KIM • Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books

Opening up spaces for early Critical

Literacy: Korean kindergarteners
exploring diversity through multicultural
picture books
So Jung Kim
University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

Despite the increasing emphasis in literacy education on critical pedagogies, there is

minimal scholarship focusing on the implications of critical literacy in preschool (Pre–K)
and kindergarten classrooms. The purpose of this article is to understand the possibility
of early critical literacy as a space where young children examine books and articulate
their voices on subjects related to cultural/racial diversity and equality. Adopting a
qualitative case study approach, this study focuses on the creation of ‘alternative texts’
by 12 five-year-old children, after they read multicultural picture books in a kindergarten
classroom in South Korea. As part of a larger longitudinal study, the data were collected
for six months through video/audio recordings, participant observation, dialogical
interviews, observational field notes, and children’s written materials. The study found
that writing alternative texts followed by reading multicultural books enabled children
to pose questions, share opinions, and develop critical perspectives on issues related to
racial/cultural diversity and equality. Findings suggest that early literacy teachers should
foster a supportive literacy environment in which young children are encouraged to read
literature for its subtext as a way to prompt responses of vocal multiplicity rather than
limiting children by presenting a pre-determined and single answer.

Introduction performed about how critical literacy practices can be

Given the increasing emphasis in literacy education on
critical pedagogies, many scholars have documented
the significance of critical literacy as a tool to help
students critique the ideologies and social inequities
portrayed in reading texts (Dozier, Johnston & Rogers,
2006; Lankshear & McLaren, 1993; Lewison, Flint
& Van, 2002; Lankshear, 2003; Teo, 2014). However,
although many teachers and educators have been
making efforts to develop educational programs based
on critical literacy theory, only few previous attempts
have been made to investigate the implications of critical
literacy in preschool (Pre-K) and kindergarten class-
rooms, particularly in the context of reading multicul-
tural literature. Neither have any empirical studies been
incorporated in Pre-K and kindergarten classrooms in
South Korea to teach racial/cultural diversity. The scar-
city of studies is more noticeable when considering the
cultural and educational backgrounds of Korea.
Educational Landscape in South Korea
Critical literacy has not been practised to any large
degree in South Korea, the reason being closely related
to the Confucian tradition, an ancient Chinese way of
thought which considers authorities and elders to be
superior. Under this tradition, few Korean students
feel comfortable articulating their views freely because
there is an implicit consensus that a quiet student is
more respectful than one who confronts teachers’
opinions (Cho & Apple, 2003). Within these cultural

