This project is aimed at helping children in elementary grades 1-6 develop a deep awareness of and empathy for the environment through children's fictional literature. This project takes a selection of children's books that encourage feelings of love, respect, and concern for the environment, and pairs them with an array of activities that put children more in touch with our planet and its problems. This combination of shared stories and related activities may be influential in developing environmental sensitivity in young children.

The purpose of this study was to analyze teacher-selected children's literature for its potential use with critical pedagogy in the elementary classroom. This multi-analytical study uses tenets from critical multicultural analysis (CMA) and components from visual analysis (VA) to guide a critical content analysis of teacher-selected children's literature. Since it is the only nationally-recognized book list solely selected by educators, the texts for this study were selected from the Teachers' Choices Reading List titles. Although prior research on teacher-selected literature for the potential use of critical pedagogy in the elementary classroom does not exist, the results of this study show many opportunities for such within the last three years of the Teachers' Choices Reading List. A discussion on these results is presented through Paulo Freire's concept of critical pedagogy, as described in three stages: critique, hope, and action. Implications for practice and research are suggested based on the results of the study.

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Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Afrikaans children's literature has long been neglected in the Afrikaans literary polysystem and has been considered inferior by numerous figures, especially litterateurs. The negative effect of this attitude has been a shortage of academic studies on Afrikaans children's literature, the marginalised position of the genre in the Afrikaans literary canon and the absence of a general literary definition of "children's literature". The 1990’s see the dawn of a new democratic era in South Africa and a subsequent revival of the system of Afrikaans children's literature. However, despite this revival and growth, there is still a shortage of dedicated research into this genre. This thesis details the changes in the children's literature system that has occurred since 1990, by way of a polysystemic approach. The polysystem theory, as developed by Itamar-Even Zohar, serves as foundation for this study. Questions around genres, subgenres and problems surrounding the umbrella term "youth literature" are addressed. The age group of the readers of children's book are defined and a general definition of the children's literature genre is formulated. Based on this definition, ten academic studies since 1990, all of which are devoted specifically to children's literature, are identified and discussed. A historical overview of the development of Afrikaans children's literature is presented to support the choice of 1990 in the scope of the literature review. It is shown that the events that lead to the changes since 1990 are generally attributable to the political changes in South Africa that lead to the first democratic election in 1994. These changes in the different social and political systems are related to the changes in the children's literature system. It is further shown that these changes are reflected in the children's book itself, and are discussed in terms of the clear trends that emerge in children's literature and children's books since 1990. These trends are illustrated by an examination of six relevant publications. A literary definition of the term "children’s literature" is presented. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Afrikaanse kinderliteratuur is vir lank as die stiefkind in die Afrikaanse literêre polisisteem behandel en is deur verskeie rolspelers, veral literatore, as minderwaardig beskou. Negatiewe gevolge wat hieruit spruit, is onder andere 'n tekort aan akademiese studies oor Afrikaanse kinderliteratuur, die genre se marginale posisie in die literêre kanon en gebrek aan 'n algemene en letterkundige definisie van die term "kinderliteratuur." Teen die 1990's breek daar 'n nuwe era van demokrasie in Suid-Afrika aan en is daar gepaardgaande herlewing in die Afrikaanse kinderliteratuur-sisteem. Ten spyte van hierdie herlewing en groei wat by Afrikaanse kinderliteratuur plaasvind, is daar steeds 'n tekort aan navorsing wat spesifiek oor hierdie genre gedoen word. In hierdie tesis word die veranderinge wat sedert 1990 in die kinderliteratuur-sisteem plaasgevind het, ondersoek aan die hand van die polisisteem-benadering. Die polisisteemteorie, soos ontwikkel deur Itamar Even-Zohar, dien as teoretiese grondslag van hierdie studie. Kwessies omtrent genres, subgenres en probleme rakende die gebruik van die sambreelterm "jeugliteratuur" word bespreek. Die ouderdomsgroep van die kinderboek-lesers word afgebaken en 'n algemene definisie vir die genre kinderliteratuur word geformuleer. Na aanleiding van die algemene definisie van kinderliteratuur word tien akademiese studies geïdentifiseer en bespreek wat sedert 1990 verskyn het en spesifiek handel oor kinderliteratuur. As deel van die motivering vir die gebruik van 1990 as afbakening van die ondersoeksveld, word 'n historiese oorsig oor die ontwikkeling van Afrikaanse kinderliteratuur ook gebied. Daar word getoon dat die gebeure wat aanleiding gegee het tot die veranderinge wat sedert 1990 plaasgevind het, grootliks gekoppel kan word aan die politieke veranderinge wat tot die eerste demokratiese verkiesing in 1994 in Suid-Afrika gelei het. Hierdie veranderinge in die verskillende sosiale en politieke sisteme word in verband gebring met die veranderinge in die kinderliteratuur-sisteem. Daar word ook getoon dat die verskillende veranderinge neerslag vind in die kinderboek. Hierdie veranderinge word bespreek na aanleiding van die tendense wat in die Afrikaanse kinderboek waargeneem kan word. Die tendense word aan die hand van 'n steekproef van 6 kinderboeke geïllustreer. 'n Letterkundige definisie van die genre kinderliteratuur word aangebied.

