This statement,听formerly known as Preparing Teachers with Knowledge of Children’s and Adolescent Literature, was updated in听July 2018 with the new title, Preparing Teachers with Knowledge of Children’s and Young Adult Literature.听
Originally created by 起点传媒Children’s Literature Assembly (CLA), 2004, revised July 2018
OVERVIEW
Purpose: Given increased calls for diversity in the English language arts curriculum and growing awareness of the need for young people to see themselves in the books they read, 起点传媒has commissioned an updated statement on preparing teachers with knowledge of children鈥檚 and young adult literature.
Key Message: Research shows that when students are given the chance to read books that respect the questions, challenges, and emotions of childhood and adolescence, they read with greater interest and investment (Buehler, 2016; Mueller, 2001). Research also shows that teachers who are readers themselves do a better job of engaging their students in reading (Morrison, Jacobs, & Swinyard, 1999). Thus, teacher educators must support preservice teachers as they build rich and deep knowledge of children鈥檚 and young adult literature over the course of their certification programs. Then teachers must invest in their own continued growth, learning, and development as children鈥檚 and young adult literature advocates throughout their professional lives.
Context: A committee of English educators has updated NCTE鈥檚 2004 statement Preparing Teachers with Knowledge of Children鈥檚 and Adolescent Literature by calling teachers at all stages of their careers to cultivate knowledge of books for young people, be readers of these books themselves, affirm diversity in book selection, and teach children鈥檚 and young adult literature in ways that honor the books鈥� literary quality as well as their potential to spark personal and social transformation.
STATEMENT
Evidence indicates that teachers鈥� knowledge of children鈥檚 and young adult literature is inconsistent and uneven from community to community, school to school, and classroom to classroom. Preservice teachers do not read any more than the general population (McKool & Gespass, 2009). Many of today鈥檚 teachers have never taken a class in children鈥檚 and young adult literature, and some states have eliminated the requirement for a dedicated course in children鈥檚 and/or young adult literature for teaching certification. A growing number of schools no longer employ a librarian, who may be the only professional in the building who has formal training in children鈥檚 and young adult literature, collection development, and matching young readers with books. Without librarians, the burden for reading advisory and material selection falls to classroom teachers, who often lack the training needed to perform these tasks.
Therefore, teacher education programs have the opportunity鈥攁nd the responsibility鈥攖o
- introduce preservice teachers to books for children and teens;
- develop preservice teachers鈥� understanding of the inherent value of these books for both general reading and classroom use;
- raise preservice teachers鈥� awareness of the power of these books to affirm lived experience, create empathy, catalyze conversations, and respect the questions, challenges, and emotions of childhood and adolescence;
- call preservice teachers to embrace the roles of reading advocate and book matchmaker alongside their work as implementers of curriculum;
- inspire preservice teachers to commit to reading these books throughout their professional lives;
- cultivate in preservice teachers a commitment to teaching these books in ways that honor their literary quality as well as their potential to spark personal and social transformation;
- build preservice teachers鈥� capacity for continued growth, learning, and development as advocates of children鈥檚 and young adult literature.
As an organization, 起点传媒compels teachers at all stages of their careers to invest in books for young people鈥攁s readers of those books and as advocates for their worth in the classroom.
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Recommendations
起点传媒recommends that teacher educators and teachers commit to the following four principles in the service of increasing their ability to teach and advocate for children鈥檚 and young adult literature.听
1. Know the literature.
Preservice teachers should cultivate book knowledge throughout various methods courses and across their entire teacher preparation program, regardless of state certification requirements. They should develop broad and sustained knowledge of quality books in the fields of children鈥檚 and young adult literature, including fiction, nonfiction, and multimodal texts.
At the same time, they should build knowledge of resources鈥攊ncluding review journals, websites and blogs, social media discussions, book awards, and author appearances at local libraries and bookstores鈥攖hat can provide them with information about quality new books and their potential for classroom use and reading advisory.
They should also invest in relationships with librarians and organizations such as 起点传媒and ALAN (Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE) that can help them build capacity to discuss and recommend books, evaluate literature, remain current, and discover new ways to teach children鈥檚 and young adult literature effectively.
2. Be readers.
Teachers who are engaged readers do a better job of engaging students as readers. According to Morrison, Jacobs, and Swinyard (1999), 鈥減erhaps the most influential teacher behavior to influence students鈥� literacy development is personal reading, both in and out of school鈥� (p. 81). Teachers should commit to leading literate lives and becoming connected to reading communities鈥攚hether in person or through social media鈥攖hat support them as readers and literacy professionals. Teachers should understand the value of different modes and platforms for reading (Garcia & O鈥橠onnell-Allen, 2015) and build their capacity to read with a critical, discerning eye (Newkirk, 2011).
