Final Course Post

Overall, I thought that this course, TE 448, was an appropriate supplement to TE 348. After taking both courses, I now feel much more educated and informed about children’s literature. This semester, the insider/outsider debate was one of the most poignant things I learned. I am not on one side or the other, but I do think that if someone is going to write a book about something, he or she needs to be well educated about the topic and portray it accurately and authentically. After discussing this topic in class, however, it has become clear that it can be difficult to classify someone as an insider or outsider and determine who has ownership over a topic. I know that when I select books for my students in the future, I will make sure to find this information out and determine whether or not it changes one’s reading of the book.

Another insight I had this semester is the capability children have to discuss controversial literature. For example, reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder may be a good book to use with students when discussing representations of Native Americans. One could not only talk about the stereotypes portrayed, but why they were portrayed. A question I have, however, is how to broach this topic with young children. Ideally, I would like to work with children in kindergarten through second grade. Next semester, I will be student teaching in a preschool lab with children age’s two to five. My thoughts are that it is enough to introduce this type of literature to young children by reading it to them or having it in the classroom. Perhaps when they are in first or second grade, discussions can begin, but I am not quite sure how to execute something like that at this point.

From here, I am going to re-evaluate some of the diverse literature I have from my childhood library. I was planning on using some of this literature in my future classrooms, but now I need to make sure that it is authentic literature and not derogatory. If anything, this course has made me love children’s literature even more. And now I feel better equipped to find children’s literature and assess it. I’m excited to bring these new ideas into my future classroom and share them with the teachers and students that I will work with.