Dialoging About English Learners: Preparing Teachers Through Culturally Relevant Literature Circles

Source: Action in Teacher Education, Volume 36, Issue 2, 2014, pages 117-140

In this article, the author describes how culturally relevant children’s literature allowed teachers and teacher candidates to explore the lived realities of diverse students.
The authors investigated 23 literature discussions of undergraduate and graduate students across five academic semesters.

She found that texts written by culturally and linguistically diverse authors gave participants new ways to articulate ideas and beliefs about English learners. She discovered specific factors that opened or closed opportunities for dialog and learning in literature circles, including implementation of reader response strategies and various participant groupings.