Visual Journeys Through Wordless Narratives: An International Inquiry With Immigrant Children and The Arrival

by Evelyn Arizpe, Teresa Colomer, Carmen Martínez-Roldán

Overview

Winner of the Literacy Research Association's 2015 Edward B. Fry Book Award

Immigration is an ongoing, global phenomenon and schools and teachers in host countries must continually find new ways of working with the increasing numbers of immigrant pupils, including refugees and asylum seekers. Language and literacy are crucial for inclusion in a new context but these must be developed in spaces where these children feel safe to explore themes that resonate with their experiences; to express their understanding and to engage in intercultural exchange.

Visual Journeys Through Wordless Narratives presents the exploration of response strategies to Shaun Tan's The Arrival. The inquiry was carried out in educational settings, with children from many different parts of the world, in four host countries: the UK, Spain, Italy and the USA. The findings reveal the benefits of using wordless narratives such as picturebooks and graphic novels together with visual strategies to support immigrant children's literary understandings and visual literacy. They also reveal the wealth of experiences the children bring with them which have the potential to transform educational practices.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780937762
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	04/30/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Evelyn Arizpe is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Glasgow, UK.

Teresa Colomer is Professor at the Facultdad de Ciencias de la Educación, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.

Carmen Martínez-Roldán is Associate Professor of Bilingual/Bicultural Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, USA.
Evelyn Arizpe is Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Glasgow, UK.
Teresa Colomer is a Professor at the Facultdad de Ciencias de la Educación, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Carmen Martínez-Roldán is Associate Professor of Bilingual/Bicultural Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, USA.

Table of Contents

Foreword Shaun Tan
Introduction
Part I: Embarking on the Journey
1. The Vessel: Theoretical Frameworks and Intersections
2. The Passengers: International Contexts and Participants
3. The Voyage: The Course of the Inquiry
Part II: Navigating the Interpretive Process
4. Reclaiming the Migrant Experience
5. Making Meaning through Retellings and Inferences
6. Re-orientating Cultural Identity through Intertextual Response
7. Engaging with the Visual Affordances of The Arrival
Part III: Mediation and Pedagogy: Transforming Literacy Learning and Teaching
8. Fostering a Community: Mediation that Supports Learning
9. Looking Together: Visual Strategies for Inclusive Pedagogy
10. Conclusion: Arriving and the Journey Ahead
Coda: A (Visual) Journey to Italy: Bewilderment, Surprise and Wonder in Reading a 'Silent Book' Giorgia Grilli and Marcella Terrusi
Appendix: List of Participant Children
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Visual Jourbaneys Through Wordless Narratives is a particularly timely and important publication ... a thoughtful reflection on the way immigrant children are often treated in busy classrooms and schools” —International Research Society for Children's Literature

“Visual Jourbaneys ... is a fascinating account of an international research product ... designed to investigate the use of wordless visual narratives with children from different ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds [...] The considerable achievement of Visual Jourbaneys is that ... it has provided 'thick' data that should inspire teachers to adopt similar approaches to working on wordless narratives with young learners” —CLELE Jourbanal, vol. 2, issue 2

“While images are sometimes marginalized in educational texts as mere scaffolding to understand written words, this book makes the case that an intertextual literacy experience, or even an experience based mainly in images, can be valuable for children from diverse backgrounds.” –Jason Dehart, Afterimage: The Jourbanal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism

From the Publisher

Visual Journeys ... is a fascinating account of an international research product ... designed to investigate the use of wordless visual narratives with children from different ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds [...] The considerable achievement of Visual Journeys is that ... it has provided 'thick' data that should inspire teachers to adopt similar approaches to working on wordless narratives with young learners

CLELE Journal