Introduction

The mother of one of my preschool students shared with me the journal entry below. It describes the middle of the night exchange she had with her daughter.

Eve opened her eyes for a few minutes. She spoke with me about how it was unfair that people used to be separated because of the color of their skin. And that we shouldn’t do that. And that Miss Norline taught them another word for fair—'just.’

June – mom of Eve, age 4

This type of thoughtful reflection about race and justice is what can happen when early childhood educators are willing to have difficult conversations and to tackle important topics. Eve had learned about fairness and justice through the interactive read-alouds (Lennox, 2013) explored in her PreK class where I was lead teacher. In our classroom, we created a space where stories fostered conversation, knowledge building, and racial literacy (Seltzer and O'Brien, 2022). Through picturebooks, my students reflected on diverse cultures and experiences and developed an understanding of and appreciation for themselves and others as they shared their own perspectives as well as listened to alternative viewpoints. Books were a tool to encourage learning as we highlighted inequity, promoted social justice, and worked to overcome stereotypes (Wanless & Crawford, 2016).

The purpose of this article is to detail my students’ exploration of social justice as we cocreated an interactive read-aloud approach, which I named Picturebooks for Social Justice. Over the three phases of Picturebooks for Social Justice, I read 12 picturebooks with the 3-5-year-old children in my preschool class. Each book was read once a week for three weeks as part of our morning meeting routine. On the third week of each book, I also engaged the children in small group activities to explore the book further and to create related artwork that expressed their understanding of the story.

In this piece, I specifically describe and discuss the children’s experience in terms of identity, diversity, justice, and action (Derman-Sparks et al., 2020, Learning for Justice, 2023) - providing evidence to illustrate each and delving into the children’s meaning making. The rich and nuanced examples I use focus on The Other Side (Woodson, 2001), as this book played a pivotal role in my own development as an educator who grounds her approach in social justice and critical consciousness and also in my students’ awareness of racial inequity. While the focus here is on the rich experience of my students, I encourage readers to see Wild (2023) to explore my journey as teacher and researcher who came to embrace social justice as her ‘way of being’ (Vasquez, 2014, p.3) and also Wild (2022) for an in-depth look at the Picturebooks for Social Justice approach.

The knowledge shared here is important because early childhood educators and researchers have the power and responsibility to be change agents and to embrace transformative citizenship education (Banks, 2008). In transformative classrooms, teachers foster just communities in which children from a variety of backgrounds engage with each other as they take on diverse perspectives. Through stories we can expand our horizons as we illuminate differences and also unite through commonalities. Witnessing the wisdom of the students here can inspire educators to create classrooms communities that embrace social justice and celebrate equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Theoretical Framework

Bringing together relational (Bruner, 1986; Rosenblatt, 1978) and critical perspectives (Derman-Sparks et al., 2020; Freire, 2018; Vasquez, 2014) perspectives, I guided the children and mediated their transactional meaning making in storied worlds. Our picturebook work was both grounded in identity, diversity, justice, and action and had as its goal to develop a critical understanding of these anti-bias (Derman-Sparks et al., 2020) / social justice standards (Learning for Justice, 2023). Per Derman-Sparks et al. (2020, pp. 15-17), we were guided by the following social justice conceptualizations:

  • Identity: Demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities.

  • Diversity: Express comfort and joy with human diversity; accurate language for human differences; and deep, caring human connections.

  • Justice: Recognize unfairness, have language to describe unfairness, and understand that unfairness hurts.

  • Action: Demonstrate empowerment and the skills to act, with others or alone, against prejudice and/or discrimination.

Salient in our interactive read-alouds (Wiseman, 2011) was my connection to the children. Our strong relationship was the foundation for growth and development as I mediated their transaction with the text. I was careful to allow space for the children to explore, reflect, and act as they transacted with the text (Rosenblatt, 1978) and took on the perspectives of the characters (Bruner, 1986). Moreover, looking to Freire (2018), I strove to create a ‘problem posing’ environment in which the children and I both acted as teacher and students. Through books we all read the word and the world (Freire & Macedo, 1987), developing our critical consciousness as we took on a humanizing perspective and disrupted oppression (Freire, 2018).

