The selection and use of multicultural children's literature

grantor: University of TorontoMulticultural Children's Literature is literature about groups of people who find or gather themselves into community through a common bond of self-identification such as race, religion, sexual orientation, ability or colour. This type of literature has been looked at as a tool to try to achieve many goals--to empower, educate, enlighten, influence, create empathy, encourage critical thinking and questioning, and to give vision to those who will see themselves and others. The materials we select and how we use these materials will have a great influence on the extent to which these goals are or are not achieved. This exploratory and descriptive study looks how people select and use multicultural children's literature. The question this study attempts to address is: 'What factors influence the selection and use of multicultural children's literature'? Three types of informants were used to gather the data for this study: (1) the providers of the literature, who determine what will be made available to the consumers; (2) the consumers of the literature, who select from what has been made available and (3) outside influences, which help consumers make choices. A variety of tools was used for the data collection--questionnaires, interviews, 4 case studies of elementary classes, field notes, participant/observer reflections and a survey of literature which reviews books, videos and magazines. The main issues which were studied are: (1) the importance of quality of literature an a selection factor; (2) the availability of quality literature for a variety of reading levels; (3) how connections to literature influence choices and (4) the importance of encouraging authentic use of the literature through teacher development. The study showed that there are different factors which affect selection and rejection of multicultural children's literature. Selection of the literature was affected by content, illustrations, and familiarity with the book or author, while the illustrations played a major role in the rejection of the literature. The study also showed that teachers mainly use multicultural literature as an addition to the existing curriculum, and at certain times of the year for cultural celebrations.Ph.D