What do we want? Young people who are passionate and independent readers!
When do we want it? Always and forever!
How can we achieve it?
STUDENT VOICE
Image by klimkin from Pixabay
A conversation must exist between the students and those who are providing books (in this case I’m referring to the school library). Opportunities to try not only a range of genres but a range of formats allows students to develop preferences. When this is coupled with an honest and open dialogue about the different formats, libraries can make informed choices about what students will access and respond to positively.
DIVERSITY
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Although there continues to be a lack of diversity in children’s books, there is an increasing push for books that represent a wider range of cultures and experiences (Short, 2018). Students are unlikely to engage with books if their every experience centres on characters that do not represent their own selves.
Libraries (and educators) need to ensure that they provide contemporary titles that represent a wide range of cultures, gender identities, and abilities. This will allow all students to find a book that they can connect with and will also expose students to a world that they are perhaps not familiar with to develop empathy and inclusion.
CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH DISCUSSION
Image by Miranda Bleijenberg from Pixabay
As is highlighted in Wolf (2014), the discussion around the interpretation of texts needs to evolve to ensure that young people are developing the skills needed to unpack the added layers of visual and auditory elements to a narrative in order to fully and critically consider the author’s/illustrator’s purpose. To be able to do this, educators need to have experience with a range of text formats so that they are able to support the development of metalanguage and direct discussion to the ways in which these elements add to or alter the written word.
Young people are immersed in a visual culture with an emphasis on immediacy so the need for the ability to critically interpret and evaluate the information coming at them is vital (Duncam, 2002).
VISUAL LITERACY
Image by PixelAnarchy from Pixabay
Firstly, educators and librarians need to have experience reading, interpreting and discussing a range of illustrated books, graphic novels, visual narratives, and multimodal reading experiences. Through this, they will be able to develop their own knowledge of what these different styles of story-telling bring to a tale and then work with students to help them to also understand the ways that visuals can affect a narrative.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EDUCATORS
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
I often come across educators who bemoan the way that students always seem to be one step ahead in terms of technological advancement and use this as an excuse to maintain a status quo in their practice. This is simply not good enough. It is the responsibility of educators to ensure that they are aware of the ways that students are interacting with their world so that they can support the development of skills that will allow them to successfully navigate and use these the tools available to them.
References:
Duncam, P. (2002). Visual culture art education. International Journal of Art and Design Education, 21, 15-23.
Short, K.G. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts, 95(5), 287-298.
Wolf, S.A. (2014). Children’s literature on the digital move. The Reading Teacher, 67(6), 413-417.