Catalysts of critical multicultural literacy: using multicultural children's literature in a brazilian EFL classroom

Abstract

According to Naiditch (2009), it is imperative to rethink teacher education programs in order toproduce critically conscious educators capable of working in increasingly diverse schoolenvironments. Furthermore, Morgado (2010) contends that schools should actively seek toincorporate childrens literature into the school curriculum with the objective of preparing studentsto live in multicultural societies radically transformed by globalization. Although multiculturalchildrens literature is an excellent vehicle to achieve the aforementioned goals, it is seldom usedin Brazilian public schools due to the absence of public educational policies calling for its use.This absence consequently ignores the potential linguistic benefits of multicultural childrensliterature but also represents a missed opportunity to integrate critical multicultural literacy intothe English curriculum. For this reason, the research described in this thesis seeks to understandhow multicultural childrens literature, through the attitudes and actions of the teachers andstudents, can promote critical multicultural literacy in the teaching of English as a ForeignLanguage (EFL) in Brazilian public schools. The study was a qualitative, ethnographic case studydivided into two stages. First, I offered a mini-course at the Federal University of Minas Gerais(UFMG) to public school English teachers in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais to discuss theimportance of using multicultural childrens literature with a critical multicultural literacyorientation. As a part of the mini-course, the participants created lessons based on multiculturalchildrens books that would then be carried out in their respective schools. In the second stage, Iselected and accompanied one teacher as she developed her activity in order to gain greater insightinto how critical multicultural literacy manifested itself in her classroom. The results indicate thatcritical multicultural literacy was fostered in both stages and both the teachers and the studentswere encouraged to question unequal power relations and to take action to promote educationalequity and social justice for all students. Finally, the results also point to the suitability ofmulticultural childrens literature for EFL classrooms and the necessity for its inclusion in teacherlicensure programs at Brazilian universities.