Volume 11(2): Reimagining the field

Volume 11(2): Reimagining the Field The Journal of Language and Literacy Education (JoLLE) is a peer-­‐reviewed, open access journal housed in the Department of Language and Literacy Education in the College of Education at The University of Georgia. Since its inception in 2004, JoLLE has provided space for scholars to engage readers in a broad spectrum of issues related to the field.

Table of Contents Editor’s Introduction

Ø "Editor’s Introduction: Reimagining the Field: Pushing Back,

Reconsidering Text, & Cultivating Identities" Meghan E. Barnes

Research Articles

Ø "A Qualitative Analysis of High School Students’ Engagement

with Poetry and Social Justice" Dr. Victor Malo-­‐Juvera and Dr. Linda Spears-­‐Bunton

Ø “'It Happened to Me': Third Grade Students Write and Draw

Towards Critical Perspectives" Dr. Amy Seely Flint, Dr. Eliza Allen, Dr. Megan Nason, Dr. Sanjuana Rodriguez, Dr. Natasha Thornton, and Dr. Kamania Wynter-­‐Hoyte

Ø "Getting Close to Close Reading: Teachers Making Instructional Shifts in Early Literacy" Shea N. Kerkhoff and Dr. Hiller A. Spires

Ø "Embodying and Programming a 'Constellation' of Multimodal

Literacy Practices: Computational Thinking, Creative Movement, Biology, & Virtual Environment Interactions" Dr. Alison E. Leonard, Nikeetha Dsouza, V. Babu, Dr. Shaundra B. Daily, Dr. Sophie Jorg, Cynthia Waddell, Dhaval Parmar, Kara Gundersen, Jordan Gestring, and Kevin Boggs

Ø "Representing Reading: An Analysis of Professional Development Book Covers" Dr. Frank Serafini, Dani Kachorsky and Maria Goff

Ø “A Heritage Language Learner’s Literacy Practices in a Korean Language Course in a U.S. University: From a Multiliteracies Perspective.”

Dr. Jayoung Choi

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Table of Contents Continued

Ø "Learning in/through Collaborative Poetry Translation:

Documenting the Impact of Poetry Inside-­‐out with High School Aged English Language Learners" Dr. Jie Park

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Ø "What Teachers Bring: The Intellectual Resources of Adolescent Literacy Educators in an Era of Standardization" Dr. Kathleen Riley

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Ø "Crossing Blocked Thresholds: Three Stories of Identity,

Embodied Literacy, and Participatory Education" Anne W. Anderson, Dr. Margaret Branscombe, and Tara Nkrumah

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Voices from the Field Ø "Reading, Writing, and Designing: Getting Students on the Path to Thinking like Designers" Dr. Christine D. Kyser

Academic Book Reviews

Ø Review of Information Literacy: Navigating & Evaluating Today’s Media.

Megan P. Brock

Ø Review of The Silent Experiences of Young Bilingual Learners:

A sociocultural study into the silent period.

Lourdes Cardozo-­‐Gaibisso

Ø Review of Race, Community, and Urban Schools:

Partnering with African American Families Benjamin D. Parker

Ø Review of New Directions in Teaching English:

Reimagining Teaching, Teacher Education, and Research.

Mandie B. Dunn

Ø Review of Teaching Transnational Youth:

Literacy and Education in a Changing World.

Joelle Pedersen

Ø Review of Shoptalk: Lessons in Teaching from an African American Hair Salon.

Dr. Peter Smagorinsky

Children & Young Adult Literature (CYAL) Book Reviews

Ø Review of Out of Darkness.

Margaret A. Robbins and Ryland Poole

Table of Contents Continued

Ø Review of Anatomy of Curiosity.

Melissa Merritt and Kayla Banks

Ø Review of Migrant.

Jason Dylan Mizell and Dylan Mizell

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Ø Review of The Terrible Two.

Marianne Snow and Noah Kilpatrick

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Ø Review of Hiawatha and the Peacemaker.

Courtney Shimek and Foxie Nuruddin

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Poetry & Arts

Ø “Civilized Residue”

Jerome Harste

Ø “Sensation”

Régine Randall

Ø “Poems While Proctoring-­‐

‘You Have Five Minutes Remaining in This Section’” Raymond Pape

Ø “Tips for Visiting China”

Kuo Zhang

Ø “first spring (Baltimore is burning)”

PL Thomas

Ø “Teaching”

Sheryl Lain

Editor’s Introduction: Reimagining the Field: Pushing Back, Reconsidering Text, & Cultivating Identities Meghan E. Barnes This has been a year of reimagining for JoLLE. During our time together as a review and editorial board we’ve discussed how we are (or are not) holding our authors and ourselves accountable for ethical research practices, the ways that access to the journal is limited by a reliance on English as the standard language of publication, and also our unexamined use of gender-specific pronouns. We have begun a very slow, sometimes contentious, process of questioning our practices and the ways that we are limiting, even unintentionally, the proliferation of work that pushes boundaries, incorporates a diverse combination of voices, and welcomes and acknowledges myriad fluid identities. I won’t pretend that our board of 16 doctoral students and a very active and supportive faculty advisor has come to a neat set of agreed-upon conclusions regarding the topics we’ve discussed. Many of the conversations we began in August, remain in conversation today. In many instances, rather than finding answers to our questions, we’ve simply unearthed more. However, as the articles, book reviews, and poetry and art included in this issue of JoLLE demonstrate, we aren’t the only group of educators who are reimagining, with a degree of difficulty, some of the foundational aspects of our field and our practice.

When I sat down to review the research articles accepted for publication in this fall issue, I found that the authors seemed to reimagine teaching in three ways: pushing back, reconsidering what “counts” as text, or cultivating new and/or different identities. In the first set of articles, the authors acknowledge gaps in standards-based and testing-aligned curriculum and then push back, making recommendations to teachers, researchers, and teacher educators for improved practice and curriculum. In the second section, the authors reconsider what counts as text and then offer ways for teachers and students to interact with and approach these diverse texts in the classroom. Finally, the authors grouped into the third section address how teachers, teacher educators, and students can (and do) cultivate new and/or different identities as they write, teach, and read.

The first section of research articles begins with Victor Malo-Juvera and Linda Spears-Bunton’s A Qualitative Analysis of High School Students’ Engagement with Poetry and Social Justice. As Malo-Juvera and Spears-Bunton analyzed poetry written by high school students addressing social justice topics of their choice, they found that a number of topics, such as suicide, were often considered taboo to discuss in schools. Drawing on these students’ experiences, Malo-Juvera and Spears-Bunton offer recommendations to educators to incorporate discussions of these topics into their own classrooms. In “It Happened to Me”: Third Grade Students Write and Draw Towards Critical Perspectives, Amy Seely Flint, Eliza Allen, Megan Nason, Sanjuana Rodriguez, Natasha Thornton, and Kamania Wynter-Hoyte acknowledge that prescribed curricula closely aligned with testing standards often diminish opportunities for students to engage with topics on race and class, in particular. They Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 then consider how one group of students used writing and drawing to help them interrogate issues related to civil rights and migrant workers from a critical perspective.

The second section of research articles adds to the previous discussion regarding the limitations placed on teachers and education by a strict allegiance to standards and testing. Shea N. Kerkhoff and Hiller A. Spires begin this section with their article, Getting Close to Close Reading: Teachers Making Instructional Shifts in Early Literacy, where they consider the expectation put forth by the Common Core State Standards that students at all grade levels must increasingly engage in close reading of challenging texts. Kerkhoff and Spires, however, find the paucity of available research addressing exactly how to do this work with K-5, and especially K-2 students, to be problematic for teachers. Using a collective case study approach, Kerkhoff and Spires are able to make specific recommendations to K-2 teachers to help them adapt close reading strategies to their own classrooms. In their article, Embodying and Programming a “Constellation” of Multimodal Literacy Practices: Computational Thinking, Creative Movement, Biology, and Virtual Environment Interactions, Alison E. Leonard, Nikeetha Dsouza, Sabarish V. Babu, Shaundra B. Daily, Sophie Jorg, Cynthia Waddell, Dhaval Parmar, Kara Gundersen, Jordan Gestring, and Kevin Boggs consider multimodal approaches to text. After engaging fifth grade students in a number of multimodal literacy practices, Leonard et al. offer possibilities for educators to blend a variety of multimodal design tools to improve their own students’ computational knowledge. Frank Serafini, Dani Kachorsky, and Maria Goff finish out this section with their article, Representing Reading: An Analysis of Professional Development Book Covers. Serafini, Kachorsky, and Goff analyzed the covers of 150 professional development books intended for classroom teachers, paying particular attention to the ways that literacy practices are represented through multiple modes. Ultimately, the authors recognize that frameworks are needed in order to more closely analyze the types of multimodal texts students and teachers encounter in their daily lives (both in and outside of the classroom).

In the third, and final, section of research articles, authors consider how teachers, researchers, teacher educators, and students cultivate various and fluid identities both within and outside of the classroom. Jayoung Choi analyzes the implementation of a multiliteracies approach to incorporating modes of representation outside of written and spoken language in her article A Heritage Language Learner’s Literacy Practices in a Korean Language Course in a U.S. University: From a Multiliteracies Perspective. Choi found that the approach contributed to the development of one Korean student’s Heritage Language literacy skills and identity as a reader and writer in their Heritage Language. In Learning In/Through Collaborative Poetry Translation: Documenting the Impact of Poetry Inside-Out with High School Aged English Language Learners Jie Park analyzes students’ experiences as they participate in Poetry Inside Out, a program where students translate poetry from their original language into English. Park suggests that by participating in programs like Poetry Inside Out, students can begin to learn from and listen to their peers and teachers can begin to see bi- and multilingualism as a resource in the classroom. To reconceptualize common approaches to teacher professional development, Kathleen Riley recognizes the wealth of experiences and knowledge that teachers bring to improving their practice, in What Teachers Bring: The Intellectual Resources of Adolescent Literacy Educators in an Era of Standardization. Riley offers recommendations to school leaders and teacher educators, in particular, that position teachers within intellectually-engaged communities of practice. Finally, Anne W. Anderson, Margaret Branscombe, and Tara Nkrumah draw on Gee’s four-part construction of identity to construct autoethnographic narratives of themselves as literate beings in Crossing Blocked Thresholds: Three Stories of Identity, Embodied Literacy, and Participatory Education. Ultimately all three authors consider the ways that they shape and reshape their identities by being open to and actively changing their personal narratives.

The theme of Reimagining the Field is extended to the Voices from the Field section as Christine DeSimone Kyser reimagines common approaches to technology integration in the English Language Arts classroom. In her article, Reading, Writing, and Designing: Getting Students on the Path to Thinking Like Designers, Kyser

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 approaches teaching from a design lens. Throughout the article, Kyser uses her work with students to design informational texts using iBooks Author to emphasize the importance of composing with all tools in mind and positioning technology as an essential and integral part of the classroom.

The academic book reviews included in the fall issue of JoLLE and edited by Academic Book Review Editor, Xiaodi Zhou, cover a wide range of literacy and education topics, from working with transnational and urban youth to innovative techniques for technology integration. The academic texts reviewed include Information Literacy: Navigating and Evaluating Today’s Media (Armstrong, 2011) reviewed by Megan P. Brock, The Silent Experiences of Young Bilingual Learners: A Sociocultural Study into the Silent Period (Bligh, 2014) reviewed by Lourdes Cardozo-Gaibisso, Race, Community, and Urban Schools: Partnering with African American Families (Greene, 2013) reviewed by Ben Parker, New Directions in Teaching English: Reimagining Teaching, Teacher Education, and Research (Morrell & Scherff, 2015) reviewed by Mandie Dunn, Teaching Transnational Youth: Literacy and Education in a Changing World (Skerret, 2015) reviewed by Joelle Pederson, and Shoptalk: Lessons in Teaching from an African American Hair Salon (Majors, 2015) reviewed by Peter Smagorinsky.

This year we are excited to continue pairing educators and students as reviewers of children’s and young adult literature (CYAL). Our current CYAL Book Review Editor, Rachel Kaminsky Sanders, has compiled reviews of five CYAL texts, appropriate for students from elementary to high school. The books reviewed in this issue of JoLLE include Out of Darkness (Perez, 2015) reviewed by PhD student Margaret A. Robbins and 11th grader Ryland Poole, Anatomy of Curiosity (Stiefvater, Gratton, & Yovanoff, 2015) reviewed by pre-service teacher Melissa Merritt and 12th grader Kayla Banks, Migrant (Mateo, 2014) reviewed by PhD student Jason Dylan Mizell together with his son, 6th grader Dylan Mizell, The Terrible Two (John & Barnett, 2015) reviewed by PhD student Marianne Snow and 2nd grader Noah Kilpatrick, and Hiawatha and the Peacemaker (Roberson & Shannon, 2015) reviewed by PhD student Courtney Shimek and 4th grader Foxie Nuruddin.

Finally, Poetry and Art Editor, Margaret A. Robbins has organized a combination of five poems and one collage art piece that together extend the issue’s theme of reimagining the field. Specifically, these works of poetry and art highlight the beauty and influence of language on people’s everyday lives. The section begins with an art piece titled “Civilized Residue” by Jerome Harste, and then goes on to include five poems: “Sensation” by Regine Randall, “Poems While Proctoring—‘You Have Five Minutes Remaining in this Section’” by Raymond Pope, “Tips for Visiting China” by Kuo Zhang, “first spring (Baltimore is burning)” by PL Thomas, and “Teaching” by Sheryl Lain.

The JoLLE editorial and review boards want to extend our heartfelt thanks to you, our readers and supporters.

We also want to encourage you to support JoLLE by submitting your own work for consideration in future issues! We currently accept research articles, theoretical pieces, practitioner-based Voices from the Field articles, academic book reviews, reviews of children’s and young adult literature, and submissions of poetry and art. For all details regarding the submission process or if you are interested in serving as a reviewer, please refer to the JoLLE submissions page and/or contact our Managing Editor, Stephanie Anne Shelton. In addition to the biannually published journal, JoLLE also invites you to submit shorter op-ed essays to our Scholars Speak Out (SSO) feature. To learn more about the SSO purposes and publication process, please contact our Scholars Speak Out Editor, Lou Cardozo-Gaibiso. And, as always, please continue to follow JoLLE on both Facebook and Twitter (@jolle_uga).

Over the past three years the JoLLE@UGA conference has established itself as an innovative, engaging, and interactive place to learn from and with other academics, teachers, and students from across the world. This year’s conference, organized by Conference Chair Helene Halstead, will be no exception. Themed Lived Words and Worlds: Community Engaged Literacies, the 2016 conference will feature keynote speaker Dr. David E. Kirkland from New York University, as well as an opening session led by Dr. sj Miller and Michael Wenk from

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 the University of Colorado Boulder. Together with a unique combination of breakout sessions, round tables, and collaborations with local community groups, we hope to continue reimagining our academic work. This year’s conference will be held in Athens, GA from Friday, January 29-Sunday, January 31, 2016. Please visit our conference page for more details and information regarding registration.

Each year, JoLLE continues to grow. This year we are especially lucky to have the largest editorial and review boards in the ten-year history of the journal—allowing us to return reviewed manuscripts in a timely manner to authors, to think creatively about ways to expand both the journal and the conference, and to incorporate a diverse set of perspectives into our vision for the future of the journal. I want to extend a very heartfelt thank you to the hard-working, patient, and deeply invested members of our current editorial and review boards: Stephanie Anne Shelton (Managing Editor), Helene Halstead (Conference Chair), Megan P. Brock (Production Editor), Nick Thompson (Communications Editor), Margaret A. Robbins (Poetry and Arts Editor), Xiaodi Zhou (Academic Book Review Editor), Rachel Kaminski Sanders (CYAL Book Review Editor), Lourdes CardozoGaibisso (Scholars Speak Out Editor), Rhia Moreno Kilpatrick, Heidi Lyn Hadley, Jason D. Mizell, Ying Cui, Viviane Klen Alves, Soojin Ahn, and Heesun Chang. Finally, the quality of our reviews, our understanding of the publishing world, and our connection to editors, writers, and reviewers worldwide would not be possible without the constant support and guidance of our faculty advisor, Dr. Peter Smagorinsky.

We appreciate your continued support of our journal and hope that you feel encouraged to Reimagine the Field with us as you read the various articles, reviews, and poetry and art pieces included in this fall 2015 issue of JoLLE.

Sincerely, Meghan E. Barnes Principal Editor 2015-2016 jolle@uga.edu

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A Qualitative Analysis of High School Students’ Engagement with Poetry and Social Justice Victor Malo-Juvera Linda Spears-Bunton

ABSTRACT: This qualitative content analysis examined how 112 high school students engaged in social

justice by composing their own poetry as part of English language arts instruction. Following pedagogical

recommendations from Miller (2010) and Morrell (2005), students participated in a unit of study on poetry and social justice using October Mourning (Newman, 2012) as a mentor text. Students then worked in

groups to compose their own poetry projects that addressed social justice topics of their choosing. Data

consisting of student-composed poetry were analyzed by two researchers using open coding to develop

four themes: the individual vs. society, subjugation of women, the corrupting influence of money, and suicide. Themes are examined in depth with the first three placing students at odds with the mechanisms and expectations of oppressive governments and social institutions. The emphasis on suicide led the researchers to argue that topics often considered taboo by schools should be addressed. Opportunities for incorporation of such topics in English classes are discussed. The discussion addresses challenges to conducting a similar unit as well as recommendations for future research.

Keywords: poetry, social justice education, LGBTQ themed literature, content analysis

Dr. Victor Malo-Juvera is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English and an affiliated faculty member in Women's and Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. His research focuses on English language arts instruction and young adult literature. He has been published in Research in the Teaching of English, Study and Scrutiny: Research in Young Adult Literature, SIGNAL Journal, and Journal of Language and Literacy Education. He can be reached at malov@uncw.edu.

Dr. Linda Spears-Bunton is an Associate Professor, Director of the PhD and EdD Programs in Curriculum and Instruction, graduate program leader for English Education, and affiliated faculty member in the African and African Diaspora Studies and the Women’s Studies programs at Florida International University. Her research focuses on utilizing the power of language, literature and culture to support the development of social justice. Linda recently published Toward a Literacy of Promise: Joining the African American Experience and has been published in numerous texts and journals including Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences & Culture, Reader Response in the Classroom, English Journal and Journal for the Art of Teaching. She can be reached at spears@fiu.edu.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

Theoretical Framework

As a poet, I know it’s part of my job to use my imagination. It’s part of my job as a human being, too.

Because only if each of us imagines that what happened to Matthew Shepard could happen to any of us will we be motivated to do something. And something must be done. ~Lesleá Newman

Dewey’s (1916) belief that education plays a critical role in creating and maintaining a Deliberative Democracy is often referenced as one of the seminal moments of social justice education.

