SOC-481Action Research Project ProposalAssignment.docx

SOC-481
Action Research Project Proposal
Assignment
Instructions: This is a three-part assignment, in which you
develop a proposal for a viable action research project. The
purpose of the proposal is to engage and inform potential
funders of the project, as well as other key stakeholder groups
invested in social change initiatives. The proposal should
clearly and succinctly describe all aspects of your proposed
project, clearly explaining what you will do and why. Please
note that you are not required to implement the project as part
of the SOC-481 coursework.
In PART 1 of the assignment, you will develop the initial
sections of an action research proposal.
In PART 2, you will build upon and revise the initial sections of
the proposal (as needed), adding the last sections of the
proposal and completing a final draft of the proposal.
In PART 3, you will develop a PowerPoint presentation, to
include an overview of your proposed project, as well as a
completed SWOT Analysis which could potentially be used to
guide further development of the proposed project.
_____________________________________________________
_______________________
PART 1
Instructions
Create a first draft of the initial sections of your action research
project proposal. This section of the proposal should be

approximately 1,000-1,500 words, and include the following:
1. Title of the proposed action research project
2. Introduction (150-250 words)
Identify the main subject area to be investigated (e.g., poverty,
homelessness, gender or racial inequality, institutional change).
Briefly summarize the scope and nature of the proposed
research project.
Orient the reader to proposal purpose and structure.
3. Description of a Social Problem in Need of Change (500-700
words)
Research Problem: Craft a succinct description of a
concern/issue, a problem in need of a solution, or an unknown
area to be explored through the proposed project. Be sure to
identify a local context (e.g., neighborhood or community)
where the project could potentially be developed and
implemented.
Literature Review and Justification to Study the Research
Problem: Summarize evidence from the scholarly
literature, indicating why this is a problem in need of a
solution, or why it is an area where additional research and
learning is needed. Be sure to include information of relevance
to understanding the broader social area to be addressed (e.g.,
poverty, gender discrimination) as well as the local
neighborhood or community where the project would potentially
be implemented (e.g. a specific distressed neighborhood or
community). You may also wish to include a brief review of
previous community-based projects focusing on your topic
and/or community of interest, noting how your proposed project
could potentially build upon and/or strengthen earlier efforts to

advance social change.
Gaps in the Evidence: Based on the evidence you have
reviewed, summarize what is missing or what additional
information is needed to better understand or change the social
problem within the local context you have identified.
Relevance of an Action Research Project: Explain how a
community-based action research project could be a
strategically important approach to better understand and
address the issue you have identified. Briefly describe why and
how your proposed action research project could potentially
make a positive contribution, and who might potentially benefit
from investigative processes and outcomes.
4. Vision of Desired Change or Improved Conditions (150-250
words)
Envisioning Success: Articulate a vision of what you hope to
learn and how this proposed action research project could
potentially bring about a desired change or improved
conditions.
Project Aims: Articulate how this proposed project can help you
achieve your vision of change. Describe what you hope to do,
the intention of the project, and your aspirations for the project
in terms of action, individual and/or organizational learning,
community development, or community change.
5. Project Objectives (150-250 words)
Articulate Concrete Project Objectives: Describe the steps you
will take to achieve your vision of change and project aims. Be
sure objectives are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Relevant, and Timely, as well as consistent with the purpose
and scope of a community-based action research project.

6. Reference List
Scholarly Sources: Incorporate information and supportive
evidence from at least three scholarly sources of direct
relevance to your proposed action research project.
Sex Rotes, Vol. 28, Nos. 314, 1993
Gender Role Stereotyping in Children's
Literature: An Update^
Carole M. Kortenhaus- and Jack Demarest^
Monmouth College

The impact of gender role stereotyping in children's literature
has been
examined in numerous studies over the past fw'o decades. The
purpose of this
study was to determine whether the sex bias portrayed in picture
books is still
as prevalent as in the past. In particular, we were interested in
whether the
frequency of males and females in pictures and their
characterizations had
changed. One hundred and fifty children's picture books were
analyzed for
gender role content. It was found that white the frequency of
males and females
depicted in the stories had indeed become more evenly
distributed over the
past 50 years, the roles played by males and females have
changed in a more
subtle way. Girls are now being pictured in more instrumental
activities, but
are as passive dependent as 50 years ago. Boys are occasionally
shown as
passive dependent today, but are no less instrumental than 50
years ago. The
findings suggest that increased effort is needed on the part of
publishers and
authors to provide children with literature that more closely
parallels the roles
of males and females in contemporary^ society.
Children in every culture learn to adopt certain roles and
behaviors as part
of the socialization process. Many of these behavioral roles are
based on
identification with a particular sex. The development of gender

role identity
is important to children's self-perception, and it influences the
way children
are treated by adults and peers, affecting the expectations that
others have
'Preparation of this article was supported in part by a Faculty
Grant from Monmouth College
awarded to the second author
'Present address: TASS-AVRADA, Research and Development
Activity, Fort Monmouth, NJ
07703-5401.
'To whom reprint requests should be addressed at Department of
Psychology, Monmouth
College, West Long Branch, NJ 07764.
219
0.16O-aO25W/02OO-O219M7.0O« C IW.I Plenum Puhlishinj
Corporation
220 Kortenhaus and Demarest
for their behavior. The gender identity of most children is
shaped by the
universally shared beliefs about gender roles that are held by
their society.
These shared beliefs often take the form of oversimplified
gender role
stereotypes.
Every society contains sources of information designed to foster

these
traditions. In most cultures the most important and effective
way of trans-
mitting values and attitudes is through story telling, and in
literate cultures
this process includes children's books. A common experience
for many pre-
school children is listening to stories read from books,
particularly illus-
trated books (Davis, 1984). Preschoolers have story schema and
they delight
in having a favorite book read over and over again. Koeller
(1988) sug-
gested that young children are aided in practicing rational
thinking as they
mobilize, formulate, test, revise, and expand their view of the
world through
listening and discussing stories in books. In fact, books
continue to have a
major influence on the socialization process despite the
dominant role of
television in the day to day activities of most American
children. Conver-
sations with adolescent students showed that individuals whose
parents had
read to them during preschool years could still name the title of
their fa-
vorite children's book, had accurate memor' of the stor>'
content, and ex-
pressed enjoyment in remembering it (Miles, 1980). Their recall
of
television programs did not seem to produce such a lasting
impression. In
fact, most children are better able to recall commercial
messages than pro-
gram content, possibly because TV viewing does not ask for the

