Session Information
SES B 11, Paper Session
Paper Session
Contribution
The research is based on seeing children’s literature as a significant factor in informal education. The focus is on the role of children’s literature as part of a changing and globalizing society.
The research questions are:
1. What is the role of children’s literature in informal education?
2. How is diversity and pluralism represented in the Finnish children’s literature?
3. How does diversified and globalized society reflect to the representations of diversity and pluralism in Finnish children’s literature?
In the research the representations of diversity are examined not only from the multicultural aspect, but as variety of age, gender, sexual orientation or, for example, religious or political view. Culture and globalizing society are also significant part of the theoretical framework. The relation between informal education and children’s literature is examined, but also mirrored to the changes of the globalizing society.
The social context of the research affects directly to the theoretical framework of the research. One of the main bases of the research is seeing children’s literature as part of the social context. The social reality and especially the globalizing society form the framework. The children’s literature, as a sociocultural product cannot be segregated from surrounding social reality, as there is no such thing as an unbiased book (Klein, 1985,1; Butts, 1992, x-xvi). John Stephens (1992, 2-3) highlights that all kind of children’s literature contain ideology. He stresses the implicit inscribing of stereotypical attitudes into the children’s stories.
Theoretical framework contains, for example, the concepts of informal education and globalizing society and the concept of intercultural education. Intercultural education has significant role, as it holds meanings related to the globalizing society. Including the concept and ideas of intercultural communication is relevant, as the research is focused on analyzing the representations of encountering diversity. In a multicultural society where diversity of all kind is escalating, the intercultural skills are essential. According to Bennet (1998, 1-3) the intercultural communication does not mean that we should or need to forget that cultures are different. Cultures are different, and by recognizing these differences, we can gain genuine understanding in communication. What also needs to be considered when seeing children’s literature as part of the sociocultural context is the nature of the modern cultures. Cultures are not stable, they change and renew continuously. (see e.g. Hall, 2003; Alasuutari, 2009) This social change, not only in social structures, but also in social behavior and relations, affects culture-specific issues such as our understanding on diversity.
Children’s literature contains values and meanings; this is why it could be utilized more in intercultural education and in education in general. (see e.g. Klassen-Endrizzi and Ruiz, 1995, 129–139) In this research especially the possibilities of children’s literature in informal education are studied.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Alasuutari, P. 2009, Art and Cultural policy in the World Culture of the Moderns. In Pyykkönen, M., Simanainen, N. ja Sokka, S. (eds.):What about Cultural Policy? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Culture and Politics. Jyväskylä.: Minerva Kustannus Oy. Bennet, M. J. 1998. Intercultural communication: A current perspective. In Bennet, M. J. (ed.): Basic Concepts of intercultural communication; Selected readings. Intercultural press. Available at: http://www.intercultural.org/mair/reading25.pdf Butts, D. (1992). Introduction. In Butts, D. (ed.): Stories and society. Children’s literature in its social context. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Fairclough, N. 1989. Language and power. Singapore: Longman Singapore Publishers. Fairclough, N. 1995. Critical discourse analysis: the critical study of language. Malaysia: Longman group limited. Fairclough, N. 1997. Miten media puhuu. (Translated by: Blom, V. & Hazard, K.) Tampere: Osuuskunta Vastapaino. Hall, S. 2003. Kulttuuri, paikka, identiteetti. In Lehtonen, M. & Löytty, O. (eds.): Erilaisuus. Jyväskylä: Gummerus kirjapaino. Jokinen, A. & Juhila, K. 1991. Diskursseja rakentamassa - Näkökulma sosiaalisten käytäntöjen tutkimiseen. Tampere: Jäljennepalvelu. Klassen-Endrizzi, C & Ruiz, R. 1995. Constructing a Multicultural Orientation Through Children’s literature. In Larkin, J.M & Sleeter, C.E. (eds.): Developing Multicultural Teacher Education Curricula. Anbany: State University of New York Press. Klein, G. 1985. Reading into racism - Bias in children’s literature and learning materials. new York: Routledge & Kegan Paul Inc. Pesonen, J. 2008. Etnisen erilaisuuden representaatiot suomalaisessa lastenkirjallisuudessa. Master’s thesis, Oulu University: Department of Educational Sciences and Teacher Education. Stephens, J.1992. Language and ideology in Children’s fiction. New York: Longman Publishing.
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.