Equally important, Freire’s (1986) conscientização and liberatory pedagogy have informed much of today’s social justice education movement. More recent scholars (Greene, 1988; hooks, 1994) concur in their assessment that social justice is critical to the functioning and survival of democratically organized societies. Social justice education encompasses multiple discourses such as feminism, postcolonialism, queer theory, critical race theory, and critical pedagogy (Hytten & Bettez, 2011).

his project began its evolution in first author Victor Malo-Juvera’s young adult literature class, which is a requirement for pre-service secondary English teachers at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Inspired by October Mourning (Newman, 2012) and by the teachers’ guide written by colleague Katie Peel (2012), I believed October Mourning could serve as a compelling mentor text to demonstrate how English language arts instruction could weave together elements such as literary studies, analysis of poetic forms, and social justice. Students wrote about numerous topics/events such as the Aurora Theater shooting, the Trayvon Martin killing, and the Sandy Hook shooting. Deeply moved and impressed by all aspects of their work, I shared this project with several colleagues. The second author, Linda Spears-Bunton, began to use this project in a graduate program at a large urban university that is mostly populated by in-service teachers. She too was moved and excited about the passion and commitment with which her students took on this project. Before long, her students began to incorporate aspects of this project in their own classrooms. In the span of less than one year, this idea had made its way from a coastal university in North Carolina to high school classrooms in one of the largest school districts in the United States.

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Regardless of their primary theoretical orientation, numerous scholars have argued that social justice education should become an integral part of teaching (e.g., Ayers, Hunt, & Quinn, 1998) and of teacher preparation programs (e.g., Nieto, 2000; 2013). Furthermore, there are a myriad of resources that provide guidance for incorporating social justice into elementary schools (e.g., Picower, 2012), middle schools (e.g., Kraft, 2007), and in specific content areas such as science (e.g., Calabrese, 2003), literacy (e.g., Powell & Rightmeyer, 2011), mathematics (e.g., Gutstein, 2006), and English language arts (e.g., Alsup & Miller, 2014).

Alsup and Miller (2014) argue that social justice education is the principal work of English educators at all levels, and Morrell (2005) concurs with their thoughts as he contends that teacher education programs should promote a “critical English education” that “is explicit about the role of language and literacy in conveying meaning and in promoting or disrupting existing power relations” (p. 313). He further avers that students should not only deconstruct dominant texts, but also produce their own that can further their ends toward attaining social justice. The 2014 National Council of Teachers of English Conference on English Education’s (NCTE CEE) position statement on social justice heeds Morrell’s call by urging English teachers to challenge the “inequitable hierarchies of power and privilege” and to be mindful that schools often “reinforce and reproduce” these injustices.

From the outset, it was clear that students and teachers responded to social justice issues, poetry, class assignments, and one another in compelling ways. In order to understand some of this movement, we believed that further investigation was warranted, and what follows is a captured glimpse of how students used poetry to engage in social justice.

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Malo-Juvera, V., & Spears-Bunton, L. (2015) / A Qualitative Analysis of High School Students’ Engagement

The pursuit of social justice in English language arts classes is as wide and varied as English language arts is as a subject. Scholars have addressed social justice issues such as challenging notions of race (Spears-Bunton, 1998), using LGBTQ themed literature in classrooms (Blackburn & Buckley, 2005; Sieben & Wallowitz, 2009), and using texts that combat rape myth acceptance (Malo-Juvera, 2014). Although these approaches have their own unique aspects, they all follow Freire’s (1986) belief that social justice begins when a person becomes conscious of the sources and causes of one’s oppression and that education could give students the agency to counteract it. Clearly such understanding is necessary to plan and to direct action that will mitigate or eliminate oppressive forces. Thus, teaching social justice requires powerful and universal tools that speak to the human heart and head. Poetry is one of those tools.

Why October Mourning?

October Mourning is a collection of poems that retell the murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, who was brutally beaten and left tied to a fence outside Laramie, Wyoming. The poems are narrated from unique points of view such as Matthew’s cat, the road the truck carrying the captive Matthew travelled along to the killing field, the fence that held his broken body for eighteen hours, the truck headlights and the stars that shed light on the darkness of the acts perpetuated against him, and the doe that was found sitting near Matthew. The text is divided into two sections that tell the events before and after Matthew’s murder, using a variety of poetic forms such as haikus, found poems, pantoums, concrete poems, rhymed couplets, list poems, alphabet poems, villanelles, acrostics, and poems modeled after previously published poems. October Mourning has won numerous awards, including the Poetry may well be humanity’s song to itself; it Florida Council of Teachers of English Joan F. resonates deeply within human history and the Kaywell Award, 2014 and the Young Adult Library human spirit (Ciardiello, 2010).

Services Association Best Outrage, so common in the Although the standardized Fiction for Young Adults Book testing that has accompanied poetry of the students in this 2013 (Newman, 2015).

No Child Left Behind, Race to The wealth and diversity of study, is evoked as readers the Top, and now the Common form and content is what Core State Standards has experience human beings motivated us to use October reduced poetry instruction in Mourning as a mentor text that used and cast off like many classrooms to students could emulate and memorizing facts about form, detritus. use as a guide in their own many English teachers have poetic journeys toward social found a way to do more. Poetry justice.

We wondered what would happen among and social justice have been utilized together with high school students, so often described as music in secondary classes (Christensen, 2009; disconnected from the world outside their Sanchez, 2007), in literacy education (Ciardiello, immediate life circle or as resistant to critical 2010), through the creation of original poetry thinking, who were given an opportunity to read (Rosaen, 2003), in after-school programs using hipOctober Mourning and to respond by developing a hop literacies (Norton, 2011), paired with poetry project emanating from a topic of their own performance poetry (Camangian, 2008; Fisher, choosing grounded in social justice. As such, we 2005; Jocson, 2005), and among sixth-grade sought to address the following research question students in pursuit of democratic engagement for this study: After reading and engaging in an (Kinloch, 2005). While these studies address instructional unit of October Mourning, how did important intersections of social justice and English students’ composed poetry reflect their education, there is a need for more research that engagement with social justice? examines how mentor texts and/or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) themed poetry influences students’ engagement with poetry and social justice.

In the sections that follow, we lay out the specifics of our research design, data collection and analysis.

The analysis includes an extensive examination of 3

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

the four major themes that emerged from this study. We close with a discussion of the limitations of the study and our vision about what future research on teaching social justice in English language arts classes might consider.

students used poetry to engage in social justice topics in high school Advanced Placement Language and Literature classes. Data in this study were poems written by students as part of regular classroom instruction. There were a total of 19 student composed poetry projects consisting of 248 poems that were analyzed independently by the two authors of this study using open coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) to develop categories and themes. The authors then met and compared their findings; there was nearly perfect agreement in identified themes with discrepancies being variations in how categories and themes were named rather than their content and meaning. The authors then negotiated and collapsed some themes, and agreed upon the major themes that would be presented in this paper (see Table 1 in the appendix).

Poetry and Social Justice: The Unit of Study This project was developed as a way for high school students to use a mentor text that addressed social justice topics and allowed for the in-depth study of poetry. Students read and discussed October Mourning, participated in poetry instruction, and engaged in discussions of social justice. Following these activities, students were asked to form groups to choose a topic of social justice that they would then address through the composition of their own poetry projects using October Mourning as a model text. The students’ poetry projects contained: (A) cover page art; (B) a table of contents; (C) a one page summary that gave background on the topic/event that was the focus of the poetry project; (D) the poems; and (E) an explication that identified the form used and gave background information on the inspiration for each poem.

University-level students also completed a teacher’s guide that contained pre-reading activities, discussion questions, connections for cross curricular activities, and resources for further study.

Findings: Coming to Know and Understand Social Justice Students were introduced to the project through a discussion on social justice that was defined by their teacher as “the ability people have to realize their potential in the society where they live” and that the goal of social justice was to ensure that individuals “fulfilled their societal roles and received what was due from society.” Students were also introduced to concepts of social injustice and topics such as wealth distribution, ableism, ageism, classism, discrimination, homophobia, racism, and sexism. October Mourning was read in class and 45 students participated in a wide-ranging discussion via video chat with author Lesleá Newman about the intersections of poetry and social justice from an author’s point of view. During and after the reading of October Mourning, all students participated in classroom instruction on poetry that addressed poetic forms, diction, reader response activities, and discussions of poetry as social justice.

After completing October Mourning, students began composing their own poetry projects. For this assignment, students chose a topic and composed poems making up a “poetry project” that contained a cover page, a table of contents, a summary of the topic addressed, the poems, and an explication of poetic forms.

Participants: Space and Place There were 112 high school students sample from four Advance Placement Language and Literature classes at an urban South Florida high school.

Students were informed that their class work from a unit on poetry would be used for analysis in a study and that all classwork would be anonymous when given to researchers. Institutional and school district IRB permissions were obtained and students were given the option of whether or not they wanted their work shared with the researchers. Only eight students out of 120 chose not to have their work included.

Data Collection and Analysis This descriptive case study (Yin, 2003) used content analysis (Schwandt, 2007) to examine the way

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Malo-Juvera, V., & Spears-Bunton, L. (2015) / A Qualitative Analysis of High School Students’ Engagement

The student poetry projects reflected a wide variety of topics; however, 17 of the 19 poetry projects analyzed involved young people who had been brutalized by adults in various ways (see Table 2 for poetry project titles and themes). Societies often normalize oppression of individuals by indoctrinating belief systems into the oppressed though many aspects of culture such as the arts, holidays, and national myths (Gramsci, 1975).

Gramsci (1975) labelled this system of maintaining power as cultural hegemony, and in this study students were able to provide counter narratives to several forms of sanctioned oppression. The outrage that students felt toward oppressors was manifest in three major themes: The Individual vs.

Society, The Subjugation of Women, and The Corrupting Influence of Money. The last theme offered a disturbing solution to the problem of oppression: Suicide (see Table 2 in the appendix).

Herein, the student-poets speak to several issues important to all human beings, and perhaps particularly germane to adolescents entering adulthood including an individual’s right to have his/her voice heard and respected and the inherent moral struggle when one tries to determine what is “right’ in terms of the individual and in terms of the customs and laws of a particular society. The first line of the poem identified Ramon’s position—stuck in bed—as a place no one, adult or adolescent, would want to be for any period of time.

Twenty-nine years of forced, conscious imprisonment seem outrageous. Ramon’s persistent, yet futile struggle for escape and longing for freedom evoke both compassion and frustration.

Students’ identification with Ramon’s struggles against an unyielding society continued in the couplet that closes the sonnet ‘Medical Advice”: “Making them stay should be a crime/Everyone should be able to die.” This is a chilling line, especially as we shall report later, as suicide was often viewed as an acceptable way to escape difficult situations. In Ramon’s singular case, the argument “I’m only just a head” is factual and absolute in terms of his medical prognosis. Even so, given the Judeo-Christian ethic that prevails in many Western nations, human life is precious and sacred irrespective of the quality of that life and must be protected. But at what cost to an individual?

The struggles of an individual against society are heartbreakingly chronicled in FGM Horror Stories which portrays the phenomenon of female genital mutilation. The poems produced by students demonstrate an understanding of both the overt and subtle contradictions and conflicts in traditions, religion, and practices of brutal social injustice that ensconce ritualized female genital mutilation. Consider the list poem “Family Complex,” where the poet protested the unquestioning continuation of a gruesome tradition: “9. It’s tradition – I did it, so can she/10. It’s our religion.” Herein the student-poet argued that neither tradition nor religion justifies the practice of FGM or alleviates the suffering of the child left in a dirt

The Individual vs. Society The most apparent theme presented by the student-poets involved the conflict and struggles between individuals and their society. These conflicts were explored in terms of economic disparity and injustice (Air Pollution and In the Sea), legal systems (Affluenza and Ramon Sampedro), and cultural/class divides (Nigerian Girls Kidnapped!, FGM Horror Stories and The Road Last Traveled). A collective outrage resonated throughout the student-poets’ responses as they gave voice to individuals who were oppressed. The conflict between an individual and society is poignantly evident in Ramon Sampedro. This poetry project is a response to the tragic plight of a paralyzed Spanish fisherman who petitioned the Spanish and European courts for legal access to an assisted suicide for almost 30 years. For example, in “I Just Want to Leave,” the conflict with a society that denies Ramon the right to self-determination is exemplified: Every day I am stuck in bed, Watching the seconds go by.

The question that I ask: Should I love or should I die.

I already know the answer; Nobody listens to me.

I try to fight for my right But I constantly fail

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hole to bleed to death.

Although all of the struggles against society are not as gruesome as those told in FGM Horror Stories, they are no less compelling. In Air Pollution Shanghai, students used poetry to indict the ruling class in “The Elites” who “turn a blind eye to smoke and ash in everyone,” in “The Leaders” where “some people are not important/people that populate the Earth,” and in “The Sickness”:

Cough

Cough

Someone can’t smell

Someone can’t taste Someone needs a plastic toy made and delivered halfway to hell

So factories just chug And carbon Monoxide becomes the people’s drug

Somewhere in Shanghai

Herein, there are several sources of poison: the corruption of the ruling class, the toxicity citizens are forced to inhale, the power and pressure of greed, and governmental indifference to the wellbeing of the citizenry. Moreover, the Chinese government is not the only government to be on the receiving end of scathing critique. In In the Sea, which tells the story of Cuban emigration to America by boat, the Cuban government is blamed for creating such horrendous conditions that its people would risk their lives to escape. In “Life,” students use repetition to level their indictment:

No Freedom

No Happiness

No Dreams

No Inspiration

No Rights

Just corruption

Taken together, the poems within the body of work in this theme address issues that are meaningful to adolescents and adults globally. These poems indicate that the student-poets understand how the legal system promotes/permits injustice for the sake of moneyed interests and are cognizant of the inconsistent application of the law, as in the case of

where a young man who killed four individuals is excused because of wealth (Affluenza) and where girls are mutilated to acquire wealth (FGM Horror Stories), while a man who considers himself “just a head” languishes for three decades (Ramon Sampedro). Following Freire’s (1986) notion of conscientization, these student-poets have identified the source of power, oppression, and injustice—they have named the oppressors through their poetry—called them out. Importantly, students connected to individuals although they were miles and continents away; they gave them voice and dignity and offered their shared humanity.

Subjugation of Women

The oppression of individuals continued in a much more focused manner as numerous poems examined women who were subjugated by society and by individuals. Subjugation herein references more than conquering as in maintaining physical control, but also enslavement, manufactured deformity, stupidification by denial of opportunities for education (see Macedo, 1994), and ultimately de-humanization as infants, girls, and young women are violently robbed of their feminine individuality. Perhaps most poignantly, Malala, which told the story of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for attending school, pointed out how women who attempt to access the same rights as men, in this case education, are viciously punished. The following lines from “Power” show how point of view and repetition were used in a hypnotic way:

I am going to kill her!

How dare she learn?!

I am going to kill her!

Education is the wrong female turn!!

I am going to kill her!

Women must be controlled!!

I am going to kill her!

The dangers to girls who seek an education continued in Nigerian Girls Kidnapped! that told of the Boko Haram’s abduction of 240 girls from a Nigerian school. Given the cost and limited availability of education in Nigeria, particularly in 6

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rural areas, these kidnappings bear important ideological and national ramifications. Nigerians seeking to impose Sharia law upon the population view these girls and their families as being in violation of social and religious customs. On the other hand, educated girls represent a significant investment by their families, and these girls have the potential for uplifting the standards and ways of living for their communities by entering careers such as teachers, nurses, or doctors. They represent change, hope, and feminine empowerment even in a nation where many still practice female genital mutilation. However, once captive, the girls are reduced to chattel property.

Consider the descriptions in “Rebirth”: “Then I was sold…I am a slave” and in “Dream Wedding”: “Twelve dollars is what my husband must pay/In order for me to have a dream wedding day.” These lines evidence mature conceptualization of marriage and the death of the soul and identity.

Importantly, the language used by the poets suggests that they understood how cheaply purchased wives are valued and devalued. Irony is deftly used to represent a de-evolutionary metamorphosis in the death of a young woman with a promising life and the birth of a slave in a “dream wedding” that is more like a nightmare.

In many places, females need not break gender norms in order to warrant punishment. FGM Horror Stories describes the ritualistic mutilation of female genitalia which is pervasive in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East. In addition to portraying the gruesome mutilations that occur, the poems protest the insanity of dogmatically following tradition. In the acrostic poem “FGM,” “little girls” are “mutilated” to “please men” and are “Forever scarred/Made a farce/Going strong because of tradition.” Interestingly, in FGM Horror Stories, the blame is not cast solely upon males, given that the student-poets are unyielding in their indictment of women who are often the assailants in genital mutilations. In “Mother’s Love,” a six-year old girl’s mother is held accountable for her mutilation when it is written that the mother “shall snip her bud so it does not grow” and the theme of treachery continues in the cinquain, “Family:”

Family

together, tradition

trusting, loving, protecting

betrayal, sadness, disappointed, deception

Gone.

In the poem “Operating Table,” it is the table who mourns for the children laid across its “old surface” that is “speckled with crimson rust”… …I ponder the frigid and unfeeling alien beings, The ones that believe that they are conducting this girl a kindness.

The ones that stare unreceptive to the evil they have done,

The one that use faulty reasoning

That they have mouths to feed, That this payment will be the one that lines their pockets,

Saving their foul lives.

“For the family” they whisper to this little thing,

Unmoving on the table.

To this small sack of skin and bones whose Soul left her

with a final screech.

The girl on the table is five.

The mother

Enters unknowing— She has sacrificed her child to the cause of her own disillusioned Faith.

Although the three aforementioned poems chronicled suffering at the hands of society, other student poetry addressed abuse on a much more individual basis. Chained and Taken both told the story of the three women who were kidnapped and held as sex slaves by Ramon Castro .An Unhappy Marriage, portrayed the very individual story of a woman who is physically abused by her husband.

Even when women are not the center of a project, they are often portrayed as objects to be used.

Consider that in Affluenza, the first two of three narrative poems “Veni,”“Vidi,” and “Vici” describe how a young wealthy boy (presumably Ethan Couch) used his maid for his sexual pleasure.

Veni There was once a boy raised from money Which ingrained in him something funny: Rather fond of the maid Whom he dreamt he had laid— He woke stuck to the bed, 7

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 Not with honey. …He plotted a plan to clear his name.

Vidi

“I should never have hired Such a painful ingrate!”

On the day she was fired She knew it was fate…

And like a surgeon’s knife Cut ties with the maid He’d impulsively laid.

Vici

He was down for the count Three drinks passed his right mind…

As the headlights flared To the windshield their bodies went flopping He had killed these two Of that he knew So really he couldn’t have stayed But no one was around To watch them hit the ground He got away—just like with the maid.

currency, as property, as a sexual outlet, and as participants in the perpetuation of exploitation and domination of their fellow females. The studentpoets’ consciousness opens the possibility for hope and help for girls and women globally who struggle against unspeakable terror. For example, consider “The Promise” from Nigerian Girls Kidnapped!:

You must stay your ground

Sing Sweet Songs

Justice will come

Freedom will spring

You will be found Throughout, one finds a potent mixture of outrage and determination and of oppression and compassion. This juxtaposition of emotions in the poem opens the space for change not only in the way people think, but also in the way people act toward others who although different from themselves share a bond of humanity and a desire for justice.

This depiction stands in stark contrast to how adolescents are often portrayed in popular culture as mindless consumers who have been indoctrinated by songs such as “Blurred Lines” into a patriarchal hegemony that perpetuates rape myths among males and females (Burt, 1980).

Although an in-depth discussion of rape myths is beyond the scope of this paper, typical rape myths include the belief that victims invite their assaults by their choice of clothing or their behavior, that victims actually desire to be raped, and that many victims of rape fabricate their accusations after engaging in consensual intercourse (Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994). In light of disturbing public responses to allegations of rape in places such as Steubenville, of alleged systemic suppression of rape reporting by numerous universities, and by the continued lionization of male athletes who have been accused of rape, it is reasonable to conclude that although rape myths still abound in American culture, the students in this study were eager to provide a counter narrative.

