Expanding the Horizons for Critical Literacy in a Bilingual Preschool Classroom: Children’s Responses in Discussions with Gender-Themed Picture Books

Abstract

The current study explores how picture books can be used in bilingual classrooms to support more critical understandings of gender stereotypes by preschool children. The research uses a reader-response perspective that stresses the importance of the reader’s role in interpreting texts as well as sociocultural theory to analyze the social dynamics of teacher–child interactions. The participants were four-year-old, Korean–English bilingual children attending a Korean Language School in the midwest of the USA. The findings suggested that literary discussions about gender-themed picture books using both Korean and English languages promoted children’s critical thinking about gender roles. By sharing empirical examples of children’s authentic discussions, the study provides early childhood teachers with insights on how gender-themed picture books can be used as a medium to open up authentic discussions about gender roles in bilingual settings. Through valuing children’s responses to the reading of the picture books, the teachers encourage children to become more active learners. Their personal responses were valued in discussions, and they began to see themselves as having the authority to make judgments about what they read.