published_or_final_version / Comparative Literature / Master / Master of Philosophy

Much like oft-repeated quotes or catchy movie soundtrack tunes, famous illustrations often outweigh and outlast their original contexts and establish themselves as iconic cultural reference points for generations to come. Over the last 100 years in Sweden, John Bauer’s fairy tale illustrations have maintained a strong grip on that nation’s popular imaginary through over thirty reprint editions, museum exhibits, stamp collections, and, of course, stylistic imitations. While their century-old narrative contexts remain relatively unknown and uninteresting to contemporary audiences, his beautifully blonde children, enchantingly ugly trolls, and stark, Swedish landscapes continue to be bought, sold, and validated as embodying a typically Swedish relationship to nature. Why John Bauer’s work has remained so influential over time while the publication they appeared in has faded is a question that many of his biographers have attempted to answer. Harald Schiller, the most thorough of these, claims that “when one sees [his] images in black and white or color, they capture one’s interest to such a degree that there is none left for the text” (152). This essay uses Schiller’s comment as a starting point to pose one answer to this question. By exploring the dynamic potential of the relationship between Bauer’s images and their early twentieth-century contexts, it locates the artist’s appeal over against his narrative guidelines and the historical movements of his time. To this end, its comparative analysis of the textual and visual narratives in the illustrated Swedish fairy tale annual, Bland tomtar och troll (Amongst Gnomes and Trolls) explores how the interplay between the historical pregnancy of its fairy tale stories and the Swedophilic affects of John Bauer’s illustrations contributes to the project of imagining and proliferating a new Swedish national identity at the beginning of the twentieth century. / text

This study examines the representation of Japanese American experiences in internment camps during World War II in children's and adolescent literature. This study focuses on a specific set of children's and adolescent books about one time period in the history of Japanese Americans. I have formulated two major research questions for this study. The first question: What are the characteristics of the selected children's and adolescent books about Japanese American experiences during World War II? The second question: How do the selected children's and adolescent books portray the experiences and responses of Japanese Americans during World War II?I selected fourteen books for inclusion in this study and analyzed the books related to my research questions. These books are organized into three genres: picture books, historical fiction, and nonfiction. The research methodology for this study is qualitative content analysis that includes methods for data collection and analysis and descriptions of the books and illustrations. I used the research questions to first examine books in each of the three genres and then make comparisons across the three genres.The findings based on the first research question include that the books are based on the research and experiences of both authors and illustrators and have a range of time periods from before the war to after the war. The findings also show that in the books, the authors and Japanese Americans express their criticism of Japanese Americans' experiences in the difficult situations related to the internment camps. They criticize the treatment of Japanese Americans by the U.S. government and discrimination against Japanese Americans.The analysis of the books based on the second research question provides insights into the experiences of Japanese Americans and how they felt, thought, and acted. The books portray the prejudice and discrimination faced by Japanese Americans from the point of immigrating to the United States and even after the war. The most important finding is that the books portray Japanese American children as creating lives of significance in the difficult conditions of assembly centers and internment camps.