Consider that the student-poets were able to identify and address the labeling of female sexuality in FGM Horror Stories, and it becomes clear that not all adolescents have bought into the popular

These three poems are interesting and compelling on a number of levels. The titles of the poems approximate the words of Julius Caesar, which translate to: I came, I saw, and I conquered. This statement may be understood as confidence, a statement of fact and/or arrogance. In the poems “Veni” and “Vici,” a young man sees a vulnerable woman—and employee of his family—understands her position in contrast to his own, and rapes her.

Outrage, so common in the poetry of the students in this study, is evoked as readers experience human beings used and cast off like detritus.

The most compelling responses to this theme are those protesting the torture, murder, rape and dehumanization of women and girls. In these poems, the young poets recognize the source, cause, and participants in the degradation and oppression of girls and women. Girls and women experience life in fundamentally different ways because they are female. Females are used as

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culture myths that label girls who are sexually girl-child, plan these ceremonies of blood, tears and active as less worthy than their promiscuous male pain. The student-poets herein argued: “the natural counterparts. This recognition is important as the world did not agree to this brutality.” gender divide is predicated upon such beliefs that

bestow rights and abilities upon males that are not Money is also blamed for creating and maintaining considered appropriate for females. The studentthe economic system that oppresses the citizens in poets were able to interrogate the myths that Air Pollution in Shanghai where the elites ignore surrounded them, and these interrogations are an the working people who “make our toys so we example of how genuine critical thought can be poison their air” (“The Leaders”). Again we report part of English language arts classes. the student-poets’ understanding that some

people—the poor and working class in this case— The Corrupting Influence of Money are treated as if their lives were useful only in so far

as they serve the economic ends of “The Leaders.”

An element that contributed to the objectification Toys, cars, and gas have value. Human sickness and and commodification of women was their value as suffering are of no consequence. chattel to be bought and sold. The concept of

money as a corrupting influence allowed the Boko Perhaps in no other project was this theme as Haram to sell its apparent as in Affluenza. kidnapped victims into While racism continues to marriage (“Rebirth” and be a plague in our schools, “Them”) and forms the adolescents are also aware justification for female of the privilege that wealth Educators and researchers genital mutilation in can bestow, and it is order to maintain their summed up succinctly in should provide a loud counter daughters purity and the haiku “Nummus,” narrative to the commercially viability as future which is Latin for money: income: “That this “There are people dead/But profitable yet inauthentic payment will be the one money solves all things?/So learning that is often passed off that line their pockets” daddy has said.” Money is (“Operating Table”). This portrayed as a tool that as quality instruction. theme is repeated in allows privileged teens to “Ceremonials”: “get away with a lot” in

…I did not “Prep School” and in “No recognize my Apologies” where “Money voice in the saves lives/But not yours.” wreckage of my body

I had no control.

Herein the student-poets indicate that they

The damage was complete, I was a prize understand that the power of money maintains a

Money to be earned from, playing field that is tilted toward the wealthy. Their

I could still not block the screams… poems suggest that they are cognizant of the divide You who plan, who destroy, who massacre created by widening income disparities, and womanly bodies present a challenge to the push of free market ideas “Oh, silly girl it does not hurt.” that does not appear to be embraced by many This poem expressed not only outrage at the students. Some may ask if students should be destruction of a woman’s body for profit, but challenging the myth of the American dream; likewise at the lie told to suffering girls that however, considering the United States is one of mutilation does not hurt and implicitly that it does the least upward economically mobile not destroy the mind, soul, and heart of a woman. industrialized nations, the interrogation of this Traditional roles—mother, grandmothers, sisters myth is warranted (DeParle, 2012). The studentand aunts—whom one would expect to protect a poets challenge the notion that money in and of

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itself is a societal good, challenge the use of money in ways that cause social and individual harm, and mock the notion that wealth is a justifiable or acceptable excuse for rape and vehicular murder.

Suicide

Nobody heard me.

They noticed too late.

I felt a sense of relief when I threw myself, Everything moved so fast around me.

I saw a bright light and then I felt at home.

The last theme to be discussed is perhaps the most disturbing. Numerous poems portrayed suicide as an acceptable solution to one’s problems, and the most obvious was in Ramon Sampedro, who petitioned the legal system to have an assisted suicide. In “Thoughts of the Mind” students describe Ramon’s desires “To hear the line, flat, fade, once and for all/Is it to me, is it my call?” The student-poets used symbolism in “Tic-Toc” to represent the baptismal cleansing offered by death: “May he bathe, once again, in the water of life?/Or is he to suffer and strife.”

Suicide was also considered an effective choice for Ariel Castro, whose suicide allowed him to avoid years of incarceration in “Imprisoned” that appears in Chained. In Untitled: Poetry Project on Social Justice, suicidal ideation is described in “This Pounding in my Head”: “I wish all of this could just stop/But it won’t until the day I drop.” Although these lines could refer to things other than suicide, when considered alongside poems such as “In the ER” that describe a failed suicide attempt and the suicide note described in “Goodbye,” it is clear that suicide is not only prevalent, but is considered an acceptable solution to one’s problems. Consider how the poem “In the Bed” paints an almost idyllic portrait of death: “He looks so serene/Laying in the bed so calm/He is at peace.”

The prevalence of suicide and the way it is portrayed as successful in alleviating pain makes this an important topic for discussion. In order to best understand this theme, it is necessary to place suicide in context of the adolescent experience.

Consider that suicide is the third leading cause of death in persons aged 15-24 and represents 20% of all deaths in that age group (Kann, et al., 2013).

About one in five teenagers seriously considers suicide annually, while 8% actually attempt suicide (Kann, et al., 2013). Researchers have found that the most common reason for adolescent suicide attempts is to escape unbearable circumstances (Jacobson, Batejan, Kleinman, & Gould, 2013).

Suicide is often preceded by various forms of mental illness such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, posttraumatic stress disorders, and eating disorders (Duckworth & Freedman, 2013). Furthermore, half of adolescent suicide victims have alcohol in their system (Rowan, 2001), and many teens who attempt suicide are frequent alcohol or substance users (Brent, 1995).

Suicide is also regarded as a viable option to escape abusive conditions in several other student poems.

In An Unhappy Marriage Frances Shea commits suicide to escape an abusive marriage and is depicted contemplating suicide in these lines from “Beauty of Annihilation”: A Life of fear is not one worth living, Got to make it to the nearest train station; But I can’t get out of here, fate is unforgiving, Now the e only way out is by selfannihilation. …

So the song of death to me is music …

I hope, as I hold the pills, that I’ll be free …

Death is so beautiful It looks so beautiful It looks so beautiful on me.

Same Love is Shame Love, which uses poetry to tell the story of a 20-year-old gay man who commits suicide after years of bullying by peers, presents suicide as an effective option for relief: “The pain of not being able to express love/The options to feel relieved” (“Twenty Years”). This portrayal continues in “Crying Out”: I cried out in despair

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Because most adolescents spend a great deal of time in school, schools can play a critical role in preventing teen suicide. Although some schools have suicide prevention programs (Miller, Eckert, & Mazza, 2009), this topic, along with other topics that are related to suicide, is considered taboo at many schools. Consider that the young adult novel Thirteen Reasons Why (Asher, 2012), which tells the reasons behind a teenage girl’s suicide, was the third most challenged book in 2012 according to the American Library Association (2014). Many schools not only refuse to address suicide directly, but actively discourage students and teachers from discussing it. When one considers that books that deal with many of the issues related to suicide, such as Looking for Alaska, which was a top ten challenged book in 2012 and 2013 (American Library Association, 2014), are also frequently challenged, it is easy to surmise that schools are perpetuating the taboos that surround suicide, mental illness, and substance abuse.

contain elements such as suicide in order to make students aware of social services that are available to them.

Other Themes and Topics Beyond the major themes discussed above, there were also other themes and topics that were not as ubiquitous but nonetheless warrant mentioning.

Numerous poems included references to God in a variety of ways, such as being beseeched for assistance (“The Knife under the Pillow” from An Unhappy Marriage; “Mother’s Diary” from Chained), being decried for abandonment (“A Cry to God” from The Life of a Jew; “The Life” from Nigerian Girls Kidnapped!), and being praised for providing assistance (“My Savior: The Lord” from Malala).

Bullying was also a topic in several poetry projects because it is blamed for contributing to a girl’s eating disorder (Bullied into Anorexia) and is credited with creating the culture of violence that led to suicide in Ending Cycle. The creative use of what we have labeled “tool poems” is also notable.

By emulating poems from October Mourning, the student-poets created many poems that retold events from various objects’ points of view. Some examples are the concrete poem “The Planters” from Untitled Jimmy Ryce, which is narrated from the point of view of the planter that contained his corpse; “Operating Table” from FGM Horror Stories, which is narrated from the point of view of the table on which mutilations are performed; and “Bill” from Same Love Shame Love, which is narrated from the point of view of a document that confers marriage rights upon same sex couples in New York.

Although the most direct answer to this problem would be having schools incorporate suicide prevention programs into the curriculum, adding more permanent elements into the school culture may also improve students’ attitudes toward discussing suicide and its concomitant issues.

Consider that schools with Gay Straight Alliance clubs report having a lower number of homophobic bullying than those that do not have them (Kosciw, Greytak, Bartkiewicz, Boesen, & Palmer, 2012).

There are numerous texts that English teachers could utilize that address suicide and mental illness such as Sylvia Plath’s poetry, memoirs such as The Source of All Things (Ross, 2012), or one of the many young adult novels that deal directly with suicide such as Thirteen Reasons Why (Asher, 2012).

There are also innumerable young adult texts available that focus on related issues such as depression, bullying, and substance abuse.

Addressing these topics and engaging in related discussions may alleviate feelings of isolation and shame some students have so they would be more likely to seek assistance, no matter which specific issue they are facing. It is important to note that these are sensitive topics, and we recommend that teachers using texts such as these enlist assistance from guidance counselors, school psychologists, and/or social workers when teaching units that

Social Justice: The Teacher’s Experience Given the depth and richness of the data and focus of this paper on student responses and the limitations of space, little has been said about the teacher, Guillermo (pseudonym), who so graciously dedicated his time, talent, and intelligence to this project. Guillermo has considerable experience teaching with a career spanning twenty years and had participated in a graduate course before the study where he was introduced to this instructional unit. He was excited about repeating something of that experience with his students. During the course of the study, he played a critical role insofar 11

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as explaining to his principal what October Mourning and the study were about and the learning experience each could provide for students.

tragedy. He also talked about ways to get around the restrictions imposed by testing and related that if he had more time he would have been able “to work more with the students to help them pick forms of poetry that best matched their ideas.”

Since the end of the project, Guillermo has moved forward with his pursuit of social justice by holding workshops for colleagues on reproducing this unit and is currently designing an instructional unit that will address teen suicide.

In a written reflection on the unit, Guillermo described how many of his students were “intrigued by the choice of subjects that were considered and included within the social justice framework.” He spoke of how students were “baffled” that environmental pollution could be a social justice issue and retold how he addressed this topic and many other iterations of social justice in classroom discussions. Beyond deliberations over what constitutes social justice issues, the personal experiences of students played had a major impact on the unit. Guillermo describes how sexual orientation and suicide were open wounds: A month or so before the project began, the school had received notice that one of its former students had committed suicide.

The student had been well-liked and he had several friends who mourned him. It is speculated that he may have been harassed at university because of his overt, gender bending flamboyant behavior; but this is uncertain. I knew this student and, although I had not taught him, I felt the grief of his friends. Students were beside themselves…to say that I addressed suicide headlong would be incorrect. But it impossible not to do so because there was an additional suicide that year…and I was concerned with a particular student who had been very close to the second victim, who had missed many days of school and who had sought counseling. He was unable to work on the project He asked to be excused from it.

Teaching a unit such as the one presented in this study is not for teachers who do not feel comfortable addressing issues that some may see as controversial or who are averse to intense emotional discussions.

When reflecting on the unit as a whole, Guillermo lamented the limited time he and his students had to work on the project, time he was denied to do more to help students who were experiencing

Discussion This unit followed Morrell’s (2005) recommendations that students analyze previously written texts and produce new ones in order to interrogate existing disparities in power. The student participants wrote a wide ranging array of poetry that reflected the injustices in the world that deeply concerned them. Although Morrell may have been speaking of critically analyzing texts from the canon, the use of October Mourning as a mentor text allowed students to analyze it not only for poetic elements but to also study how diction extends the ability of poetry to engage in social justice. By exploring their own ideas of social justice and by choosing their own topics, students were engaged in this unit, and it was evident that they had conducted a tremendous amount of independent research.

The themes identified through analysis contend that students eagerly embraced McLaren’s (2008) ultimate goal of world peace considering that their poems consistently argued for the marginalized and abused to be respected and empowered. Anecdotal information from the classroom teacher conveyed how students were highly engaged in discussions of social justice, how they were rapt with the video chat from author Lesleá Newman, and how they demanded to work with peers from different class periods while others demanded to work alone.

They were invested intellectually and emotionally in their learning, and their experiences support Freire’s (1986) call for a transformative literacy that can be used by students to promote social justice. A main feature of this unit, the ability of students to choose their topics, their partners, and their forms, all follow basic tenets of social justice education 12

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that students do not come to school tabula rasa and that they should have a large degree of autonomy in choosing their educational experiences (Freire, 1970). Ultimately, the poetry they composed strongly supports Jocson’s (2010) contention that adolescents can be participatory members of a democracy and that aside from being consumers of knowledge, that with encouragement from their teachers they can be producers of knowledge who “confront social inequities in their lives” (p. 86).

addressing LGBTQ issues in the classroom. This study adds to the work of other studies that have featured LGBTQ themed texts (e.g. Athanases, 1996; Schall & Kaufmann, 2003; Sieben & Wallowitz, 2009) and strongly argues that students are not only willing, but able and excited to tackle topics of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Time is always a major consideration when teaching. This unit, which lasted only one instructional month, was severely limited by a testing driven school calendar. Although we find it extraordinary that juniors and seniors invested so much intellectual and emotional energy into a project during the last month of school, it is not possible to know whether or not the students’ passion for poetry or outrage at social injustices continued. In ideal circumstances this unit would begin earlier in the school year, last at least an entire quarter, include ancillary texts, and allow students multiple avenues for publication including digital tools. Furthermore, this unit could be reproduced using other books of poetry as mentor texts and could even use musical mentor texts in the form of concept albums such as Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Styx’s Paradise Theater, or Prince Paul’s A Prince among Thieves.

The success of this unit adds to the body of research that examines social justice education in English language arts (e.g. Miller, 2010), that describes poetry instruction (e.g., Wood, 2006), and that combines poetry and social justice instruction (e.g., Fisher, 2005; Jocson, 2005). While these students were in Advanced Placement Language and Literature classes, we would argue that it was not their academic ability that played a major role in the success of their work, but their emotional investment in their topics. Their successes composing thoughtful and nuanced works of verse contradict deficit oriented educators who argue that students need to know the “basics” before advancing to creative units. Indeed, the students’ knowledge of poetic forms and diction was reported by the teacher to be at the novice level at best before the unit.

In order to remain as unobtrusive as possible, researchers did not observe or record instruction, classroom discussions, or small groups negotiating and working on their projects. This decision limited this study’s focus to only the students’ works of poetry. Future research into students’ engagement with poetry and social justice could include analysis of student discussions and perhaps include student interviews to shed more light on individual experiences. Furthermore, this unit did not attempt to quantitatively measure any increases in knowledge of poetry, knowledge of social justice issues, or attitudes toward engaging in social justice.

It is important to note that although some students chose not to have their work shared with researchers, there were no complaints from students or parents concerning the use of an LGBTQ themed text as part of the curriculum. The ability of students to engage with a text that chronicled such a brutal hate crime stands in opposition to those who would argue that LGBTQ themed texts have no place in public schools.

Furthermore, it would be unconscionable to neglect to mention that it may not be possible to teach this unit in eight states (Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah) that currently have “no promo homo laws” that place various restrictions and prohibitions on teachers from discussing LGBTQ issues (GLSEN, n.d.). Although the country continues its move toward equal rights for people who identify as LGBTQ, there are still many places where it is dangerous to be different, and many schools where teachers could lose their jobs for

Implications The success of this unit, which engaged adolescents in an extended interaction with poetry, has numerous implications for education. Perhaps the most critical one is that the final project in this unit of study, student composed poetry, stands 13

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diametrically opposed to the curriculum that is being forced upon many English teachers around the country in an attempt to increase standardized test scores. The elements of this unit–students learning about poetry and social justice, students choosing their own topics, and students writing their own poetry–is what Bloom (1956) identified as the highest level of learning: synthesis. This level of complexity is a stark contrast to what may be tested for Common Core State Standards where test items available on Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (2015) and Smarter Balanced (n.d.) websites show a predominance of activities that fall into the lowest levels of Bloom’s taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, and application.

and he was excited to connect the two in his classroom. Unfortunately, not all teachers have the same kind of confidence and/or competence in the teaching of poetry or focusing instruction on issues of social justice. Although many teacher preparation programs are social justice oriented, others subscribe to a “standards based” paradigm where preparation is focused, perhaps even prescriptively, on satisfying standards that are checked off dutifully when designing instruction.

On the other hand, the student poets’ commitments to address issues of social justice give strong credence to those who advocate that social justice education should be the cornerstone of English language arts teacher education preparation (Alsup & Miller, 2014). Although standards can change, elements of quality instruction, including engaging material, student choice, relevant topics, and giving students a chance to discuss their work amongst themselves, do not. We argue that quality instruction always satisfies a multitude of standards.

The high levels of student engagement and learning that occurred also challenge the common phenomenon in educational calendars where authentic teaching happens “after testing.” Many teachers have complained about this phenomenon and about the frenzy of test preparation that occurs in the months preceding standardized exams, often known by euphemisms such as “crunch time.”

These months transform schools into test preparation centers and marginalize or eliminate authentic instruction. As the pandemic of testing and scripted curricula spreads across school districts, educators and researchers should provide a loud counter narrative to the commercially profitable yet inauthentic learning that is often passed off as quality instruction.

The students in this unit mastered many elements of poetic form, and it is important to note that social justice education and more traditional/tested approaches that would be considered formalist or new criticism are not mutually exclusive. Ideally, future research would empirically examine the differences between scripted curricula and authentic instruction on variables such as student performance, time on task, attendance, and discipline referrals.

The ability of Guillermo to manage classroom discussions dealing with topics such genital mutilation, rape, racism, LGBTQ rights, and even suicide, which had personally impacted his students during instruction, was critical to the success of this unit. Teacher education programs should ensure that pre-service teachers are well versed in sensitive and/or controversial issues that could arise during teaching; furthermore, they should be prepared to handle discussions of these topics. Broaching these subjects could be addressed in numerous types of methods and classroom management courses. Specifically for pre-service English language arts teachers, English Education programs should include elements of dialogic instruction in methods and/or content classes so that teachers can use controversial classroom discussions as an effective instructional tool (e.g., Juzwik, Borsheim-Black, Caughlan, & Heintz, 2013; Nystrand, 1997; O’Donnell, 2011).