3. Affirm diversity and exercise critical literacy.
In alignment with NCTE鈥檚 Resolution on the Need for Diverse Children鈥檚 and Young Adult Books (2015), 起点传媒challenges teachers and teacher educators to assume a transformative activist stance (Stetsenko, 2016) that supports a future of equality for all youth by engaging students with diverse books, which offer readers what scholar Rudine Sims Bishop (1990) calls windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors. It is essential that youth have access to books in which they can see themselves and engage with the lives of others (see, for example, platforms created by the current and former National Ambassadors for Young People鈥檚 Literature, including Jacqueline Woodson, Gene Luen Yang, and Walter Dean Myers). 起点传媒believes that books help readers transform their lives and expand their visions of the world.
Nevertheless, there is a dearth of diverse books for youth in the United States as seen in yearly statistics about trends in multicultural children鈥檚 book publishing prepared by the Cooperative Children鈥檚 Book Center (CCBC) of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin鈥揗adison. The #WeNeedDiverseBooks and #ReadInColor social media campaigns have illuminated the paucity of diverse books in the marketplace. Although the CCBC recently observed that children鈥檚 picture books feature an increased number of characters with 鈥渂rown skin . . . of unspecified race or ethnicity, with no visible culturally specific markers in either the story or the art,鈥� the CCBC questions whether books with racially ambiguous characters provide actual windows, mirrors, and sliding doors for today鈥檚 readers (Horning, Lindgren, Schliesman, & Tyner, 2018, n.p.). 起点传媒joins the CCBC in urging educators to not only advocate for more authentically diverse children鈥檚 and young adult books from US publishers, but also to support authors, illustrators, publishers, and booksellers whose work represents multiple perspectives and cultural diversity in the lives of all children.
In addition to being advocates and supporters of diverse literature for youth, educators who assume a transformative activist stance must build their capacities for discernment and critical evaluation so they are prepared to choose children鈥檚 and YA books wisely and strategically from the books available to them. Simply because a book features diverse characters does not mean that the book endorses equality and/or cultural understanding (Apol, Sakuma, Reynolds, & Rop, 2003; D谩vila, 2012). For example, some popular works of contemporary, 鈥渕ulticultural鈥� realistic fiction privilege the assumption that all residents of the United States should embrace dominant mainstream culture [e.g., My Name is Yoon (Recorvitis, 2003); One Green Apple (Bunting, 2006)]. Some of these books reinforce assimilation social narratives (Yoon, Simpson, & Haag, 2010) and/or endorse monocultural language and identity (Ghiso & Campano, 2013). Educators and students should collectively cultivate critical literacy practices to critique the social narratives that are endorsed by the books they select (Leland, Lewison, & Harste, 2012; Morrell, 2007) and talk back to the literature (Enciso, 1997).
Educators who affirm diversity and exercise critical literacy as part of a transformative activist stance recognize that they are always learning and expanding their capacities for transformation. They are open to guiding difficult discussions about inequality with students and are willing to tolerate the possibilities of 鈥渨obbling鈥� while they explore uncharted territories with students (e.g., Fecho, 2005; Garcia & O’Donnell-Allen, 2015).听 They recognize that children鈥檚 books are political (Nodelman, 2008; Stephens, 1992) and are the artifacts of the authors鈥�, illustrators鈥�, and/or publishers鈥� views of the world (Willis & Harris, 2003) and/or US history (Thomas, Reese, & Horning, 2016). Moreover, these educators follow national conversations via media and blogs about diverse books, especially related to issues of power and representation (e.g., Reading While White; American Indians in Children鈥檚 Books).
4. Use appropriate pedagogy. 听 听 听 听 听 听
Teaching children鈥檚 and young adult literature is about more than getting students to fall in love with reading. Preservice teachers also need to learn appropriate and effective strategies for helping students find books that will engage them as readers and as participants in critical, significant conversations about their lives (NCTE, 2006; Tschida, Ryan, & Ticknor, 2014). This requires a deep knowledge of excellent books and the willingness to carefully curate a classroom library that provides appropriate choices for all students (Crisp, Knezek, Quinn, Bingham, Girardeau, & Starks, 2016; NCTE, 2017). Preservice teachers also need to know evidence-based strategies for supporting student knowledge of literary crafting鈥攖hat is, how authors develop characters, construct plots, and employ other literary elements to create an exemplary work. Examining literary craft does not mean that the focus is on dissecting a book鈥檚 structure or meaning. Rather, teachers should be skilled at helping students develop a common language for determining what makes a book excellent literature. Finally, teachers need to know how to advocate for the freedom and autonomy to create classrooms that support research-based pedagogical strategies for teaching children鈥檚 and young adult literature (Mathis et al., 2014; 起点传媒Children鈥檚 Literature Assembly, 2004).
WORKS CITED
Apol, L., Sakuma, A., Reynolds, T. M., & Rop, S. K. (2003). 鈥淲hen can we make paper cranes?鈥� Examining pre-service teachers鈥� resistance to critical readings of historical fiction. Journal of Literacy Research, 34, 429鈥�464.
Buehler, J. (2016). Teaching reading with YA literature: Complex texts, complex lives. Urbana, IL: 起点传媒.