investment
of self demanded by literature (Goldsen. 1977). Given this long-
term in-
fluence of books, there can be no doubt that the characters
portrayed in
children's literature mold a child's conception of socially
accepted roles and
values, and indicate how males and females are supposed to act.
In our society' the characteristics of competence,
instrumentation, and
achievement motivation are usually considered to be highly
desirable traits,
and they are typically associated with masculinity (Deaux,
1976). Females
are perceived to be nurturant, dependent, and submissive, i.e.,
females ex-
hibit traits that are viewed as less desirable (Dino, Barnett, &
Howard,
1984; Spence & Helmreich, 1980). These stereotypes already
exist in the
portrayal of males and females in children's literature (Child,
Potter, &
Levine, 1946; Hillman, 1974; Jacklin & Mischel, 1973; Key,
1971; Kingston
& Lovelace, 1977-1978; Purcell & Stewart, 1990; Tetenbaum &
Pearson,
1989; Women on Words and Images, 1975), and they exist in
the illustrated
picture books we read to our preschoolers (Collins, Ingoldsby,
& Dellman,
1984; Nilsen, 1971; Peterson & Lach, 1990; St. Peter, 1979;
Stewig & Higgs,
1973; Weitzman, Eifler, Hokada, & Ross, 1972). In children's
literature,
males typically are portrayed as competent and achievement

oriented, while
the image of females is that they are limited in what they do,
and less
Children's Literature 221
competent in their ability to accomplish things. Female
characters are in-
volved in few of the activities and assigned few of the
characteristics or
goals that are accorded prestige and esteem in our society
(Frasher &
Walker, 1972), even though such goals and activities are
pursued and
achieved daily by a majority of women in the business and
professional
world. McArthur and Eisen (1976) noted that girls must identify
with the
male figures in these stories if they are to acquire any sense of
competence
or achievement from the literary role models.
Key (1971), reviewing this literature through the 1960s, showed
that
males predominated in situations with active mastery themes
(cleverness,
adventure, and earning money), while females predominated in
situations
with "second-sex" themes (passivity, victimization, and goal
constriction).
There were also numerous examples of function ranking, such
as the male
portrayed as older, taller, in front of, or leaning over a seated
female.

Weitzman, et al. (1972), reviewing children's books published
during
the 1940s, 1950s, and 196()s. found that females were greatly
underrepre-
sented in titles, central roles, and the illustrations in picture
books. Most
of the activity was done by males, and males were the focus of
the story
in the overwhelming majority of the cases. Surprisingly, the
stories that
were examined were taken from books that had won the
Caldecott Medal.
This annual prize is awarded by the Children's Service
Committee of the
American Library Association as a measure of excellence for
the most dis-
tinguished picture book of the year. Key (1971) concluded that
the trend
in children's books is based on the premise that, "boys do, girls
are." In
picture books, these genderisms are very likely a strong
influence affecting
children's perceptions of how males and females think, behave,
and inter-
act.
Recently, however, an assessment of Caldecott books from the
1970s
(Collins et al., 1984) found that the books exhibited greater
balance and
sexual equality, with more females present in titles, central
roles, and il-
lustrations. It was suggested that the increased female
representation was
a possible reflection of women's changing roles in the 1980s.

Other studies
of current children's books do not share this conclusion, and
indicate that
most books are still sexist (Barnett, 1986; Kolbe & Lavole,
1981; Peterson
& Lach, 1990; Schau & Scott, 1984), although a body of
nonsexist children's
literature has been identified (e.g., Davis. 1984; Feminist Book
Mart, 1975;
Feminists on Children's Media, 1974; Smith, Greenlaw, & Scott,
1987;
Women's Action Alliance, 1973). Since Caldecott books are
considered the
best offerings in children's literature, one reason for this
discrepancy might
be that the award-winning books in the 1970s were selected, in
part, for
their nonsexist views, and as such they do not represent most
other chil-
dren's literature. Davis (1984), for example, found no indication
of behav-
222 Kortenhaus and DemaresI
ioral sex typing in recent Caldecott winners for any category
except aggres-
siveness.
If this hypothesis is correct, one would expect to find a higher
inci-
dence of sexism in a random cross section of recent children's
books than
that found in Caldecott books. Furthermore, if Collins et al.
(1984) are

correct in assuming that the changing roles of women in our
society have
influenced how females are depicted in children's literature, one
would ex-
pect a dramatic change in sexism in all types of children's
literature, but
especially Caldecott books, over the past 50 years.
METHOD
Materials
For the purpose of comparison with the earlier studies of
Weitzman
et al. (1972) and Collins et al. (1984), 125 nonaward picture
books and 25
Caldecott winners or runners-up published during the five
decades between
the 1940s and 1980s were used in this study. All books analyzed
were ob-
tained from public libraries in Freehold, Shrewsbury, and Wall,
New Jersey,
from a public library in Boston, Massachusetts, and from the
education
curriculum division of the Monmouth College Library in West
Long
Branch, New Jersey. Nonaward-winning books were randomly
selected by
counting off ever' 25th book on the shelves of the children's
department
of each library until 25 books had been obtained for each of the
five dec-
ades. Selection of Caldecott winners was based on availability.
Five award
books were used for each decade.

Procedure
All books were analyzed in terms of depicted gender roles, and
a
content analysis was done on the types of activities represented
by the male
and female characters. It was noted whether these gender roles
were clearly
delineated or whether illustrations were ambiguous. For the
frequency
analysis, the procedure used by Collins et al. (1984) was
replicated with
the books tabulated according to eight characteristics: (1)
Females in titles,
(2) Males in titles, (3) Females in central roles, (4) Males in
central roles,
(5) Females in pictures, (6) Males in pictures, (7) Female
animals, and (8)
Male animals. In addition, the frequency count of females in
pictures was
combined with female animals pictured in each book to yield a
total for
females, and the same tabulation was done for male story
characters. The
number of males and females in all categories was broken down
by decade
of publication before being combined for a total frequency
count.
A content analysis was also done on the major activities of the
central

characters in each book. In each case the analysis focused on
the roles
portrayed by children since adults were invariably secondary
characters in
these stories. Although a variety of settings were depicted,
certain activities
occurred repeatedly in the stories. Using only those activities
that were
clearly delineated, the 18 that were most prevalent were
categorized as
either instrumental independent (i.e., actions that involved a lot
of self-in-
itiated movement, decision making, and/or creativity) or passive
dependent
(i.e., actions that required little movement and/or more help
from others).
Nine activities were classified as instrumental independent and
nine were
classified as passive dependent. A frequency count was then
done by decade
to determine the number of central role males and central role
females
portrayed in these eighteen activities.
Reliability of the number of males and the number of females
de-
picted in titles, central roles, pictures, and animals was
determined by com-
paring the frequencies obtained by one of us on a sample of 25
books with
tabulated frequencies on the same books from the second
individual. These
25 books were randomly selected from the total and covered
with brown
paper so that the second coder was unaware of each book's
Caldecott clas-