A reflection of the intersections among the teacher, the text, and the learning context has numerous implications for teacher preparation. Guillermo has a wealth of knowledge of poetry and social justice,

Beyond the dialogue of student voices in the classroom, this unit featured an intertextual dialogue among the text of students’ discussions, the text of their poetry, and the text of October

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Malo-Juvera, V., & Spears-Bunton, L. (2015) / A Qualitative Analysis of High School Students’ Engagement

Mourning, which in many ways was the lynchpin of the instruction of this unit. The success of the unit adds to the body of knowledge that espouses the use of mentor texts in English language arts (e.g., Dorfman & Cappelli, 2007; Mendez-Newman, 2012), and teacher preparation programs should share strategies with preservice teachers for using mentor texts in a variety of instructional situations.

rights and homophobia (Haertling-Thein, 2013; Malo-Juvera, 2015). If texts such as October Mourning are to be used in classrooms, teacher education programs need to include the use of LGBTQ themed materials with pre-service teachers across all grade levels and specializations.

Specifically, English education and literacy programs should expose pre-service teachers to LGBTQ themed texts that would be age appropriate from the earliest moments in training.

All of the aforementioned ideas for improving the preparation of pre-service teachers could also be offered to in-service teachers as professional development; however, many school districts would need to reassess their stances on controversial issues for this to occur. Consider the myriad school districts where teaching an LGBTQ text could be career suicide for a teacher. Moreover, many schools forbid teachers from discussing specific events such as the Trayvon Martin case, constitutional amendments related to gay marriage, and issues concerning the decriminalization and/or legalization of marijuana. Accepting a whitewashed curriculum implies that we expect students to graduate from high school and intelligently navigate the malaise of our local, social, economic, political and global communities without ever having an opportunity to read, write, think and discuss these issues in a safe, scholarly, and respectful environment. This study presents an oppositional perspective, and suggests that although social justice begins with consciousness, the ultimate goal of English language arts instruction should be informed, positive social action and change.

Conclusion Because of the success of this unit in classes with pre-service and in-service teachers, we were excited at the possibilities of moving this unit to the secondary level. We hope that, beyond presenting a unit of study, other teachers can duplicate or modify in their own classrooms. We have offered an insightful look at the investment students are willing to make when addressing social justice issues in English language arts classrooms. The students in this study eagerly provided a counter narrative to many instances of oppression, sometimes sanctioned, that infuriated them.

Ultimately, we hope that we have shown that social justice education has rigor and that we have added to the field of knowledge that presents alternatives to commercially produced curricula that threaten to turn public school English classrooms into sanitized test preparation factories. Life is not sanitized, and a sanitized curriculum does not engage students, or prepare them for life.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The fact that October Mourning is an LGBTQ themed text also has important considerations for teacher education and for school systems. Some researchers have found that pre-service and inservice teachers are reticent to use LGBTQ themed texts and/or to engage in discussions about gay

The authors would like to thank LesleĂĄ Newman for her assistance with the project and for her engaging Skype conversation with the students in this study.

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Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Researcher 1 Man vs. Society

Table 1 Negotiation of Themes

Researcher 2 Oppression

Agreed Theme The Individual vs. Society

Gender/Class Imbalances

Outrage

Subjugation of Women

Money as Evil

Money as Power and Privilege

The Corrupting Influence of Money

Suicide

Suicide

Suicide

Male Assailant – No Remorse

Collapsed into Subjugation of Women

God

Other Theme

Tool Poems

Bullying

Point of View Poems

Other Theme

Racism

Collapsed into The Individual vs.

Society

Dehumanization

Collapsed into Subjugation of Women

Bullying

Other Theme

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Table 2 Overview of Student Poetry Projects, Topics, & Themes

# of Poems Subject Themes

Title Chained

12

Taken

14

Nigerian Kidnapped!

Girls 12

Kidnapping and ongoing sexual abuse of three women by Ariel Castro Kidnapping and ongoing sexual abuse of three women by Ariel Castro Kidnapping of 240 female Nigerian students by Boko Haram

Subjugation of Women; Suicide; God Subjugation of Women Individual vs. Society; Subjugation of Women; Corrupting Influence of Money

Untitled: Jimmy Ryce

12

Kidnapping, rape and murder of 10 year old boy

An Unhappy Marriage

13

Domestic abuse and suicide of

Same Love is Shame Love

12

Life and suicide of Jeffrey Zgut, a Individual vs. Society; Suicide; 20 year old gay young adult Bullying

Ramon Sampedro

15

Assisted suicide of paralyzed man

Individual vs. Society; Suicide

In the Sea

15

Cuban Emigration

Individual vs. Society

Air Pollution in Shanghai

12

Industrial air pollution

Individual vs. Society; Corrupting Influence of Money

Affluenza

12

The Road Last Traveled

15

Legal defense of Ethan Couch Subjugation of Women; arguing his life of privilege was to Corrupting Influence of Money blame for his actions Trayvon Martin killing Individual vs. Society

Ending Cycle

12

Suicide of Brandon transgender man

Bullied into Anorexia

11

Experience of Kylie Hortop who Subjugation of Women; Bullying was bullied and developed eating disorders Girls trying to adhere to society’s Individual vs. Society; Subjugation definitions of beauty of Women

Teena,

Subjugation of Women; Suicide; God

a Individual vs. Society; Suicide; Bullying

Living Up to Impossible Ideals Society

the 12 of

FGM Horror Stories

14

Female genital mutilation

Malala

16

Caustic Childhoods

15

Shooting of Pakistani educational Subjugation of Women activist Challenges children face such as Suicide

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Individual vs. Society; Subjugation of Women; Corrupting Influence of Money

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 depression, self-harm, substance abuse

and

Untitled: Poetry Project 12 on Social Justice

Depression and suicide

The Life of a Jew

Poetic retelling of Elie Wiesel’s Individual vs. Society; God Night

12

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Suicide

“It Happened to Me”: Third Grade Students Write and Draw Toward Critical Perspectives

Amy Seely Flint Eliza Allen Megan Nason Sanjuana Rodriguez Natasha Thornton Kamania Wynter-Hoyte

ABSTRACT: Elementary teachers and their students often find themselves using curricular frameworks

with prescribed outcomes that closely align with current testing regimes and standards (Au, 2011; Botzakis,

Burns, & Hall, 2014; Williams, 2007). Such learning rarely includes opportunities to problematize and consider multiple points of view about topics such as race and class. This article examines the written and visual responses of children as they read and discussed issues related to civil rights and migrant workers.

Theories that guide this study include sociocultural and critical theories, specifically writing is a social practice, writing is a tool for thinking, and writing from a critical perspective contributes to developing globally minded and socially just students. Findings from a constant comparative approach to data analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1994) suggest that children’s oral responses to the texts focused on the many injustices experienced during the time period. Topics such as friendship, violence, language learning, movement/solidarity, and healthcare were also apparent in published pieces and informal writing samples.

Students utilized a range of sign systems through writing, language, and drawing to further their own

understandings of the social, historical, and political events of days past, as well as current day happenings.

Keywords: critical literacy, English Learners, transmediation, writing instruction

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Flint, A. S., Allen, E., Nason, M., Rodriguez, S., Thornton, N., & Wynter-Hoyte, K. (2015) / It Happened to Me

Amy Seely Flint is professor in the Middle and Secondary Department, College of Education, Georgia State University. Her research interests include critical literacy, teacher professional development, and emergent writing. She has published in journals such as Language Arts, The Reading Teacher, Elementary School Journal, and Theory into Practice.

Eliza G. Allen is an assistant professor in the Instruction and Teacher Education Department, College of Education, University of South Carolina. Her research interest includes critical language and literacy practices of culturally and linguistically diverse young children, in and out of school literacy practices, family literacy, social justice and education, and digital literacy. She has published in journals such as the Language Arts, Language Arts Journal of Michigan, and English in Texas.

Megan Nason is an associate professor in the Teacher Education Department, College of Education, University of North Georgia. Her research interests include second language learners and teacher development. She has published in the Bilingual Research Journal.

Sanjuana C. Rodriguez is an assistant professor of Reading and Literacy Education at Kennesaw State University. Her research interests include the early literacy development of culturally and linguistically diverse students, early writing development, and literacy development of English Learners. She has published in Language Arts and Language Arts Journal of Michigan.

Natasha Thornton is an assistant professor of Reading and Literacy Education at Kennesaw State University. Her research interests include culturally relevant pedagogy and teacher development. She has published in Language Arts and Language Arts Journal of Michigan.

Kamania Wynter-Hoyte is an assistant professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Department, School of Education, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Her research interests include critical literacy, culturally relevant pedagogy, and community literacy practices. She has published in the Illinois Reading Council Journal.

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Flint, A. S., Allen, E., Nason, M., Rodriguez, S., Thornton, N., & Wynter-Hoyte, K. (2015) / “It Happened to Me”

I

n a culturally and linguistically diverse thirdlearning English. Some begin to write about these grade class, William (all names of people and personal memories. places are pseudonyms) and his classmates are

busy reading, writing, drawing, talking, and thinking Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and about issues related to civil rights and migrant Writing Instruction workers. The rights and freedoms for everybody,

including migrant workers, are being talked about as According to recent National Assessment of part of the mandated curriculum in social studies. As Educational Progress reports (National Center for students consider the course of events during the Education Statistics, 2012), twenty-seven percent of 1960s and 1970s related to human and civil rights in all eighth grade students across the nation scored in the United States, they engage in “problem posing” the proficient range on the 2011 writing assessments.

(Freire, 1970) and wonder For English learners (EL) the about fairness, race, language percentage drops dramatically A sociocultural theory of use, and the plight of African with one percent at or above writing considers the Americans and Latinos in this proficient. Such results, along country. During a sharing with research studies (Higgins, interdependence of the time, William reads from his Miller, & Wegmann, 2006; Mo, individual and the social character perspective piece.

Kopke, Hawkins, Troia, &

Olinghouse, 2014; Soares & context as ideas are composed In this piece, William takes on Wood, 2010) indicate teachers and knowledge is constructed. are not providing students the perspective of one of the marshals hired to escort and with frequent opportunities to protect Ruby Bridges as she write or having writing tasks walks past the protesters into her new school and that are limited in nature. A nationwide survey first grade classroom. He writes, “What will happen if conducted by Cutler and Graham (2008) revealed I let Ruby walk by herself? I wonder what they are that the majority of elementary school students were planning to do with Ruby? And I wonder if I will get involved in writing activities for less than thirty a $100 to walk Ruby to school.” This particular minutes a day. Higgins et al. (2006) and others (Au, writing invitation required students to address one of 2011; Botzakis, Burns, & Hall, 2014; National the dimensions of critical literacy: taking on multiple Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and perspectives (Lewison, Flint, & Van Sluys, 2002).

Colleges, 2003; Williams, 2007) also note that many While imagining what the marshal’s experiences teachers devoted less time to authentic writing might have been like, William constructs a more ininstruction that allowed students to make choices depth understanding of the issues during this time and write about meaningful topics because the time period. He even considers the economic costs spent was focused on preparing students to take involved in protecting the rights of one young child, standardized tests at the end of the year.

Ruby Bridges.

Although former curricular standards included On a different day, William’s classmates discuss their writing, recent efforts with the Common Core State experiences related to learning English. Many of the Standards movement have welcomed a renewed students in this class are English Learners (EL) and emphasis on writing instruction (Mo et al., 2014). In have multiple experiences navigating between grades K-5, teachers are advised to carefully choose languages. One text in particular, Harvesting Hope: texts that can strategically help students increase The Story of Cesar Chavez (Krull, 2003), resonates worldly knowledge (National Governors Association with the students as they listen to their teacher read Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State about how Chavez was singled out by his teacher for School Officers, 2010). The CCSS in English Language speaking Spanish. As the discussion ensues, the Arts encourage teachers to embed more integrated students share stories of people who have chastised writing opportunities across the curriculum them for speaking Spanish or supported them in inmultiple content areas (Graham, 2013). Writing

25

Flint, A. S., Allen, E., Nason, M., Rodriguez, S., Thornton, N., & Wynter-Hoyte, K. (2015) / “It Happened to Me” across the curriculum is a powerful strategy for took up and problematized how their own lives and learning subject matter that “engages students, experiences were being shaped by the social and extends thinking, deepens understanding, and political movements of previous eras. The read energizes the meaning making process” (Knipper & alouds, discussions, writing times, and author shares Duggan, 2006, p. 462). As with previous curricular made it possible for the classroom community to standards, students are expected to write for reflect upon and consider multiple viewpoints and multiple purposes, such as to persuade, inform, and their own personal connections. In the context of narrate. Students are also expected to conduct these literacy engagements, the following questions research by gathering information from a variety of were posed: (1) What topics and types of writing do sources and use document-based evidence within students take up when discussing and learning about expository text. Researchers such as Strickland (2012) issues related to civil rights and immigration? And and others (Fisher & Frey, 2013; Graham & Harris, (2) What are the affordances and constraints of the 2013) note that it is critical for teachers to provide different writing invitations as students engage with students with daily opportunities to write for critical literacy texts? The purpose of this paper is to multiple purposes and audiences across the content illuminate writing activities and children’s literature areas. Implementing these new standards provides that support critical reflections from students of educators and policymakers opportunities to color, in particular English language learners. First “reevaluate current practices, abandoning less we provide our theoretical perspective, which views effective methods in favor of more constructive ways writing as a social practice and a tool for thinking of teaching writing” (Mo et al., 2014, p. 452). critically about historical and current events. Then,

we describe our methodology, data collection While the CCSS provides a roadmap and benchmarks methods, and data analysis procedures. These for teachers as to what writing should look like for sections address how the researchers worked each grade level, several challenges still exist. collaboratively to analyze and interpret possible Teachers still need to have a clearer understanding of meanings behind the linguistically and culturally how gaining a deeper understanding of students’ diverse third grade students’ writing samples. Finally, developmental writing stages will help them to more findings of this study are shared and followed by a effectively differentiate writing instruction for discussion of what it means to engage students in students based on their abilities, experiences, and writing about issues related to race, and civil rights. interests. The National Commission on Writing in Theories to Guide Our Thinking America’s Schools and Colleges (2003) and Cutler and Graham (2008) contend that many teachers lack The theoretical framework that guides study is confidence in their abilities to teach writing and feel grounded in sociocultural and critical theories, underprepared to move beyond a scripted program specifically the notions that writing is a social or approach. Thus, writing assignments and practice, a tool for thinking, and writing from a assessments tend to be prompt driven. The formulaic critical perspective contributes to developing nature of instruction and the commonplace globally minded and socially just students. structures rarely invite students to grapple with and think “on paper” about social justice issues and ideas.

Writing as a Social Practice Yet, for the third grade students profiled in this

article, opportunities to discuss and think about Sociocultural theorists and scholars emphasize that social justice topics as they worked with “writing learning and literacy development are socially, invitations” allowed them to compose meaningful culturally, and historically situated practices (Barton and authentic texts. (See Appendix A for descriptions & Hamilton, 2000; Cook-Gumperz, 2006; Vygotsky, of writing invitations.)

1978). By focusing on the diverse contextualized

practices in which reading and writing occur, literacy Back in William’s class, the reading, writing, is viewed from what Street (1984) calls an ideological drawing, and talking about issues related to civil perspective. An ideological perspective acknowledges rights and migrant workers revealed that students

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

that literacy is a set of social practices based in particular worldviews and varies from context to context. As children engage in reading and writing events, they draw upon social relationships with others, language patterns, and use of various tools and signs to construct meaning. These meanings are situated in the values, beliefs, and attitudes of those participating, leading to particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing in cultural contexts. Literacy practices then are “never independent of [the] social world” (Perry, 2012, p.

52). They are connected to and are understood as existing in relationships between people, within groups, and among communities (Barton & Hamilton, 2000).

A sociocultural theory of writing considers the interdependence of the individual and the social context as ideas are composed and knowledge is constructed. As children and teachers come together to participate in classroom-based writing events, they engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of interest. Children compose in a variety of modes and with a variety of materials to connect with others about matters of significance. In doing so, they draw upon their cultural resources, values, attitudes, understandings of the world, and networks of relationships. The features, processes, and design of the context influence the learning and the writing that occurs within such a community.

Identities as writers are thus constructed, and their emerging identities in turn shape the contexts in which they engage in turn shapes the contexts in which one engages (Schultz, 2006).

Writing and Other Sign Systems as Tools for Thinking

Human beings strive to understand and make meaning of such things as experiences, histories, paintings, movement, scientific theorems, and mathematical computations. People seek to construct meaning by relating new experiences with existing mental structures or worldviews. Dix (2008) suggested, “While an idea is the thing you are thinking, when you write it down you can think about it” (p. 18). Writing brings vague perceptions or ideas to a verbal level that is explicit enough to reconsider or extend. Multiple theorists and

researchers have contemplated the idea that writing promotes and extends thinking for many years. Luria and Yudovich (1971) stated, “written speech represents a new and powerful instrument of thought,” while Vygotsky (1986) discussed this idea and argued that writing centrally represents a compression of inner speech. The slower nature of writing allows for and encourages movement among past, present, and future experiences and thought. Fu and Hansen (2012) claimed that writing could lead to deeper thinking.

Writing, as a mediating tool between thought and activity, however, is not the only possibility. Building from the theory of semiotics, Siegel (1995) and others (Short & Kauffman, 2000; Smagorinsky & Coppock, 1994) extend the idea that using a range of mediational tools (e.g., writing, drawing, music, dance, etc.) supports greater complexity of thought and the consideration of new ideas and connections.

Defined as transmediation, this process reflects what happens when “understandings from one system (language) [are] mov[ed] into another sign system (pictorial representation)” (Siegel, 1995, p. 456).

Further, this move from one sign to another and the functioning of these signs “always involves an enlargement and expansion of meaning, not a simple substitution of one thing for another” (p. 457).

Transmediating across sign systems is a generative and reflexive act, whereby new connections and new understandings are created.

Critical Literacy

Critical literacy invites teachers and students to consider the varied ways literacy practices matter to the participants and their places in the world. As noted, literacy is seen as a social practice, not simply a technical skill (Comber, Thomson, & Wells, 2001; Luke & Freebody, 1997). Language and literacy are not neutral acts, but rather are situated in personal, social, historical, and political relationships. Lewison, Flint and, Van Sluys (2002) identified four social practices that reflect a critical literacy curriculum: 1) disrupting the commonplace, (2) interrogating multiple perspectives, (3) focusing on sociopolitical issues, and (4) taking action to promote social justice. Emphasis is specifically placed on the context in which the texts are created and contested.

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Flint, A. S., Allen, E., Nason, M., Rodriguez, S., Thornton, N., & Wynter-Hoyte, K. (2015) / “It Happened to Me” Students’ interests and purposes serve as the collected data related to the phenomena under foundation for what occurs in the classroom. study.

