Using Diverse Children's Literature and Critical Literacy to Promote Disability Awareness and Advocacy

Authors

  • Terry Husband Illinois State University

Keywords:

Children's Literature, disability awareness, critical literacy

Abstract

The student population in urban elementary classrooms has become increasingly diverse over the past two decades. While teachers have responded to this diversity, in part, by incorporating diverse texts related to race, culture, and language, few teachers have incorporated texts related to people with disabilities. Consequently, children have few opportunities to learn about people with disabilities in the world. Unfortunately, this often leads to biases, discrimination, alienation, and other negative outcomes. In this article, I argue that urban elementary teachers should incorporate diverse children’s literature with main characters with disabilities as a means of raising disability awareness. Next, using a critical literacy framework, I provide an example of teaching about disabilities during a 4-day instructional unit plan. Finally, I conclude with recommendations for selecting books with characters with disabilities. 

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Published

2024-12-24