This thesis analyses the translation strategies for culture-specific items (CSIs) in the translations by four different Lithuanian translators of four British and Canadian novels for young people, "Alone at Ninety Foot" (2001) by Katherine Holubitsky, "Hit and Run" (2003) by Norah McClintock, "Double Act" (1996) by Jacqueline Wilson and "The Borrowers" (1952) by Mary Norton. All these novels have a great variety of culture-specific items, often reflecting the lives of children and adolescents and issues that are important to them. The analysis of translation of culture-specific items is based on the strategies suggested by Eirlys E. Davies, while the categories of culture-specific items that are chosen for deeper discussion are those of a higher importance for the characters or themes of the novel. Statistical analysis of the strategies helps to form a clearer picture of the strategic choices preferred by each of the four Lithuanian translators. The present work is divided into five sections and has two appendices. Section One introduces the purpose of the work and provides some information about the object of analysis: the translation of cultural references in four British and Canadian novels for young people. Section Two explains the terminology used for the analysis of the translation of culture-specific items. Section Three is divided into eight sub-sections: 3.1, 3.3, 3.5 and 3.7 discuss the importance of some categories of culture-specific items in each novel, while... [to full text] / Šiame magistro darbe analizuojamos keturių vertėjų strategijos perteikiant kultūrines realijas keturiuse Didžiosios Britanijos ir Kanados jaunimo romanų vertimuose į lietuvių kalbą. Tai -Katherine Holubitsky romanas „Vienatvė prie Devyniasdešimties Pėdų tvenkinio“, Nora McClintock romanas „Pabėgęs iš įvykio vietos“, Jacqueline Wilson - „Mes - dvynės!“ bei Mary Norton - „Skoliniautojai“. Šiuose romanuose rasta daug įvairių kultūrinių realijų, kurios atspindi paauglių gyvenimą ir jiems svarbius dalykus. Kultūrinių realijų vertimas analizuojamas taikant Eirlys E. Davies strategijas. Šiai analizei atrinktos tos kultūrinių realijų grupės, kurios atlieka svarbų vaidmenį atskleidžiant romanų temas bei atvaizduojant pagrindinius veikėjus. Vertimo strategijų statistinių duomenų suvestinė padeda aiškiau suvokti keturių lietuvių vertėjų naudojamas strategijas. Darbą sudaro penki skyriai ir du priedai. Pirmame skyriuje pristatomas darbo tikslas ir analizės objektas - trumpai apibūdinamas kultūrinių realijų vertimas keturiuose Didžiosios Britanijos ir Kanados romanuose jaunimui. Antrame skyriuje paaiškinamos sąvokos, naudojamos kultūrinių realijų vertimo analizei. Trečią skyrių sudaro aštuoni poskyriai. 3.1, 3.3, 3.5 ir 3.7 poskyriuose pristatomos kai kurios svarbios kiekvieno romano kultūrinių realijų grupės, o 3.2, 3.4, 3.6 ir 3.8 poskyriuose aptariamos kultūrinių realijų vertimo strategijos kiekviename romane. Pastarieji poskyriai dar suskirstyti pagal kultūrinių realijų grupes... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of an intervention involving teachers' use of children's literature, related storybook manipulatives, and a scaffolding (LMS) approach to learning would improve preschool children's mathematics test scores. Additionally, the LMS approach was examined to determine whether teachers' perceptions of their effectiveness in mathematics instruction changed from the beginning to the end of the study. The subjects of the study included 60 preschool-aged children and six teachers from two child care centers. The preschool teachers participated in either a control or experimental condition (the LMS approach) in their daily mathematics instruction with their preschool children. The researcher tested the children using the Test of Early Mathematics Ability and an abbreviated version of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. The study was based on two main research questions. The first question asked if there was a difference in the Test of Early Mathematics Ability total posttest scores between children in the literature-manipulatives-scaffolding intervention group and children in the control group after assuring equivalency of the two groups. The second question addressed if preschool teachers believed they were more effective in their mathematics instruction after implementing the LMS approach with young children. The answer to the first research question was that there was no statistically significant difference in the Test of Early Mathematics Ability total posttest scores between children in the literature-manipulatives-scaffolding group and children in the control group. However, the answer to the second question was that preschool teachers believed they were more effective in their mathematics instruction after implementing the LMS approach with young children. Recommendations for future research on early childhood mathematics include the investigation of preschool children's ability, achievement, and interest in mathematics; teachers' use of mathematics scaffolding techniques; and longitudinal mathematics interventions beginning during the preschool years.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The Anglo-Boer War had a far-reaching impact on the Afrikaner community and on the relationship between the Afrikaners and the English. As a result of the Black segment of the population’s involvement in the war, either as involuntary victims or as collaborators with the English, the relationships between the various population groups was further complicated. For many years there was a distinction between them and us in the South African society. Irrespective of pleas for so-called nation building there remains distance and ignorance between the population groups in the country. This article portrays the relationship between the various population groups as represented in Afrikaans children’s books with the Anglo-Boer War as theme. Although most of the early books show a clear ethnocentricity, there is often also a corrective for the "nobleness" of "our side" and the "evilness" of "their side". Love affairs between people of different cultural groups, for example, were not possible in the early books, but it seems that more recent books want to bring about conciliation - also by means of the portrayal of such affairs. Just as most South African historians ignored the role and fate of blacks in the war for many years, no Afrikaans, and few English authors has really tackled the subject. Black characters usually move on the periphery of the war - usually as factotums of the English, but sometimes also as loyal subjects to the Boers.