Despite the growing research centering young Participants and Setting learners in critical literacy (Chafel, Flint, Hammel, &

Pomeroy, 2007; Comber & Simpson, 2001; Flint & Richardson Elementary School is a school located off Laman, 2012; Vasquez, 2004); our collective of what is an affectionately termed “international experiences suggest that many educators believe that highway” in a large, urban southeastern city. Many of children are incapable of partaking in such the restaurants and businesses close to the school are controversial or political discussions. However, owned by families of Latin, Vietnamese, and Korean young students are already cognizant of issues of descent. The neighborhood, comprised mostly of race, gender, class, and power. They are inundated older apartment buildings and small single-family with power struggles in both home and school homes, is diverse and transitory in nature with many settings and are able to recognize these hegemonies children moving in and out of the school on a regular at an early age (Park, 2011; Rogers & Mosley, 2006). basis. At the time of the study, the school had Critical literacy invites students to discuss these preapproximately 800 students, with over 98% receiving existing issues. Further, critical literacy “allows free and reduced lunch and 57% receiving pullout students to bring their own lived experiences into ESOL services. discussions, offering them opportunities for

participation, engagement in higher levels of reading, Participants in this study included two third-grade and to understand the power of language” (Soares & teachers and 38 students. The teachers, one female Wood, 2010, p. 487). and one male, were Caucasian with over 25 and 15

years, respectively, of teaching experience. The The theories that guide this study point to the nature student population in these two classrooms was of learning and literacy as being socially, culturally, predominately Latin@, with the exception of one historically, and ideologically situated. Learners draw African-American student. According to Stake upon beliefs and values to construct critical (1994), of primary importance is participant understandings in language and other sign systems, selection. The teachers in this study had worked with as they engage with others in meaningful contexts. first author Amy Seely Flint in previous years and Moreover, these literacy practices “always comes were interested in continuing to learn about critical fully attached to ‘other stuff’: to social relations, literacy and integrating more purposeful writing into cultural models, power and politics, perspectives on their social studies curriculum. The teachers experience, values and attitudes, as well as things implemented two units of study, one focused on the and places in the world” (Gee, 1996, p. vii). civil rights movement and the other on migrant

workers.

Method

These topics were selected because they aligned with This naturalistic, qualitative study investigated how state-mandated social studies standards. The students engaged with and composed texts around teachers were also mindful that social studies was issues of social justice. A naturalistic study is focused often dismissed in favor of more time on reading and on the behavior of individuals when they are math and there were few authentic writing activities absorbed in life experiences in natural settings integrated into their social studies instruction. To (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). This qualitative study, address these concerns, the teachers in this study following a naturalistic design, studied the read aloud children’s literature selections on the engagements and interactions in a combined thirdidentified topics of civil rights and migrant workers, grade classroom, where students read texts introduced different writing invitations, and representative of social issues such as the civil rights facilitated critical discussions of the texts (see movement and migrant worker experiences. The Appendix A for descriptions of writing invitations researchers were participant observers as they and Appendix B for summaries of selected texts). The

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teachers regularly brought the two classes together and took turns reading aloud the stories to their combined classes. While one teacher read the story aloud, the other teacher monitored the students’ engagement, interjected with questions and ideas, and encouraged student response and discussion. As the students wrote in response to these texts before, during, and after they were read aloud by the two teachers, the students began to think critically about the characters’ actions and the events occurring in these stories. These instructional activities were viewed during transcriptions of the videos.

The data collected during this study included video and audio recordings of the read alouds, discussions, and teacher debriefs; field notes; student constructed artifacts; and interviews with students and teachers.

For the purposes of this article, to understand the topics students selected and the affordances of the writing invitations, we draw primarily upon the student artifacts: student writing folders that included the writing invitations and published drafts, as well as field notes of classroom discussions.

Data Analysis

Data analysis was guided by the research questions and theoretical frameworks: writing as a social practice, writing as a tool for thinking, and critical literacy. A frequency chart was constructed to understand the relationship and prevalence of the writing invitations for each text. Based on frequency, Sketch-to-stretch and QuICS writing invitations (again, see Appendix A for descriptions of the writing invitations) were further analyzed to identify topics.

Then, the students’ writing folders were equally divided among the researchers and inductively analyzed to uncover how the students’ writing was socially constructed and used as a catapult for thinking. During this stage, each researcher completed a data set chart per student, which summarized students’ responses to the texts and described the various writing invitations.

Researchers coded the data set with codes such as “personal experience,” “family,” “language use,” and “struggle.” Using a constant comparative method (Creswell, 1998; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1994), researchers recursively read and reread the student artifacts, highlighting the

similarities and differences among the students’ writing.

After several rounds of reading and re-reading the data sources, themes were generated that ultimately revealed how the students constructed meaning as they interacted with critical literacy texts. The last stage of constant comparative analysis involved rereading the data until saturation took place (Strauss & Corbin, 1994), which was reached when redundancy in themes, patterns, and relationships amongst and between categories became apparent.

This stage was heavily grounded in sociocultural and critical theories. The concluding themes illuminated student preferences, sociocultural links to the topics, and what each writing invitation either afforded or constrained.

Findings Students addressed various topics in their responses to the critical literacy texts. Overall, five topics emerged from the data: friendship, violence, language learning, movement/solidarity, and healthcare. Two of the topics, friendship and violence, were mostly located in the civil rights text set, the other three (language learning, movement/solidarity, and healthcare) were more prevalent in the migrant workers text set. The distribution of topics within the two text sets reflects in some ways the focus of the text itself. For example, it is not surprising that students made comments about best friends after reading The Other Side (Woodson & Lewis, 2001) and moving from place to place in response to The Circuit (Jiménez, 1997).

Overall, the five topics represented both larger social issues and intimate personal concerns.

Friendship

Friendship was a central topic across students’ sketch-to-stretch responses to the stories If A Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks (Ringgold, 1999), The Story of Ruby Bridges (Coles,1995), White Socks Only (Coleman, 1996), and The Other Side (Woodson & Lewis, 2001). Initially this finding surprised the research team because the stories highlighted the unjust treatment of African Americans during the civil rights era. Discussions following the read alouds of the texts focused on how inequality and prejudice 29

Flint, A. S., Allen, E., Nason, M., Rodriguez, S., Thornton, N., & Wynter-Hoyte, K. (2015) / “It Happened to Me” prevailed in the communities and around the consequences that Rosa Parks endured: “Rosa country. However, many of the students drew images threatened a White boy when she knew that she for their sketch-to-stretches, which included girls could get hung or shot.” holding hands, BFF (Best Friends Forever), and

hearts (see Figure 1). One of the stories in the civil Language Learning rights text set, The Other Side, carried a subtheme of

friendship, which seemed to resonate with students.

Language learning was a topic that appeared in many The positive, colorful images that the students of the students’ images and words. None of the texts produced contrasted the difficult and trying events explicitly addressed learning a new language, but depicted in the text. In addition to the images that students’ own personal connections with events and reflected friendship, students captioned their people, similar to those represented in the stories, drawings with words and phrases such as, “now,” were highlighted. For example, in the book “XOXOXXO,” and “black and white can be together.”

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez (Krull, These descriptors symbolized what they saw as the 2003), the author writes about Chavez’s experience in outcome of the work of civil rights activists such as school when the teacher hung a sign on him that Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ruby stated “I am a clown. I speak Spanish” (Krull, 2003, Bridges: that African Americans and Whites can get n.p.). Chavez’s experience resonated with students as along and be friends. The focus of friendships across they wrote and drew about this incident. While racial lines was commonplace among the students' making a connection to this particular book, one writings in response to the Civil Rights texts they student wrote “sad” next to the sign, “I am a clown.” read and discussed.

His feelings for the incident were clear in his word

choice. The image of the sign was also one of the Violence most used when students used the sketch-to-stretch

invitation. Several of the students drew the sign with One topic, indicative of the Civil Rights Era that the words written on it. appeared in students’ written artifacts, was the issue

of violence. When students wrote about what The Circuit (Jiménez, 1997) was another text that surprised them, they noted the violent nature of explored the challenges of learning a language. many of the incidences that took place. This Similar to the author’s boyhood experiences in emphasis perhaps was a surprise because students growing up in a migrant family, many of the students had not encountered picture books that addressed identified with and wrote about instances when they these events. Although many of the texts themselves had been denied the right to speak their first did not explicitly foreground the violence, students language in school. They shared personal memories picked up on the subtleties in the images and in of when they or their friends were scolded for passing references. The images in these texts speaking Spanish in the classroom. Bernardo wrote, contributed to students’ expanded understandings of “It reminds me of kindergarten when I didn’t know the events of the 1960s. In responding to The Story of any English.” In a personal memory text, Alejandro Ruby Bridges (Coles, 1995), students noted that the shared his friend’s experience of being admonished marshals carried guns. They were surprised to learn by a teacher for speaking Spanish the previous year. that the White students in the school hated Ruby He wrote, Bridges. One student wrote “Everybody at the school I remember in 2nd grade, Mrs. O said “ hate her [sic].” Gabriel wrote, “The whole school was English, English, no Spanish!” to Angel. And mean to Ruby.” As they read and talked about If a then he moved to Mexico to speak Spanish.

Bus Could Talk (Ringgold, 1999), students again And I feel sorry for him because he got yelled commented on gun use. Alicia made references to

by Mrs. O ‘ cause she was a loud voice and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the violence that she don’t want people to speak Spanish. surrounded his life: “In the scary night, they would For many of the students, the challenges of learning kill Black people. They burned MLK house [sic].” a new language were something that they could And still another responded to dangers and

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connect to and write about using the different The topic of healthcare came up often in the invitations. students’ writings, especially in regards to family

members being born, trips to the hospital, and Movement and Solidarity remedies for illnesses. Students’ wrote personal

connection stories, sketch-to-stretch pieces, and An analysis of the writing artifacts suggested that Fair/Not Fair responses as they listened to their students appeared to include images related to the teachers read chapters from The Circuit (Jiménez, tensions exhibited in the texts when reading books 1997). In their personal connection stories two related to migration and Latin@ history in the students wrote about baby sisters being born.

United States. For example, they included images Alejandro wrote about a remedy that his mom used representing movement or migration from place to to help him get better when he was sick, saying, “I place such as maps, flags of remember when I got sick.

Mexico and the United States, and As teachers and students work My mom used to get a coin large groups of people marching and put it with Tiger Balm” toward integrating critical (see Figure 2).

Another student’s personal One student, Xahari, chose for her connection story included literacy practices into their final writing piece a response to other family members: “My writing time, it is possible to the story Harvesting Hope (Krull, aunt had a baby who was transform and strengthen the 2003). She illustrated her cover sick and went to the with a garden patch of lettuce, hospital and got better.” literacy practices and carrots, and grapes; an apple

repertories of students as they References to healthcare orchard with ladders next to the trees; and people holding baskets were also represented in navigate the larger social, as they picked the fruit. All of the sketch-to-stretch pieces cultural, and political events of that the students created. people were frowning. Inside she wrote, Alexis created two sketches the day.

Cesar Chavez live with his that related to healthcare. family.

In the first piece she drew a He had a beautiful house. tent with a baby inside and His father had a job until the trees weren’t so wrote “the baby died.” In the second piece Alexis good. drew a baby with a sad face and wrote “this is the His family didn’t have any money so his baby that is sick when he is little,”; a picture of a tent parents had to work on a farm. is next to the words “this is the tent they stay in and He left school and worked with his parents. sleep in”; and she drew a hospital and wrote “this is They were really poor. the hospital that Torito went to when he was sick.”

Their house wasn’t so pretty.

Similarly, another student depicted various aspects They were immigrants. of family and illness in her sketch–to-stretch. Her Their boss when the workers did something images depicted a mother in the hospital taking care wrong sometimes the boss fired them, beat of a sick baby. She also drew a picture of people them or murdered them. praying and wrote, “people pray when someone is Cesar was scared. dying or sick.” A picture of the baby in the story with He made speeches until one day he died. blood on his diaper depicted his illness. A third Xahari’s composition is a summary of the student drew a picture of a hospital and a baby. story; but it also demonstrates how she was able to Students also connected to the unfairness of being encapsulate the central ideas around solidarity, sick and dying as an infant. Tomas wrote, “It’s not power, and resilience among migrant workers. fair that Torito is sick” while Diana wrote that it was

fair that the doctors wanted to save the baby and Healthcare that the girl tried to save the baby, too.

31

Flint, A. S., Allen, E., Nason, M., Rodriguez, S., Thornton, N., & Wynter-Hoyte, K. (2015) / “It Happened to Me” The varied topics that students took up in their writing suggest that the texts and conversations invoked ideas and concerns that are rarely seen in elementary classroom curriculum. Making sense of the violence during the civil rights, understanding language use, or talking about different avenues for healthcare are not commonplace “prompts” found within elementary classrooms (Geisler, Hessler, Gardner, & Lovelace, 2009; Hudson, Lane, & Mercer, 2005). Students in these two classrooms were able to explore a range of ideas in a variety of sign systems, thereby increasing their abilities to demonstrate knowledge and understanding.

Affordances and Challenges Related to Multiple Writing Invitations

As we began to examine student response to the different writing invitations, we noted the frequency of certain invitations. This process led to considering the purpose and value of each invitation as students discussed social justice issues and historical events.

The three most popular writing invitations were sketch-to-stretch, QuICS, and character perspective.

By far, students selected sketch-to-stretch as a preferred response strategy (n=71). Every student had at least one sketch-to-stretch in his or her writing folder, while many students had multiple sketches.

White Socks Only (Coleman, 1996), The Other Side (Woodson & Lewis, 2001), and Harvesting Hope (Krull, 2003) were the texts that invoked the most sketches.

We surmised that the events in the stories lent themselves to drawing selected images. The sketchto-stretch invitation enabled students to visually represent the ideas in the story as well as in their own thinking as they read and discussed the texts.

Students’ images were predominantly positive and happy, with icons reflective of friendships, family, solidarity of a group, and love. Occasionally, students would create a “collage” of sorts by drawing images across the texts. One student, Aaron, chose to symbolize his perspective of how race relations have changed over the 40-year period (see Figure 3). His images exemplify how sketch-to-stretch can push students to new understandings of complex ideas.

Alongside the sketch-to-stretch, students also responded to the texts through QuICS. The QuICS strategy was an opportunity for students to list initial thoughts about a text that they could develop further in later writings. To illustrate, Alicia wrote for her question, “Why did the White people didn’t like Black people?” and she was surprised that the “White people wanted to kill Ruby.” These statements were developed into a more thoughtful piece about what was fair and not fair about the treatment of African Americans and Ruby Bridges, in particular. Aaron used his QuICS to develop a graphic organizer where he put himself into the perspective of one of the Marshalls that guarded Ruby as she walked to the school.

Understanding character perspectives, a CCSS standard for third grade, provide students a platform to discuss the behaviors of different characters in the text, which aligns with one of the tenets of critical literacy—taking on multiple perspectives (Lewison, et al., 2002). Further, students are supported to extend their understandings in new and novel ways.

Specifically, the students in the study were able to conceptualize the characters from the text. To illustrate, Lisbeth articulated the perspective of Ruby’s teacher and wrote, How did the judge tell her to go to this school? How does she stand the mob. How is she happy without even one friend? She is very smart. She is very brave. I wonder how she is not scared.

Lisbeth appeared to notice the empathy that Ruby’s teacher felt about the events surrounding Ruby’s attendance at the school. The sophisticated nature of these writings suggests that the students in these two classrooms were taking on the position of being knowledgeable and insightful about the events during the civil rights era and issues related to immigration and migrant workers.

The constraints of these writing invitations were revealed as the students engaged in making sense of the social issues presented in the texts. The sketchto-stretch was often misunderstood in that students drew scenes from the story, rather than using images to represent the overarching theme of the text. This constraint apparent in many of the students’ pieces as they drew characters from The Other Side 32

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

(Woodson & Lewis, 2001) sitting on a fence or holding hands (as friends do). Students also drew pictures of tents with a baby crying to represent the storyline of the family in The Circuit (Jiménez, 1997) worrying about the baby’s illness. QuICS’ limitations foster little depth in response because of the size of the actual writing space, as well as trying to write while the teacher is reading the text. For some students it was difficult to write while listening; for others there didn’t seem to be immediate connections in the QuICS categories which resulted in empty post-it notes. Character perspectives were sometimes challenging for students to take on, especially if there was limited knowledge of the events taking place. Most of the character perspectives (24 of the 29) were generated in the civil rights texts, which built upon students’ previous knowledge base about this historical period of time (e.g., Martin Luther King and his work for civil rights).

Discussion

The students and teachers in these two third-grade classrooms constructed meaning of texts in novel and complex ways. They utilized a range of sign systems through writing, language, and drawing to further their own understandings of the social, historical, and political events of days past, as well as current day happenings. The generative nature of the writing invitations was essential as students constructed their own understandings and interpretations of socially significant topics. They examined a range of ideas and topics, including violence, language learning, and solidarity. These topics problematize what is often considered status quo or commonplace for young writers.

This finding is similar to the work of Heffernan and Lewison (2003), where they discovered how students readily took on the socially significant issues such as bullying and power in their social narratives. As Lewison and Heffernan (2008) note, “Such writing acted as a tool to disrupt students' naturalized ways of ‘doing writing’ in elementary schools, encouraging them to analyze and critique issues they described as important in their lives (p 436)”. Opportunities for students to think and respond to topics related to the civil rights and migrant workers resulted in the

construction of texts that demonstrated possibilities for extending conversations about these important issues. Moreover, the range and depth of the students’ writing suggest that this type of writing is critically important in the context of students’ lives and experiences, as well as meets the demands of current standards and expectations.

Students also created a shared composing space, whereby ideas from one student manifested itself in someone else’s composition. The sharing of ideas was particularly noticeable with the sketch-to-stretch artifacts. There were similar iconic images across many of the students’ papers. For example, “BFF” and hearts to represent friendship and “getting along” were found throughout the students’ writing folders.

As the ideas and images traveled throughout the room, students took these and incorporated them into their own repertoire of understandings. Building on the belief that literacy is socially constructed (Barton & Hamilton, 2000), students came to value the icons and images in significant ways. Bakhtin (1981) talks about this movement of ideas in terms of appropriation and dialogism. These images and texts were “fluid and transactional, with each text serving to mediate and transform others” (Smagorinsky & Coppock, 1994, p. 300). Thus, as the students appropriated each other’s images, they drew upon prior understandings to make sense of texts and then reframed them to create their own representation of meaning.

Sketch-to-stretch enabled students the opportunity to represent their thinking in novel ways. Students had not experienced this invitation before, and as a result had mixed success with extending beyond a scene from a particular text. Yet, when students used symbols and images to reflect current and historical events, a wider range of thinking about their lives and the world emerged. Aaron’s visual representation of race relations suggests that he was able to critically examine these larger social issues in ways that were not apparent in his written texts. By engaging in transmediation of sign systems, students adopted a critical stance toward the texts read by the teachers. They were able to examine the social and historical events presented in the stories and provide critique. This finding resonates with others working in the area of transmediation and critical literacy 33

Flint, A. S., Allen, E., Nason, M., Rodriguez, S., Thornton, N., & Wynter-Hoyte, K. (2015) / “It Happened to Me” (Albers, Harste, & Vasquez, 2011). While the Albers personal memory narratives that were infused with and colleagues study focuses on teachers, it is connections and experiences. These third-grade important to note that the visual images from the students also took up the invitation to work across young students carried similar messages of sign systems and generate new and complex friendship and racial unity. Additionally, students in meanings through their sketch-to-stretch responses. this study were able to extend and expand their Throughout the read alouds, discussions, writing conceptual understandings as they mediated time, and author’s sharing time, opportunities multiple symbol systems and lived experiences existed for students “to expand their thinking and to (Siegel, 2006). grapple with issues of freedom, social responsibility,

citizenship, and personal identity” (Soares & Wood, Conclusion 2010, p. 493). As teachers and students work toward

integrating critical literacy practices into their Students’ written and visual artifacts around two writing time, it is possible to transform and critical literacy units, civil rights and strengthen the literacy practices and repertories of immigration/migrant workers, suggest that they students as they navigate the larger social, cultural, were able to interrogate and problematize the social and political events of the day. and political events of the time. They took risks with

multiple perspectives and offered a number of

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National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2011 (NCES 2012–470).

