Childrens Literature and Its Role in Helping Childrens Social Emotional

Development
Introduction
At their young age, children will most likely find themselves in conflict with
others. The likelihood is true particularly in instances where children are unwilling to
compromise. Without a full sense of peaceful resolution, such conflicts may turn violent.
In some cases, children may face stress or anxiety not only from their peers but also from
their family. Domestic violence can expose children to the emotional stress resulting
from verbal fighting. ibling rivalries can likewise cause undue anxiety to children. In all
of these, there is reason to believe that the social and emotional development of the child
will be compromised. If left unattended, the child may find it difficult to socialise and act
normally.
!oberts and "rawford #$%%&' in their article suggest that literature can be used as
a form of support system for children(s social)emotional development, especially in cases
where children need to cope with the stresses, anxieties, and feelings of loss that happen
in family life. There can be little doubt that children today encounter small and dramatic
changes in their lives. *rom the discovery of broken toys to the exposure to domestic
conflict in the household, these events can cause undue anxiety and stress to the child.
Indeed, it may be said that greater stressors can lead to greater alterations on the social
and emotional development of the child. +iven these things, it is imperative to help
children cope with their situation. To be sure, there can be several ways to teach children
to adapt. ,ne of these ways is literature. !oberts and "rawford #$%%&' thus point out that
supportive literature can help children in three ways as they confront social)emotional
challenges. -ore specifically, .uality children(s literature /serves as a point of reference
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so children can better understand their life experiences0 #!oberts 1 "rawford, $%%&, p.
$'. It can offer /insights into universal human behaviors, emotions, and moral dilemmas0
#!oberts 1 "rawford, $%%&, p. $'. *inally, it can stimulate curiosity and prompts children
to /develop problem)solving skills0 which children can use to /address challenging
situations0 #!oberts 1 "rawford, $%%&, p. $'. In sum, I think !oberts and "rawford
#$%%&' specifically rely on supportive children(s literature in order to help children cope
from certain family stressors.
There is little doubt that there are many sources of violence and even images of
violence in contemporary society. In a way, children can be exposed to a wider range of
violent materials and experiences. ,ne possible result of children constantly exposed to
violence is their adoption of violent behaviour, especially in cases where a child is in
conflict with other children. 2uke and -yers #3445' in their article entitled Towards
Peace: Using Literature to Aid Conflict Resolution emphasise that children can be
prevented from using violent means in resolving conflicts by using literature as a tool to
teach them conflict resolution. This is because children are yet to ac.uire a mature
understanding of peace. 2uke and -yers #3445' thus point out that /6children(s7 literature
is possibly one of the best resources available to teachers0 #p. 3'. With the help of
literature, teachers can appropriately guide children on how to conduct themselves in the
face of conflict. ,f vital importance to this method is the fre.uency of children(s
exposure to literature that teaches peace and conflict resolution.
Strong Points
There are several strong points that !oberts and "rawford #$%%&' have pointed
out in the article that I agree upon. ,ne of those is that they suggest that practitioners
should prefer authentic literature instead of books that have an instructional tone in
choosing supportive literature. The authors offer several reasons for this. ,ne is that
authentic literature /6allows7 children to see painful changes or losses, disappointments,
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and other emotional stresses in the context of family life and to consider possible ways to
solve problems0 #!oberts 1 "rawford, $%%&, p. $'. Another reason is that they /hold the
appeal of an intriguing story line that challenges children to think beyond the words and
images on the printed page0 #!oberts 1 "rawford, $%%&, p. 8'. Also, such books can
/6demystify7 children(s fears associated with9difficult times0 #!oberts 1 "rawford,
$%%&, p. 8'. In sum, I believe that authentic literature can offer children insights into real)
world scenarios. :ooks of such nature can also provide comfort and models of coping
strategies. +iven these things, it may thus be said that the power of literature to play on
the child(s imagination can help children to deal with real)life problems. Thus, stories,
though fictional, have the power to extend their lessons into reality, especially in the case
of children.
While not all kinds of literature may be considered as suitable for teaching
children about coping with certain stressors, in my opinion, teachers may nevertheless
modify literary works in order to fit the task of teaching children on how to cope. In other
words, teachers have the liberty to make their own adaptations of certain literary pieces
before reading them aloud to their students. Apparently, this approach is suitable only in
cases where teachers read the stories to children. This is because teachers will be the ones
to modify the story lines and other aspects of the stories. A more interesting aspect of this
approach is that teachers can make specific changes in the stories so that the stories can
match the specific coping needs of certain students. *or example, teachers may include
an additional event in the story in order to stress the importance of optimism vis);)vis
camaraderie. Teachers may also omit certain parts of a story that they deem irrelevant to
the value or trait that they wish to focus on. In doing so, literature functions more
efficiently in shaping the child(s social and emotional development.
