadian Children's Literature

• In Event: 63.087 - Sheraton Roundtable Session 11 - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 63.087-8 - Reading as Transformative: The Power of Texts to Spark the Imagination of Young Readers

Abstract

In this paper, I will discuss the findings of a part of a qualitative research study which explored children’s engagements with contemporary Canadian picture books. In this doctoral research project, I worked in collaboration with two primary school teachers and the children in their classrooms, within a bilingual (French/English) urban public school situated in Quebec, Canada. The researcher, teachers, and children read and discussed a selected set of picture books during French language arts. Data collection methods included participant observation, interviews with teachers, audio-recorded conversations with children, and artefacts of children’s artwork in response to the literature. Interviews with the teachers revealed the significant role of educators in collaboratively selecting literature and in creating the context for creative exploration of the story. Within these culturally and linguistically diverse classroom communities, the teachers and children engaged in conversations that enabled deep listening while responding to the themes of the picture books and making connections to their own lives.
What is the role of the teacher in engaging children with literature? Parker Palmer (2007) suggests that there is not one method or strategy for teaching, but rather it is more important for teachers to know their selfhood and “to weave a complex web of connections among themselves, their subjects, and their students so that students can learn to weave a world for themselves” (p. 11). This study has implications for research in language and literacy education, and for teacher education, as the responses of teachers shed light on the value of reading aloud from diverse Canadian picture books and exploring themes alongside the children. Picture books with complex themes provide rich opportunities for exploring matters of importance to the lives of children. By reflecting on the children’s responses to picture books, the teachers appreciated the power of story to spark personal responses as they weaved connections in the classroom and beyond.

Author

• Heather Ann Phipps, University of Regina