Washington, D.C. :Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010).

Common Core State Standards for English language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. Washington, DC: Author.

Park, C. C. (2011). Young children making sense of racial and ethnic differences: A sociocultural approach.

American Educational Research Journal, 48(2), 387-420.

Perry, K. (2012). What is Literacy? –A critical overview of sociocultural perspectives. Journal of Language and Literacy Education [Online], 8(1), 50-71.

Rogers, R. & Mosley, M. (2006). Racial literacy in a second grade classroom: Critical race theory, whiteness studies, and literacy research. Reading Research Quarterly, 41(4), 462-495.

Smagorinsky, P. & Coppock, J. (1994). Cultural tools and the classroom context: An exploration of an artistic response to literature. Written Communication, 11(3), 283-310.

Short, K. G., & Kauffman, G. (2000). Exploring sign systems within an inquiry system. In M. Gallego & S Hollingsworth (Eds.), What counts as literacy: Challenging the school standard (pp. 42-61). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Schultz, K. (2006). Qualitative research on writing. In C. A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (pp. 357-373). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Siegel, M. (1995). More than words: The generative power of transmediation for learning.

Canadian Journal of Education, 20(4), 455-475.

Siegel, M. (2006). Rereading the signs: Multimodal transformations in the field of literacy education. Language Arts, 84(1), 65-77.

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Soares, L. B., & Wood, K. (2010) A critical literacy perspective for teaching and learning social

studies. The Reading Teacher, 63(6), 486–494.

Stake, R. E. (1994). Case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.) Handbook of qualitative research (pp.

236-247). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1994). Grounded theory methodology: An overview. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 1-18). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Street, B. (1984). Literacy in theory and practice. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Strickland, D. S. (2012). Planning curriculum to meet the Common Core State Standards. Reading Today, 29(4), 25-26.

Vasquez, V. (2004). Negotiating critical literacies with young children. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language. (A. Kozulin, Ed. & Trans. ). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(2), 178-182.

Children’s Literature References Bunting, E., (1994). A day’s work. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Coleman, E. (1996). White socks only. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company.

Coles, R. (1995). The story of Ruby Bridges. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Jiménez, F. (1997). The circuit: Stories from the life of a migrant child. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.

Krull, K. (2003). Harvesting hope: The story of Cesar Chavez. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.

Lorbiecki, M. (2000). Sister Anne’s hands. New York, NY: Puffin.

Mora, P. (1997). Tomas and the library lady. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Ringgold, F. (1999). If a bus could talk: The story of Rosa Parks. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Woodson, J. & Lewis, E. B. (2001). The other side. New York, NY: Putnam Juvenile.

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Flint, A. S., Allen, E., Nason, M., Rodriguez, S., Thornton, N., & Wynter-Hoyte, K. (2015) / “It Happened to Me” Appendix A Descriptions of Writing Invitations Writing Invitation

Description

Character Perspective

Students choose a character from the story and attempt to view and write about an event or events from that specific character’s viewpoint.

Fair/Not Fair

Students write about story events or ideas that are fair versus those that are not fair.

Personal Memories

Students write about a personal experience or memory that connects to an event or idea in the book.

QuICS

Students divide their paper into four squares and record their initial thinking about the story in response to the following four cues (one is written in each box): Qu - Questions I have I - Interesting points C - Connections I can make S - Surprising events

Sketch-to-stretch

Students “sketch” or draw visual images based on what they found as important or interesting in the story. The images that the students draw represent their personal interpretations of the text as well as connections between the text and their real life experiences.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 Appendix B Summaries of Texts Selected for Read Alouds

Books Related to Civil Rights White Socks Only (Coleman, 1996)

A grandmother shares with her granddaughter a story of her childhood when she misunderstood the meaning of a “whites only” sign on a water fountain. She removed her shoes to drink from the fountain only to discover that the sign meant white people only. A white townsperson was ready to beat her but African American bystanders stepped in and also removed their shoes to drink from the fountain.

A true story of Ruby Bridges, the first African American girl sent to first grade in an all-White school in New Orleans in the 1960s. The book tells about her negative The Story of Ruby experiences and the crowd’s hostility as she walks to school. The book showcases Bridges (Coles, 1995) the courage that Ruby Bridges has in the face of racism.

Seven year-old Annie has a new teacher. Sister Anne is the first dark skin person that Annie has met. Sister Anne is met with resistance. Although kids are pulled Sister Anne's Hands from her class, Sister Anne continues to teach. One day, a student throws a paper (Lorbiecki, 2000) airplane with an offensive poem. At the end of the book, Annie describes her year with Sister Anne as a year full of learning when an important lesson about acceptance was learned.

If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks (Ringgold, 1999)

In this story, Marcie takes a magical ride on a bus that details the life experiences of Rosa Parks. Readers learn why Rosa Parks is such an important figure in the civil rights movement. At the end of the book, Rosa Parks gets on the bus and the little girl understand the importance of Rosa Parks' actions that inspired others to stand up for freedom.

The Other Side (Woodson & Lewis, 2001)

This book tells the story of a friendship between two girls whose houses are separated by a fence. Despite knowing that they are not supposed to play with each other due to the racial differences, the girls develop a friendship and begin to sit on the fence together.

Books Related to Migrant Farm Workers

A Day's Work (Bunting, 1994)

This is the story of a young boy, his grandfather and the challenges they face when looking for day labor. The young boy lies to a potential employer by saying that his grandfather knows how to garden. The boy and grandfather mistakenly pull plants instead of weeds, which is discovered by the employer. The grandfather and boy rectify the mistake by working for no extra pay. The young boy learns a lesson about telling the truth.

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (Jiménez, 1997)

This book is a collection of short stories about a boy named Francisco and his family as they work the farm fields in California. Included in the short stories are memories of going to school for the first time, not speaking English, and when the youngest child in the family gets very sick.

39

Flint, A. S., Allen, E., Nason, M., Rodriguez, S., Thornton, N., & Wynter-Hoyte, K. (2015) / “It Happened to Me” The book begins by detailing Cesar Chavez’s childhood and struggles in schools and Harvesting Hope: chronicles his life as a migrant farm worker. The book recounts how Chavez began The Story of Cesar to organize farm workers and how he was instrumental in organizing a non-violent Chavez (Krull, 2003) movement for farm workers’ rights.

This book tells the story of a little boy who moves from Texas to Iowa. Tomas begins Tomas and the to visit the library and is greeted by the library lady who shows him that he can Library Lady (Mora, check out books. Tomas begins to read many different types of books and learns 1997) about the joy of reading.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015

Sketch-to-stretch

Figure 1. Sketch-to-stretch to illustrate iconic images

41

Flint, A. S., Allen, E., Nason, M., Rodriguez, S., Thornton, N., & Wynter-Hoyte, K. (2015) / “It Happened to Me�

Sketch-to-stretch

Figure 2. Sketch-to-stretch to illustrate movement and solidarity

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015

Sketch-to-stretch

Figure 3. Sketch-to-stretch to illustrate race relations for 40 years.

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Getting Close to Close Reading: Teachers Making Instructional Shifts in Early Literacy Shea N. Kerkhoff Hiller A. Spires ABSTRACT: Based on the emphasis from the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards, K-2 teachers are expected to provide students with close reading experiences with increasingly complex text.

Because close reading as an instructional routine is in its infancy for early grades, we conducted a collective case study to uncover how teachers perceived implementing close reading in K-2. The overarching research question was: How do K-2 teachers perceive making instructional shifts with close reading? Participants included twelve K-2 teachers enrolled in a graduate course. Four data sources comprised: (a) teacher-generated analogies; (b) online reflections; (c) teacher-generated lesson plans; and (d) focus group transcripts. Data was coded for themes that reflected how participants were making instructional shifts with close reading. Three themes emerged: (a) choosing appropriate texts for close reading; (b) modeling close reading; and (c) scaffolding close reading. While participants reported applying strategies for close reading with students as young as kindergarten, they perceived many challenges. Understanding how teachers are implementing close reading in K-2 classrooms and the challenges they face provides valuable input for ongoing research and teacher professional development

Key words: Close reading, K-12, Instructional Shifts, Reading strategies

Shea N. Kerkhoff, M.Ed. is a doctoral student in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Counselor Education with a focus in Literacy at North Carolina State University. She is a former high school English teacher. Her research interests include global education, gender issues, and adolescent literacy instruction. She can be contacted at snkerkho@ncsu.edu

Dr. Hiller A. Spires is an Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor of Literacy and Technology in the College of Education at North Carolina State University. She is also a Sr. Research Fellow at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, where she co-directs the New Literacies Collaborative (newlit.org). She is a member of an interdisciplinary research team that publishes in the area of game-based learning and literacy targeting elementary and middle school students. She can be contacted at haspires@ncsu.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

T

he concept and practice of close reading has gained attention as a result of many states adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices [NGACBP] & Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], 2010a). In the United States, the CCSS currently determine what counts as knowledge and what should be taught and measured (Gehsmann, 2011). With regard to the area of reading, “Research links the close reading of complex text— whether the student is a struggling reader or advanced—to significant gains in reading proficiency and finds close reading to be a key component of college and career readiness” (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers [PARCC], 2011, p. 7). Although this assertion draws from research on grades three through eleven, based on the new emphasis from the English Language Arts (ELA) CCSS, K-2 teachers are also expected to provide students with close reading experiences with increasingly complex text. See Appendix A for a list of standards that address close reading and text complexity for K-2.

teachers begin to implement this aspect of the ELA CCSS, some are encountering difficulties in making the instructional shifts that are required to be successful (Shanahan, Fisher, & Frey, 2012) as well as debating the appropriateness of requiring students to read beyond their apparent instructional levels.

Given the early adoption phase of the reading standards and the perceived challenges teachers are encountering, the purpose of this study was to explore how K-2 teachers perceived making instructional shifts with close reading.

Perspectives from the Literature Unprecedented in its rigor and high expectations for United States education, the CCSS provided a vision of what it means to be a literate person in the twenty-first century: Students who meet the Standards readily undertake the close, attentive reading that is at the heart of understanding and enjoying complex works of literature. They habitually perform the critical reading necessary to pick carefully through the staggering amount of information available today in print and digitally. They actively seek the wide, deep, and thoughtful engagement with high-quality literary and informational texts that builds knowledge, enlarges experience, and broadens worldviews. (NGACBP & CCSSO, 2010a, para. 6)

PARCC (2011) defines close reading as an analytic process that “stresses engaging with a text of sufficient complexity directly and examining meaning thoroughly and methodically, encouraging students to read and reread deliberately” (p. 7). For teachers in the early grades, implementing close reading with their students can be a daunting task.

Fisher and Frey (2014) attempt to demystify close reading for practitioners by framing it as an instructional practice that “makes complex texts accessible using repeated reading, cognitive scaffolding, and discussion” (p. 35). This definition may be more appropriate to the K-2 instructional context.

Central to the CCSS vision was a student’s capacity to engage in the act of close reading while navigating textual complexity. Historically, close reading had been used at the secondary (Adler, 1982) and postsecondary levels (Richards, 1929), but had not been a common practice in the early grades. Fisher and Frey (2012) suggested that close reading is an instructional routine where students conduct indepth examination of a text, especially through the practice of multiple readings. They further elaborated that close reading supports focus on deep structures of a text, which may include “the way the text is organized, the precision of its vocabulary to advance concepts, and its key details, arguments, and inferential meanings” (p. 179).

In a recent article, Mesmer, Cunningham, and Hiebert (2012) introduced a theoretical framework

Students who must focus on decoding and fluency of grade-level texts often find comprehension of more complex texts very challenging. Teachers often ask right there or in your head questions to help these students feel successful. However, a close reading of a text moves beyond parroting or personal connections and into higher levels of cognitive demand. Students in second and fourth grades are pushed to read and comprehend third and fifth grade texts, respectively, with instructional support. As 45

Kerkhoff, S. N., & Spires, H. A. (2015) / Getting Close To Close Reading that produced a unified treatment of the In the midst of re-setting reading demands through complexities of early grade text. As part of their the CCSS, many K-2 teachers were struggling to explanation, they drew a distinction between text understand text complexity and close reading as it complexity and text difficulty. Text complexity applied to their instruction and to their students’ implies independent variables, such as text elements reading engagement and development. Specifically, that can be analyzed or manipulated; text difficulty, they had concerns about their lack of experience in on the other hand, suggests “the actual or predicted teaching informational text because narrative had performance of multiple readers on a task based on been the staple for beginning reading (Duke, 2000; that text or features” (p. 236). They claimed that it is Ness, 2011). Since there was a lack of empirical the understanding of text studies on how the new complexity that will promote standards affected K-2 reading, As teachers begin to (a) essential knowledge about our research team designed a the interaction among text, study to explore how K-2 implement this aspect of the reader, and task, and (b) the teachers were making ELA CCSS, some are alignment of specific text instructional shifts with close characteristics with reading reading. encountering difficulties in instruction, which is pivotal in making the instructional shifts the early grades.

Research Methods

that are required to be

Text complexity and close We conducted an exploratory successful, as well as debating reading applications for the collective case study (Stake, primary grades are not without 2000; Yin, 2009). Exploratory the appropriateness of critics. Specifically, Hiebert and studies inductively investigate requiring students to read Mesmer (2013) raised concerns a phenomenon because the beyond their apparent about the text complexity area of research is new to the staircase in an attempt to field (Yin, 2009). Collective instructional levels. thwart unintended case studies explore numerous consequences for readers in the cases in order to build a primary grades. NGACBP and stronger understanding of the CCSSO describe the text complexity staircase as phenomenon by comparing and contrasting “grade-by-grade specifications for increasing text experiences across participants (Barone, 2011; Stake, complexity in successive years of schooling” (2010b, 2000). The collective case consisted of twelve p. 4). Hiebert and Mesmer (2013) took issue with teachers bound by participation in a graduate level CCSS writers’ claim that all text levels have declined reading course (Yin, 2009). The research question over the years. They made a compelling argument was: How do K-2 teachers perceive making that text levels in middle and high school were the instructional shifts with close reading? Guiding ones that have decreased over time; not texts in questions for the study included: (a) What close primary grades. Hiebert and Mesmer (2013) believed reading strategies did K-2 teachers report using in that using the same brushstroke for K-12 readers has their classrooms?; (b) How did K-2 teachers perceive the potential to be developmentally disruptive for their development with close reading strategies?; (c) primary students. Likewise, Williamson, Fitzgerald, What challenges did they perceive as they applied and Stenner (2013) provided a caveat concerning how close reading strategies? teachers interpret the application of text complexity in early reading. Creating reading challenges that are Participants too high for students may in fact lead to frustration, diminished motivation, and potentially a stalling of Participants included twelve K-2 teachers who were reading development. participating in a graduate course as part of a master’s degree program in reading. All participants were female with their teaching experience ranging 46

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 from one to twelve years. The breakdown of participants’ ethnic categories was Black/African American (n = 2), Hispanic/Latino (n = 1), and White/Caucasian (n = 9). Participants taught in four public school districts in the southeastern United States. The graduate course was designed to engage students in dominant literacy theories (Tracey & Morrow, 2012), text complexity and close reading (Fisher, Frey, & Lapp, 2012), as well as the CCSS for K-5 Reading. Additionally, the participants were expected to create practical lesson applications for their K-2 classes that aligned with the CCSS.

creating a personal analogy. In this case, they created an analogy about their understanding of close reading based on a visual stimulus. At the beginning of the course, teachers were asked to peruse an archive of pictures located in VoiceThread, choosing the one that they could relate to in terms of their current capacity to apply close reading strategies in their classes. They reflected on how the picture visually represented or reminded them of their current experiences; this reflection was captured orally or in writing within VoiceThread as a companion to the targeted picture. The teachers conducted the same process at the end of the course.

We anticipated that the subsequent comparison with a previous analogy might provide evidence of deeper interpretation and meaning within the context of the development of their close reading strategies, perhaps uncovering the journey towards a better conceptual understanding of close reading. See Figure 1 (Appendix C) for sample pre and post teacher analogies.

Data Sources and Procedures The four data sources included: (a) teachergenerated analogies from an exploratory exercise that attempted to capture changes in participants’ views of their close reading instructional strategies and experiences; (b) teacher-generated reflections that were captured on an online forum within the course Moodle; (c) teacher-generated lesson plans on text complexity and close reading applications; and (d) transcripts from a teacher focus group session.

See Table 1 (Appendix B) for the data collection schedule.

Teacher online reflections. Particular emphasis was placed on teachers’ perceptions about the relationship between specific course activities and their development to conduct close reading exercises in their classes. McAuliffe, DiFranceisco, and Reed (2007) advocated for ongoing data collection throughout a study due to memory-related errors that can occur in retrospective interviews.

Teachers answered researcher-created, open-ended questions and provided peer responses in weekly online forums throughout the semester within the course Moodle. Open-ended questions allowed participants to share their individual perceptions, successes, and challenges (Hoepfl, 1997). Sample reflection prompts included: What strategies did you find worked for close reading with struggling readers? How can you apply information about assessing text complexity in your instruction?

Teacher-generated analogies. Bailey (2003) indicated that using analogies is a powerful technique in explanation and, combined with a visual illustration or demonstration, can stimulate significant new learning, or transform previous knowledge. Analogies act in a special way by addressing complexity or novelty via engaging in a comparison with common sense knowledge or experience. This often calls for an imaginative, intuitive leap on the part of the learner. Thus, an analogy exercise has the potential to mediate a metacognitive transfer for newly developed insights for text complexity and close reading (Dreistadt, 1969). We based our procedure loosely on the model of Synectics (Gordon, 1961); the term comes from the Greek “syn” and “ektos” and refers to the fusion of diverse ideas (Nolan, 2003). In his application of Synectics, Gordon (1961) used three forms: direct analogy, personal analogy, and compressed conflict.

Teacher-generated lesson plans on text complexity and close reading. The teachers were required to design, implement, and video record a two-part ELA lesson based on the CCSS. A key feature of the lesson was for teachers to capture two examples of students answering text-dependent questions during a close reading session. See Table 2 for this assignment, which we called the Common

As an exploratory teaching and research measure, we asked teachers to use one aspect of Synectics— 47

Kerkhoff, S. N., & Spires, H. A. (2015) / Getting Close To Close Reading Core Connections Project (CCCP). The data included specific examples from teacher lessons in which they demonstrated their practice of text-dependent questioning with their students.

participants at the end of the course. We chose this particular group size based on Patton's (2001) assertion that six is a good number to allow interaction between participants. The session was recorded and transcribed verbatim. Semi-structured interview questions (Patton, 2001) included: (a) What training—professional development, readings, university coursework—best helped you implement the CCSS for close reading?; (b) What training was not helpful? Why was it not helpful?; (c) If you were to lead professional development on close reading, what would you tell other teachers about teaching students to close read informational texts?; (d) How could your schools better support you in teaching the CCSS for close reading?

