Picture Books as Anti-Oppressive Artifacts for Young Learners: A Critical Content Analysis

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Mirrors, Windows, Sliding Glass Doors: Critical Approaches in ECE (Early Childhood Education) to Counter-Stories, Language, and Literature (Table 14)

Abstract

More and more educators integrate diverse children’s literature as “windows and mirrors'' to increase representation of marginalized cultures and promote inclusion and equity. However, as the systems of oppression interlock, many books created for diversity, inclusion, and equity reproduce oppression. This paper sheds light on how systems of oppression work in and through picturebooks through a framework of oppression and a critical content analysis of 2022 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for P-2 Grades. Then, we discuss the problematic representations of oppression in the text set and offer suggestions for educators who intend to curate picturebooks in hope of dismantling the systems of oppression in a holistic way.

Authors

• Xiaoying Zhao, Illinois State University

• Misha Khan, Illinois State University

• Shengtian Wu, Illinois State University