The Future of Education

The purpose of this presentation is to provide an opportunity to learn about historically underrepresented Latinx–a term adopted to challenge the gender normative aspects of Spanish (Garcia, 2019)–protagonists and authors within children’s literature (Dixon, 2023), and think critically about societal topics to lead to a better understanding and empathy of others. The presentation focuses on the significance of Latinx Children’s Literature and on the importance of using high-quality Latinx children’s books that may, metaphorically speaking, serve as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors for students. Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and students have only to walk through, imagining whatever world has been crafted or recrafted by the writer. A window can also become a mirror if the lighting conditions are just right. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, allowing reading to become an act of self-affirmation as readers search for their own reflection within books (Bishop, 1990). The presentation offers a historical overview starting from the 1920s (which provides the audience a sense of how things have changed over the decades). It highlights parts of an interview with a distinguished scholar and Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin, and four experienced teachers (three from Idaho, and one from California) on their perspectives on the importance of Latinx children’s literature. Several Latinx children’s titles will be examined, followed by a summary of strategies.