A Discourse of Belonging Authored by Young Children: Intersections of Literacies and Restorative Justice

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Critical Literacies and Expressions That Promote Equity and Justice in Early Childhood Education (Table 3)

Abstract

Young children are often the object of research and expected to passively conform to school culture. This study draws on literature about children’s agency in literacy practices and the connection of community building and collective learning as situated in and related to restorative justice. The study centers children’s voices from three early elementary classrooms built on the values and practices of restorative justice to understand the equity-oriented Discourse co-authored by children. Using theoretical frames of restorative impulse and plurality of literacies, I present a Discourse of belonging developed by the children. The findings encapsulate a broad, inclusive, and equitable view of literacies, and an attention to the wholeness and intersectional identities of children in their learning and community.

Author

• Erica Holyoke, University of Colorado - Denver