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In:Early Language Education in Instructed Contexts: Current issues and empirical insights into teaching and learning languages in primary school
Edited by Stefanie Frisch and Karen Glaser
[Language Learning & Language Teaching 62] 2025
► pp. 208–232

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Chapter 10
Intercultural and citizenship objectives through picturebooks in early language learning

Teacher-made resources for Taking Action projects

 | Nord University
 | NOVA University Lisbon
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 22 May 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.62.10ibr
Abstract
This chapter describes a continuing professional development course (the ICEPro Course) which aimed to empower teachers and learners to become democratic citizens and proffers a case for intercultural citizenship education through picturebooks. The main pedagogical frameworks and models developed for the ICEPro Course — the Picturebook Selection Guide and a template for the teacher made resources (ICEKits) — are presented to establish whether they support practitioners in developing intercultural and citizenship objectives. Using data from the ICEKits, participant evaluation surveys, recordings of teacher presentations and teacher reflections suggest that the pedagogical frameworks, models and modelling are successful. However, implications for teacher education stress the need to provide additional support in the form of mentoring within a sustained professional development experience.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
    • 2.1Intercultural citizenship education
    • 2.2Picturebooks for intercultural and citizenship and language education
    • 2.3Pedagogical frameworks, models and modelling in development
      • 2.3.1The picturebook selection guide (PSG)
      • 2.3.2The ICEKit template
  • 3.Research aims and methodology
    • 3.1The context and participants
    • 3.2Data collection and analysis
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1Participants’ increased confidence
    • 4.2Picture book 1: Clean Up!
      • 4.2.1The picturebook
      • 4.2.2PSG focal fields, and the intercultural and citizenship objectives
      • 4.2.3The implementation phase
    • 4.3Picture book 2: Unplugged
      • 4.3.1The picturebook
      • 4.3.2PSG focal fields, and the intercultural and citizenship objectives
      • 4.3.3The implementation phase
    • 4.4Picture book 3: Same, same but different
      • 4.4.1The picturebook
      • 4.4.2PSG focal fields, and the intercultural and citizenship objectives
      • 4.4.3The implementation phase
  • 5.Implications for teacher education
    • 5.1Scaffolding through models and frameworks
    • 5.2The sustainability of the professional development experience
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (33)
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