Fostering Inclusive Communities Through Children's Literature

Abstract

This comparative case study explored pre-service teachers' (PSTs) understandings and concerns around creating inclusive classrooms before and after engaging in explicit instruction and practice surrounding issues of inclusion in elementary social studies methods. Findings illustrate that PSTs understood inclusion as an expansive concept, encapsulating various social identities, before and after explicit instruction. Engaging in a lesson planning project involving children's literature and a deep dive into anti-bias and inclusion literature helped to lessen concerns held by PSTs about creating inclusive classrooms but amplified other concerns, such as how to manage parental pushback and how to support students of marginalized backgrounds. This chapter addresses implications for elementary social studies teacher educators, such as the need to provide explicit practice and guidance when emphasizing the need for inclusive classroom communities, and the authors suggest ways PSTs' concerns could be lessened through interviews with parents and panel discussions with inclusive educators.