“Um, They Weren't Thinking About Their Thinking”: Children's Talk About Issues of Oppression

Abstract

This article presents first and second grade children's talk about issues of language diversity and culture. Children focus on the issue of oppression and initially examine oppressors in their talk within literature circles across a year in a Sheltered English Immersion classroom. Drawing on a critical literacy framework and anti-bias perspective, the article offers an examination into how young bilingual children grapple with critical issues connected to multicultural children's literature in the classroom. The article ends with some consideration regarding assisting young children to become advocates for issues of social justice.