sification and year of publication. Percentage of agreement
between the
two raters was based on total frequency counts in each category
(i.e., total
agreements divided by the total agreements plus disagreements).
The re-
sults revealed 100% agreement on the identification of males
and females
in both titles and central roles, 98.5% agreement on males and
females in
pictures, and 98.3% agreement on male and female animals. The
total
agreements of the two raters across all categories were analyzed
using a
correlation coefficient, revealing a highly significant agreement
between the
ratings (r = 0.992).
Reliability of the types of activities that the male and female
story
characters were involved in was assessed by counting the
number of times
the raters agreed in identifying an activity exhibited by the
central charac-
ter. The results revealed 65% agreement on the identification of
specific
activities exhibited by the central character in each picture
book, and 96%
agreement on the identification of the general category of
activity (i.e., in-
strumental independent or passive dependent). The reason for
the low re-
liability in the identification of specific activities is due to the
large number
of things that the characters could do. and the fact that each of
us listed

from one to four main activities per character. We identified 66
activities
exhibited by 27 main characters (2 of the books had both a boy
and a girl
as the central character), and agreed on 43 of these activities.
We rarely
disagreed about the type of activity (instrumental vs. passive)
that was ex-
hibited, except where the activity involved helping behaviors.
This was not
unexpected since many previous studies (e,g,, Barnett, 1986;
Dino, Barnett,
& Howard, 1984) found it difficult to determine how to classify
acts of
helpfulness. The study by Bamett (1986), for instance, showed
that there
are subtle differences in the ways in which helping behaviors of
boys and
girls are portrayed and interpreted, with the helping acts of girls
receiving
significantly lower ratings of instrumentality.
RESULTS
The contents of the books were examined in terms of raw score
tabu-
lations and a male to female ratio in five categories: (1) Titles,
(2) Central
roles, (3) Pictures, (4) Animals, and (5) Animals and People.
The chi-
square comparisons were based on a 2 x 2 matrix with type of

book (Cal-
decott and nonaward) and sex of the storybook character as the
two factors.
For each of the five categories a chi-square was computed (see
columns
labeled Comparison in Table I), None of the calculated chi-
square values
were found to be significant, indicating that the male to female
ratios in
Caldecott and nonaward-winning books were fundamentally the
same, Chi-
square tests were also calculated separately on the ratio of male
to female
characters for each type of book to determine if males were
overrepre-
sented in comparison to females (see fourth and eighth column
in Table
I), We found significantly more male characters than female
characters in
every category, with the exception of titles and central role
figures of Cal-
decott winning books. Even in these two categories, however,
males out-
numbered females 2:1,
For comparison, the content analysis ratios from the Weitzman
et al.
(1972) and Collins et al. (1984) studies are provided in
conjunction with
the ratios from the current study (see Table II), The data reveal
a distinct
discrepancy in the findings of the Weitzman et al, (1972) study.
To examine the change in the male to female ratio in children's
books
over the past five decades, the tabulated data for each book

were grouped
by decade of publication. Only nonaward books were used for
this analysis
to avoid the problem of sampling error (there were only five
Caldecott
books available for each decade), and because the mean male to
female
ratio for the Caldecott and nonaward books was fundamentally
the same
(see Table II), The data for each of the four main categories
(i,e,. Titles,
Central Roles, Pictures, Animals) are shown in Fig, 1. Four
two-factor re-
peated measures analyses of variance revealed significant sex
differences
for all categories except titles, and either a significant decade
effect or a
Table I. Chi-Squared Analysis of Sex Bias in Caldecott and
Nonaward Books"
Category
Titles
Central roles
Pictures
Animals
Animals
and people
M

14
25
882
298
1180
Caldecott books
F
7
13
614
94
708
X
̂
2.13
3.78
48.01
106.16
118.00
P
.1343
.0558
.0001

.0001
.0001
M
71
131
3822
1415
5237
Nonaward books
F
31
71
2614
473
3087
x'
15.60
17.82
226.73
470.00
572.90
P

.0002
.0001
.0001
.0001
.0001
Comparison
X"
.21
.04
.26
.60
.78
P
.64
.85
.61
.44
.37

"M: male; F: female; comparison x" values are based on Sex x
Book Type matrices.
Table II. A Comparison of Male/Female Ratios in Three Studies
Category
Welt/.man el al
(1972)
Caldecoll
books
Collins et al.
(1984)
Caldecotl
books
Kortenhau.s and Demarest
(1993)
Caldecott
books
Nonaward
books
In Titles
In central roles
In pictures
Animals
Animals and people
8.0:1
3.5:1

7.6:1
95.0:1
11.0:1
2.0:1
1.7:1
1.4:1
3.5:1
1.8:1
2.0:1
1.9:1
1.4:1
3.2:1
1.7:1
2.3:1
1.8:1
1.5:1
3.0:1
1.7:1
decade by sex interaction for all categories (see Table III).
These data show
that there has been a gradual decrease in sexism in nonaward
books over
the decades from the 1940s to the 197()s, and that the trend
leveled off in
the 1980s. The decline tended to be linear up to the 1970s, with
ratios
decreasing from 3 to 5 male characters per female character in
each cate-
gory, to less than 2 males for every female.
A breakdown of the books (Caldecott and nonaward) in terms of

their
publication dates, before 1970 vs. after 1970, shows how much
these ratios
have changed (see Table IV). Prior to 1970, children's literature
contained
almost four times as many boys as girls in titles, more than
twice as many
boys in central roles, almost twice as many boys in pictures, and
nearly
four times as many male animals as female animals. Children's
literature
published after 1970 shows a more equitable distribution of
male and fe-
male characters in all categories. This is true for both Caldecott
winners
O TITLES
A CENTRAL ROLES
A PICTURES
• ANIMALS
8 0
DECADE
Fig, 1, The change in the ratio of male to female characters
portrayed in nonaward
books over the past five decades.
and nonaward books. However, males are still depicted in titles

nearly 50%
more often than females in the nonaward books, and male
animals are still
represented twice as often as female animals in both types of
books. In-
terestingly, a recent study of young men and women role
playing the parent
of a newborn found that they always used masculine names or
pronouns
when making up stories about animals (Demarest & Glinos,
1992),
In addition to the content analysis of the categories used in the
Col-
lins et al, (1984) and Weitzman et al. (1972) studies, an
assessment was
made of the types of activities that the male and female story
characters
were involved in. These activities were categorized as either
instrumental
independent activities or passive dependent activities. The
activities of chil-
dren pictured in the books were shown to be strongly
stereotyped by sex,
especially in the earlier literature, A role analysis of activities
engaged in
by male and female characters across all decades showed that
males domi-
nated the instrumental behaviors (M = 293; F = 54), while
females out-
numbered the males (F = 249; M = 29) in almost all passive and
dependent roles (see Table V), Boys displayed energy, girls
displayed pla-
cidity in an overwhelming number of the books. Prior to the
196()s females
were rarely represented in any instrumental or independent

charac-
terizations (F = 5; M = 117), and males were rarely depicted as
dependent
Table III. Summary of Analyses of Variance of Sex Differences
in Titles,
Central Roles, Pictures, and Animals Over Five Decades of
Nonaward
Books
Category
Titles
Central roles
Pictures
Animals
Source
Decade (D)
Sex (S)
D X S
Error
Decade
Sex
D X S
Error

