Racial Harmony & Heroes: A Content Analysis of the Pearson Reading Program 'Good Habits, Great Readers'

Multicultural education is a term with a variety of definitions growing from a number of different disciplines. These authors conducted a content analysis of the Pearson reading program "Good Habits, Great Readers" for grades four and five. The qualitative approach of content analysis allowed researchers to examine text "through the systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes or patterns." Through content analysis they were able to extract themes and patterns embedded within "Good Habits, Great Readers" to describe the phenomena within the text. As all curriculum can be understood as racial text, gendered text, political text, autobiographical text, and so on, the authors were able to look at the messages the "Good Habits, Great Readers" series gives to its readers. Thus, content analysis provided the framework to examine the Pearson text as a living document that shapes its readers. The authors were able to conclude that through literacy, issues impacting students of color can be addressed while empowering students to make decisions that will influence their own school and local communities. Textbooks and reading series like "Good Habits, Good Readers" can be a start to multicultural integration, but they cannot be the end.