176 Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016
 Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books • KIM
surroundings, many Korean teachers have also followed
the traditional teaching method of providing the correct
answers in reading, instead of encouraging students to
find their own interpretations (Kim, 2012).
The importance of critical literacy can also be found
in the increasing cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity
in South Korea. Historically, Koreans have been proud
of an ethnically and linguistically homogeneous nation
based on the ideological discourse of a pure bloodline
and unified nation (Lee, 2013). However, with the
recent growth in international marriages and migrant
workers, an increasing number of research studies
have emphasised the need for multicultural educa-
tion to increase an understanding of diverse races/
cultures among all students. Researchers argue that
by supporting the critical awareness of young Korean
learners, multicultural education can help them grow
as individuals who can combat internalised racism.
However, a literacy curriculum that connects critical
literacy with multicultural literature is greatly lacking
in Korean literacy education.
This article seeks to make the explicit connections
between multicultural education and critical literacy by
investigating how early critical literacy practices help
young Korean children shape their voices and cultivate
critical attitudes about racial/cultural diversity and
equality. Adopting a qualitative case study approach,
this study focuses on the creation of ‘alternative texts’
by 25 five-year-old children, after they read multicul-
tural picture books in a kindergarten classroom in
South Korea. As part of a larger longitudinal study, the
present study focuses on children’s discussions about
people from Africa and their cultures, since Korean
children’s preference toward Black people has been
reported low (Song, 1999; Choi & Lee, 2010). Specifi-
cally, this study is guided by the following three research
questions: (1) How does a critical literacy approach help
Korean kindergarteners critically examine books and
create their voices? (2) How do the children develop
critical perspectives on racial and cultural diversity as
they create alternative texts? and (3) How do social
interactions with their peers and teacher facilitate their
critical discussions about books? By investigating these
research questions, this study seeks to understand
young children’s negotiation and representation of
their voices, stories, and cultures through early critical
literacy practices.
Conceptualisation of critical literacy
Many educators use the terms literacy, critical, and
critical literacy without specifying their meanings, and
it often causes confusion. In defining them, Freire’s
view that reading involves a constant interplay between
Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016 177
the words and world served as an important theoretical
guide. According to Freire (1982), literacy is socially
situated and constructed as a means and proof of
power, rather than ‘a static entity’ (p. 81). The teaching
of literacy is not a neutral medium but a form of politics
that embrace a particular ideology in decision-making
(Luke, 2000; Dozier, Johnson, & Rogers, 2006).
Informed by the Freirean view of literacy teaching and
learning as process and transformation, the study sees
literacy is inextricably linked with particular histories
and social trajectories of individuals and groups, rather
than as a set of autonomous and discrete skills. The term
critical is also viewed as an active and reflective attitude
for understanding concepts such as power, inequity and
injustice in human relations (Minott, 2011). In similar
vein, the study approaches critical literacy as ques-
tioning textbook ideologies and connections among
words, social practices, representations and power.
In particular, the study focuses on children’s critical
engagement in multicultural picture books through
reading/writing to explore racial diversity and equality.
Empirical studies of early critical literacy
Teaching and learning critical literacy involves criti-
quing by using texts in an effort to discover alterna-
tive perspectives for self and social development, the
ways in which language and literacy are used to achieve
social ends (Freire, 1982; Lankshear & McLaren,
1993; Minott, 2011). A volume of literature has argued
that the critical literacy approaches help students chal-
lenge the status quo and question authorities by asking
questions, seeking answers, and taking action (Mellor
& Patterson, 2000; Lewison, Flint & Van, 2002;
McLaughlin & DeVoogd, 2004; McLaren, 2007). They
also provide critical analyses of schooling as a part
of the existing political fabric (McLaren, 2007). As
more educators are acknowledging the role of critical
literacy, the number of studies examining its practices
in early childhood contexts is increasing (e.g. Comber,
Thomson & Wells, 2001; Vasquez, 2004; James &
McVay, 2009; Meller, Richardson & Hatch, 2009;
Vasquez & Felderman, 2012). The prior studies have
pointed out that a critical literacy approach encourages
young children to think critically about social issues,
and helps them to process the stream of information
that enters their conscious and sub-conscious minds
with greater sensitivity (Minott, 2011). The teaching of
literacy always embraces a particular ideology (Luke,
2000; McLaren, 2007), and thus children need the
ability to look at the meaning and purpose of written
texts and question the values underneath, behind,
and beyond them (Comber, Thomson & Wells, 2001;
McDaniel, 2004; Wood, 2009; Vasquez & Felderman,
KIM • Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books

2012). These important pieces of research suggest Table 1. Examples of questions to promote
possibilities for early critical literacy practices by chal- Critical Literacy
lenging assumptions about young children’s inability to Questions
engage texts critically. Yet, in spite of the promise of a
more democratic society through early critical literacy, Before reading What might the story be about and
who might be speaking?
little empirical work is available to guide the practice,
especially in the Korean context. The current study During reading What does this story/dialogue mean
aims to fill the gap in the literature by offering early to you?
childhood teachers and educators guidance on how a During reading Who is talking and who is not talking?
critical literacy approach can help young readers voice
During reading How would this be different if …?
their ideas and develop critical attitudes toward racial/
cultural diversity. After reading Did you like the story, and if yes, why?

After reading Does the story make sense to you?

