Children's Literature Talk -- by Dr. Myra Garces-Bacsal et al - Nov 3 - Tanglin Trust School

A reminder that we're all invited to a talk on multicultural picturebooks by a team of researchers, lead by Myra Garces-Bascal from NIE (National Institute of Education), on November 3, 2016, at 4:30pm in the Senior Library at Tanglin Trust School.

You may be familiar with Myra through her children's literature blog -- Gathering Books.  

Wine and nibbles will follow the talk.  RSVP by October 1st via this link:  https://goo.gl/forms/KQmDYBnfo4Wongp63

Creating Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Bridges through Multicultural Picturebooks

Asst/Prof Rhoda Myra Garces-Bacsal

Asst/Prof Ruanni Tupas

Mdm Sarinajit Kaur

Children’s books keep alive a sense of nationality; but they also keep alive a sense of humanity. They describe their native land lovingly, but they also describe faraway lands where unknown brothers live. They understand the essential quality of their own race; but each of them is a messenger that goes beyond mountains and rivers, beyond the seas, to the very ends of the world in search of new friendships. Every country gives and every country receives, - innumerable are the exchanges, - and so it comes about that in our first impressionable years the universal republic of childhood is born. – Paul Hazard

The power of children’s books to foster identity (Botelho and Rudman, 2009) and self-awareness (Lysaker and Tonge, 2013), to build empathy (Nikolajeva, 2012) and resilience (Lukens, Smith, & Coffel, 2013) have been well documented in research studies. Multicultural picturebooks, are especially powerful, as they serve as mirrors allowing young people to see themselves reflected in books that they read; and they also serve as windows to worlds that young readers may be unfamiliar with, allowing them to “participate emotionally in ways that may ultimately change the way we see ourselves and the society in which we live” (Gates & Mark, 2006, p. 2). This kind of affective participation through literature is what makes multicultural picturebooks the perfect vehicle to scaffold the teaching of social and emotional learning competencies that are essential to becoming more reflective and sensitive human beings. This presentation is a celebration of titles from around the world that may serve as bridges to humanity, kindness, and compassion – books that allow young readers to view the world a bit differently, and empower them to be more involved in the community and the larger world that they are a part of.

 

This talk is a result of a 2015-2017 project at NIE that Myra is leading -- "Reading Lives and Practices of Singapore Teachers and the Use of Multicultural Children's Literature to promote Socio-emotional Learning."  

Contact Ben Farr at Tanglin for more information:  Benjamin.FARR@tts.edu.sg