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Do You Have Papers?: Latinx Third Graders Analyze Immigration Policy Through Critical Multicultural Literature

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Abstract

This article discusses the results of an empirical study that examined third grade Latinx children’s discussions of literature dealing with themes of immigration. The study focused on the reading of six picture books by Mexican-origin children at a public elementary school located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. The data were collected by audio recordings, blogging transcripts, interviews, and children’s artifacts. The findings suggest that discussions about immigration in elementary classrooms have the potential to help young children name, react to, and analyze issues related to immigration. This study aims to offer critical literacy approaches to elementary education, providing insights into how teachers can purposefully select and guide discussions around taboo topics such as immigration.

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Notes

  1. Some immigration policies in the southeast have led to increasing prejudice against members of the Latinx community. For instance, state officials passed Georgia Law (HB87), also known as the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011. This las requires businesses to verify that new employees have proper documentation, allows law enforcement to question the legal status of Latinx workers, and provides for criminal penalties (Georgia General Assembly, 2011). Similarly stringent laws in Alabama create an additional layer of hostile attacks on immigrants by giving schools the authority to question the legal status of students (Hing, 2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of South Carolina, 820 Main Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Eliza G. Braden

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  1. Eliza G. Braden
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Correspondence to Eliza G. Braden.

Additional information

Eliza G. Braden is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Education in the Instruction and Teacher Education Department, College of Education, University of South Carolina. Her research interests include critical language and literacy practices of culturally and linguistically diverse young children, in and out of school literacy practices, social justice education, and digital literacy. She has published in journals such as Race Ethnicity and Education, Journal of Language and Literacy Education, Language Arts, Language Arts Journal of Michigan, and English in Texas.

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Braden, E.G. Do You Have Papers?: Latinx Third Graders Analyze Immigration Policy Through Critical Multicultural Literature. Child Lit Educ 50, 464–480 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-018-9359-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-018-9359-5

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