By Lauren Vanderham, Vice Principal, Seymour Heights

Children’s literature can be seen in terms of windows and mirrors.

As windows, books allow children to get a glimpse of another person’s perspective, as they engage with a story that is different from their own.

Mirrors provide opportunities for students to see themselves reflected in the literature, affirming who they are and solidifying connections they may have within a community.

Students need meaningful interactions with windows and mirrors to develop a strong sense of identity and understanding of the world around them (Botelho & Rudman, 2009).

With one of Seymour Heights’ school plan goals being honouring diversity, we felt it was imperative to examine our resources and books.

We want to look at diversity through a broad lens and increase representation in a multitude of areas, including race, culture, LGBTQIA2+, ability, and neurodiversity. Finding texts in which young children can read on their own and identify with is an important component to this process.

At a recent staff meeting, educational assistants, teachers, and administrators were asked to bring a book that showcased diversity in some way. With the concept of mirrors and windows in mind, and while considering the Seymour Heights’ school population, staff spent time exploring the books.

We looked for what was missing and made note of areas in which we need to develop further. Teachers were also encouraged to expand on this process by taking inventory of their own classroom libraries.

As one example of how staff have embraced supporting student representation through literature, Christine Bird, Grade 2 teacher, received $2,500 through the Indigo Love of Reading Grant. This has gone towards diversifying classroom libraries throughout the school.

Sia Theodoropoulos, school librarian, has been seeking out stories that the school population can connect with. One of her current favourite read-alouds is My Day with Gong Gong by Sennah Yee.

This school year, we have switched many of our early readers for primary decodable texts. Decodable texts are books that follow a phonological scope and sequence, allowing early readers to sound out the words. The Canadian company, SyllaSense, offers a breadth of racial representation within their stories. Teachers have also been incorporating more dual-language texts, focussing on the home languages reflected in each classroom community.

As we continue this important work at Seymour Heights, we encourage families and school staff to examine their libraries with a critical lens and to consider which voices are amplified and which voices are either missing or misrepresented. Let’s all work together to ensure students have both windows and mirrors to make meaning and feel welcome.

Reference:
Botelho, M.J., & Rudman, M.K. (2009). Critical multicultural analysis of children’s literature: Mirrors, windows, and doors. New York, NY: Routledge.