Barnlitteratur och interkulturellt lärande i engelskundervisning -En undersökning av barnlitteraturen och värdegrunden i åk 4–6

Sammanfattning: The Swedish society is becoming more and more multicultural. This means that the classrooms today consist of students from various backgrounds and cultures. According to the Swedish curriculum for primary school, it should be a social and cultural meeting place for children from various backgrounds and cultures, so that they can learn to live together in harmony through their education. Many researchers around the world come to the conclusion that children’s literature can be used to teach topics such as culture and cultural awareness and to create intercultural learning. Despite this agreement, however, children’s literature is not frequently used in the English classroom in grades 4-6 in Sweden. The purpose of this study is to examine how English children’s literature can be used in grades 4-6 to teach the ethical values reflected in the Swedish curriculum, especially those that concern integration. I will look at selection criteria for children’s literature with the purpose to teach some of the ethical values from the Swedish curriculum in the second-language classroom. Two primary sources serve as examples: Anthony Browne, Voices in the park, and Patricia Polacco, Chicken Sunday. Through a final discussion of methods, such as Aidan Chambers’ book talk, I show how these books may indeed be used to integrate teaching of the fundamental values with English as a school subject.