Decade
Sex
D X S
Error
Decade
Sex
D X S
Error
4
1
4
240
4
1
4
240
4
1
4
240
4
I
4
240
M

59.63
28.84
57.76
8.90
0.31
14.89
M l
0.44
1560.48
6258.38
887.01
547.54
7.36.51
3549.16
329.30
118.03
F
6.70
3.24
6.49
0.70
33.83
2.53

2.85
11.43
1.62
6.24
30.07
2.79
P
.0001
.07
.0001
.59
.0001
.04
.02
.0008
.17
.0001
.0001
.03
or nurturing (M = 4; F = 112). Even when females were

depicted as active,
there was usually a more independent male character. For
example, in the
book Down, Down the Mountain, after planting a turnip garden
to earn
money for shoes, a girl and a boy rode a horse to town to sell
turnips.
Using the categories of Table V, the girl might be described as
showing
instrumental independent action along with her brother:
however, the in-
strumental equality is superficial. The behaviors the children
exhibit in pur-
suing their goal are clearly colored by gender role stereotyping.
In planting
the garden, the boy did the hoeing while his sister placed the
seeds. On
their trip to town, he held the reins and controlled the horse
while she
rode behind and held on to him. Finally, when they arrived in
town without
any turnips to sell, the girl began crying while her brother set
out to resolve
the situation. As noted by Jacklin and Mischel (1973), there are
ways other
than frequency counts for sexism to reveal itself. It occurs in
the presence
of disparaging statements, character traits or physical attributes,
such as
young girls being valued for their beauty while older women are
often deni-
grated as hags and witches or are stereotyped in limiting
domestic roles.
A study Freid (1982), which analyzed 299 children's stories
from 1974 and
1981, drew the disturbing conclusion that girls were portrayed

with docile
and inferior qualities more often in the 1981 literature than in
1974.
22S Kortenhaus and Demarest
Table rv. Number and Ratio of Male to Female Characters
Portrayed in Caldecoti and
Nonaward Children's Literature Before and After 1970
Category'
Titles
Central role
Pictures
Animals
Aniamis and people
Categorj'
Titles
Central role
Pictures
Animals
Aniamis and people
M
8
18
631
233
864

M
45
82
2399
1094
3493
Pre-1970
F
2
7
386
63
449
Pre-197()
F
13
31
1321
301
1622
Caldecott

Ratio
4.0:1
2.6:1
1.6:1
3.7:1
1 9:1
Nonaward
Ratio
3.5:
2.6:
1.8:
3.6:
2 1:
books
M
6
7
253
65
318
books
M
26
49

1423
321
1744
Post-1970
F
5
6
228
31
259
Post-1970
F
18
40
1293
172
1435
Ratio
1.2:
1.2:
1.1:
2.1:

1.2:
Ratio
1 4:1
1.2:1
1.1:1
1.9:1
! 2:1
Starting in the 1960s and continuing into the 1980s, females
were oc-
casionally pictured in a more active manner, but males still
outnumbered
females in agentic behavior by a ratio of 3:1 (M = 176; F = 49)
while
females outnumbered males in passive behavior by 4.6 to 1 (F =
137; M =
25). Sometimes the gender role stereotyping was blatant. In No,
Agatha, a
1980 publication, it is obvious that Agatha wanted to be more
active and
independent but her parents continually suppressed her desires
by telling
her to "act like a lady."
CONCLUSION
Children's literature has been under close scrutiny for the past
two
decades to determine whether measurable ground has been
gained in dis-
pelling the inequalities represented by gender role stereotyping
in books
for children. Have there been significant changes, or is the
rhetoric out-

pacing the actual progress? The answer turns out to depend on
the way
the data are analyzed.
The findings of the present study are consistent with those
reported
by Collins et al. (1984). Comparisons of all chosen items
confirmed the
Table V. Frequency Count by Decade and Sex of Central Role
Characters Portrayed in
Active and Passive Activities
Activity
Playing ball
Riding bike or horse
Climbing
Running
Swimming/fishing
Helping others
Making something
Solving a problem
Active outdoor play
Totals
Ratios (males to females)
Activity
Playing house
Picking flowers

Housework helping
Caring for sibling
Caring for pet
Watching others play
Needing help
Causing a problem
Ouiet indoor play
Totals
Ratios (females to males)
1940s
M
9
3
2
3
3
8
5
9
12
54
F
—
2
—
—
—

1
—
1
—
4
(13.5:1)
1940s
M
—
—
-—
—
1
—
—
—
—
1
F
4
->
8
4
1
10

8
")
11
50
(-50:1)
Instrumental-independent activities
1950s
M
3
5
6
8
7
7
3
10
14
63
(6.-
F
—
—
—
—
—
—

1
—
—
I
1:1)
1960s
M
6
5
2
5
2
8
5
12
10
55
(6.1
F
1
—
1
—
—
2
2

1
2
9
1:1)
Passive-dependent
1950s
M
—
—
—
—
—
1
—
—
3
F
8
3
7
6
—
15
6
5

12
62
(20.6:1)
1960s
M
—
—
—
—
2
2
1
—
1
6
F
3
3
4
7
3
8
9
3
10

50
(8.3:1)
1970s
M
8
6
5
5
6
9
7
8
14
68
(3.4:
activities
F
3
1
2
1
2
2
3
1
5

20
1)
1970s
M
—
—
2
—
1
2
2
3
10
(4.3
F
2
1
2
5
2
11
6
4
10
43
:1)

1980s
M F
7 2
4 1
3 2
4 2
1 3
10 4
4 I
11 2
9 3
53 20
(2.65:1)
1980s
M F
— 1
2
2
2 4
1 4
3 14
^
1 3
2 9

