Abstract
Engaging the lens of classroom management, this research explores how teachers have been represented in children’s picture books as classroom managers. Picture books from the A-Zoo 7th Edition (2005) serve as a foundational data set to explore how the personification of teachers and the reality of the teaching experience are mirrored over time. Charteris’s heuristic of epistemological shudders (2014) —identifying a paradox which opens up possibilities for meaning making—was utilized alongside Krippendorff’s (1989) content analysis framework. Findings inform how the representation of teachers has portrayed a postmodern, deconstructive worldview regarding classroom management and professional representation, inviting further study into society’s ongoing perceptions of the teacher.
Highlights
Teachers have been a source of both interest and mystery to society
It is noted that most of the portrayals of teachers, despite humor or satire, when considered deeply, are negative ones which portray teaching as less than a valued profession. This project launches into an examination of cultural impact within education across decades, while troubling the waters of perception regarding the representation of the profession of teaching, and the depiction of the teacher in early children’s literature—when it comes to classroom management
Both manifest and latent data were examined to align with this purpose, using a cohort-by-cohort, socio-political examination within a critical approach: Charteris’s heuristic of epistemological shudders (2014) —identifying a paradox which opens up possibilities for meaning making—was utilized as a conceptual framework and heuristic throughout the study; a way of exploring what was not being said in printed text, as well as what may be inferred by certain terms of language alongside Krippendorff’s (1989) content analysis framework
Summary
Teachers have been a source of both interest and mystery to society. Examinations of teacher portrayals in literature, including children’s literature, reach far back into the history of schooling. It is probable that society takes most of its views of teaching from popular press or mediated observations, where representations of teachers are portrayed as stereotypes, rather than from research journals or professional information. Such representations and their narratives give explicit and implicit messages about teacher appearances, roles, and value, to society (Townsend & Ryan, 2012). This paper unfolds a study of children’s literature across three cohorts of children’s picture books. The resulting picture books were embedded with the social norms of the era in which they were written.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
