Building on and inspired by the work of Paulo Freire, this book offers an accessible introduction to how children’s literature can be used in classrooms to explore cultural diversity and nurture collective qualities of shared joy, love and agency. The authors show how critical pedagogy and culturally responsive instruction can create meaningful ways for parents, teachers, and community leaders to engage with children's and young adult literature. The chapters include discussions of polyvocality, student voice, critical parent engagement, hip hop and digital popular culture. The authors demonstrate how readings of children’s literature, particularly multicultural literature, increase student joy, and engagement, reduce prejudice, and help students develop critical consciousness. Unique and theoretically grounded, the book presents many opportunities to weave the ideas of Freire into the fabric of K-12 schooling.
Series Editors’ Foreword Introduction: Freirian Approaches to Teaching Children’s Literature: Joy, Voice, Agency, Responsiveness and Love 1. Becoming Powerful Readers of the Word and the World: Multicultural Readings of Children’s and YA Literature 2. Multicultural Literature and the Promotion of Social Awareness in ELA Classrooms 3. Linking the Word to the World: Connecting Multicultural Children’s Literature to the Lives of 21st Century Youth 4. Student Voice and Agency in the Polyvocal Literature Classroom 5. Critical Family Engagement in Reading Multicultural Literature 6. Conclusion: The Future of Children’s Literature is Already Here References Index
Ernest Morrell is Coyle Professor in Literacy Education, Professor of English, Professor of Africana Studies, and Director of the Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education at the University of Notre Dame, USA. He is also Director of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Squire Office and an elected Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. Jodene Morrell is Teaching Professor and Associate Director of the Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education at the University of Notre Dame, USA.
Reviews for Freire and Children's Literature
The work of Paulo Freire is grounded in an epistemology of Love. This book is a testament to that grounding and serves as a book accessible to all – students, parents, teachers, and scholars – an opportunity to weave the ideas of Freire into the fabric of K-12 schooling, and more so into society for popular readership. -- Aly Juma, Associate Director at the Paulo Freire Institute, USA