9 44
(4.8:1)
trend of decreasing sexism in children's picture books. In fact,
the equity
ratio of characterizations of males and females has come to be
quite closely
balanced. The results are not only consistent with the Collins et
al. study
but replicated some of the exact ratios. Thus, the steps taken by
publishers
and authors to reduce gender role stereotyping by increasing the
number
of female characters in children's literature has already
occurred. Interest-
ingly, this change began well before the women's movement in
the 196O's,
suggesting that something other than a feminist perspective
motivated the
change.
239 Kortenhaus and Demareit
The analysis of the type of roles in which male and female story
char-
acters were portrayed, however, reveals a quite different
conclusion about
sexism in children's literature. Boys were characterized far more
often as
instrumental and independent, while girls were made to look
passive and
dependent. Girls were cast in a nurturing role far more often
than boys.
For example, female characters helped, watched over, or cared

for a sibling
or pet far more frequently than boy characters (F = 117; M =
16). The
activities of males and females were so extremely disparate in
children's
literature examined from the 1940s through the 1960s that this
topic re-
quires special comment. In stories that pictured boys and girls
together,
only boys assumed the role of dominance and authority, while
the girls
were cast as helpless, incompetent, and unambitious. Even
stories with a
female in the central role tended to show her needing help to
solve a prob-
lem. Invariably the help was provided by an older male. The
things girls
do and say in these books reflect the stereotype that "all girls
are emo-
tional." Mothers are shown as ineffectual and appear
overwhelmed by
problems, always needing to rely on fathers or sons to solve
their dilemmas.
Fathers, on the other hand, are portrayed in a capable, take-
charge manner,
seldom consulting the mother about any decision.
While it is encouraging to note that the instrumental role of
females
in children's literature has increased twofold between the 1960s
and 1980s,
even this progress seems inconsequential when taken in the
context of over-
all male activity. In the last two decades, boys were still shown
engaging
in active outdoor play three times as often as girls, and they

solved prob-
lems five to eight times as often. Girls, it would seem, are still
busy creating
problems that require masculine solutions. These
characterizations provide
children with a strong message as to the gender appropriateness
of active
and passive roles.
The increased female representation in titles, central roles, and
pic-
tures would appear to indicate that authors of the 1980s are
more aware
and sensitive to women's changing roles; however, the way in
which these
females are pictured is still sexist and biased. The late 1960s
and early
1970s was a period of time marked by considerable national
attention to
the women's movement with emphasis on the need to overcome
gender
discrimination. Studies of children's literature from that period
pointed to
a hopeful trend of more equitable representation and a possible
decrease
in gender role stereotyping (Hillman, 1974; Feminists on
Children's Media,
1974). Later studies, however, seemed to indicate that while
representation
had indeed moved closer to parity, the trend of decreased
gender role
stereotyping in character portrayal and activity had slowed
down
(Dougherty & Engel, 1987; Freid, 1982; Williams, 1987),
Indeed, of the 60
books examined that were published between 1970 and 1986,

only 1 por-
trayed a working mother. Why are there so few working mothers
repre-
sented in children's literature? If children's literature represents
a tool in
the socialization process of our young, it would appear that we
are teaching
our young that women are not supposed to have jobs outside the
home.
Given the fact that 60% of mothers with children under 14 are
currently
employed (Wallis, 1987), we must conclude that children's
books do not
adequately reflect the changing role of women in the workplace
of Ameri-
can society in the 1980s.
The most striking characteristic of this study is the finding that
even
after two decades of intense examination and analysis by more
than a dozen
studies, the roles portrayed in children's literature do not
present an ac-
curate representation or close approximation of the actual
behavior of
males and females in our society. The representation of males
and females
in a variety of roles is needed, and girls and women, in
particular, must
be shown to a greater degree in roles that are active and
productive, rather

than the dull, unimaginative portrayals that have been painted in
the past.
We may also expect that a change of this sort can occur fairly
rapidly. The
number of females in the central roles of children's books has
changed
quickly in recent years, and we might anticipate that greater
sensitivity to
the need for changes in the roles played by the boys, girls, men,
and women
of this literature can occur just as rapidly. In view of the fact
that gender
role bias can have far-reaching effects on the development of
children's
perception of themselves, it would seem that publishers and
authors must
still make a concerted effort to provide their young readers with
books
that are a more realistic reflection of today's changing gender
role patterns.
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Straig
Challenging the
stereotypes in kids' books
As a teenager, I lived in two worlds: the traditional
Bengali heritage inside our home and the eontem-
porary California of my suburban peers.
Sometimes the gap between those two worlds
seemed huge. Apple pie? Didn't taste it till I got to
college. Our kitchen smelled of mustard-seed oil,
turmeric, aud cardamom. Bikinis? No way. A one-
piece bathing suit felt too revealing (and still does).
My mother never showed her legs in public, even
when she eveiitually shelved her sarecs in favor of
jeans and long skirts. Dating? Fuhgeddaboudit.
My parents' marriage was arranged, and the
clan expected the same for me.
- ^ o

Talk
O
n
n
r
: s School Library Journal . P I U L 21109 www.sy.Gom
on Race
I trudged baek and forth between cultures, relying heavily on
.stories for insight into the secrets and nnanees of North Ameri-
can life. But exactly what did those stories communicate about
my place as a brown-skinned foreigner? And, in that mostly
white suburb wberc I went to school, why can't I remember any
educators who were bold enough to raise the issue?
The best-case scenario is that my teachers were consciously
giving me freedom to experienee the pleasure of reading
without adult interference. But would it have diminished my
cnioynient if an educator had raised questions about race in
The Chronicles ofNarnia or The Secret Garden, for example?
Looking back, I don't think so. Especially if that educator had
appreciated these stories as much as I did.
The more obvious explanation for the omission is that my
leacliers and librarians never thought about those kinds of mes-
sages, or felt tense and ill-equipped to talk about race. Adult
silence about an issue sends a powerful message to young
people. In a 2000 essay called "Silence in tbe Classroom:
Learning to Talk about Issues of Race," ]eanne Copenbaver,
of Ohio State Universit)̂ at Mansfield, writes, "The social

