Authors

Dorota Hrycak- Krzyzanowska¹;  ¹ Polish University Abroad , UK

Discussion

The thesis in this article is that the inclusion of multicultural children's and youth literature at primary and secondary school level is essential to help students develop their own identity, tolerance and understanding of the world.
"Multicultural literature is extremely valuable to teachers and librarians as it helps prepare students to live in a chaotic, diverse world, highlighting the similarities and differences between people around the world" (Esteves, 2018)
For years, educators and researchers have emphasized the importance of incorporating multicultural books into school libraries and curricula. While there is a significant body of research on the subject, many schools still lack these necessary resources and teachers are still struggling to include them in their classrooms.
The aims of this paper are a) to gain insight into the perception of multicultural literature by teachers from English schools and Polish community schools, and b) their ability to include it in the teaching process. Qualitative research was carried out in the form of interviews and observations, and quantitative research through an online survey, which encouraged participants to reflect on the choice of books to work with students in multicultural classes.
The conducted analysis and considerations lead to the creation of a list of proposed books to be used at different age levels and to propose the use of storytelling as a bridge between cultures.