Methodology

Participants

I conducted this research with intuitional review board approval at an early childhood program within a research-intensive university in the Northeast United States. Based on registration materials completed by caregivers, my class during the study period consisted of 16 children; six identified as female and ten as male. Ten children identified as White, one identified as Black, four identified as Asian, one identified as Middle Eastern. Also important to the context of my work is that I identify as a white, middle class, cisgender able-bodied female.

Data Collection and Analysis

My role in this study was unique in that I was a practitioner researcher, studying my own teaching in my own classroom. I collected data through my direct facilitation and observation of the read-alouds and small groups and through interviews with my co-teachers. After each read-aloud, I transcribed the session as well as wrote field notes describing the overall session and analytic memos reflecting on the session. At the completion of the study, I analysed the data and engaged in deductive coding as I connected my codes of the children’s experience to identity, diversity, justice, and social action (Derman-Sparks et al., 2020).

Findings and Discussion: Read-Alouds and Social Justice

Looking closely at our exploration of The Other Side (Woodson 2001), I saw examples of the children’s learning across the anti-bias education goals (Derman-Sparks et al., 2020). The Other Side by Jaqueline Woodson tells the story of two young girls – Annie who is white and Clover who is black – living in a rural, segregated town. The girls’ mutual interest in each other eventually turns into a personal connection as they sit together and later play together. We read this book once a week for three weeks. While the storyline provided grounding, meaning making took place through the transaction that occurred between the teacher and students and the text over repeated readings and in-depth exploration.

Identity and Diversity

For my students, identity and diversity were interwoven. As we did with all our read-alouds, I began The Other Side (Woodson, 2001) by encouraging the children to make observations about the book. When I specifically asked them to notice similarities and differences among the characters, the children immediately pointed out that there were two girls, who were both wearing pink, but that one was close up on a tire swing while the other was far away sitting on a fence. As seen in the vignette below, they did not comment, however, on skin color until I prompted it (line 86). Then Noah in a quick, matter of fact way stated the difference in skin colors (line 87), and Charlotte followed that up with the more specific response of being lighter and darker (line 89). Reflecting on this, I realized while occasional books and activities led to discussions about the beauty of our skin tones, noting skin color differences was not a regular practice in our classroom.

86

Miss Norline:

Right, one’s on the tire swing, and one is not, Noah. Is anything different about their skin color?

87

Noah:

[sitting across the circle from me] Different colors.

88

Miss Norline:

They are different colors.

89

Charlotte:

[sitting next to me and looking up at the book] One is lighter and one’s darker.

90

Miss Norline:

One is lighter and one is darker. And often, somebody who has the lighter skin we’ll say has white skin, and somebody who has darker skin we’ll say has black skin.

91

Dawson:

[sitting next to Mr. Tom, turning right to face him, and smiling] That's Mr. Steve.

92

Miss Norline:

Yes, you're right. Like Mr. Steve. Now, I want to go back and read something in the beginning that I don't know if we caught. It said, “That summer, the fence stretched through our town. We lived in a yellow house on one side of it. White people lived on the other.”

So she was pointing this out. So I wonder, this must be important in this story, that their skin is a different color. So let's find out. [children look at book]

  1. (January 15, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 1)

Having made this aspect of the children’s identity explicit, Dawson then proudly and excitedly made a connection to the diverse identities in his own classroom community, naming a teacher who was Black (line 91) and who was very loved among the children. By acknowledging the difference in the girls’ appearance in non-judgmental way, we set the groundwork to examine and question unequal treatment based on skin color. The children’s awareness of identity and diversity could then expand into justice and action.