Table 2 Common Core Connections Project (CCCP) Design and Implement an ELA CCSS Lesson ●

Select a theory of reading (one that you do not currently use) that will support your lesson plan. (Feel free to use more than one theory if needed.)

●

Choose two complex, nonfiction content-rich reading selections and determine the sequence based on increasing text complexity.

●

Determine levels of scaffolding needed (based on pre-assessment or knowledge of students) in order to differentiate the close reading experience.

●

Construct text-dependent questions include higher level questions.

●

Classify Common Core State Standards used in the two-part lesson.

●

Create an appropriate culminating activity integrating at least one other ELA CCSS, such as writing or speaking, utilizing a new literacies tool.

Data Analysis The researchers approached the four data sources inductively and holistically (Yin, 2009) with a focus on how participants were making instructional shifts with close reading. Each was color-coded according to the three guiding questions. We used an open coding process (Corbin & Strauss, 1990) by highlighting key phrases that answered the three guiding questions about close reading and wrote key word summaries of the answers in the margins.

Researchers frequently met face-to-face to compare the coding process of the phrases. All shared key phrases and key words were copied to a master list (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014).

that

●

Use our class wiki as the design space for your lesson.

●

Present and video record your lesson in a classroom.

●

Show 2 segments of your video that showcase your implementation of text-based questioning (2-3 minutes) and levels of scaffolding (2-3 minutes).

The codes were then counted: 101 for guiding question one regarding applying close reading, 51 for guiding question two about teacher development, and 51 for guiding question three about challenges encountered. We then consolidated the list to reduce redundancy and repetition. There were then 80 key words for guiding question one, 37 key words for guiding question two, and 40 key words for guiding question three. We conducted a second round using axial coding (Corbin & Strauss, 1990) to organize the codes into “descriptive, multi-dimensional categories” and then emerging themes (Hoepfl, 1997, para. 39). We found seven emerging themes for guiding question one (i.e., learning text complexity, choosing texts, choosing short passages, not preteaching the text, modeling, scaffolding, and discussing text-dependent questions with evidence);

Teacher focus group session. Each researcher facilitated a 50-minute focus group of six 48

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 two for guiding question two (i.e., the crescent moon to half-moon analogy and positive perception); and three for guiding question three (i.e., perceived disconnect in theoretical assumptions, time management, and need for ongoing training).

A third round of consolidation was completed to define and refine themes and ensure that themes were mutually exclusive and exhaustive (Braun & Clarke, 2006). For example, we consolidated “choosing short passages” and “learn text complexity” with “choosing texts,” and “crescent moon to halfmoon” with “need ongoing training.” A final round of consolidation was completed across the three guiding questions for a holistic description of the case. See Table 3 for themes with a sampling of codes.

4 (Appendix D) displays exemplary quotes for each theme. The support for each theme is divided into three parts (i.e., application, development and challenges) based on the three guiding questions: (a) What strategies did teachers report for applying close reading instruction in their classrooms?; (b) How did teachers perceive their development of close reading instruction?; and (c) What challenges did they perceive as they applied close reading?

Choosing Appropriate Texts for Close Reading: “Quality over Quantity” Appropriate text choice by the teachers was the first theme in the teaching of close reading. Teachers found that quality trumped quantity as they practiced close reading with their students.

Table 3 Themes with a Sampling of Codes

Application. Data revealed intentionality when choosing texts for close reading, including the consideration of passage length in relation to instructional tasks and the matching of students’ backgrounds and interests. The most frequent code for application of close reading in the classroom was in relation to the length of passage, choosing short, worthy passages. After reading Fisher, Frey, and Lapp (2012), a participant responded in an online reflection: “I began to search through Reading A-Z passages to select a few ‘short, worthy passages’ to use rather than an entire book." She continued, “These shorter passages could be read multiple times in one reading group and provide a deeper level of understanding.” Three participants explicitly stated that choosing shorter passages made close reading realistic for K-2 students.

Themes Sample Codes Choosing  learn text complexity appropriate  applying the knowledge of texts for close text complexity to the lesson reading plan  teach homophones  teach text features Modeling close  I will be applying the reading teaching modeling lessons described on page 87 (Fisher, Frey, & Lapp, 2012)  text features  model graphic organizers  reading skills Scaffolding  by asking questions close reading  utilize student leaders  manipulatives which included a magnifying glass and strips  mark text with pencils and highlighters

With complex texts, participants stated that a shared past experience, such as a field trip topic or a readaloud book, made a good choice for a close reading passage so that students could access the text. Past field trip topics offered consistent background knowledge across the class. Past read-alouds contextualized the passage so that students knew what had happened before and after the passage.

Students were initially resistant when asked to reread a text. Over time, however, participants saw progress: "I am beginning to see a difference, as I am no longer hearing 'we already read this story!'"

Multiple reads were part of close reading instruction

Findings The data was analyzed for themes that reflected how participants were making instructional shifts with close reading. Three themes emerged: (a) choosing appropriate texts for close reading; (b) modeling close reading; and (c) scaffolding close reading. Table 49

Kerkhoff, S. N., & Spires, H. A. (2015) / Getting Close To Close Reading so that students could first focus on the decoding and comprehension of the text before following with an analysis of the author's craft.

her first grade students in the future because of what she learned about choosing appropriate texts. She stated, "I know now that I should only read parts of the book." Through repeated practice, the participants discovered practical strategies that helped them focus on quality of text over quantity.

Development. The CCSS Appendix A clearly states that quantitative, qualitative, and reader and task considerations, should be taken into account when choosing a text. However, we found that Challenges. Participants appeared to participants were more familiar with Lexile scores understand the reasoning behind the shift to more than any other measurement informational texts after at the beginning of the study. reading CCSS ELA After the CCCP lesson, Supporting Research and students showed growth in Glossary (NGABP & CCSSO, assessing text complexity by 2010b), but did not have the Providing teachers the time utilizing published Lexile resources to find complex and intellectual space to scores, other online informational texts that quantitative measurement would be not only accessible create close reading practices tools, and qualitative rubrics. to their students for a close that are both challenging and At the same time, many read, but would also reflect developmentally appropriate, desired more practice with their students’ cultures. After is key to the successful the reader and task searching for a text for the considerations. In the analogy CCCP lesson plan, several implementation of the exercise, four participants participants agreed with the standards. directly mentioned their statement, “Diverse books growth in analyzing complex are hard to find.” Teachers texts. reported that they were not aware of free, online resources for complex grade-level informational texts One participant selected the image of a craftsman and that their current libraries were inadequate. transporting baskets to market to create her analogy about close reading. In her initial interpretation, she Modeling Close Reading: “Lay the Foundation” felt as if she had too much weight on her shoulders concerning the CCSS. By the end of the course, she said the following: Although my knowledge of the Common Core English Language Arts Standards has increased, as well as my understanding of text complexity, I still feel as if I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. Reflecting on the baskets in the image, I feel like they also reflect the uniqueness of each text available for teachers to use in their classrooms. I have learned how important it is to carefully analyze each text, just like one would look carefully at a basket.

The second theme related to teachers modeling close reading of informational text. Teachers found the expectations for third grade vertically aligned with this practice, when stakes are higher in assessments.

Application. Our data revealed that participants applied close reading instruction by modeling metacognitive strategies and reading skills through teacher think-alouds. Participants reported modeling close reading in both mini-lessons and read-alouds. For a mini-lesson example, one participant said, “I begin the week by explicitly teaching a strategy, such as self-correcting. As the week progresses, I gradually release responsibility to my students.” Other participants chose to model close reading during read-alouds. For example, one participant reflected, “I realize the importance of utilizing complex texts during read-aloud activities

Relating to the picture of a lone meerkat standing to the side of the pack, another participant felt behind the learning curve with the CCSS, but after practice, she decided that she would use close reading with 50

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 in order to model how to closely monitor comprehension while reading to make meaning of texts.” During the online reflections, one participant noted, “It can be difficult to relate the ideas to young students; however, as with most complex academic skills, we can lay the foundation with students as young as kindergarten.” Most participants believed that they could model close reading with students as young as kindergarten.

finding time to reinforce basic skills and evaluating the developmental appropriateness of close reading for K-2.

The participants felt torn between preparing students to think critically and preparing students to read fluently. One participant lamented: Common Core is creating a Matthew Effect within my own classroom. I’m teaching new concepts at such an accelerated rate with little depth in order to hit all of the standards. For my average readers, I am able to reinforce these standards in small groups.

Although these low readers are immersed in great instruction that targets their needs, they are continuing to get further and further behind the Common Core expectations.

Development. Our study found that participants valued “creating a positive environment” around literacy so that students were motivated to read and enjoyed reading. At the beginning of the study, participants perceived that students would not be able to maintain engagement during teacher modeling of close reading. In the online reflections, a participant wrote: “I found I was much more concerned about keeping things moving to keep their attention, and I caught myself at first not giving enough time to let them struggle with the text or model my thinking.” A second participant replied, “I too have struggled with keeping my lessons short enough to keep my kids’ attention but also thorough enough to model my think-alouds and give my kids the opportunity to work with complex texts.”

Participants perceived a conflict between making instruction either engaging or rigorous.

This participant clearly believed that the time it took to close read took time away from skill instruction.

Another participant similarly stated, “To delve into a complex text, a lesson usually lasts at least 30 minutes, which allows less time to meet with differentiated reading groups. Students often ‘slip through the cracks’ when not meeting with a guided reading group often.”

Additionally, participants found close reading challenging for kindergarten to second grade because of students’ developmental levels. In the analogy exercise conducted at the end of the study, two of the twelve participants still did not think that modeling close reading during read-alouds was developmentally appropriate for kindergarten and first grade students. For example, one teacher felt strongly about this issue when she said: “I think the theory applied to close readings of complex texts is not developmentally appropriate for younger grades.” Another teacher found monitoring student progress difficult to do. She explained, “Getting five year-olds to be aware of their own thinking is challenging, and it is difficult to monitor because it is not always observable.” Others viewed close reading similarly but added that challenge was good: “While I think it is appropriate to challenge our students, even necessary, sometimes I think the tasks that we are asking our children to do may be too challenging for them to do developmentally.” This same teacher recognized the challenge for her students to answer

One participant seemed to resolve the perceived conflict when she discovered that students found the challenge of close reading exciting: “It is evident to me that text can be extremely interesting if we spend the time to look beyond the basic text and focus on the hidden meaning.” Students in her class enjoyed the challenge of close reading the complex book.

After teaching the CCCP lesson, a participant stated, “I now realize that digging deeper into two pages of a complex text can promote high level thinking and hold students’ engagement.” As participants continued to hone their ability to choose appropriate texts, they found that students were interested in hearing the teacher model metacognitive strategies.

After practice, participants demonstrated a changed attitude about teacher think-alouds during reading of complex informational texts.

Challenges.

Participants faced two challenges in relation to modeling close reading: 51

Kerkhoff, S. N., & Spires, H. A. (2015) / Getting Close To Close Reading questions that “require going beyond the text and using prior knowledge.” Of particular concern to the teachers was the apparent strain on the English language learner, who in addition to struggling to answer questions beyond the text, “face a multitude of challenges within the classroom setting.” At the end of the study, teachers continued to wrestle with whether close reading was developmentally appropriate for K-2.

and bookmarks, (b) highlight strips for text on the overhead projector, and (c) fun devices (e.g., a wand, a magnifying glass, oversized toy finger) to point to the evidence in small groups. The sentence stems poster and bookmarks were titled Show Me the Evidence and students used magnifying glasses to detect the evidence in the text. With this scaffolding process, class discussions about text slowly shifted from a focus on personal connections to a focus on the author’s purpose. One participant shared her differentiated close reading strategies for scaffolding: The language [sentence] stems geared towards text evidence was a strategy that my struggling readers used on a daily basis to participate in close reading discussions. My struggling readers will brainstorm, look up at the language stems board, and then try to provide a response to the question. I felt like physically having a hand lens to discover text evidence was helpful by reminding my struggling readers about the purpose of their reading.

Scaffolding Close Reading: “Find That Happy Medium” The third theme in the teaching of close reading was for teachers to provide scaffolding in order for students to be successful. Interestingly, teachers thought that too much scaffolding was counterproductive.

Application. Our study revealed that with scaffolding, young students were able to closely read a text and discuss the meaning using evidence from the text. One participant noted in response to her CCCP lesson plan, “I have begun to experiment with what close reading means for emergent readers, and have found that they are capable of much.” The participants experimented with different grouping patterns and found that scaffolding close reading was most effective in small, homogeneous groups. To look deeply at the text, our study found that teachers had students reread the text in small groups. Over time, participants saw growth in that students became comfortable with rereading the same text.

During close reading, students would mark important ideas with post-it notes, pencils, and highlighters.

Another participant shared that strategies she used, such as peer teaching and student leaders, helped her high-level students internalize the process of close reading. These heterogeneous group opportunities appeared to give the higher readers a chance to ask thought-provoking questions and explain their thinking.

In addition, we found that participants were still struggling with allowing time for students to grapple.

One participant stated, “I’m still learning how to find that happy medium of using scaffolding after the student has had a sincere opportunity to interact with the text.” The participant noted that the easier the passage, the less scaffolding she provided; the more challenging the text, the amount of scaffolding increased. One participant said that often she would not correct students if they provided a connection or prediction rather than response grounded in the text because she did not want to discourage students and she did not have time in the schedule to keep pushing students on the same questions. She stated, “I would often not correct students if they provided a connection or prediction rather than the efferent [fact-based] response because I wanted to finish the lesson in time.” This pattern held true for

Our data revealed that many K-2 students needed scaffolding to answer questions using text evidence.

One participant wrote on the teacher online reflection, “My students often struggle to support their answers with textual evidence. Most answers are based on emotions and feelings.” She continued, “Rarely is it their first instinct to respond with textual evidence, and when they are pointed to the text, they usually refer to pictures rather than words.” Our study demonstrated that participants discovered many scaffolding techniques for text dependent questions, including: (a) sentence stems on posters 52

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 kindergarten and first grade teachers more so than second grade teachers, although all teachers expressed dissatisfaction.

dependent questions. However, in the analogies, 11 out of 12 participants said that they had much more room for growth. One participant chose the image of a crescent moon to illustrate her perception of development with close reading. At the beginning of the semester, she said, “I feel like I am in the dark with only a little light from the crescent moon to guide me. As I learn more about the standards, the moon will hopefully grow brighter until it is full.” At the end of the semester, she acknowledged progress but had fallen short of her goal when she said, “I think there is still a lot to learn. I would say my moon had evolved into a half moon. I see a little more light to guide the way, but half of the pieces still are not there.”

Development.

Data revealed that participants quickly developed scaffolding to help students identify text evidence and answer right there questions. After the CCCP lesson, a participant stated, “Through this process, I found my strength has been in equipping my students with strategies to find evidence in the text to support their answers.”

However, participants identified asking higher-level questions to dig deeper into the text as a weakness.

Participants stated that while students were able to answer right there and think and search textdependent questions after much scaffolding, students did not achieve the desired success with author and me questions. All participants agreed with the speaker in the focus group who stated, “I would like some more experience crafting those [higher-level] questions.” We observed in the videotaped CCCP lessons that creating textdependent questions with high cognitive demand was challenging. We often found that higher-level thinking happened beyond the text. Our data showed that students in one first grade class were not able to answer the question, “What are the possible author’s biases?” but were able to answer the question “Was the author’s purpose to entertain, to inform, or to persuade?” with teacher prompting to determine facts and opinions.

Challenges. Our study revealed that participants found close reading challenging to teach because it was a new practice and as such, they desired more professional development. One participant wrote in her analogy, “I still feel that Common Core is more than just a learning curve. It’s a completely new way of approaching teaching and thinking about learning.” Another participant shared, “Teaching my students how to read a text closely and search for meaning has been new to me.”

The participants had to shift their instruction as students had to shift their reading practices.

Not surprisingly, the data demonstrated that participants were frustrated with the “work in progress” status of implementation of the ELA CCSS. They perceived they had not received sufficient professional development to understand how to conduct close reading with their students. A participant described this perception in her analogy exercise: “I feel that although I’m listening, open to change and participating in multiple professional development sessions, I am still ‘teaching in the dark.’” Through the online reflections, a teacher explained, “I realized the importance of learning about texts, structure, vocabulary, and demands of each discipline. More time needs to be dedicated during PLTs [professional learning teams] about how to integrate . . . literacy skills daily in the classroom.”

She wanted more training on how to integrate the new skills from the CCSS into her literacy instruction.

The participant who chose the image of the lumber with rings stated, “I feel pressure to truly understand how to go deeper with my students.” She wanted to teach more than a “superficial knowledge” to her students. At the end of the semester, she said, “My first graders now are beginning to naturally finish their answers with ‘and I know that because it says it here’ and point to the sentence in the text that they are gathering their information from.” This statement is an example of how a participant achieved right there answers, but fell short of developing higher-level thinking in order to dig deeper into the text.

Overall, our study found that participants perceived growth in their efficacy to teach close reading and in their students’ ability to answer right there text53

Kerkhoff, S. N., & Spires, H. A. (2015) / Getting Close To Close Reading While participants desired more professional development, they qualified the statement with effective professional development. Many of the participants in the focus groups expressed frustration with past ineffectiveness in professional development sessions. One participant stated, “I feel like our professional development just targets the things that I don’t feel like are very important and don’t relate to close reading.” Another participant added, “I do not feel that all teachers know how and what to teach as well as I do or the essentials of the Common Core due to lack of effective training.”

Participants explained that they found both instructional demonstration and practice with feedback sessions helpful.

performance in later grades, school dropout, and even increased crime rates (Hernandez, 2012). It is important for students to acquire “a just-right challenge level of material for optimal reading growth” (Williamson, Fitzgerald, & Stenner, 2013, p.

66) at the early stages of reading in order to be set up for later reading success.

Second, a tension between the time-honored practice of prior knowledge activation, making personal connections with texts, and the newly emphasized implementation of text-based questions and answers, exists around the practice of close reading. Our study found that some participants had a misunderstanding relative to whether teachers should ever ask personally connecting questions. As teachers enrolled in a graduate reading program, our participants were familiar with transactional reader response theory (Rosenblatt, 1978), in which readers may respond on a continuum from an efferent stance to an aesthetic stance, depending on the readers’ goals. Emphasis on aesthetic responses to reading, especially for emerging readers, is one way to engage them, encouraging a positive, emotional connection to the reading process. Our participants thought that an over-emphasis on informational text and textdependent questioning within the CCSS was displacing the aesthetic approach to reading. Fisher, Frey, and Lapp (2012) reconcile the historical view of close reading with what we know about reader response theory by saying that for close reading instruction in today’s classroom, the reader, text, and context must be taken into account. In this regard, there should be a balance among these three factors when designing close reading instruction to take into account the individual reader’s needs and interests.

Discussion and Limitations Our findings indicated that teachers: (a) were able to apply strategies for close reading instruction with students as young as kindergarten, (b) perceived they were making variable progress in their own development with close reading, and (c) faced many challenges as they made shifts in their instruction to implement a close reading process. Our discussion focuses on the relationship of the findings to two significant theoretical issues in literacy instruction.

First, although participants were able to apply close reading instruction in the K-2 classroom, we found that Hiebert and Mesmer’s (2013) caveat related to developmental appropriateness of close reading and the related issue of text complexity rang true.

