Building Emotional Intelligence Through LGBTQ Children's Books

Abstract

Educational settings tend to hold a heteronormative status quo; however, this study asks the question of how LGBTQ children’s books are being used in early childhood education settings, and how do they influence the children being exposed to them. Research shows that opening conversations about LGBTQ family structures is important for building children’s world view and challenging heteronormativity in early childhood classrooms has been proven to help build children’s emotional intelligence. However, many early childhood educational settings do not include LGBTQ literature on a regular basis. This study aims to dive deeper into the perspectives and opinions of administrators in childcare centers about LGBTQ children’s literature. As a part of this study, anonymous Qualtrics surveys were sent to administration of four- and five-star childcare centers to determine their view on LGBTQ literature in early childcare centers. Preliminary results show that some childcare center administrators do not recognize the LGBTQ community in their definition of diversity. These results also showed that participants were unfamiliar with popular LGBTQ children’s books, but mostly had a positive response when exposed to them later in the study. Some recommendations for moving away from a heteronormative classroom include professional development related to diversity and inclusion with a focus on the LGBTQ community, and the use of LGBTQ booklists when adding to the classroom library. Providing childcare center administration with information on how to make an inclusive classroom, will allow access to a more diverse worldview and promote the growth of emotional intelligence in their children.