Justice

With my support during this first reading, the children recognized not only that the girls were not allowed to play together (line 97) but the reason for this separation (line 99). Moreover, with me encouraging critical thought, they identified this separation as unfair (lines 101, 103). Their responses at this point were clear and emphatic.

96

Miss Norline:

“Once when we were jumping rope, she asked if she could play. My friend Sandra said no, without even asking the rest of us. I don't know what I would have said. Maybe yes, maybe no.”

Why do you think Sandra wouldn't let the little girl play?

97

Eve:

[sitting with legs bent in front, hands near neck, and looking at book] Because they couldn't go on the other side of the gate.

98

Miss Norline:

Because they were told not to cross over that fence because it wasn't safe, huh? That could be it, Eve. So that's why Sandra says, ‘No.’

99

Phoenix:

[pointing to the illustration and moving up onto knees] Maybe it's because they're all Black skin, and she's white skin.

100

Miss Norline:

Yeah, do you think that's it? Does that seem fair? We talked a lot about being fair.

101

Eve:

[shaking head] Not fair.

102

Miss Norline:

Does it seem fair that the kids shouldn't all just play together?

103

Sloan:

[said loudly] NO, NO!

  1. (January 15, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 2)

With the concept of skin color differences brought to the forefront, the children bore witness to its impact and to their dislike of the situation. As we progressed through that first reading, the children continued to make sense of this separation based on skin color. In the vignette below, Phoenix connects to our previous discussion and recognizes that the girls’ skin color is the source of their separation (line 174). I then challenge the segregation, and the children express their disapproval. Without prompting, Eve, however, relates it to where the girls live (line 178). Initially, I reflect back the idea of tying this segregation to location (line 179).

171

Miss Norline:

"'My mama says I shouldn't go on the other side," I said. ‘My mama says the same thing, but she never said anything about sitting on it.’ ‘Neither did mine,’ I said."

Why do you think their mamas don't want them to play with each other?

172

Noah:

It'll make them sad.

173

Miss Norline:

Are they scared?

174

Phoenix:

[looking up from playing with his shoe] Because they're different colors.

175

Miss Norline:

But is that a reason that they shouldn't be able to play together?

176

Group:

NO!

177

Miss Norline:

No.

178

Eve:

[sitting on her knees with her hands in her lap] It's just what happens where she lives.

179

Miss Norline:

Where she lives. Eve has a point. Where these little girls live, people got the idea… People got the idea that people with different colors skin shouldn't play together, and they got scared about it. But these little girls are realizing, do they need to be scared?

180

Eve:

No.

  1. (January 15, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 3)

Later, however, I work to better situate Clover and Annie’s experience, and I move away from seeing it as tied to a particular place. In response to a question about what was not fair in the story, Eve stated “That in other places, people with different skin colors could play with each other, but where Clover and Annie lived, people with different skin colors couldn't.” As is seen in my response below, I felt that it was important here to guide the children in understanding that this is not just something that happened in a certain place and/or in history.

218

Miss Norline:

Do you guys know that there are some places, even now where we live, where they don't like people who look different, don't like each other? What do we think about that? No, that doesn't seem fair, right? To not like someone or be mean to them just because they look different from us. Yeah, so I think that's something really important that we can think about.

  1. (January 15, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 4)

Over our second and third readings of The Other Side, my students immediately mentioned skin color and its impact. For example, in the following vignette from the second reading, Phoenix pointed out that the girls could not play together because of their skin color (line 44). With my prompting, Eve identified this as unfair (line 46).

43

Miss Norline:

Phoenix, why did the two little girls not play with each other at first?

44

Phoenix:

[Sitting across the circle to my left] Because their different skin.

45

Miss Norline:

Because they have different skin. Now what do we think about that?

46

Eve:

[Sitting directing across from me and shaking head] Not fair.

47

Noah:

A white side and a dark side, I remember.

