ERIC Number: EJ1234653
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Nov
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1741-4350
EISSN: N/A
Child-Directed Dramatic Play as Identity Text in Northern Canadian Indigenous Kindergarten Classrooms
Peterson, Shelley Stagg; Horton, Laura
Literacy, v53 n4 p254-264 Nov 2019
In this paper, an Anishnaabe educator and university researcher/former primary teacher make a case for viewing children's dramatic play as multimodal identity texts. Indigenous children in our research study take up an agentic role and construct positive identities in dramatic play, creating narratives that reflect Indigenous cultural practices, as well as some practices of mainstream Canadian society that may be imbued with colonising perspectives. We argue that the Indigenous Cultural classes and follow-up dramatic play counter the marginalisation of Indigenous knowledge, culture and languages that has occurred with devastating effects on generations of Indigenous families. Our paper is based on video recordings of 4- and 5-year-old children's dramatic play that were analysed collectively by 12 Indigenous educators in terms of the Indigenous cultural meanings that children created in their play. We conclude with implications for non-Indigenous teachers, arguing that a case can be made for including child-led dramatic play in the literacy curriculum when dramatic play narratives are viewed as multimodal identity texts. These texts, which can involve multiple modes including print, draw from children's own cultural and linguistic knowledge and experience.
Descriptors: College Faculty, Teacher Attitudes, Self Concept, Drama, Play, Teaching Methods, Indigenous Populations, Preschool Children, Literacy Education, Disadvantaged, Culturally Relevant Education, Video Technology, Foreign Countries, Canada Natives, Multimedia Materials, Indigenous Knowledge, Cultural Education, Cultural Background
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A