Critical Literacy in the Early Childhood Classroom

Using narrative inquiry, this book shares the author’s transformative journey as a literacy teacher and researcher examining her experience as a White, middle-class female. The author argues that it is not enough for teachers to implement curricula and pedagogical strategies designed to foster inclusiveness. Instead, teachers must look inward, questioning their personal histories, biases, and beliefs to develop better self-awareness. In this book, Kuby reflects on how her self-interrogation shaped her interactions with 5- and 6-year-olds and influenced her critical literacy teaching. The book discusses five key questions:

1. Witnessing: What Do You Do With What You See and Know?;

2. Whiteness: How Was Curriculum Shaped by My Histories?;

3. What is a Negotiated Critical Literacy Inquiry?

4. “We, Them, White, Black”: What Language Should Educators Use?

5. Can Social Action be Embodied Over Time and Space?

This practical text includes a parent questionnaire, an example of a summer program newsletter, and reflective exercises for pre- and inservice teachers.