48

Miss Norline:

There was a white side and a dark side Noah was saying and Eve was saying we didn't think it was fair. And we read another book last week about Martin Luther King, and we talked about a big word when you separate white and Black people or people who are different. We talked about a big word. Does anyone remember what it was?

Seg...regation. Segregation. You try it, that's a really big word.

49

Group:

Segregation!

50

Miss Norline

So that's what was happening in this story, too. The Black people and the white people weren't allowed to play together. And we said, who kind of was treated better? Do you remember? The white people had a lot more stuff. They have what we call more privileges, for sure.

  1. (January 22, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 1)

Having established the unfairness of separation, I connected back to another book we had read in order to explicitly name these actions as segregation and to root segregation in white privilege. Continuing to expand our social justice understanding, I then introduced the word “just” (line 54) as a deeper way to consider fairness. Phoenix excitedly and immediately mentioned the Justice League (line55).

54

Miss Norline:

All right, so let's find out a little bit more and talk about this story. Now. There's another word I want to mention. Eve said it wasn't fair. There's another word we can use, just or justice. So we think something isn't fair we could say we don't think it's just. That would be another big kid word to use.

55

Phoenix:

Or kinda like the Justice League?

56

Miss Norline:

Well, because the Justice League is trying to do things that are fair for people. So you're right. That's actually a great connection Phoenix.

  1. (January 22, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 2)

Appreciating his age appropriate and interest specific response, I made his connection clear for the entire class – many of whom were also well versed in superheroes.

During the third reading, we continued to return to the injustices of discrimination and segregation. Referring to social justice words (e.g., just/fair, segregation, discrimination) written on a display board, I talked with the children about the words’ meanings. Noah recalled the significance of segregation (line 30) and its unfairness (line 32).

29

Miss Norline:

[pointing to word] Does anyone remember this one? Segregation. That was a big word.

30

Noah:

[tilting his head forward] It means everything is separate.

31

Miss Norline:

[reflecting and expanding] It means everything is separate, and when things that are separate, are they just?

32

Noah:

No.

  1. (January 29, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 1)

The children consistently acknowledged injustices but also astutely questioned their acceptableness in history. Trent’s thoughtful comment below, which was made during the third reading, echoes the sentiment often held in our country.

55

Trent:

Maybe everything was normal, maybe everything was normal back then

56

Mr. Tom:

[reflecting and clarifying] You think it's normal?

57

Miss Norline:

[reflecting and clarifying] To have things to have things that way?

58

Trent:

Maybe it was fair and now it's not fair, that is fair.

59

Miss Norline:

You know what? That's a good point. It was the way people did stuff, but even then, I don't think it was fair because people weren't being treated nicely and being allowed to have stuff. But that's a really good point. Some people thought it was fair and it was okay, but I really don't think that it was. And when we treat people like that, when we separate them and it's unequal, that's what discrimination means. It's a big word to mean that we're not treating people fairly and justly and we're separating them and not giving them as nice things, like we're not letting them eat at the same places or shop at the same stores or ride the same buses or any of that all because they look different, and we don't think that really makes sense. Right.

  1. (January 29, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 2)

Unlike many adults, however, who cling to inaccurate historic accounts and biased views of the past, Trent and the other children in my class were open to new information. They reflected on our discussions, expressed their thoughts, asked questions, and revised their viewpoints based on further consideration - prompted by the story and my facilitation of the read-aloud.

Social Action

Taking on the perspectives of Clover and Annie, the children felt strongly that the girls wanted to be friends and should be able to make this connection with each other. During the second reading, Noah and Eve observed why the characters were looking intently at each other. Eve seemed to be correcting Noah’s idea, and I felt that both children’s thoughts were important, so I worked to pull their ideas together.

93

Miss Norline:

Why do you think the girls are staring?

94

Noah:

Because they like each other.

