Children's First Schoolbooks: Introductions to the Culture of Literacy

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Abstract
One of the functions of education is to teach societal norms to those who are being educated. Textbooks used in schools may be important agents of socialization. In this article Peter Freebody and Carolyn Baker explore ways in which beginning reading books present cultural perspectives to young children. The children's textbooks, which are produced and selected by adults, present to children particular views of the world. The authors explore certain modes of thought, experience, and interaction prevalent in the child's preschool life in contrast to other types of experiences characteristic of the culture of formal and literate schooling.