stigma attached to candid discussions of racial themes creates
a silence preventing explicit talk about race, and tbis silence
leads to further, subtle segregation—even within multiethnic,
otherwise harmonious classrooms."
These days, it doesn't make sense to steer clear of the subject.
We serve a generation of young people who experience race
differently from how we grown-ups did. Today's teens are more
diverse than we were at their age. The New YorJt Times
recently
reported that the "enrollment of Hispanic and Asian students in
.'meriean schools has increased by more than 5 million since
the 1990s," In 1993, there was a 52 percent chance that two stu-
dents selected at random would be members of a different eth-
nic group. By 20Ü6, that likelihood had risen to 61 percent.
An increased mixing and mingling isn't occurring only in
school, but also in youth pop culture. Tune in to this gen-
eration's artifacts—the music, television programs, movies,
Lind video games they enjoy. Listen to their jokes. One of the
first things you'll notice is that the lines aren't drawn between
what kids can or can't say when it comes to ethnic humor, but
between who can say it.
This kind of freewheeling banter about race often makes
adults uneomfortable, but we can't let that silence us. Here
are five questions that'll help you and your .students discern
messages about race in stories. Try these in the classroom,
and my guess is that you may end up engaging teens who had
seemed reluctant to share their literary opinions,
One eaveat: it was hard to cite hooks written by fellow
authors as examples, especially those titles that are written
beautifully and are popular with young readers. But my hope
is to spur the children's book connnunity to be more thought-

ful and proactive about bow and why we write, read, and talk
about race. So here goes.
1 . Are the nonwhite characters too good to be true?
Stor)tellcrs have oftcu testified tu t h e painful history of
raeism in N o r t h America. Nowadays, t h o u g h , m a n y are
o v e r e o m p e n s a t i n g for t h e l o n g t i m e exclusion of
n o n w b i t e
eharacters in books a n d m m ies. Many writers a n d fihnmak-
ers are still using race as a tool to s h a p e y o u n g a u d i e n
c e s '
feelings about their characters. W h a t ' s t h e formula? W h i t
e
characters are equated with bad, a n d n o n w h i t e ones are
e q u a t e d with good.
With the noblest of intentions, writers sometimes fall into
this trap by m a k i n g it clear that a secondary character is a
per-
son of color. T h e s e nonwhite friends or acquaintances often
serve as literary foils for a white protagonist. O n e example
might be a wise elder who dispenses advice, like August Boat-
wright in Sue M o n k Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees (Viking,
2002). Another might be a victim of hatred who requires tbe
protagonist's advocacy, like tbe mystical healer John Coffcy in
Stephen King's Green Mile (Scribner, 1996), a character who is
often cited as the perfect example of a "magical Negro."
In Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the American Literary
Imagination (Vintage, 199i), Toni Morrison described how
white authors have used stock black characters to help a white
protagonist spiritually a n d emotionally. T h e "magical N e g r
o "
archetype was lambasted by director Spike Lee d u r i n g a talk
h e gave to a gathering of Yale undergraduates. "How is it that
black people have these powers, but they use t h e m for t h e

benefit of white p e o p l e ? " Lee asked his a u d i e n c e .
M o r e c o m m o n in p o p u l a r y o u n g adult literature is a
friend
whose two m a i n defining characteristics a r e (a) race a n d
(b)
success, like Olivia in Sarah Dessen's Lock and Key (Viking,
2008) or Radar in John Green's Paper Towns ( D n t t o n ,
2008).
www.sy.Gom APRIL 2009 School Library Journal 29
The more novels about a diverstty of characters wHtten by a
diversity
of authors and consumed by a diversity of readers, the better.
Ail I'm
asking is tiiat we pay attention to how and yifhy the race of
characters
is conveyed in a story, because implicit messages matter.
Ves, I'm glad that unlike their predecessors, today's best-sell-
ing authors are creating a diversity of characters. But when
the race of a secondary character is defined in a book fea-
turing a white hero, I liear a familiar ping of caution in my
between-cultures brain. This friend of color is likely to be
ontstanding in some way and almost certain to speak a phrase
of u isdoni that affects the main character's choices and ac-
tions. Thankfully, Dessen and Green are both masterful writ-
ers and make Olivia and Radar so real that neither character
serves merely as a foil.

Am I suggesting that a white author should never articulate
clearly that a secondary character is not white? Not at all I
doii"t want to go back to the day when most novels for kids
were
mainly about white people, nor am I calling for a rule in story-
telling that restricts us from creating characters who don't have
the same racial makeup as we do. While Id love to see our
industry publish, promote, and nurture more emerging writers
who aren't white, I agree with Booklist editor Hazel Roehman's
now-classic 1995 Horn Book article, "Against Borders," on the
issue of who can write for whom:
But what about those who say that an American can
never write about Japan, that men can't write about women,
that Chinese Ed Young cannot illustrate African-American
folklore or tliat the African-American writer Virginia Hain-
iltou can't retell the story of tbe Russian witch Baby Yaga?
[u fact, some take it further. Only Indians can really judge
books about Indians, Jews about Jews. .And further still, you
get the extreme, whites should read about whites, Latiuos
about Latinos, locking us into smaller and tighter boxes.
What I hear echoing in that sort of talk is the mad drum-
beat (if aparllieidspeak.
I'm with Rochman—let the stories come. Tbe more novels
about a diversity of characters written by a diversitŷ of authors
and consimied by a diversity of readers, the better. All I'm ask-
ing is that we pay attention to how and why the race of charac-
ters is conveyed in a story, because implicit messages matter.
One note, though, when it comes to who tells the story:
many, many books for kids about blacks and American Indians
have been written and illustrated by white people. In pursuit
ufa richer literary selection. I'm eager to see—and bu)'—more
stories and art created within those communities.

2. How and why does the author define race?
When raee is explicit in a book, ask yourself and your students
wbat would have been lost if a characters race hadn't been de-
fined bv the writer. Whv did the author choose to define race? If
the only answer you come up witb is "maybe he wanted to show
how open-minded he is" or "she could have been trying to
move the world toward a hetter day," that's not good enough.
A better answer migbt be, "because the particular com-
munity where the action is set is diverse." Or, "because the
protagonist knew how to make kimchee from scratch." The
story and characters, not the author's best political intentions,
should determine whether or not he or she defines race.
AlterTiatively, why didn't he or she let us know the race of
the characters? Books for a generation of readers who regu-
larly mix and explore race and ethnieity must express diver-
sity lest we fall into the trap of the television show Friends.
in which an all-white cast lived and worked in an apparently
all-white New York City.
Sadly, in the children's book world we're not too far from
portra} ing that kind of nonexistent America. Statistics show
that 17 percent of students enrolled in American schools are
African .'merican. During 2008, however, the Cooperative
Children's Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wis-
consin-Madison fomid that among the 3,000 or so titles they
received, only six percent had significant African or African-
American content. While 20 percent of the country's students
are Latino, onK about two percent of all books reviewed by
CCBC had significant Latino content.
When there's no description of race in a story, ask yourself
if you imagined the characters as white. If so, why? If not.
why not? Sometimes physical descriptors clue us in. Thanks

