A Biblioguidance Approach to Understanding and Developing Adolescents’ Social-Emotional Competence in the Health Education Classroom: A Formative Research Study

Purpose Though the benefits of social-emotional competence (SEC) are well-recognized, measuring it and designing appropriately matched interventions remains elusive and methodologically challenging. This paper shares formative research designed to uncover the SEC of one secondary school health teacher\u27s students and to help her make evidence-based curricular and instructional decisions. Design/methodology/approach Inspired by bibliguidance (or bibliotherapeutic) approaches to well-being, the researchers and teacher developed a fiction literature curriculum intended to foster SEC and health literacy skills. A mixed-method approach was used to gather and analyze data from 133 students and a teacher. A survey and journal entries embedded into the curriculum, and an interview were the sources. Findings Results indicate the curriculum paired well with national standards for health education and a respected SEC framework; it also served well as a vehicle to reveal students\u27 SEC. Students appeared to be competent in some areas and less in others, and there were differences between self-assessed and expressed competence. Practical implications Biblioguidance approaches to developing SEC in health education and other school subjects are worth continued investigation. The current results will be used to revise the curriculum and to develop supplemental materials. Originality/value In sharing the processes and findings, the authors hope teachers seeking to foster their students\u27 SEC will replicate this work. Further, they hope health educators will gain recognition as the ideal professionals to deliver social-emotional learning instruction in schools

The Psychosocial Benefits of Biblioguidance Book Clubs

BACKGROUND: Pedagogical approaches that support young people’s well-being and maximize their potential are among the Journal of School Health research priorities. A unique form of observational learning called biblioguidance could be a pedagogical approach. METHODS: We, a team of researchers and teachers, implemented biblioguidance book clubs with 10th-grade health education students. While the initial focus was health literacy skills, we also aimed to generate psychosocial benefits. Those benefits are the focus of the current descriptive phenomenological research. A final book club reflection captured the benefits students received and documented their transformation. We randomly selected 42 reflections from the sample pool (n=168) and coded them via descriptive document analysis. RESULTS: The results indicate that the book clubs provided psychosocial benefits. Students identified with the stories and characters, gained insight into others’ perspectives, lived experiences, and ‘‘ways of the world,’’ and were, in many ways, transformed. Some students even experienced catharsis, citing hope, validation, and feeling less alone. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: Biblioguidance book clubs could offer an innovative pedagogical approach to advance students’ psychosocial well-being and engage them as active participants in their own learning and health. Keywords: biblioguidance and bibliotherapy; young adults and adolescents; curriculum and instruction; young adult literature; National Health Education Standards; social cognitive theory

Straighten Up and Fly Right : HeteroMasculinity in The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963

According to scholars, hegemonic masculinity involves physical and emotional domination, homophobia, and repeated assertions of superiority in all aspects of life. Kimmel\u27s work underscores a paradox: white masculinity must be constantly reconstructed in order to maintain the illusion of naturalness, yet in the process of seeking and securing power, men still feel powerless (135). [...] it becomes necessary to exclude and other women, youth, homosexuals, nonwhites, etc

Jugos There? Codeswitching Strategies in Bilingual Picturebooks

Contemporary publications of bilingual picturebooks for children reflect an array of creative and editorial choices about how multiple languages coexist in a single ‘contact zone.’ This linguistic and literary analysis focuses on picturebooks with embedded bilingual text. We study the variety of code-switching strategies that Latino and South Asian authors and illustrators use and suggest implications for readers of differing language proficiency levels. Our analysis highlights three forms of code-switching strategies in a selection of acclaimed contemporary picturebooks that include Spanish and Hindi/Urdu embedded in text and illustrations. While attitudes towards bilingualism and non-English languages in the US are often hostile, writers and artists are carving a place for multilingual creative expression in children’s literature

The Skin We're In: A Literary Analysis of Representations of Mixed Race Identity in Children's Literature

