Teaching Culturally Sustaining and Inclusive Young Adult Literature


Book Description

In this book, Rodríguez uses theories of critical literacy and culturally responsive teaching to argue that our schools, and our culture, need sustaining and inclusive young adult (YA) literature/s to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse readers and all students. This book provides an outline for the study of literature through cultural and literary criticism, via essays that analyze selected YA literature (drama, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) in four areas: scribal identities and the self-affirmation of adolescents; gender and sexualities; schooling and education of young adult characters; and teachers’ roles and influences in characters’ coming of age. Applying critical literacy theories and a youth studies lens, this book shines a light on the need for culturally sustaining and inclusive pedagogies to read adolescent worlds. Complementing these essays are critical conversations with seven key contemporary YA literature writers, adding biographical perspectives to further expand the critical scholarship and merits of YA literature.




Teaching Equity through Children’s Literature in Undergraduate Classrooms


Book Description

Children's literature has been taught in undergraduate classrooms since the mid-1960s and has grown to become a staple of English literature, library science, and education programs. Children's literature classes are typically among the most popular course offerings at any institution. It is easy to understand why; children's literature classes promise students the opportunity to revisit familiar works with fresh eyes. With the growth of the children’s publishing industry and the celebration of recent scholarly interventions in the field, the popularity of the discipline is unlikely to abate. A central question of current children’s literature scholarship and practice is how to effectively address contemporary questions of social justice. This collection offers a series of interventions for the practice of teaching equity through children's literature in undergraduate classrooms. It is intended for individuals who teach, or who are interested in teaching, children’s literature to undergraduates. It includes contributions from practitioners from a range of institutional affiliations, disciplinary backgrounds, nationalities, and career stages. Furthermore, this volume includes contributions from scholars who belong to groups which are often underrepresented within academia, due to race, nationality, ethnicity, gender identity, disability, or other protected characteristics.




Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies


Book Description

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies raises fundamental questions about the purpose of schooling in changing societies. Bringing together an intergenerational group of prominent educators and researchers, this volume engages and extends the concept of culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP)—teaching that perpetuates and fosters linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism as part of schooling for positive social transformation. The authors propose that schooling should be a site for sustaining the cultural practices of communities of color, rather than eradicating them. Chapters present theoretically grounded examples of how educators and scholars can support Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander, South African, and immigrant students as part of a collective movement towards educational justice in a changing world. Book Features: A definitive resource on culturally sustaining pedagogies, including what they look like in the classroom and how they differ from deficit-model approaches.Examples of teaching that sustain the languages, literacies, and cultural practices of students and communities of color.Contributions from the founders of such lasting educational frameworks as culturally relevant pedagogy, funds of knowledge, cultural modeling, and third space. Contributors: H. Samy Alim, Mary Bucholtz, Dolores Inés Casillas, Michael Domínguez, Nelson Flores, Norma Gonzalez, Kris D. Gutiérrez, Adam Haupt, Amanda Holmes, Jason G. Irizarry, Patrick Johnson, Valerie Kinloch, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Carol D. Lee, Stacey J. Lee, Tiffany S. Lee, Jin Sook Lee, Teresa L. McCarty, Django Paris, Courtney Peña, Jonathan Rosa, Timothy J. San Pedro, Daniel Walsh, Casey Wong “All teachers committed to justice and equity in our schools and society will cherish this book.” —Sonia Nieto, professor emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst “This book is for educators who are unafraid of using education to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable.” —Pedro Noguera, University of California, Los Angeles “This book calls for deep, effective practices and understanding that centers on our youths’ assets.” —Prudence L. Carter, dean, Graduate School of Education, UC Berkeley




ChicaNerds in Chicana Young Adult Literature


Book Description

ChicaNerds in Chicana Young Adult Literature analyzes novels by the acclaimed Chicana YA writers Jo Ann Yolanda Hernández, Isabel Quintero, Ashley Hope Pérez, Erika Sánchez, Guadalupe García McCall, and Patricia Santana. Combining the term "Chicana" with "nerd," Dr. Herrera coins the term "ChicaNerd" to argue how the young women protagonists in these novels voice astute observations of their identities as nonwhite teenagers, specifically through a lens of nerdiness—a reclamation of brown girl self-love for being a nerd. In analyzing these ChicaNerds, the volume examines the reclamation and powerful acceptance of one’s nerdy Chicana self. While popular culture and mainstream media have shaped the well-known figure of the nerd as synonymous with white maleness, Chicana YA literature subverts the nerd stereotype through its negation of this identity as always white and male. These ChicaNerds unite their burgeoning sociopolitical consciousness as young nonwhite girls with their "nerdy" traits of bookishness, math and literary intelligence, poetic talents, and love of learning. Combining the sociopolitical consciousness of Chicanisma with one aligned to the well-known image of the "nerd," ChicaNerds learn to navigate the many complicated layers of coming to an empowered declaration of themselves as smart Chicanas.




Teaching Challenged and Challenging Topics in Diverse and Inclusive Literature


Book Description

This groundbreaking text provides practical, contextualized methods for teaching and discussing topics that are considered "taboo" in the classroom in ways that support students’ lived experiences. In times when teachers are scapegoated for adopting culturally sustaining teaching practices and are pressured to "whitewash" the curriculum, it becomes more challenging to create an environment where students and teachers can have conversations about complex, uncomfortable topics in the classroom. With contributions from scholars and K-12 teachers who have used young adult literature to engage with their students, chapters confront this issue and focus on themes such as multilingualism, culturally responsive teaching, dis/ability, racism, linguicism, and gender identity. Using approaches grounded in socioemotional learning, trauma-informed practices, and historical and racial literacy, this text explores the ways in which books with complicated themes can interact positively with students’ own lives and perspectives. Ideal for courses on ELA and literature instruction, this book provides a fresh set of perspectives and methods for approaching and engaging with difficult topics. As young adult literature that addresses difficult subjects is more liable to be considered "controversial" to teach, teachers will benefit from the additional guidance this volume provides, so that they can effectively reach the very students these themes address.