to a residue of teen angst, I automatically translate long,
straight hair as "not black" and big eyes as "not Asian." Tear-
ing through Kristin Cashore's fantasy Graceling (Harcourt,
2008), for example, I paused when Katsa, the heroine, cut
off her long hair. Oh, she's definitely white then. I remem-
ber thinking, because Cashore had given uiy imagination
substantial freedom to cast the appearance of the characters,
defining only the color of Katsa's ccs (one blue, one green)
up to that point.
Of course, if a story's set in rural Minnesota or ancient
Europe, most of the characters' cheeks will turn apple-red
when they're embarrassed. The setting, characters, and story
should take an active lead in deciding that everybody is uliite.
not some passive white default mode thai neither author uor
reader realized was operational.
When the characters, plot, or setting requires an author to
define race, how does he or she accomplish this? Is there a
"Korean kid" or a "black girl"? The problem is that socially
constructed race words like African American, black, Asian
American, and Latina are typically used only for cbaractcrs
0̂ School Library Journal APRIL 2009 www.sy.com
who aren't of European descent. North Ameri-
can authors conventionally don't use "European
American " or "white" to describe characters be-
cause to label every cbaracter's race makes read-
ing tedious. Why use any such labels at all, then?
I he best answer is because it made sense for a
|)articular ebaraeter or a first-person narrator to
label people with those terms.

If labels aren't used, hut you know a eharacter
is nonwhite, ask yourself aud your students how
the author couuuunicated that fact. Check for
tired food-related clichés ahout "coffee-colored'
skin or "almond-shaped" eyes versus fresh, bold
attempts to delineate race and eulture in a story.
3. Is the cover art true to the story?
Like adaptations or book trailers, cover art can define the
protagonist's race even when it's not specified in a story, hin-
dering the reader's imagination from casting the characters.
Sometimes, cover art ean even eontradict the content of a
.story when it comes to race or culture.
To sell more books, the main eharacter may be portrayed
on the cover as less foreign or "other" than he or she is in tbe
actual story. Consider the advance readers' copy of Ursula Lt
Gnin's Powers (Harcourt, 2007), released with a white model
on tbe cover despite the protagonist's Himalayan ancestry.
The final cover art was more in line with the story, but the
change raised the question of whether the original model
had been selected for wider sales appeal.
It's ironic that in 2004, three years before Powers was released,
Le Guin discussed the problem of book covers and race at
Book-
Expo America, the publishing industry's lai^est event: "Even
when [my characters] aren't white in the text, they are white on
ihe eover. 1 know, you don't have to tell me about sales! I have
iought many cover departments on this issue, and mostly lost.
But please consider that 'what sells' or 'doesn't sell' can be a
self-
tnifilling prophecy. Ifblaek kids, Hispanics, Indians both
Eastern
and Western, don't buy fantasy—which they mostly don't—

could
it be because tbey never see themselves on the eover?"
Sometimes books may he packaged with covers depicting
a character as more foreign than he or she is described in the
story. Nowhere in Cynthia Kadohata's novel Weedflower (S &
S/Athenenm, 2006), for example, does 12-year-old Sumiko
wear a kimono. But she does on the eover. For
a story about the Japanese internment in North
America during World War II, why did the pow-
ers-tbat-be make an American protagonist appear
more culturally Japanese than Ameriean, espe-
cially when a girl in jeans behind barbed wire
would have been more historically accurate?
Perhaps they were trying to tap into a faseination
with all things foreign, amping np the exotic fac-
tor so that those looking for a book about "far-
away cultures" might buy this one.
Overexot ici zing a nonwhite character to appeal
to white readers can happen inside a story as well
as on a eover. Take my book The Swiita Experi-
ment (Little, Brown, 1993), the story of an eighth grader whose
California home becomes much more traditioual when her
grandparents visit from India.
After the novel was published, a reviewer chastised me for
the "unnecessary exoticization" of my protagonist. Here's
how 1 ended the story, with Sunita chauipiouing her South
Asian heritage by trying on a saree and modeling it for the
guy she likes:
"You look... just like ! thought you would, Sunni," he
whispers when she reaches him. "Are you sure you're still

Sunita Sen and not some exotic Indian princess coming to
casta spell on me?"
"I'm sure, Michael," she tells him, giving him one of her
trademark smiles just to prove it.
I fumed, hut, dang it, the reviewer was right. Exotic Indian
princess? What was I thinking? Enduring a twinge of shame,
I moved on and tried to learn from my mistake.
When my publisher decided to reissue the book in 2005,1
was asked if I wanted to make any changes. "Yesl" I shouted,
pumping my fist.
Here's how the book, renamed The Not-So-Star-Spangled
Life ofSunita Sen, ends now:
"You look... just like 1 thought you would. Sunni," he
whispers when she reaches him. "Are you sure you're still the
same Sunita Sen? The California girl?"
"I'm sure, Michael," she tells him, giving him one of her
trademark smiles just to prove it.
T h a n k goodness for second chances.
4. Who are the change agents?
It also matters who solves the problem in a story. From Kevin
Costner in Dances with Wolves to Tom Cruise in The Last
Samurai to Hilary Swank in Freedom Writers, Hollywood
has often relied on a messianic outsider to save the day—and
pump np the box offiee. A white hero, producers seem to be-
lieve, might convince our nation's moviegoers to see a film
they might otherwise have overlooked.
Is that also true of books? Is it easier for young white read-

ers to connect to a story about poverty or sufferiug in a non-
white eulture if a white character helps solve the problem?
Can yon find an example of such a hook on your bookshelves
or in your elassroom?
www.sy.com APRIL 2009 School Library Journal
I can. My own. In Monsoon Summer (Deiacorte, 2004),
Jazz, an Indian-American girl, travels to India with her family
and helps Danita, an orphan, find a way out of marrying an
unwanted suitor.
I was startled to discover this thread in my own book, but
apart from some tweaking, I wouldn't readjust the plot if
given the chance. I believe North Amerieans shonkl be in-
volved in the global fight against poverty. Tiie question again
is how and why. In Monsoon Summer, I sought to create an
authentic friendship between the two girls and introduced
the idea of mierocredit as an empowering alternative to hand-
outs. I hope, though, that edueators use the booii to raise the
"outside savior" question by asking, ''How does Danita 'save'
jazz? How does Jazz 'save' Danita? Which girl is the more
powerful helper and why?"
Patricia MeCormiek's novel Sold (Hyperion, 2006), an explo-
ration of sexual trafficking in Nepal and India, is a good choice
to spark discussion about this issue. Let me confess my reluc-
tance to criticize anything about Sold because it inspires such a
desire among readers—including myself—to battle exploitation
and injustice. But I did pay attention when 13-year-old
Lakshmi,
McCormick s main character, described her eventual deliverer
as "The American." A savvy edueator might ask, "If Laksbmi
had been rescued by an Indian character instead of by a West-