It may even be said that teachers themselves can make their own storybooks for
their students. The storybooks do not need to look complicated in terms of illustrations<
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basic figures and colours will suffice. :y creating their own storybooks, teachers have the
liberty to carefully design and write the stories according to the needs of their students.
This method re.uires that teachers have made a prior assessment of the children(s social)
emotional needs since the result of the assessment shall serve as the basis for the story
line. Teachers may keep their storybooks in a mini)library so that their future students
will also be able to use them. -ore importantly, keeping the storybooks will allow
teachers to identify other values that have not yet been covered by their own storybooks
and other literary books, thereby making it easier for teachers to make a catalogue of
children(s supportive literature.
imilar to !oberts and "rawford #$%%&', 2uke and -yers #3445' offer concrete
examples of textbooks that teachers can use to teach children about what they should do
in cases of conflict. The examples of textbooks cover topics such as misunderstandings
between friends or family, =ealousy, playground skirmishes, peace among groups, and
even global peace. In this sense, 2uke and -yers #3445' offer detailed examples while
addressing the more general problem of conflict resolution. >evertheless, the authors
give caution. This is because a book that /may at first appear to be a useful tool may
actually be detrimental0 #2uke 1 -yers, 3445, p. ?'. *or this reason, teachers should first
thoroughly read the books they are to include in the children(s reading list in order to
remove materials that may be mistaken as useful for conflict resolution. An important
implication of the prudence that the authors suggest is that it recognises the possibility
that their proposal may be understood in its unintended manner. I think teachers may take
the authors( proposal to mean that teachers should rely on the generally accepted
classification of literature books in order to determine their applicability. Indeed, the
authors( caution clearly suggests that it should not be the case. In fact, the authors offer
several examples to prove their point. In this context, teachers play a larger role than
simply standing as instructors or facilitators. They also take the role of censors as they
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filter books that they deem as suitable for the purpose of teaching children conflict
resolution.
Limitations and Suggestions
Interestingly, I personally think that the arguments of 2uke and -yers #3445' and
of !oberts and "rawford #$%%&' are based on the assumption that children go to school
and read literature. To a certain extent, in my opinion, their propositions largely rely on
the idea that children who experience stressors in their family environment or in their
school setting will continue to attend their classes in school. In other words, both studies
perhaps fail to consider the situation where the child no longer goes to school as a direct
result of conflict at home or of stressors in the classroom. The applicability of the
suggestions is therefore limited by the possibility of dropping out of school even if
temporarily. This possibility for me cannot be taken lightly. This is because children are
at a stage where their foundational learning is critical. If they drop out for reasons that
involve family conflict or other school stressors, supportive literature becomes a defeated
proposition. Its chief purpose of helping children finds no real application precisely
because the children will no longer be attending school in the first place.
In cases when affected children no longer attend their classes on a regular basis,
teachers should immediately take steps in order to find out the reasons for the students(
absences. >aturally, this is the first step that must be taken in order to identify if the child
is experiencing stress at home or in school. Ad=unct to this step is the suggestion that
teachers should make sure that they have contact with the parents of their students. In
doing so, teachers will face less difficulty in talking to parents if and when their children
have taken absences in school. ,ne way to do this is to meet with the parents as early as
possible. The best time can be before the first day of classes. Teachers may also re.uest
home visits from time to time. This does not mean that teachers need to visit every
student. The better approach is to visit students who have already incurred several
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absences. If possible, teachers should make a visit right after a student has incurred one
absence. This is to identify stressors as early possible.
To be fair, 2uke and -yers #3445' suggest that /6a7 teacher may start the year
with a unit on peace and conflict resolution and throughout the year return to books with
a peace theme0 #p. $'. In other words, teachers may immediately begin the academic year
with several introductory discussions on conflict resolution so that the children will have
an early exposure to lessons on peace. Doing so at least guarantees that the children will
ac.uire the basic concepts of peace and conflict resolution. If and when a child drops out,
it may nevertheless be said that the child has learned a thing or two about peace and
conflict resolution that the child can apply even outside of school. till, there is hardly
any guarantee that the early Adrop out( will in fact be able to apply such basic lessons
learned at the start of the academic year. Indeed, it may be said that mere exposure to the
fundamental concepts without thorough and consistent explanation on a regular basis will
hardly make an impression on the child. It seems rather difficult to comprehend that the
child will now be able to cope with family stressors given the child(s basic, if not passing,
knowledge on peace and conflict resolution.