The context
This study was conducted in a kindergarten classroom After reading What do you want to ask the main
of five-year-olds at a private childcare centre in a metro- character?
politan city in South Korea. Twelve kindergarteners After reading How would you tell this story
(six years old in the Korean age system) in Ms Moon’s differently?
class and their parents participated in this study. All After reading How would you create your own
of the participating children were of Korean ethnicity, story?
coming from middle- to upper-middle-class families in
Korea. Of the seven classes at the centre, Ms Moon’s
equality, rather than simply conforming to the author’s
kindergarten class was selected for this study due to
voice. Before the children created the alternative texts,
her commitment to the promotion of multicultural
the teacher often encouraged them to perceive the text
education and critical thinking (note: all names used
in a different way and challenge the author’s message.
in this study are pseudonyms). Although she had not
A total of eight multicultural picture books were read
received any kind of training relating to critical pedago-
during the observation period, and fifty-six alternative
gies, she stressed that her previous teaching experience
texts were created by the children. Due to the large
had taught her the importance of encouraging critical
amount of data, the current study focused on the
attitudes in reading/writing and toward racial/cultural
following three books since they dealt with issues of
diversity. With her belief in the importance of critical
reading, she frequently asked open-ended questions to
prod her students to think about alternative perspec- Table 2. Selected literature
tives on books before/during/after reading, and encour-
aged them to share ideas and look at the stories from Title of Book Synopsis
a different angle. She also invited her students to add 인종이야기를 해볼까? The book introduces people
detail to their responses, which helped them understand with different skin colours.
[Let’s Talk about Race]
the power relationship that existed between the author by Julius Lester (2007) The main message of the
and themselves more deeply. Table 1 exhibits some book is that everyone
sample questions that she often used for prompting her deserves to be treated with
respect because all people
students during read-aloud sessions.
are similarly human,
regardless of skin colour.
Alternative texts. During whole-group read alouds,
정말 그런 인종이 있을까? The book introduces people
Ms Moon read the children picture books reflecting
[Do We Really Have That of different races with the
racial, ethnic, and social diversity in order to help them message that all human
Kind of Race?] by Silvia
develop their understanding about human rights, social beings are created equal
Roncaglia (2000)
justice, cultural diversity, and equal opportunity. After regardless of skin colour.
reading the books, the children discussed the stories
컬러풀월드 The book celebrates
as a whole group, and wrote alternative texts about differences using positive
[Colourful world]
what they read, which often followed the format of free words that can help young
by CeCe Winans, Keith
poems. The rationale of the alternative texts was for children understand that
Thomas (2010)
the children to ‘talk back’ (Enciso, 1997) to texts and our world has millions of
develop their own ideas towards racial diversity and children with possibilities.

178 Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016
 Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books • KIM

Table 3. Interview protocols

Data Sample Questions Interview Time & Place Interview Protocols

Interviews Have you ever taught your child the importance of 12 parents Open-ended
with Parents understanding different perspectives? Ms Moon’s classroom Semi-structured
How do you help your student think critically at home? Once, twenty minutes Formal
each

Interviews What is your goal for the critical literacy curriculum Twice Open-ended
with Teacher (alternative texts)? Forty minutes each Semi-structured
How have you taught critical perspectives to your Ms Moon’s classroom Formal
students in previous classes?
Have you noticed any changes in terms of their critical
attitudes toward diversity?

Interviews Did you enjoy reading and the after reading activity? Depends Open-ended
with Children Did you find any difficulties in creating your written Ms Moon’s classroom Informal
texts? after class

racial diversity and equality, and elicited lively conver-
sations among the children. Table 2 reveals the selected
books with a brief description of each one.
Design of the study
Data for this article came from a larger study that
has used a qualitative case study approach (Stake,
2008; Yin, 2008) to gain an in-depth understanding
of the transformative journey of children using critical
literacy, to capture their rich voices (Snyder, 2012), and
to evaluate the processes and effectiveness of critical
literacy practices through ‘the insider’s point of view’
(Stake, 2008). Data collection for the larger project has
lasted for six months. The process of collecting data
has followed the guidelines of the ethical standards of
the responsible committee on human experimentation
and the Helsinki Declaration of 1975.
The data collection took place through participant
observation (Patton, 2002) during read-aloud sessions
for a total of two to three hours per week, dialogical
interviews (Carspecken, 1997) with the parents and the
teacher, observational field notes, and the children’s
written materials. Two interviews were conducted with
the teacher, one at the beginning of the program and
the other at the end. The first focused on the teacher’s
teaching philosophy and experience, the goals of her
critical literacy curricula, and her attitudes toward
racial/ethnic diversity. The second centred on the bene-
fits and her concerns in implementing the activities in
her classroom. The interview questions for the parents
focused on their efforts to teach critical perspectives
in reading at home and their views on multicultural
education. All questions were created in advance, yet
several follow-up questions were asked based on each
participant’s answers. Some informal interviews with
the children were also conducted when helpful. The
following table displays the details of the interview
protocols.
The field observations focused on the children’s story
discussions, behaviours afterwards, and their engage-
ment in their own written texts in response to the read-
ings. All written materials and the audio/videotapes
were recorded during the production of the written
texts. These different data sources helped capture the
complexity of the children’s negotiations and represen-
tations of their voices and stories.
The data analysis was based on a thematic approach to
determine patterns, which entailed a four-step process.
First, using Emerson, Fretz and Shaw’s (1995) prelimi-
nary coding methods, all interviews and observation data
were transcribed immediately after each observation or
interview. Then the data were pulled apart to examine
the essential elements of the phenomena (Patton, 2002).
After meaningful segments were grouped together, the
researcher found some recurring themes, such as race,
diversity, gender, resistance, family, and culture, and
these were categorised with a descriptive code. In order
to deal with the large number of codes, the data were
sorted into subcategories based on Strauss and Corbin’s
(1990) axial coding methods.
In the third step, some focal literacy events were
selected that seemed to best answer the research ques-
tions. Also, the children’s conversations were translated
into English by a professional translator to guard the
original meanings and sound qualities (Eco, 2001). In
the final stage, the data were reorganised according
to each student to capture some important changes
in the class over time. Also, using a member-checking
method (Kirk & Miller, 1986), the data were reviewed
by other professionals in the field of early childhood
education to gain additional insights about emerging
themes, and validate the data analysis. To confirm

Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016 179
KIM • Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books
Table 4. Examples of theme categories
Category: Diversity
Theme: Racial diversity
Theme: Cultural diversity
Theme: Ethnic diversity
Theme: Gender diversity
Category: Culture
Theme: African culture
Theme: Korean culture
Theme: Other cultures
Theme: A comparison of cultures
Category: Equality
Theme: Racial equality
Theme: Ethnic equality
Theme: Gender equality
consistency between the different data sets, a triangu-
lation method was adopted (Patton, 2002) by which the
participant interviews were compared with the class-
room observations.
Findings
The purpose of this investigation was to understand
the possibility of early critical literacy as a space where
young children examine books and articulate their
voices toward cultural/racial diversity and equality.
In this study, children created alternative texts after
reading picture books without restrictions to format,
and such activity allowed them to pose questions, share
opinions, and develop critical perspectives on issues
related to racial and cultural diversity. It also provided
these children with valuable opportunities to develop
their critical-thinking abilities and to challenge domi-
nant or taken-for-granted readings by restructuring
the texts. The findings in this section discuss how
the critical literacy activity functioned as a vehicle to
encourage children to voice their perspectives and to
foster their critical awareness of cultural/ racial diver-
sity and equality.
Rethinking the notion of culture: While reading multi-
cultural picture books, Ms Moon often attempted to
provide opportunities for the children to think about
different characters’ voices in books and to reflect on
their own worldviews and diverse cultures. As the chil-
dren examined the books that dealt with racial/cultural
diversity from multiple perspectives and wrote alter-
native texts about what they read, they were able to
explore the notion of culture in unconventional ways,
180 Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016
which helped them expand their emergent understand-
ings of both culture and diversity. ‘Culture’ is often
considered as the characteristics and knowledge of a
particular group of people, including their clothes,
language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, and arts
(Spencer-Oatey, 2008). Yet, creating alternative texts
allowed the children to speculate about culture from
a different angle. For instance, writing about African
people and their cultures after reading the book 정말
그런 인종이 있을까? [Do We Really Have That Kind
of Race?] (Silvia, 2000), encouraged students to think
about African cultures as well as how animals in Africa
create cultures of their own. The book introduced
different races, ethnicities, cultures, and religions with
colourful and engaging illustrations. By engaging with
some photos of Africa, the teacher started conversa-
tions about how African cultures are different from
those of Koreans. While having conversations about
the cultural differences between Koreans and Africans,
the children were able to expand their thoughts on the
notion of culture.
Teacher: African people wear different clothes and
live in different houses from us because
African ‘culture’ and Korean ‘culture’ are
different. If we go to Africa, we might
meet some people with different clothes.
Right?
Jinhee: What about animals?
Teacher: Yes. We might be able to meet animals
too. Then, what kinds of animals do you
think we would meet in Africa?
Somin: Lions!
Taehee: Elephants!
Somin: Where do African animals live?
Teacher: Well, it depends. Some might live under
the tree and above the tree. Some might
live in the cave. They might live in all
kinds of different places.
Minsoo: (raising a hand) I think that African
animals might have a different culture
(from that of Korean animals).
In the excerpt above, Jinhee raised the issue of African
animals, and her question initiated conversation about
the differences between animals living in Africa and
those in Korea. The book did not specifically refer to
animals in Africa, yet the children’s in-depth discus-
sion about African people and African cultures assisted
them in exploring the notion of culture from a different
angle. The children’s active involvement with books
developed further as they created alternative texts
after reading. Figure 1 shows how this activity helped
Minsoo to find words to voice his ideas about Africa:
 Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books • KIM
Figure 1. Minsoo’s text
Where would animals in Africa live?
What would they be doing there?
What animals would be living in Africa?
Do we have tigers, cheetah, snakes, and deer?
Why do the animals live in a forest?
If I go to Africa, I want to meet snakes, bears, tigers,
and cheetah
And I want to play Tarzan with them.
Sipe (2008) argues that young children often make
intertextual responses by relating the text to other
books or the work of other artists and videos during
literacy activities at different levels. As Minsoo exam-
ined the lives of African animals and reflected on his
experiences of watching animals in Africa through the
animated adventure film, he was making an intertex-
tual association to Tarzan, a fictional character. For
him, Africa was a mysterious place in which bears,
deer, snakes, and tigers live together. Through the act
