Open AccessLandscapes of Literacy: The Challenges of Reading Cree-English Dual Language Picture Books as a Decolonizing Strategy
Author(s) -
Joanie Crandall
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
in education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1927-6117
DOI - 10.37119/ojs2014.v19i3.135
Subject(s) - dialogic , reading (process) , literacy , identity (music) , sociology , dual language , english language , linguistics , pedagogy , aesthetics , art , philosophy
The article theorizes the possibilities of a decolonizing methodology in a reading of David Bouchard’s Cree-English dual language picture books Nokum is My Teacher and The Drum Calls Softly. Paulo Freire’s (1971) call to educators to become teacher-learners and Luis Urrieta Jr.’s (2007) concept of figured worlds as they relate to forms of identity work to inform the reading. The article suggests that not only can dual language picture books be read as social documents, but also that reading these texts as a decolonizing strategy provides opportunity for dialogic engagement across cultural boundaries.Keywords: Cree; education; decolonizing pedagogy; dual language texts; picture books; language revitalization