The aim of this workshop is to provide open and flexible suggestions for an original approach empowering the development of information and digital literacy with an emphasis on the promotion of equality values, understood as the values of a democratic and ethic culture based on respect for human rights, regardless of gender, culture, religion, sexual orientation or any other aspect of identity. The proposal is based on the use of children’s literature, in particular picture books (Haynes & Murris, 2012; Mallan, 2017; Pesonen, 2019; Whitehurst, n.d.) following the work of the Erasmus+ KA2 European project BRIDGE (“Information and Digital Literacy at School. A Bridge to Support Critical Thinking and Equality Values for Primary Education Using Children's Literature and Transmedia”), developed by 8 partners from 6 countries (Universitat Jaume I, Spain; Hacettepe University and Çankaya University, Turkey; Università degli Studi di Genova, Italy; University of Oulu, Finland; Ionian University, Greece; InformAll and SP4IL, United Kingdom).
BRIDGE introduced an information and digital literacy framework for promoting critical thinking and equality values in primary education, by means of a practical intervention methodology that offers an embedded and transversal way to develop information and digital literacy skills in the school curriculum. The workshop will present and use materials generated by the BRIDGE project that are available in open access: a portal of resources (https://bridgeinfoliteracy.eu/portal), selected for the age range addressed by the project (children in the approximate stage of middle primary education, between 8 and 11 years old) and a booklet (https://bridgeinfoliteracy.eu/training) with didactic recommendations (available in Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Turkish, Greek, Finnish and English). The process and practical methodology developed as part of the project will be followed, engaging participants directly with a silent picture book (that will help transverse language barriers for all participants) to critically explore information and visual literacy with reference to equality values.
References
Haynes, J. & Murris, K. (2012). Picture books, pedagogy and philosophy. Routledge.
Mallan, K. (2017). Children’s literature in education. In G. W. Noblit (Ed.) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. New York: Oxford University Press. http://oxfordre.com/education/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-157
Pesonen, J. (2019). Children’s stories supporting the development of critical literacy and intercultural understanding. In K. J. Kerry-Moran, J. A. Aerila (Eds.), Story in children’s lives: Contributions of the narrative mode to early childhood development, literacy, and learning. Educating the young child, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19266-2_14
Whitehurst, G. J. (n.d.). Dialogic reading: An effective way to read aloud with young children, https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/early-literacy-development/articles/dialogic-reading-effective-way-read-aloud-young-children