After finish reading the article, I found out that 2uke and -yers #3445' make no
mention of how supportive literature is to be specifically introduced to children. The
same is true for !oberts and "rawford #$%%&'. *rom my point of view, one suggestion is
to start with a popular literary book for children. *or example, teachers may read the
children the story of now White. After reading the story, teachers should highlight the
lessons that can be learned. The most important thing at the start is to create a sense of
wonder and anticipation in the minds of the children. Doing so perhaps can help them
appreciate literature right at the outset. Teachers may also encourage the students to play
the roles of the characters while reading the story in order to fully engage the students(
attention. ,f e.ual importance is for teachers to create a default reading schedule for the
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students. The schedule will help teachers keep track of what lessons the students have
learned thus far from the prescribed literature. Apparently, the schedule is not fixed.
"hanges will have to be made given certain circumstances. *or instance, when the
teacher identifies a child experiencing stress or anxiety from the loss of a broken toy, the
teacher may thus recommend a book that specifically addresses the child(s situation even
if that book is intended to be read on a later day.
Another crucial method that must be taken in con=unction with supportive
literature is counselling. This is because children need to be counselled every now and
then in order to ensure that they understand the lessons they have learned from their
literature class. "hildren cannot be expected to fully comprehend the application of the
lessons from literature on their own. *or this reason, a feedback mechanism should be put
in place. !egular counselling offers teachers the opportunity to check whether the child is
able to put into practice the literature lessons on conflict resolution. "ounselling can
therefore serve as a gauge for teachers to identify what aspects of the child(s social and
emotional growth need improvement. -oreover, counselling also provides teachers the
opportunity to know whether the child has in fact learned anything from the lessons. The
feedback that the teachers will obtain from the counselling sessions can help them
determine if the books had any impact. ,therwise, the lessons culled from literary books
will hardly serve their purpose if their possible effect cannot even be assessed in the first
place.
till, using literature as support system for children can be overbroad. tated
differently, the blanket application of literature may not work for every child. This is
because each child has a certain level of understanding or appreciation for literature, let
alone reading. In a single class, a group of children may be interested in reading literature
while some others may have very little inclination or patience to read or listen to
literature being read to them. In this sense, the success of literature as supportive may
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only be true in the case of children who are interested in literature. Thus, if literature is to
be used as a way for children to cope with certain stressors, they must first be encouraged
to appreciate reading. The same principle may be levied upon children who have short
attention span despite their appreciation of literature. It may even be said that the stress
and anxiety that certain children experience can hinder them from focusing on their
classroom lessons, let alone the literature that they either read for themselves or are read
with by their teachers.
A final point that must be made is that monitoring the children(s progress is very
important. This is in order to determine if indeed the children are able to sufficiently learn
the lessons from the stories. Without an assessment on the learning progress of the
children, teachers will not be able to tell if the reading materials are either too complex or
too basic. The absence of an assessment likewise prevents teachers from concluding if
indeed it is effective to use literature as a tool to shape the social)emotional well)being of
children. Another important point is that monitoring the children(s progress C or the lack
thereof C can help teachers identify the areas where children need improvement. As a
result, teachers will be able to focus more on these areas by letting children read the
appropriate literature. Apparently, identifying the criteria for the assessment is another
.uestion altogether. Admittedly, there may be little information available for this
concern. *urther studies need to be conducted. >evertheless, teachers may device their
own criteria in the interim. This also means that teachers can ad=ust their assessment
criteria along the way so as to accommodate previously unforeseen factors. till, this can
only be done if teachers regularly interact with their students since doing so can help
teachers obtain the feedback they need to refine the assessment criteria.
Conclusion
At their age, children are yet to learn many things. :eing able to peacefully
resolve conflicts and being able to cope with stressors are only two of the many vital
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abilities that children need to learn at an early stage. ,n one hand, 2uke and -yers
#3445' suggest that literature can be used as a tool to help children learn conflict
resolution. ,n the other hand, !oberts and "rawford #$%%&' recommend literature as a
means to teach children cope with stressors for their social)emotional development. :oth
studies provide several examples in order to support their respective contentions.
To a certain extent, the proposals raise valid points. There can be little to no doubt
that children can benefit from reading literature. *or the most part, literature can broaden
their imagination and their understanding of the world. >evertheless, the guidance of
their teachers and parents is still crucial. "hildren cannot be expected to learn things
completely on their own. *or this reason, it is important to monitor their progress.
Teachers in particular should check the children(s progress not only in terms of learning
core values from the assigned readings but also in terms of applying them in their lives.
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References:
2uke, D. 2., 1 -yers, ". -. #3445'. Toward peaceE Fsing literature to aid conflict
resolution. Childhood Education, 71#$', 3)@.
!oberts, . G., 1 "rawford, H. A. #$%%&'. !eal life calls for real booksE 2iterature to help
children cope with family stressors. Young Children, 6#?', 3)&.