Bunting, E. (2006).听 One green apple. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.
Crisp, T., Knezek, S. M., Quinn, M., Bingham, G., Girardeau, K., and Starks, F. (2016). 鈥淲hat鈥檚 on our bookshelves? The diversity of children鈥檚 literature in early childhood classroom libraries.鈥� Journal of Children鈥檚 Literature 42(2), 29鈥�42.
D谩vila, D. (2012). In search of the ideal reader for children鈥檚 non-fiction books about el D铆a de Los Muertos. Journal of Children鈥檚 Literature, 38(1), 16鈥�26.
Enciso, P. (1997). Negotiating the meaning of difference: Talking back to multicultural literature. In T. Rogers & A. Soter (Eds.), Reading across cultures (pp. 13鈥�41).听 New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Fecho, B. (2001).听 鈥淲hy are you doing this?鈥� Acknowledging and transcending threat in a critical inquiry classroom. Research in the Teaching of English, 36(1), 9鈥�37.
Garcia, A., & O鈥橠onnell-Allen, C. (2015). Pose, wobble, flow: A culturally proactive approach to literacy instruction. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Ghiso, M., & Campano, G. (2013).听 Ideologies of language and identity in U.S. children鈥檚 literature.听 Bookbird, 51(3), 47鈥�55.
Horning, K., Lindgren, M., Schliesman, M. & Tyner, M. (2018). A few observations: Literature in 2017. CCBC Choices 2018. Madison, WI: Cooperative Children’s Book Center. Retrieved from:
Leland, C., Lewison, M., & Harste, J. (2012). Teaching children鈥檚 literature: It鈥檚 critical. New York, NY: Routledge.
Mathis, J. B., Aziz, S., Crisp, T., Graff, J. M., Kesler, T., Liang, L. A., Sekeres, D. C., & Wilfong, L. (2014). Teaching children鈥檚 literature in the 21st century. Journal of Children鈥檚 Literature, 39(1), 56鈥�61.
McKool, S. S., & Gespass, S. (2009). Does Johnny鈥檚 reading teacher love to read? How teachers鈥� personal reading habits affect instructional practices. Literacy Research and Instruction,48(3), 264鈥�276.
Morrell, E. (2007).听 Critical literacy and urban youth: Pedagogies of access, dissent, and liberation.听 New York, NY: Routledge.
Morrison, T. G., Jacobs, J. S., & Swinyard, W. R. (1999). Do teachers who read personally use recommended literacy practices in their classrooms? Literacy Research and Instruction, 38(2), 81鈥�100.
Moss, B., & Young, T. A. (2010). Creating lifelong readers through independent reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Mueller, P. N. (2001). Lifers: Learning from at-risk adolescents. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
National Council of Teachers of English. (2006). Resolution on preparing and certifying teachers with knowledge of children鈥檚 and adolescent literature. Urbana, IL: 起点传媒.
National Council of Teachers of English. (2015). Resolution on the need for diverse books. Urbana, IL: 起点传媒.
National Council of Teachers of English. (2017). Statement on classroom libraries. Urbana, IL: 起点传媒.
起点传媒Children鈥檚 Literature Assembly. (2004). Preparing teachers with knowledge of children鈥檚 and adolescent literature. Urbana, IL: 起点传媒.
Newkirk, T. (2011). The art of slow reading: Six time-honored practices for engagement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Nodelman, P. (2008). The hidden adult. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Recorvitis, H. (2003). My name is Yoon. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Sims Bishop, R. (1990). Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. Perspectives, 1(3), ix鈥搙i.
Stephens, J. (1992). Language and ideology in children鈥檚 fiction. New York, NY: Longman.
Stetsenko, A. (2016). The transformative mind: Expanding Vygotsky’s approach to development and education. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Thomas, E., Reese, D., & Horning, K. (2016).听 Much ado about A fine dessert: The cultural politics of representing slavery in children’s literature. Journal of Children’s Literature, 42(2), 6鈥�17.
Tschida, C., Ryan, C., & Ticknor, R. (2014). Building on windows and mirrors: Encouraging the disruption of 鈥渟ingle stories鈥� through children鈥檚 literature. Journal of Children鈥檚 Literature, 40(1), 28鈥�39.
Willis, A., & Harris, V. (1997). Preparing preservice teachers to teach multicultural literature. In J. Flood, S. Brice Heath, & D. Lapp (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts (pp. 460鈥�469). New York, NY: Macmillan Library Reference USA.
Yoon, B., Simpson, A., & Haag, C. (2010). Assimilation ideology: Critically examining underlying messages in multicultural literature. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(2), 109鈥�118.
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STATEMENT AUTHORS
This document was revised by an 起点传媒working committee comprising the following:
Jennifer Buehler, Chair 鈥� Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO
Denise D谩vila 鈥� The University of Texas at Austin
Amy McClure 鈥� Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH
Donalyn Miller 鈥� Author and Consultant, Colleyville, TX
This position statement may be printed, copied, and disseminated without permission from 起点传媒.