of composition, he expressed his desire to visit Africa
and ‘play Tarzan’ with animals there.
Exploring sounds in Africa: Like Minsoo, Jin also
expressed his desire to visit Africa and meet resident
animals, such as monkeys, elephants, and tigers. Dyson
(2006) argues that writing is a social and cultural prac-
tice influenced by social interactions with peers. Jin’s
text about African animals seemed to be stimulated by
Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016 181
Minsoo’s interests of animals in Africa, as he created
his text by socially interacting with Minsoo. Through
social interaction with his peers, Jin was able to decon-
struct the story about African people and recreate it as
the story of African animals as follows:
Figure 2. Jin’s text
In Africa, there are elephants. They are walking
‘Kungkwang kungkwang’ (sounds)
In Africa, there are monkeys. They are riding trees
‘Kee Kee.’
In Africa, there are tigers. They are running
‘Uh-Hung’
In Africa, there are many animals including tigers
and monkeys.
I want to go to Africa and play with them.
Jin’s text described Africa as a country that is full of
animal sounds, such as Kungkwang kungkwang and
Kee Kee. In different languages, animal sounds are
represented differently in print, and animal sounds in
Korean are not the same as the terms used in predomi-
nantly English-speaking countries (Korean Animal
Sounds, 2015). For example, ya-ong is the sound cats
make in Korea, while they go meow in English. In
Korean, Kungkwang often represents the sound that
bears stamp along, and Uh-hung and Kee Kee are
usually characterised as the roaring sound of tigers
and a sound of monkeys, respectively. By bringing his
background knowledge about Korean animal sounds,
Jin was recreating Africa as a place with rich animal
sounds that is also full of energy.
Exploring African clothes: The children’s inquisitive
attitudes toward African cultures were also observed
in Younghee’s text about the African clothes. Younghee
KIM • Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books
was a student interested in fashion, and while reading
the book 칼라플 월드 [Colourful World] (Winans,
2010), a story that celebrated different races/cultures,
she explored a rich diversity of individuals and cultural
differences. Such investigation allowed her to articulate
her opinions of the clothes worn by African people:
Figure 3. Younghee’s text
Do you live in Africa?
How do African clothes look?
How are African clothes made?
There are many trees and leaves in Africa
Let’s make a T-shirt with leaves.
We can make pants by wood sticks
Let’s make a panty with a grass leaf.
We can make colours by squeezing fruits
Let’s make a hat with a rind of fruits
Then, let’s dance with African clothes.
Although African clothes were not discussed in the
book, Younghee was exploring the book in a new and
imaginative way and created her poem about African
clothes using her imagination. In her poem, she was
curious about how African clothes look and how such
materials were manufactured.
Examining racial diversity and equality
through Critical Literacy
A critical literacy approach also encouraged children
to challenge normative race assumptions, which helped
them to develop an understanding of racial diversity
and equality from a young age. In each reading, the
teacher created a comfortable atmosphere in which the
children could openly discuss their various thoughts
about what they read. She also facilitated critical
conversations with the children to challenge and inspire
deeper thinking about the readings. During the critical
182 Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016
literacy activity, children asked questions and explored
diverse perspectives with the teacher, and such discus-
sions helped them to cultivate an emergent notion of
racial diversity. The following conversation exhibits
how the teacher helped students to understand human
diversity and equality after reading the book 인종이야
기를 해볼까? [Let’s Talk about Race] (2007).
Teacher: As seen in the book, people in the world
have different skin colours. Some people
have light skin tones, and some people
have dark skin. But having a different
skin colour doesn’t mean good or bad.
Every human being in the world has
bones. Right? Do we have anybody who
has a bone made of wood?
Children: No!
Teacher: Then, do any of you have a bone made of
flowers?
Children: No.
Teacher: Right. We all are the same. We have
bones, two eyes, and one nose, regardless
of race.
Jinsoo: (raising a hand) A primitive man also has
bones.
Younghee: (raising a hand) They have a fur too, but
they are still human beings like us.
Teacher: Right. Humans look different in different
times and places, but at the same time,
they all are the same.
The main theme of the book was that every human
being is equal regardless of skin colours. Through
reading the book about the common humanity that
connects people around the world, children were able
to gain a broader understanding of how people are
similar regardless of races and ethnicities. As the chil-
dren explored the notion of human equality together,
Jinsoo could apply the concepts he learned to antiquity,
and it became more developed on account of Young-
hee’s participation in the conversation. Their views on
human beings from the past provided their peers with
a chance to explore the notion of human equality from
different times as well as places.
Developing positive attitudes toward other racial
