The Power of Intercultural Fiction: Alleviating Attitudinal Bias to Enhance Student Evaluation Skills of Information Resources on Immigration
Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)
Target Audience
K-12
Location
Room 210
Proposal
Given the recent increase in politically-charged, media-anchored battles over what the American society is to perceive as facts, students must develop the ability to adequately evaluate resources on current issues, including contentious ones like immigration. Biases against the immigrant Other that both mainstream and minority students may hold based on the psychological process of individuation and the related rejection of difference can negatively affect such desirable evaluative capacities. In efforts to help students move beyond their pre-conceived ideas on the topic of immigration and adequately assess the quality of relevant information sources, this presentation advocates for the active incorporation of carefully selected intercultural literary works in educational settings. More specifically, the presenter uses an ALA-sponsored database of preK-12 books on the experience of immigrant children/teens in the U.S. she authored (http://library.niu.edu/ulib/projects/stories/index.html) to demonstrate what such an intervention can look like, while highlighting the power of fiction reading-based emotional transportation and discussion engagement to initiate the process of analytical self-reflection in students. As students adopt the habit to think critically about their pre-existing attitudes, they become better equipped to objectively apply evaluation criteria to information resources on immigration. All presented recommendations are grounded in existing developmental psychology and childhood education research.
Short Description
Students’ potential bias against newcomers to the U.S. may negatively impact their ability to objectively apply evaluation criteria to information resources on the topic of immigration. Accordingly, this presentation advocates for an intervention in the form of an active incorporation of intercultural literature in educational settings. Using an ALA-sponsored database of K-12 books on the experience of immigrant youth she authored, the presenter demonstrates what such an intervention can look like, while highlighting the power of fiction reading-based emotional transportation and discussion engagement to help students adopt the habit of self-reflecting on their pre-existing attitudes. All recommendations are grounded in existing developmental psychology and childhood education research.
Keywords
K-12 students, Information Evaluation, Student Bias, Intercultural Literature, Self-Refection, Immigration
Publication Type and Release Option
Event
Recommended Citation
Khailova, Ladislava, "The Power of Intercultural Fiction: Alleviating Attitudinal Bias to Enhance Student Evaluation Skills of Information Resources on Immigration" (2017). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 5.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2017/2017/5
The Power of Intercultural Fiction: Alleviating Attitudinal Bias to Enhance Student Evaluation Skills of Information Resources on Immigration
Room 210
Given the recent increase in politically-charged, media-anchored battles over what the American society is to perceive as facts, students must develop the ability to adequately evaluate resources on current issues, including contentious ones like immigration. Biases against the immigrant Other that both mainstream and minority students may hold based on the psychological process of individuation and the related rejection of difference can negatively affect such desirable evaluative capacities. In efforts to help students move beyond their pre-conceived ideas on the topic of immigration and adequately assess the quality of relevant information sources, this presentation advocates for the active incorporation of carefully selected intercultural literary works in educational settings. More specifically, the presenter uses an ALA-sponsored database of preK-12 books on the experience of immigrant children/teens in the U.S. she authored (http://library.niu.edu/ulib/projects/stories/index.html) to demonstrate what such an intervention can look like, while highlighting the power of fiction reading-based emotional transportation and discussion engagement to initiate the process of analytical self-reflection in students. As students adopt the habit to think critically about their pre-existing attitudes, they become better equipped to objectively apply evaluation criteria to information resources on immigration. All presented recommendations are grounded in existing developmental psychology and childhood education research.
