"They're trying to trick us!": Making sense of anti-oppressive children's literature in the elementary school classroom

This study examines how children make sense of “anti-oppressive” children’s literature in the classroom, specifically, books that integrate and promote positive portrayals of gender non-conformity and sexual diversity. Through a feminist poststructural lens, I conducted ethnographic observations and reading groups with twenty students in a grade one/two classroom to explore how children engage with these storybooks. I further explored how the use of these books in the classroom might help to mediate and negotiate existing gendered and heteronormative beliefs and practices within educational settings. The books used in this study challenge oppressive gender and sexuality regimes within mainstream children’s literature that have traditionally served to marginalize and silence gender non-conforming and LGBTQ individuals. Responses from participants in this study aid in questioning how dominant discourses of gender and sexuality are produced and reinforced, as well as where we may find opportunities for change and reform within the elementary school classroom.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A. Social Justice and Equity Studies

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Faculty of Social Sciences

Department dc:contributor.department

Social Justice and Equity Studies Program

Grantor

Brock University

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Paterson, Kate

• Gender
• Sexuality
• Children's literature
• Feminist post-structural
• Elementary education

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10464/6190

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/6190