groups. While sharing different ideas, children pondered
the importance of treating people equally regardless of
race, gender, and/or economic status. Such investiga-
tions encouraged the students to develop positive atti-
tudes toward Africans and other racial groups different
from their own backgrounds. The following are exam-
ples of how Soyeon introduced her own interpretations
of racial diversity and negotiated her perspective on it:
 Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books • KIM
Figure 4. Soyoen’s text
What face colour would Black people have?
I know I know. The face colour of Black people
is black.
I am so interested in knowing you,
Because we don’t have many Black people in Korea.
And I like Black people a lot.
Do Black people live in only Africa?
Why do they have curly hair?
Why do they have dark skin?
I like Black people though.
In Soyoen’s text, she wrote about African people’s
physical characteristics, such as dark skin colour and
curly hair, and expressed her friendly feelings toward
them. Her desire to have a ‘black friend’ was particu-
larly noticeable when considering that a dark brown
skin tone is the least preferred skin tone of young
Korean children (Choi & Lee, 2010; Song, 1999).
Heesun also revealed her positive views toward making
a friend in Africa. Figure 5 reveals how Heesun exhib-
ited her intimate feelings toward people from Africa
through her writing:
The first half of the story was narrated from the
perspective of her imagined figure ‘Lina’, and the main
voice became her own in the middle of the text. In her
invented world, Heesun was having fun with Lina,
playing with animals, singing a song, and building
a sand castle. Such as this example shows, writing
alternative texts enabled the children to imagine a
world with African friends, and this writing experi-
ence encouraged them to think about the advantages
Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016 183
Figure 5. Heesun’s text
Hi. I am a Black friend Lina!
I live in Africa. Do you want to go to Africa with me?
We have many animals in Africa.
Lina! Do you want to sing a song with me
riding animals?
Africa is so fun. Let’s build a sand castle.
We can make fun things with sand.
Lina! Be careful, careful with sand
Isn’t Africa fun, Lina?
Let’s play together again in the future!
of inter-racial friendships. The teacher also indicated
that the children seemed to become more familiar with
African people through this work, clearly a benefit of
this critical literacy approach:
Teacher: I think that creating alternative texts
helped the students to expand their views
on race/culture and open their minds to
children from different cultural/racial
backgrounds. It gave them the chance to
explore human diversity but at the same
time, it helped them understand we are
all the same. I tried to help them critically
engage in books by asking questions, but
I often observed that some important
questions were brought up by the chil-
dren themselves. They were often very
creative. I think we can facilitate chil-
dren’s creative thinking by encouraging
them to be critical because you can’t be
creative without being critical.
KIM • Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books
In the interview with the teacher, she indicated that
children were able to appreciate human diversity and
equality as they became deeply engaged by writing alter-
native texts. With these positive changes, she empha-
sised the advantages of the critical literacy activity as a
way to introduce a new level of understanding for both
the children and the teacher. Also, parents supported
possibilities for critical literacy activities. Most parents
indicated that they did not specifically teach their child
multicultural issues or critical attitudes in reading/
writing at home. They started to become more inter-
ested with such issues, however, as they noticed their
child’s positive changes toward racial attitudes after the
program. The following illustrates this interest:
Taemin’s mother: I definitely noticed that
Taemin became more open to other racial
groups of children, especially Africans. I
talked with the teacher about the activi-
ties that focused on teaching diversity
and critical thinking, and I can see how
successful that activity worked. I wish
that more teachers would practice this
kind of activity. I also think it is impor-
tant to pay attention to other minority
groups, say, Pilipino [Filipinos], or even
North Koreans.
While most of parents expressed positive influences
of the critical literacy activity, a few parents revealed
their concerns as follows:
Heyoung’s mother: Although I saw the benefits
of critical thinking and multicultural
education, in my opinion, we need to
spend more time in teaching reading and
writing ‘skills.’
Heyoung’s mother indicated that she noticed some
benefits of critical literacy activities, yet considering the
high-stakes examinations required of Korean students,
teachers should focus more on teaching literacy skills
such as vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehen-
sion. As the teacher acknowledged parents’ concerns,
the teacher also stressed the need for instructors to
maintain the ‘literacy’ portion of a critical literacy
activity, so that they can empower children to become
not only critical thinkers but also effective readers/
writers.
Discussion
The current study demonstrated the potential of critical
