Considering Alternate Interpretations: four Education Majors’ Critical Examinations of the Picturebook “I Am an American The Wong Kim Ark Story”

• In Event: Preservice Educators' Engagement with Picturebooks: Critical Literacy, Religious Stances, and Colorism

Abstract

We will share data collected from an undergraduate course on immigration and education in the U.S.. Students used a critical literacy framework to guide written analysis of the picturebook I am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story about the Chinese-American man whose Supreme Court victory became the foundation for birthright citizenship. Given the current tensions around this issue, we present our analysis as an example of how four future educators understood this picturebook.

Authors

• Audrey Lucero, University of Oregon

• Bradley Sullivan, University of Oregon