95

Miss Norline:

Because she likes her. She wants-

96

Eve:

(motioning back and forth with left hand] No, no. I think she's staring because she's like, I want to become friends with her.

97

Miss Norline:

Oh, so Noah thinks because they like each other, and Eve said that she thinks that little girl's thinking about how she would like to be friends.

  1. (January 22, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 1)

During the third reading, Eve and Noah again identified with the characters and recognized Clover and Annie’s desire to play together.

113

Miss Norline:

Hmm. What do you think Annie's thinking that whole time she's sitting over there?

114

Noah:

Thinking to climb over.

115

Miss Norline:

[reflecting] You think she's thinking about climbing over?

116

Noah:

Yeah.

117

Miss Norline:

Annie would like to climb over the fence. Why do you think she wants to climb over that fence, Noah?

118

Noah:

Because to see the other girl.

119

Miss Norline:

To see the other girl?

120

Noah:

To play.

121

Miss Norline:

Mm-hmm [affirmative]. What do you think Clover's thinking while she's looking over there at Annie?

122

Noah:

The same thing.

123

Eve:

I think Clover's thinking, “What is she doing?”

124

Miss Norline:

Clover's thinking, “What is she doing?” Eve says.

125

Noah:

I think she's thinking the same thing.

  1. (January 29, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 1)

The children considered the characters’ complex feelings. For example, Eve empathized with Sandra’s difficult situation.

133

Miss Norline:

“And my friend Sandra said no, without even asking the rest of us.”

134

Miss Norline:

Why do we think Sandra said no?

135

Eve:

[opening her eyes wide] Because she had a different skin color and because they wasn't supposed to climb over the fence. She didn't want to be mean, but I think she wanted to be nice but then remembered that they couldn't be on one side of the fence.

  1. (January 29, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 2)

Drawing from the text and illustrations, Eve also made the case for Clover feeling sad and mad at the same time and attributed these feelings to the girls not being able to play together.

176

Miss Norline:

“Sometimes when me and mama went into town, I saw that girl with her mama. She looked sad sometimes that girl did.”

177

Eve:

[moving her chin up] I think she looks sad and mad.

178

Miss Norline:

You think sad and mad? Why do you think Annie would be feeling sad?

179

Eve:

Because they couldn't play with each other.

  1. (January 29, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 3)

Moreover, my students recognized that skin color should not prevent this friendship and that change/action was needed.

110

Phoenix:

She has different skin like the other black kids.

111

Miss Norline:

Right. And at that time they thought they couldn't play together because of that. Right? So they didn't do it.

112

Miss Norline:

“That summer, everyone and everything on the other side of that fence seemed far away. When I asked my Mama why, she said, ‘Because that's the way things have always been.’”

113

Miss Norline:

So just because we do the same thing over and over and over again, does that make it the right thing to do? The just thing to do?

114

Group:

NO!

115

Miss Norline:

Sometimes we need to change the way we do things.

(January 22, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 3)

With thoughtful wisdom, my students saw the common humanity between the girls and recognized the need to not be stagnant as seen in the vignettes below from the second and third readings respectively. My prompts guided this critical reflection.

239

Trent:

I think they are the same because they have the same stuff in their bodies.

240

Miss Norline:

[reflecting and expanding] The same stuff in their bodies. So they look different. And is it okay to look different?

241

Group:

Yeah.

242

Miss Norline:

And sometimes it's very sad because even sometimes nowadays people still get treated differently because they look different on the outside. We don't think that's very fair.

  1. (January 22, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 4)

170

Miss Norline:

Mama said that this is just the way things have always been. Just because you do something a certain way, does that mean it should stay like that?

171

Noah:

NO!

172

Miss Norline:

No.

173

Eve:

[moving hands back and forth] Like, if you always did something, like I always say something, I want him to change what I have said.

  1. (January 29, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 3)

Again, bringing these concepts back to his own interests, Phoenix explained how he would treat someone who was different from him – sharing an item that is very important to him.

