ERIC Number: EJ1001536
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 7
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1068-3844
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Perspective Taking of Immigrant Children: Utilizing Children's Literature and Related Activities
Mabry, Malerie; Bhavnagri, Navaz Peshotan
Multicultural Education, v19 n3 p48-54 Spr 2012
Perspective taking, which is seeing a viewpoint other than one's own, is critical in interpersonal understanding and in cross-cultural communication. It is especially crucial in diverse societies such as the United States as well as in countries where immigrants from other nations are living as one community. Hence, this article focuses on promoting perspective taking among African-American fourth graders, utilizing children's literature on immigrant families with follow-up activities. Scholars have frequently suggested using children's literature about immigrants in school classrooms. However, these scholars' works have three key limitations. First, such scholarship is not conceptually grounded in Selman's theory, Vygotsky's theory, or Bhavnagri's work with her colleagues on immigrants and children's literature. Second, these works do not suggest follow-up activities related to children's literature. Third, they do not recommend specific, empirically grounded strategies for teachers to assist elementary children in taking the perspective of immigrants. This article addresses these limitations and thus contributes uniquely to the field. The authors present a conceptual framework, related children's literature and follow-up activities promoting taking the perspective of immigrant children and strategies for teachers to promote perspective taking, based on empirical research as well as their experiences. (Contains 1 table.)
Descriptors: Immigrants, Childrens Literature, Perspective Taking, Elementary School Students, Classrooms, Grade 4, Intercultural Communication, African Americans, Sociocultural Patterns, Learning Theories, Teaching Methods, Learning Activities
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A