More than Words: Teacher Candidates Turn and Talk about the Hidden Messages in Children’s Literature

Abstract

Multicultural education curriculum often seems to get lost in the implicit biases of formal education. As K-12 classrooms continue to increase in linguistic, cultural, racial, gender, socioeconomic, and ability diversity, the call for educators to develop mind frames of equity becomes more urgent. This study asks teacher candidates to explore children’s literature for overt and covert messages of oppression, silencing, and indoctrination. Each theme is discussed within the context of picture books and their corresponding analysis. A suggested chart for selecting critically intelligent books is provided as a consolidated extension of the study’s findings.