Culturally Sustaining Systemic Functional Linguistics Praxis


Book Description

By introducing a framework for culturally sustaining Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) praxis, Harman, Burke and other contributing authors guide readers through a practical and analytic exploration of youth participatory work in classroom and community settings. Applying an SFL lens to critical literacy and schooling, this book articulates a vision for youth learning and civic engagement that focuses on the power of performance, spatial learning, community activism and student agency. The book offers a range of research-driven, multimodal resources and methods for teachers to encourage students’ meaning-making. The authors share how teachers and community activists can interact and support diverse and multilingual youth, fostering a dynamic environment that deepens inquiry of the arts and disciplinary area of knowledge. Research in this book provides a model for collaborative engagement and community partnerships, featuring the voices of students and teachers to highlight the importance of agency and action research in supporting literacy learning and transformative inquiry. Demonstrating theoretically and practically how SFL praxis can be applied broadly and deeply in the field, this book is suitable for preservice teachers, teacher educators, graduate students and scholars in bilingual and multilingual education, literacy education and language policy.




Creativity as Progressive Pedagogy: Examinations Into Culture, Performance, and Challenges


Book Description

In every era, global progressive thinkers have used creativity as a means for cultural reformation and social justice in response to oppressive regimes. For example, theater, cartoons, social art, film, and other forms of representative arts have always been used as critical instigation to create agency or critical commentary on current affairs. In the education sector, teachers in schools often say one of two things: they are not creative or that they don't have the time to be creative given the curricular demands and administrative mandates that they are required to follow. Each day, educators are working to find exceptionally creative ways to engage their students with limited resources and supplies, and this becomes even more of a challenge during turbulent times. Creativity as Progressive Pedagogy: Examinations Into Culture, Performance, and Challenges primarily focuses on pedagogical creativity and culture as related to various aspects of social justice and identity. This book presents experience-based content and showcases the necessity for pedagogical creativity to give students agency and the connections between cultural sensitivity and creativity. Covering topics such as the social capital gap, digital spaces, and underprivileged students, this book is an indispensable resource for educators in both K-12 and higher education, administrators, researchers, faculty, policymakers, leaders in education, pre-service teachers, and academicians.




Trauma-Sensitive Literacy Instruction


Book Description

It is vital for educators to be aware of how traumatic experiences affect today’s students, yet few teachers learn the tools needed to successfully teach these students. This book highlights how English Language Arts teachers, who are typically not licensed or specifically trained to work with trauma issues, can design and implement instruction that helps students see that they are supported. This book provides specific strategies for teaching literacy based on the authors’ extensive knowledge and experience in trauma-sensitive instruction, adolescent literacy, and culturally responsive–sustaining pedagogies. The authors show how to support middle and high school students with specific literacy practices (reading, speaking, listening, and writing) that build resilience. Trauma-Sensitive Literacy Instruction is for the many teachers who are unsure how to invite students and their traumas into classroom instruction and embed critical discussions and learning within their teaching practices and pedagogy. It will help ELA teachers navigate student trauma in a way that empowers both students and teachers. Book Features: Responds to research that consistently shows how schools are often places that marginalize—and sometimes traumatize or retraumatize—children. Offers specific information related to literature, writing, discussion, and inquiry activities focused on various traumatic experiences. Provides rationales and research, along with examples, teacher vignettes, and steps for incorporating relevant practices in classrooms (grades 6–12). “In this book, ELA teachers will find actionable pedagogical practices toward the transformative teaching trauma demands and the respect, care, and support along the way that ELA educators need and deserve.” —From the Foreword by Elizabeth Dutro, professor, University of Colorado Boulder




Radically Inclusive Teaching with Newcomer and Emergent Plurilingual Students


Book Description

"Learn how to enact curricular, pedagogical, and policy shifts that nourish students' linguistic repertoires. Drawing on their experience working with educators and students in grades 7-12, the authors challenge readers to transform their approach to languaging, agency, and authority in the classroom. Strategies come alive through classroom vignettes and examples of student work"--




Teaching Black Speculative Fiction


Book Description

Teaching Black Speculative Fiction: Equity, Justice, and Antiracism edited by KaaVonia Hinton and Karen Michele Chandler offers innovative approaches to teaching Black speculative fiction (e.g., science fiction, fantasy, horror) in ways that will inspire middle and high school students to think, talk, and write about issues of equity, justice, and antiracism. The book highlights texts by seminal authors such as Octavia E. Butler and influential and emerging authors, including Nnedi Okorafor, Kacen Callender, B. B. Alston, Tomi Adeyemi, and Bethany C. Morrow. Each chapter in Teaching Black Speculative Fiction: introduces a Black speculative text and its author, describes how the text engages with issues of equity, justice, and/or antiracism, explains and describes how one theory or approach helps elucidate the key text’s concern with equity, justice, and/or antiracism, and offers engaging teaching activities that encourage students to read the focal text; that facilitate exploration of the text and a theoretical lens or critical approach; and that guide students to consider ways to extend the focus on equity, justice, and/or antiracism to action in their own lives and communities.