Between particularism and pluralism: children’s literature as a multicultural agent

Fostering multiculturalism in educational systems requires striking a balance between two approaches: particularist education that empowers the unique cultural characteristics of specific cultural groups and the preservation of their identity, and pluralist education that cultivates cross-cultural tolerance and respect and promotes dialog between groups. The present study examines Israeli children’s literature as reflected through two official programs: Pajamas Library and Lantern Library for Jewish and Palestinian-Arab students, respectively. Specifically, the article reports the findings of a content analysis into the goals and the particularist versus pluralist contents of the fifty texts included in each program in order to assess their role act as socialization agents in promoting multiculturalism. The findings of the study show that the literary works that are included in the Lantern Library blur the particularist components of the Palestinian-Arab culture, which hurts the process of the collective national identity among the Arab students in Israel. These findings can benefit other Arab minorities in the global context by informing future studies on how children’s literature is used for minority socialization.