Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors: How Teachers Use Coming-of-Age Texts to Cultivate Transformative SEL

• In Event: Infusing Social and Emotional Learning Into Academic and Enrichment Activities

Abstract

Renowned children’s literature researcher Rudine Sims Bishop emphasized the transformative power of books as ‘windows into the realities of others,’ ‘mirrors reflecting readers’ lives,’ and ‘sliding glass doors’ that allow readers to immerse themselves in the worlds created by authors (Strobbe, 2021). Literature–particularly coming-of-age texts–creates unique opportunities for educators to engage students in discussions and activities that promote transformative SEL (Jagers et al., 2019), skills like critical examinations of bias and the root causes of inequity, and awareness of human interconnectedness (Storey, 2019). Moreover, the skills and mindsets that students use to engage with literature—to consume, produce, critically reflect, learn from, and evaluate it—will help as students navigate today’s complex world.

The health of our democracy requires that young people are empowered and skilled at speaking truth to power, can partake in deliberative dialogue and consensus-building with people from different backgrounds and belief systems, and can engage in the kind of self-reflection required to individually and collectively learn (and heal) from our collective past to create a more pluralistic society. In pursuit of understanding how to intentionally nurture these outcomes, our team partnered with Facing History & Ourselves to test how teachers use the Coming of Age in a Complex World collection–which engages adolescents in critical analyses of coming-of-age texts in their English Language Arts classes–to promote students’ social-emotional competencies and identity exploration, as well as the necessary classroom conditions to support these outcomes.

This study includes ELA teacher surveys, a pre/post student survey grades 8-10), and teacher and student focus groups. Initial findings suggest the Coming of Age collection supports teachers in talking to and leading students in rich dialogue about the complexities of identity, bias, emotions, and relationships by drawing on the stories and experiences of fictional characters. Then, in turn, they encouraged students to draw comparisons and contrasts with their lived experiences and those of their peers. Data suggest that teachers effectively used coming-of-age novels to encourage student self-expression, introspection, and perspective-taking, and to enhance feelings of representation for students. Reflecting these themes, one teacher shared: “...it has helped the students connect to others’ life experiences. We have a HUGE influx of people from all over…It has really helped those who are not used to diversity really feel comfortable asking questions to their peers in a respectful manner AND coming to their own conclusions or ideas in relation to identity, race, religion, values.”

This paper will weave qualitative narratives and quantitative findings to rigorously explore three questions: (a) How did teachers use Coming of Age texts in their ELA classrooms? (b) How did Coming of Age influence the complexity and nuance of adolescents’ understanding of their own and others’ identities and social-emotional skills? (c) What conditions are required to use texts in this way, and what barriers were encountered? Implications for ELA instruction, identity development, transformative social-emotional learning, and community-building will be discussed.

Authors

• Juan Gabriel Sanchez, American Institutes for Research

• Ivana Parraga, American Institutes for Research

• Amy Syvertsen, American Institutes for Research

• Dennis Barr, Facing History & Ourselves

• Matthew J. Farmer, American Institutes for Research

• Nicole Renner, Facing History and Ourselves