252

Miss Norline:

What would you do if you met somebody that was different than you?

253

Phoenix:

[raising his hand]

254

Miss Norline:

Phoenix

255

Phoenix:

[leaning forward] I would share one of my transformers.

  1. (January 22, 2020, The Other Side, transcription, segment 5)

Conclusion

The exploration of The Other Side suggests the power of interactive read-alouds to foster a humanizing environment where identity, diversity, justice, and action can flourish. This book truly became not just a window but a sliding door (Bishop, 1990) into worlds different from our own, where we celebrated diversity but also acknowledged the entrenchment of injustice in our society and acted to challenge this marginalization and exploitation.

Throughout this interactive approach, the children transacted (Rosenblatt, 1978) with the picturebooks, and this transaction was mediated by the teacher in the context of the read-aloud. In this dynamic relationship, my students, made meaning and created their own realities (Rosenblatt, 1993) as they explored their own experiences and those of the characters. While the children engaged in efferent and aesthetic reading, there was a greater focus on efferent responses in order to encourage the children to make meaning at a deeply personal level where feelings were intertwined with facts (Rosenblatt, 1978). As Lysaker (2019) contended, “making sense of stories is like making sense of life; comprehending involves understanding ourselves, other people, and relationships, and taps on deeply personal aspect of being” (Lysaker 2019, p. 3). The children used their imaginations to place themselves in the roles of the characters, taking on aspects of the characters as parts of themselves and enhancing their understanding of themselves and others (Lysaker et al., 2011).

This read-aloud approach called for the children to be in the subjunctive mode, examining possibilities rather than searching for certainties (Bruner, 1986). There was not absolute meaning, but rather, many worlds were open to them as I asked questions, gave prompts, and followed their lead. Observing the story happenings and taking on the perspectives of the characters, the children joined the landscape of action with the landscape of consciousness (Bruner, 1986). They connected with the stories and imagined the reality of the characters as they expressed their feelings and ideas and discussed their own realities and worlds.

Moreover, as I foregrounded social justice issues by taking a critical perspective, the children and I created a space where we consciously disrupted inequity and injustice. Developing their own critical consciousness (Freire, 2018), my students recognized how the diversity of Clover and Annie’s identities was intertwined with injustice and called for action. Addressing social issues such as race, culture, class, gender, and fairness, we engaged in our own creative process of praxis through exploration, reflection, and action (Freire, 2018; Vasquez, 2014). Through this critical lens, we challenged the deficit model whereby marginalized and disenfranchised children and families are seen as inferior or lacking, and instead embraced a strength-based orientation (Moll et al., 1992). In this way, we sought to transform education and ultimately the world around us though practices that respected and valued multiple perspectives (Souto-Manning, 2013). This critical lens extended beyond the books explored as part of this study and became part of our classroom community.

As the children explored stories, they took on the diverse perspectives of the characters and problematized the social and political conditions of our communities. I am keenly aware, however, that our read-alouds were not a panacea. Reflecting on The Other Side, I realize that it may seem simplistic -- white and Black children are segregated; they take a chance and sit together; they become friends. Obviously, racism is not this easy to eradicate, but I hope that our conversations laid a foundation for my students to value diversity and disrupt injustice. A foundation which became all the more essential as we found ourselves confronting the Covid-19 global pandemic, which disproportionately impacted BIPOC, and facing the boiling over of racial tension and violence in our country with more deaths of Black people at the hands of the police. Moving forward in my social justice work, I take with me words of wisdom from a 4-year-old student, who defined brave as “You can do things that you never did.” I plan to continue to work for a just world, believing strongly that we as early childhood teachers are called to act bravely and to instill a sense of bravery in our young students. After all, the young children in our classrooms today will be the parents, teachers, and leaders of tomorrow, and we must prepare our students to be active, collaborative members of our multicultural society.