literacy among young children by sharing empirical
examples of a critical literacy practice in a kindergarten
classroom in South Korea. The findings from this study
184 Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016
offer important discussions to related literature in the
following aspects discussed below.
Critical Literacy as a way to find
children’s voices
A critical literacy curriculum facilitates young chil-
dren’s authentic engagement in active discussions about
books, providing them with opportunities to under-
stand that literacy is inherently social, cultural and
political (Comber, Thomson & Wells, 2001; Vasquez
& Felderman, 2012; Wood, 2009). The study’s findings
support this view by raising the possibility of regarding
critical literacy as a medium for helping young chil-
dren to critically examine books and to find their own
voices. In this study, the children explored the story
in a new and imaginative way, as their teacher and
peers challenged common perspectives and dominant
voices, inviting them to approach and perceive textual
worlds in atypical ways. Their investigation involved
alternative interpretations of a text to raise their own
consciousness of racial/cultural differences, instead
of searching for verifiable knowledge in a book. This
finding supports previous studies that challenged the
common misperception that (1) critical literacy is ‘a
privilege exclusive’ (Teo, 2014, p.  549) that can only
be taught after students have mastered ‘basic’ literacy
skills (Luke & Freebody, 1997), and (2) critical literacy
is reserved for older students, thus, cannot be taught
to primary students (Vasquez, 2004). It also enhances
the potential of early critical literacy to facilitate the
deconstruction of dominant ideology in books, and to
‘make the familiar strange and the strange familiar’
(Teo, 2014, p. 539).
Teaching racial/cultural diversity through
Critical Literacy
This study also found the possibility of critical literacy
practices as open spaces for fostering critical aware-
ness of racial/cultural diversity in South Korea. Critical
literacy is relatively new in the East Asian context as
it has a rich base in Western thought (Eastman, 1998;
Huang, 2011; Kim, 2012). Yet, as the teacher created
an environment for the children to read multicultural
books together, discuss them, and recreate stories
through writing, they could comprehend the texts on a
deeper level, which eventually helped them to expand
their thoughts. Such investigation not only accelerated
literacy development, but also it provided students with
a valuable opportunity to understand ‘others’ and to
explore the meaning of racial diversity and equality. The
findings of the study propose that early critical literacy
practice, especially in the Korean context, encourages
‘social change’, by enabling young children to develop
 Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books • KIM
positive attitudes toward racial/cultural diversity and to
be active and critical readers/writers.
Critical literacy as a socially/culturally
embedded practice
Previous studies often focused on critical literacy as
an examination of the power relationships encapsu-
lated in literacy practices and the negotiation of peda-
gogical domination, diversity, and access (e.g. Bishop,
2014; Janks, 2000; Lankshear & McLaren, 1993;
Luke, 2000). The study supports critical literacy as
‘the quest for democratic emancipation’ (Lankshear
& McLaren, 1993, p.  xix). However, the study also
suggests expanding the notion of critical literacy as an
embodied social and cultural practice that is shared
with peers/teachers and articulated in their group
culture. During reading and writing in Ms Moon’s
classroom, the teacher created a comfortable atmos-
phere in which students shared their different opinions,
beliefs, and perspectives, and negotiated meanings
together to see how the books worked to construct
their worldviews. Through this interaction, children
could understand that literacy is not a fixed practice
but a multiple, dynamic, and malleable social practice,
which is situated within the social context of the class-
room. The ways in which children created their active
voices through social interactions suggest that critical
literacy is thoroughly intertwined with individual and
collective social/cultural experiences as well as situated
within sociocultural contexts.
In making this claim, it is also important to note that
this study was not intended to generalise findings of a
wider population but to enhance our understanding of
the early critical literacy practices with thick descrip-
tions and rich voices of young children. In this study,
the focal children were from affluent families with
college-educated parents, and thus their relevance
may not extend directly to different socio-economic
contexts. Also, the case investigated for this study was
not representative of a wider body of similar instances
in different countries. Therefore, in order to make this
research more meaningful for future reference, there
is a need for further research on early critical literacy
practices with young children from different social,
cultural, and economic backgrounds. It is also recom-
mended to look into early critical literacy practices in
other curricula areas using different methodological
approaches.
Practical implications for literacy teachers in
the 21st century
While the study focused on a Korean context, the find-