erner, how would that change your view of the story?" Or, "Was
it important to make her rescvier a foreigner because those who
engage in sex trafficking are often outsiders?"
5. How Is beauty defined?
Standards of physical beauty have historically been related
to racial characteristics. Lest you think we've moved beyond
the cultural correlation between attractiveness and whiteness,
head over to Media That Matters (www.mcdiathatmattersfest
.org) and view a seven-minute film made in 2005 by teenager
Kiri Davis called A Girl Like Me. It's worth showing in your
classroom or library.
Davis repeated an experiment eondueted in the 1940s that
led to the desegregation of public schools. She presented
lilack kindergartners with two dolls—a blaek one and a white
one. Then, as in the original experiment, she asked which
they wonkl prefer, and whieh doll they thought was "niee"
and whieh was "bad." Sixty years or so later, most of the blaek
children still picked the white dolls and identified the blaek
dolls as "bad."
"In the black community, those who have more European
features are put on pedestals." says Davis. "People with
straighter
bair or lighter skin are often considered beautiful, while those
with more African features are considered not beautiful." Its
true within Asian cultures as well, where skin-bleaching eream
is a best-selling beauty produet and comments about the "fair-
ness" of skin are flaunted in marriage ads.
More Asian and Asian-American young women are pur-
suing eyelid surgery, a choice explored in An Na's The Fold
(Putnam, 2Ü08). In China, a crowd of students underwent
this snrgery last summer, the Nanfang Daily reported. "Doz-
ens of school children have come daily to our hospital since

the beginning of July," said Chen jianfei. one of the doetors.
"The youngest ease I have seen is a 13-year-old girl."
Novels can inspire discussion about such cultural views of
beauty. Take Pretties, Vglies, and Extras (Simon Pulse), for
example, a gripping sci-fi trilogy by Scott Westcrfeld. The
aesthetic ideal in that futuristic society includes straight hair
that isn't kinky (subtext: not African) and wide eyes that aren't
squinty (subtext: not Asian). Does tins mean race is eradi-
cated? How does Westerfcld explore and resolve the problem
of defining one standard of beauty in his novels?
Finally, let me know if you find hot male fictional heroes
who are Asian, like Jaeob in Justina Chen Headley's North
of Beautiful (Little Brown. 2009). The documentary Slanted
Screen by Jeff Ada ch i explores tbe history of Asian men in
American movies and television. In a Washington Post review
of the film, Jose Antonio Vargas wrote:
[Slanted Screen]... talks about the revised ending for the
actioTi movie Romeo Must Die. a retelling oí Romeo and Ju-
liet, where the R&B star Aaliyah plays Juliet to the Chinese
actor Jet Li's Romeo. The original ending had Aaliyah kiss-
ing Li, a seenario that didn't test well with an "urban audi-
ence." So the studio changed it. Tbe new ending has Aaliyah
giving Li a tight hug.... Which makes yon wonder: When
was the last time, on an American TV show or movie, you
saw an Asian-American man as the object of attraction?
Some of you might be wondering: Can't a young reader
simply enjoy a story without exploring messages about race?
Will the proaetive discussions I've suggested suck the plea-
sure out of reading McCormack's poignant Sold, Creen's en-
tertaining Paper Towns, Dessen's memorable Loeit and Key.
Cashore's enthralling Graveling, Westerfeld's suspensefnl
trilogy, or my own pretty good Sunita Sen?

OTI the contrary. I enjoyed reading all of the books men-
tioned in this article and will continue to recommend them
to teens. When I first encounter a story, I willingly suspend
disbelief for the sake of entertainment, as poet Samuel Taylor
Coleridge recommended. Even with my adolescent baggage
in tow, I ignore the between-cniture pings for later processing.
It's only when 1 like a story that I set aside the time for a
critical
reread to explore themes of race, culture, and gender.
In faet, we could have nsed almost any novel published for
teens and subiected it to our questions. Try it, Pick up a novel
you like (if you're an author, grab one of your own books)
and expose it to one or more of the five questions. My hunch
is that you'll notice something new, and that this differently
angled reconsideration might actually enrich your apprecia-
tion of the book. Best of all. asking qnestions like these as an
educator breaks the silence in tlie classroom about race. It
can engage even reluctant readers, wbo are often thoroughly
intrigued by issues of raee and culture.
Our calling as educators and authors i.s to pay attention,
both to the young people we serve and to the books they're
reading, and to ask questions with them. Great stories, like
their human counterparts, are beautiful yet flawed, and dis-
cussing them in community can strengthen their power to
enlighten, inspire, and let justice roll down.
Mitali Perkins's {[email protected]) latest novel for young
adults is Secret Keeper (Deiacorte, 2009).
52 School Library Journal APRII. www.sy.com

Moral and Ethical Development and Issues in Children’s
Literature
In Week 5, you will more deeply examine the value of
children's literature as a tool of moral and ethical development,
as well as the opportunity to study issues in children's
literature. There are several substantial issues in children's
literature that greatly affect the teaching and exposure of
children's literature. It is important to understand these issues
when looking at the value of teaching the genre of children's
literature.
Read and review all instructions and rubric.
Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper that includes 3 of the
following topics:
A description of the value of teaching children's literature as a
tool of moral and ethical development in children using
examples from the course readings that may include its effect
on 3 of the following:
· Imagination
· Language development
· Socialization (prejudice and tolerance)
· Gender roles
An analysis any two of the following issues in children's
literature using specific examples from the course
· Gender roles
· Violence
· Sex and sexual orientation
· Authorial intent
· Race
· Language/Lexile® scales
Format your assignment according to appropriate course-level
APA guidelines.
Review the CWE information about plagiarism and
visit YouTube for more on avoiding plagiarism. You must cite
all sources for every assignment in this and every course.

Failure to cite sources may result in a Zero for the assignment,
class failure and even may result in expulsion. Cite all pictures
uses as well.
Sources to use
1. Bringing Sexual Orientation into the Children's and Young
Adult Literature Classrooms" by Patti Capel Swartz
2. Gender Role Stereotyping in Children's Literature: An
Update" by Carok M. Kortenhaus and Jack Demarest
3. Straight Talk on Race" by Mitali Perkins
4. Charlotte Huck’s Children’s Literature, Ch. 9: Nonfiction
5. Charlotte Huck’s Children’s Literature, Ch. 7: Contemporary
Realistic Fiction
6. 2 -any non-fiction children's book (not included in
attachment, any choice will be okay for this source only)

SOC-481Action Research Project ProposalAssignment.docx

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