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Directed by Dr. Peggy Rice, Partners in Literacy (PiL) is a Ball State University Student
Organization and Student Affiliate of the International Literacy Association.
Teachers are very powerful in determining the kind of society we will have in the future, because they are educating our future leaders, people who are going to be doing what needs to be done in our society to continue a democracy and autonomy that sustains everyone.
FRANCISCO JIMÉNEZ (DAY, 2006, P. 269)
Welcome to our Partners in Literacy (PiL) Column!
Consider the literature you share with children. What culturally diverse children’s literature do you share? We define cultural diversity according to the following characteristics and acronym, CLEAR EFG (adapted from Kreamelmeyer, 1998): Class, Language, Exceptionalities, Age, Religion, Ethnicity, Family Structure, and Gender.
How do you provide opportunities for children to read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment (Standard 1, NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts)?
How do you….connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues (Standard 5, InTASC, 2014)?
We recommend intentionally, incorporating culturally diverse children’s literature as tools to meet these standards. Realizing that this can be a daunting task, in this issue we are providing you with resources to locate quality culturally diverse children’s literature.
Selecting Culturally Diverse Literature for Children
You might ask, “How do I go about making selections that accurately depict a culture?” We offer two suggestions: 1) Accessing lists of books that have won an award that recognizes excellence in the book’s depiction of a diverse culture; and 2) Studying the work of noted authors and illustrators, who write from within the culture, to learn to determine authenticity and quality of culturally rich books. See Table 1 for information about awards. See Table 2 for a list of noted authors and illustrators.