Gender Identity Discussion in Picture Book Read-Alouds: A Cross-Grade Analysis

• In Event: Cultivating and Engendering Equitable Relationships, Research, and Resistance in Educational Spaces

Abstract

This ongoing project aims to explore the potential links between literacy education and a curricular focus on gender equity by working to mine the potential that picture books have to help support comprehension of gender diversity in early elementary. This paper will present on findings from the first year of data collection, which involves doing a series of read-aloud sessions with kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grade classrooms, utilizing the same texts. The data demonstrates both the potential for using this discussions to broaden understandings of gender, while also indicating the power of social stories/narratives around gender binary that influence young children.

Authors

• Katrina Bartow Jacobs, University of Pittsburgh

• Thomas M. Hill, Lewis Clark State College