ings have broader implications for early childhood
Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016 185
classrooms elsewhere in several regards. First, early
literacy teachers should foster an environment in which
children are encouraged to read ‘further and beyond the
text’ (Huang, 2011) and find their own voices, instead
of providing them one correct answer (Vasquez, 2004).
Many people often doubt if it was developmentally
appropriate to incorporate critical literacy practices
in pre-K classrooms due to the misconception of ‘chil-
dren as innocent and simple beings’ (Dresang, 2003).
Yet, research indicates that children are not ‘inert
vessels’ but active and engaged agents who participate
in ‘the social construction and in the interpretative
reproduction of their shared culture’ (Corsaro, 1997,
p.  7). Thus, teachers should treat young students as
cultural beings situated in social practices (Tolentino,
2007), and support them as they develop and share
their ideas. To this end, teachers should help students
engage in dialogue whereby they feel free to express
their thoughts and views. Such practices are instituted
by allowing wait time, listening to children talk, and
letting children’s ideas speak for themselves (McDaniel,
2004; Minott, 2011; Labadie, Wetzel & Rogers, 2012).
Also, it is important for teachers to encourage multiple
readings of the same text from different perspectives
and to open spaces where every voice may be accepted,
while valuing others (McDaniel, 2004; Kim, 2014).
Second, the study makes apparent the need for educa-
tors to create learning environments where children can
practice democratic principles by developing an aware-
ness of racial diversity and equality from an early age
(Copenhaver-Johnson, Bowman & Johnson, 2007). In
the context of rapidly changing multicultural metropo-
lises and new communication technologies, young chil-
dren are exposed to all kinds of differences, and they
often draw some erroneous conclusions on their way to
understanding unfamiliar experiences (Ramsey, 2003).
To encourage students to develop a positive attitude
towards diversity, teachers should help them learn to
respect all people regardless of skin colours and to
understand that how everyone shares common human
features (Copenhaver-Johnson, Bowman & Johnson,
2007; Kim, 2014). A critical literacy approach can help
young children to learn not only the critical thinking
skills involved in a constant interplay between text and
world, but also among self, others, society, and the
world (Gregg, Hoyte & Flint, 2012). By incorporating
critical literacy, teachers should help young readers to
critically examine diverse social issues, including racial/
cultural diversity and to develop positive attitudes
toward them.
Lastly, it is important to remember that merely
exploring the potential of critical literacy implemen-
tation from the teacher’s viewpoint is not enough to
KIM • Korean kindergarteners exploring diversity through multicultural picture books
provide a holistic picture of its implications for early
critical literacy (Huang, 2011). The goal of early crit-
ical literacy is to help young readers interrogate and
analyse their ‘everyday texts’ to make sense of their
worlds (Vasquez, 2004; Vasquez & Felderman, 2012).
Thus, it is important that teachers situate their literacy
practices in ways that relate to children’s everyday
lives (Comber, Thomson & Wells, 2001). The success
of critical literacy implementation also should be
approached from students’ perspectives by considering
each child’s socially and culturally diverse experiences.
Furthermore, when navigating the dimensions of crit-
ical literacy, teachers need to endeavour to maintain
a balance between ‘conventional literacy’ and critical
literacy, and be always reflecting on their strategies in
order to continuously improve their practices (Huang,
2011).
Young children live in an information-saturated
world in the twenty-first century, where all kinds of
diversities exist (Gregg, Hoyte, & Flint, 2012; Teo,
2014). As early childhood teachers and educators, it
is our responsibility to help young children mature as
individuals who celebrate and value diversity, voice
their opinions, and take greater action towards social
change. Through the application of critical literacy
pedagogies of early reading/writing, young children
can develop multiple perspectives and ‘talk back’ to
their worlds (Enciso, 1997). This is important because
by moving beyond reading and writing to ‘reading and
righting the world’ (Teo, 2014, p. 549), they can develop
as subjects of knowledge and social transformation in
an increasingly diverse world.
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So  Jung Kim is an Assistant Professor of Literacy/Early Childhood Education in the Department of Teacher
Education at the University of Texas at El Paso. She earned her doctoral degree at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She maintains active interest in the areas of multicultural literature, literacy
instruction for young diverse learners, early critical literacy, and new literacies. Her papers have been published in
journals including the Journal of Early Childhood Research, the International Journal of Early Childhood Learning,
and the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy.

Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2016 187
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