Children’s Gender Worldviews: Exploring Gender, Diversity, and Participation Through Postmodern Picture Books
Postmodern picture books offer valuable opportunities for children to engage with multiple perspectives and develop critical thinking skills. When used in pedagogical practices that prioritize children’s rights, agency, and voices, these books can effectively challenge dominant social norms and prom...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/4/476 |
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| author | Carolina Gonçalves Catarina Tomás Aline Almeida |
| author_facet | Carolina Gonçalves Catarina Tomás Aline Almeida |
| author_sort | Carolina Gonçalves |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Postmodern picture books offer valuable opportunities for children to engage with multiple perspectives and develop critical thinking skills. When used in pedagogical practices that prioritize children’s rights, agency, and voices, these books can effectively challenge dominant social norms and promote justice and equity. Within the framework of the SMOOTH project (Educational Common Spaces, Passing through Enclosures and Reversing Inequalities, Horizon 2020, EU), this qualitative study explores how children aged six to eight attending a public primary school in Lisbon, Portugal, make sense of gender through postmodern picture books. Grounded in the Educational Studies and Sociology of Childhood, the research analyses children’s understandings of gender and the meanings they construct concerning it. A six-month intervention program, consisting of read-aloud sessions, was conducted with children from diverse linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Data were collected through focus groups and observation. Qualitative content analysis highlights how picture books can stimulate critical discussions on the social construction of gender, providing children with opportunities to reflect on differences, power relations, and social change. These findings indicate that embedding a care perspective further strengthens the recognition of children’s lived experiences and enriches educational practices by fostering inclusiveness and deeper understanding. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4e7bbf36eea14915bde358ffd1cfe363 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-4e7bbf36eea14915bde358ffd1cfe3632025-08-20T02:17:25ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022025-04-0115447610.3390/educsci15040476Children’s Gender Worldviews: Exploring Gender, Diversity, and Participation Through Postmodern Picture BooksCarolina Gonçalves0Catarina Tomás1Aline Almeida2Faculté d’Éducation, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1N 3C6, CanadaCentro Interdisciplinar de Ciências Sociais, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, PortugalCentro Interdisciplinar de Ciências Sociais, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, PortugalPostmodern picture books offer valuable opportunities for children to engage with multiple perspectives and develop critical thinking skills. When used in pedagogical practices that prioritize children’s rights, agency, and voices, these books can effectively challenge dominant social norms and promote justice and equity. Within the framework of the SMOOTH project (Educational Common Spaces, Passing through Enclosures and Reversing Inequalities, Horizon 2020, EU), this qualitative study explores how children aged six to eight attending a public primary school in Lisbon, Portugal, make sense of gender through postmodern picture books. Grounded in the Educational Studies and Sociology of Childhood, the research analyses children’s understandings of gender and the meanings they construct concerning it. A six-month intervention program, consisting of read-aloud sessions, was conducted with children from diverse linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Data were collected through focus groups and observation. Qualitative content analysis highlights how picture books can stimulate critical discussions on the social construction of gender, providing children with opportunities to reflect on differences, power relations, and social change. These findings indicate that embedding a care perspective further strengthens the recognition of children’s lived experiences and enriches educational practices by fostering inclusiveness and deeper understanding.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/4/476children’s perspectivespostmodern picture booksgenderprimary school |
| spellingShingle | Carolina Gonçalves Catarina Tomás Aline Almeida Children’s Gender Worldviews: Exploring Gender, Diversity, and Participation Through Postmodern Picture Books Education Sciences children’s perspectives postmodern picture books gender primary school |
| title | Children’s Gender Worldviews: Exploring Gender, Diversity, and Participation Through Postmodern Picture Books |
| title_full | Children’s Gender Worldviews: Exploring Gender, Diversity, and Participation Through Postmodern Picture Books |
| title_fullStr | Children’s Gender Worldviews: Exploring Gender, Diversity, and Participation Through Postmodern Picture Books |
| title_full_unstemmed | Children’s Gender Worldviews: Exploring Gender, Diversity, and Participation Through Postmodern Picture Books |
| title_short | Children’s Gender Worldviews: Exploring Gender, Diversity, and Participation Through Postmodern Picture Books |
| title_sort | children s gender worldviews exploring gender diversity and participation through postmodern picture books |
| topic | children’s perspectives postmodern picture books gender primary school |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/4/476 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT carolinagoncalves childrensgenderworldviewsexploringgenderdiversityandparticipationthroughpostmodernpicturebooks AT catarinatomas childrensgenderworldviewsexploringgenderdiversityandparticipationthroughpostmodernpicturebooks AT alinealmeida childrensgenderworldviewsexploringgenderdiversityandparticipationthroughpostmodernpicturebooks |