Dr. Norline Wild, assistant professor of early childhood education, recently published “Picturebooks for Social Justice in the Higher Education Classroom” in Multicultural Perspectives. The article explores how interactive read-alouds in higher education, specifically teacher education classrooms, can create a learning community that nurtures and supports students’ development of social justice and critical consciousness.
Dr. Wild also authored an article in the Journal of Equity & Social Justice in Education titled “Picturebooks as Catalysts: Fostering Social Justice and Critical Consciousness in Higher Education,” which focuses on the experiences of a group of her students.
The students in the study reported that leading read-alouds contributed to the cultivation of their critical consciousness, and that they gained personal insights, challenged biases, and strengthened their commitment to identity, diversity, justice, and action. Dr. Wild concludes that the work demonstrates accessible mediums like picturebooks can be an innovative practice for fostering deeper engagement and understanding of complex social justice issues in higher education contexts.
“I am grateful to my students for their thoughtful engagement in this work, and I hope it encourages educators to consider picturebooks as powerful, inclusive tools for advancing social justice learning in higher education,” said Dr. Wild.