This study systematically analyzed novels of contemporary and historical fiction with mixed race content intended for readers age 9-14. In the context of an increasingly multiracial and multicultural society, this study was primarily concerned with the question of identity representation: What is contemporary children’s literature saying about the experience of being racially mixed? This question was investigated along three strands: 1) How can literature about multiracial identity be usefully described and define? 2) What historical perspectives inform books about multiracial people? and 3) To what degree are contemporary authors maintaining or challenging racial paradigms? A content analysis of ninety novels with mixed race content was undertaken to determine specific features such as gender, age, racial mix, family situation, socio-economic situation, racial makeup of environment, and setting. Three categories were created based historical paradigms about mixed race identity, and themes that emerged from the novels: 1) Mixed Race In/Visibility, 2) Mixed Race Blending, and 3) Mixed Race Awareness. All ninety novels were evaluated with respect to the criteria of the categories. Thirty-three novels were selected for deep literary analysis, demonstrating the ways historical perspectives about mixed race identity inform contemporary children’s literature. Findings indicated three broad trends in representations of mixed race identity in children’s literature with novels falling almost equally between the three categories. Books in the Mixed Race In/Visibility category depicted stereotypically traumatic experiences for mixed race characters and provide little or no opportunity for critique of racism. Books in the Mixed Race Blending category featured characters whose mixed race identity was descriptive but not functional in their lives. Mixed Race Awareness books represented a range of possible life experiences for biracial characters who respond to social discomfort to their racial identity in complex and credible ways. This study has implications for research and pedagogy in the fields of education and children’s literature as they expand to become more inclusive of diversity

Imaginary Indians: Representations of Native Americans in Scholastic Reading Club

Scholastic Reading Clubs are a popular and inexpensive way for teachers to build classroom libraries and for parents to purchase books for their children. The books made accessible to children through the order forms are assumed to be suitable for young readers in terms of their content, popularity, currency, and curricular relevance. Multicultural books occupy a small fraction of the selections, and books about Native Americans are essentially absent. This study examines Scholastic Reading Club order forms available over the course of a year. The quantitative and qualitative findings show that stereotypical misrepresentations of Native Americans persist and literature by Native authors and illustrators is completely lacking

Stories of Multiracial Experiences in Literature for Children, Ages 9–14

This study analyzed 90 realistic novels written and published in the United States between the years 2000 and 2010 and featuring mixed race characters. The researchers examined specific textual features of these works of contemporary and historical fiction and employed Critical Race Theory to contextualize the books within paradigms about multiracial identity. Findings indicated three broad trends in representations of mixed race identity with an almost equal number of novels falling among three descriptive categories. Books in the Mixed Race In/Visibility category depicted stereotypical experiences and provided little or no opportunity for critique of racism. Mixed Race Blending books featured characters whose mixed race identity was descriptive but not functional in their lives. Mixed Race Awareness books represented a range of possible life experiences for biracial characters who responded to social discomfort about their racial identity in complex and credible ways. This study has implications for research and pedagogy in the fields of education and children’s literature as they expand to become more inclusive of this type of diversity

Stories of Multiracial Experiences in Literature for Children, Ages 9-14

Abstract This study analyzed 90 realistic novels written and published in the United States between the years 2000 and 2010 and featuring mixed race characters. The researchers examined specific textual features of these works of contemporary and historical fiction and employed Critical Race Theory to contextualize the books within paradigms about multiracial identity. Findings indicated three broad trends in representations of mixed race identity with an almost equal number of novels falling among three descriptive categories. Books in the Mixed Race In/Visibility category depicted stereotypical experiences and provided little or no opportunity for critique of racism. Mixed Race Blending books featured characters whose mixed race identity was descriptive but not functional in their lives. Mixed Race Awareness books represented a range of possible life experiences for biracial characters who responded to social discomfort about their racial identity in complex and credible ways. This study has implications for research and pedagogy in the fields of education and children's literature as they expand to become more inclusive of this type of diversity