Specifically, participants questioned the appropriateness of close reading for K-2 struggling readers, which called in to play some of the concerns set forth by Hiebert and Mesmer (2013). We know that early reading development in K-2 entails three phases: phonological awareness, code breaking, and the development of automaticity with text processing (Adams, 1990; Chall, 1996). Considering these phases in the design of reading instruction, and specifically close reading activities, is essential. If students do not progress through these phases appropriately (i.e., by either encountering text that is too demanding or not demanding enough) the consequences tend to be severe. For example, students who are not able to achieve basic reading abilities by third grade often experience poor

Limitations This study had several limitations. The most obvious limitation was that the participants were part of a graded course. Since participants were performing for a grade, their responses could be skewed for a favorable evaluation from the instructor. Although there was no direct evidence that participants were intentionally masking their points of view, results should be viewed within the stated context. Another limitation was the lack of direct observation of participants’ teaching within their classrooms.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 Although the teachers videotaped one lesson and shared it within the context of the class, we did not observe the teachers in their natural state within their classrooms. Direct observations would provide a rich source of data relative to how teachers were implementing close reading, including spontaneously made instructional decisions.

Understanding the shifts in the ELA CCSS requires knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings as well as intentional practice in implementing appropriate strategies. Providing teachers the time and intellectual space to create close reading practices that are both challenging and developmentally appropriate, is key to the successful implementation of the standards. Close reading as an instructional routine is in its infancy for early grade teachers.

Future research needs to be conducted to more fully account for the complexities and nuances that are involved for young readers as they establish new relationships with texts that go beyond aesthetic reader responses. Mesmer, Cunningham, and Hiebert’s (2012) vision of a theoretical model of text complexity for the early grades and proposed research agenda hold great promise as the field embarks on a new era in reading instruction. Ideally, “teaching in the dark” is not a holding pattern for teachers, but rather the first step into a necessary disequilibrium that will propel them to get closer to productive close reading with their students.

Conclusion This study provides initial insights in how elementary teachers are making instructional shifts with the practice of close reading related to the ELA CCSS. Although the standards have been adopted for several years now, implementation is a work in progress for schools and teachers alike. Hearing where teachers say they need support in development of instructional materials, teaching methods, and specifically close reading strategies, provides valuable input for ongoing teacher professional development relative to the ELA CCSS.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 Appendix A K-2 CCSS ELA Standards that Address Close Reading and Text Complexity Anchor Standard 1

3

7

8

10

Kindergarten Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1 and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.2 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.8 With prompting and support, identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.10 and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

1st Grade Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.3 Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

2nd Grade Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1 and CCSS.ELALITERACY.RI.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.3 Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.8 Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.8 Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.10 and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.10 With prompting and support, read informational texts, prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.10 and CCSS.ELALITERACY.RI.2.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including history/social studies, science, technical texts stories and poetry, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

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Kerkhoff, S. N., & Spires, H. A. (2015) / Getting Close To Close Reading

Appendix B Table 1 Data Collection Schedule Type of Data

Schedule

Rationale

Guiding Questions

Teacher-generated analogies Online reflections

At the beginning and end of the semester Weekly throughout the semester

To capture teacher’s perceived growth over time To capture participant perceptions throughout the process of learning, planning, implementing, reflecting, and revising the instructional practice of close reading.

How did K-2 teachers perceive their development with close reading strategies?

What close reading strategies did K-2 teachers report using in their classrooms?

How did K-2 teachers perceive their development with close reading strategies?

What challenges did they perceive as they applied close reading strategies?

Teacher-generated lesson plans Focus group semistructured interview

The last month of the semester At the end of the semester.

To capture how teachers implemented close reading instruction.

To determine capacity and barriers to possible implementation of close reading instruction. To evaluate the impact of professional development.

What close reading strategies did K-2 teachers report using in their classrooms?

How did K-2 teachers perceive their development with close reading strategies?

What challenges did they perceive as they applied close reading strategies?

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 Appendix C Picture

Pre (beginning of semester)

Post (end of semester)

4 Meerkats standing in a group with 1 to the side and 1 farther ahead

This visual reminds me of the Common Core because I feel like some people have understanding of what they are teaching; however, I feel as if I am all alone. I feel like I am by self and learning the ELA standards with the students.

I feel like I have a better understand of what I am teaching; however, I still feel like I have a lot to learn. I still feel as if I am learning the materials with students. I do feel like I have a better understanding of close reading and I have some understanding of the standards I should hold for my students. In the future I will use close reading because I do feel that it is very doable and effective for students, but I also know that I will limit the questions. Holding students on the carpet for longer than 25 to 30 minutes isn't helpful or effective for them. I know now that I should only read parts of the book and if necessary read the book on the next day.

Stack of lumber with tree rings visible

One of the main things I've learned from the ELA Common Core Standards is that our standards should "spiral". That's immediately what I thought of when I saw this picture. With these new standards it's our job to ensure that what we are teaching our students will be the foundation, the building blocks for the next grade level and the next so that they develop deep understandings instead of broad, shallow ones. I appreciate the vertical focus of the standards, but I feel pressure to truly understand how to go deeper with my students when standards are seemingly basic (in first grade, at least). I don't want to just expose them to information and move on when all they have gained is a superficial knowledge of it. I want to see what text complexity, for instance, can offer to a lower-grades teacher looking to really

I feel somewhat more prepared to use complex texts with my first grade students now than I did when I wrote my previous comment.

In some ways I think the theory of complex text read alouds is not developmentally appropriate for younger grades. In my experience a whole group close reading ends up losing most of my students' attention and is "over their heads" in terms of syntax and craft questions. A close reading like this one can last 30 minutes alone and is just too much.

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Kerkhoff, S. N., & Spires, H. A. (2015) / Getting Close To Close Reading deepen students understanding of literacy concepts.

Rocket taking off

I have learned some things from the Common core so I have taken off, but I've not reached my destination yet. I had training in close reading through DPI. We were "mock" students and were led through a lesson on close reading. I then gave the same training to the staff at my school, but I have never implemented it with a class of students. So like the rocket, I have not reached my destination.

I now feel like a have a better understanding of text complexity, text dependent questions and close reading. The two part lesson we had to do helped me understand the challenge of teaching the Common Core. Therefore, I may be further along the rocket's trajectory, but have still not reached my destination.

Crescent moon

Crescent moon. When I think about the ELA Common Core Standards, this image stood out in my mind the most. I am not very familiar with these standards and have not had much experience with them in a classroom. Since I just student taught last semester, I was still using the NC Standard Course of Study. This was the focus of much of my undergraduate learning. Because I am not teaching now, I have not had much training or practice implementing these standards. Like this picture, I feel as if I am in the dark, with only a little light from the crescent moon to guide me. This light comes from Common Core specialists, school personnel, and fellow educators. As I learn more about the standards and their components, the moon will hopefully grow brighter until it is full and bright enough for me to see my destination.

Half moon. Although I have learned a lot through this class and through my time in grad school, I still feel somewhat in the dark about the common core. The reason I think I still feel this way is because I am not yet teaching. Once I get in the classroom and am able to put these standards into practice, I may feel more comfortable with them. I think there is still a lot to learn about the common core. I would say my moon had evolved into a half moon. I see a little more light to guide the way, but half of the pieces still are not there.

Figure 1. Sample analogies from participants about learning and teaching with the ELA CCSS 62

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 Appendix D Table 4 Themes with Exemplary Quotes for the Overarching Research Question and the Three Guiding Questions Theme Choosing appropriate texts for close reading: “Quality over quantity”

Overarching “I have found it better to work with a small amount of text rather than longer texts, quality over quantity.”

Modeling close reading: “Lay the foundation”

“It can be difficult to relate the ideas to young students; however, as with most complex academic skills, we can lay the foundation with students as young as kindergarten.”

Scaffolding close reading: “Find that happy medium”

“I’m still learning how to find that happy medium of using scaffolding after the student has had a sincere opportunity to interact with the text.”

Application “I began to search through Reading A-Z passages to select a few ‘short, worthy passages’ to use rather than an entire book."

“I realize the importance of utilizing complex texts during read-aloud activities in order to model how to closely monitor comprehension while reading to make meaning of texts.”

“When I ask students to answer questions about a text, I give them sentence starters to help them begin verbalizing their ideas. For example, ‘This book reminds me of. . ..’”

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Development “I have learned how important it is to carefully analyze [quantitatively and qualitatively] each text.”

Challenges “Diverse books are hard to find.”

“I now realize that digging deeper into two pages of a complex text can promote high level thinking and hold students’ engagement.”

“While I think it is appropriate to challenge our students, even necessary, sometimes I think the tasks that we are asking our children to do may be too challenging for them to do developmentally.”

“I still feel that Common Core is more than just a learning curve. It’s a completely new way of approaching teaching and thinking about learning.”

“Through this process, I found my strength has been in equipping my students with strategies to find evidence in the text to support their answers.”

Embodying and Programming a Constellation of Multimodal Literacy Practices: Computational Thinking, Creative Movement, Biology, & Virtual Environment Interactions Alison E. Leonard Nikeetha Dsouza Sabarish V. Babu Shaundra B. Daily Sophie Jﾃｶrg Cynthia Waddell Dhaval Parmar Kara Gundersen Jordan Gestring Kevin Boggs ABSTRACT: Merging computational thinking and an embodiment-centered curriculum, VEnvI (Virtual Environment Interactions) seeks to expand the professional and academic possibilities for K-12 students through opening up pathways that synthesize knowledge across and through digital media, computer science, and the arts. This paper presents findings from a case study research intervention with 5th grade students at an arts magnet school in a small urban municipality in the Southeastern United States. This research iteration is part of a larger, ongoing design-based research project, pioneering the design, development, and testing of a virtual environment and associated curriculum for blending creative movement and computer programming for upper elementary and middle school students. After conducting quantitative and qualitative analysis, researchers found students computational knowledge improved through their engagements in a constellation of multimodal literacy practices Steinkuehler, , n.p. during the process of choreographing and programming a complimentary virtual character s movements based on a 5th grade biology standard about cells.

Keywords: computational thinking, creative movement, embodiment, multimodality, literacy

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015

Alison E. Leonard is the Assistant Professor of Arts & Creativity in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson University. She holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MA in Performance Studies from New York University. Her research involves arts education; specifically dance in education and embodied forms of inquiry in schools.

Nikeetha Dsouza is a PhD student in Curriculum and Instruction at Clemson University in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education.

Sabarish V. Babu is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at Clemson University. Babu s research interests are in the design, development and evaluation of virtual reality systems, specifically in the creation of interactive scenarios and user studies in immersive virtual environments for education and training. Babu has authors or co-authored over 60 research publications in peer-reviewed venues including ACM and IEEE conferences and journals.

Shaundra B. Daily is an Associate Professor in Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering at the University of Florida. She received her doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research involves designing and implementing technology-infused collaborative learning environments, affective computing, and STEM education.

Sophie Jﾃｶrg is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at Clemson University. She received her Ph.D from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and conducted research at Fraunhofer IAIS, Carnegie Mellon University, and Disney Research, Pittsburgh. Her research revolves around computer animation, virtual characters, perception, and digital games.

Cynthia Waddell is currently the dance teacher at Stone Academy of Communication Arts in Greenville, SC. She holds a MEd from Converse College and a BA in dance from Columbia College.

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Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., Jรถrg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation

Dhaval Parmar is a PhD student in Computer Science at Clemson University.

Kara Gundersen has an MFA in Digital Production Arts from Clemson University, and is a PhD student in Human Centered Computing at the University of Florida.

Jordan Gestring is an MFA Candidate in the Digital Production Arts program at Clemson University.

Kevin Boggs is an MFA Candidate in the Digital Production Arts program at Clemson University.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

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choreographing a dance and programming a character in a virtual environment may be an interactive and engaging context that appeals to students not typically interested in programming by broadening their perspectives on computing applications. Likewise, we also believe that programming can provide movement possibilities for students not typically interested or comfortable in traditional dance settings. In conducting our research, we ask the following questions: In what ways do students creating dance performances for virtual characters use their bodies and embodied ways of thinking to work through the actuation of good that you programming choreography onto virtual characters? chose dance instead of How do these interactions something else because it s support the students something people can relate knowledge of computational concepts, to. You know how it worked in utilization of computational your own body, so it was easier practices, and development of computational to transfer that into the perspectives?

fter eleven weeks of working together, we all gathered cross-legged on the floor to reflect on our experiences: an entire class of fifthgrade students, their teacher, two researchers, and one graduate assistant. Following a discussion of what the students enjoyed, what challenged them, and what they would change for next time, one of the researchers asked the group, Do you think dancing and programming your dance made you a better computer programmer? One student replied, Yeah, because it makes you understand what you re doing on the computer . . . so you know what you re doing on the computer, and when you re dancing, it makes it easier ) think it s cause you know the actions.

Another student then explained, ) think it s good that you chose dance instead of something else because it s something people can relate to. You know how it worked in your own body, so it was easier to transfer that into the computer. Essentially, these computer. students were describing their We found that the process embodied learning experiences of of choreographing a dance representing knowledge in and programming a complimentary virtual multimodal ways. Little did the rest of the group character s dance based on curricular content know that both of the researchers at that moment afforded the students opportunities to engage in a were having their own little silent, undetectable, variety of interrelated literacy practices—a internal celebration—the kids could not have stated constellation of multimodal literacy practices using the goals of our research any better. various forms of text (written, spoken, movement, and computer programming) (Steinkuehler, 2007, In this paper, we present recent findings from a case n.p.). Steinkuehler (2007) describes multimodal study, which is a part of our larger, iterative designliteracy practices involving reading, writing, based research project called VEnvI (Virtual speaking, and gaming in her study of Massively Environment Interactions). This project, which Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) as a started in 2013, focuses on the design, development, constellation of literacy practices. We take and testing of a virtual environment and associated inspiration from Steinkuehler s work. Similarly, for curriculum that utilize embodied approaches to our student participants, their programming and support the development of computational thinking. embodying of multimodal literacy practices formed As we develop the virtual environment, we are also an assemblage—a constellation—of their meaning revising the accompanying curriculum where we making and knowledge during this case study. guide students through choreography and programming sessions during research iterations in Theoretical Perspectives school, afterschool, and summer camp settings. The research iteration discussed in this paper has helped We view literacy and being literate in both expansive us to continually revise our research, virtual and nuanced ways that encompass reading, writing, environment, and curricular design. Throughout this and speaking, using a myriad of combinations of text project, we hypothesize that the parallel processes of 67

Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., Jörg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation that include the written, read, and spoken word, as well as other forms of aesthetics and semiotic texts— sound and music, imagery and visuals, digital forms, and through the body (Leonard, Hall, & Herro, 2015; Foster, 1995; Jones, 2013). We call upon the legacy of the New London Group s definition of literacy as plural literacies that are inherently multimodal, tied to semiotic systems and contextually situated in a community of practice that renders that system meaningful Steinkuehler, , p. . These semiotic systems are comprised of discourse. One of the members of the New London Group, Gee (2008; ; refers to little d discourse as communication, expression, and language-in-use and the big D Discourse as the networks, identities, and communities of practice s language within particular group and context. The discourse utilized within a Discourse (d/Discourse) also relies on distinct yet relational knowledge from the students lives—their homes, school, peer groups, and commercial media (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005; Moje et al., 2004).

Multimodality Specifically, we highlight the complex and intertwining scope of multimodality and literacy.

Multimodality entails representation and integration across varied aesthetic forms—print, visual, audio, gestural, and spatial—and in their varied forms, these representations remain integral to meaning making and communication (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Jewitt, Kress, Ogborn, & Tsatsarelis, 2000; New London Group, 1996; Seglem, Witte, & Beemer, 2012).

Engaging in multimodal literacy practices means that one is able to decipher meaning across different modes and can make choices based on the affordances and limitations of available modes in order to communicate and represent knowledge (Steinkuehler, 2010).

The process of reconstructing knowledge and meaning through the transfer of content between communication systems is referred to as either transmediation (Siegel, 1995), transferring across media, or transduction, across modes (Kress, 2003).

This process allows for the gaining of new insight

into knowledge through its reconstruction through another form (Albers, Holbrook, & Harste, 2010; Leonard et al., 2015; Hoyt 1992). While one might transmediate from writing using the media of pen and paper to writing using digital media, one can transduct from writing to drawing since both are different modes of communication even though they may use the same media (Mavers, 2015). Here, we will most commonly refer to transmediation because we are discussing the reconstruction of knowledge between media, i.e. from spoken text to dance.

Computational Thinking The Discourses of computer science and programming as disciplinary and professional fields have their own conventions, cultures, and ways of communicating. Literacy and literacy practices are defined in multiple ways within these Discourses.

Computer literacy includes the ability to boot up a computer, use a mouse and keyboard, and work with basic computer programs. Computational literacy then is the wide set of practices associated with using computational media in our everyday lives (diSessa, 2000). Of interest in this research is what diSessa refers to as a cognitive pillar of literacy— computational thinking—which involves the ability to harness the power of computers to solve problems. According to Wing (2006) who popularized the term, computational thinking involves solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior, by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science.

Computational thinking includes a range of mental tools that reflect the breadth of the field of computer science p. . As a result, although the goal of teaching computational thinking is not necessarily to have all students become programmers, thinking like a programmer involves habits of mind and d/Discourses (Gee, 2008) that are useful to a broad range of fields. In this research, we view computational thinking as a set of concepts (sequences, loops, conditionals, parallelism1), practices (iterating and reusing2), and perspectives (seeing computing as a tool for self-expression) that draw upon the world of computing and remain applicable across multiple disciplines in the sciences

1

Sequences denote the order of things; loops are repeated sequences; conditionals are when sequences are performed under a set of parameters or conditions; and parallelism denotes sequences of instructions that are happening 68 in parallel.

2

Iterating involves repeating steps until a condition is met; reusing involves building on the work of others to create your own code.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 reader and also the written, spoken, and read (Leonard et al., 2015; Foster, 1995).

and with digital media (Daily, Leonard, Jörg, Babu, Gundersen, & Parmar, 2015; Brennan & Resnick, 2012a; 2012b).

Although theories of embodiment and embodied ways of thinking have long been welcomed in dance and arts education and research (Block & Kissell, 2001; Bresler, 2004; Dils, 2007; Hanna, 2008; 2014; Leavy, 2015; Warburton, 2011), looking at embodied cognition (Wilson, 2002) as essential in inquiry, learning, and expression in schools has received recent and renewed attention as effective in mathematics (Drodge & Reid, 2000), physics (Lu, Kang, Huang, & Black, 2011), geology (Tolentino et al., 2009), Chinese characters (Lu, Hallman, & Black, 2013), health (Johnson-Glenberg et al. 2013), and computational thinking (Daily et al., 2015; Fadjo, Harris, & Black, 2009). Links among embodied cognition, computer programming, and education also build upon the work of Papert (1993), who found students learning and understanding of mathematical concepts when programming to be more efficient when their active engagements with this knowledge were associated with their knowledge of self, culture, and the body—that the knowledge was syntonic, related to the learner s understanding.

A review of very early work in the field suggested that children who participate in computer programming typically score around sixteen points higher on various cognitive ability assessments as compared to children who did not (Liao & Bright, 1991). A study by Clements et al. (2001) showed comparable results on mathematics, reasoning, and problem-solving tests for students programming with Logo—an early language developed by Seymour Papert. Others have shown that students can apply core computational thinking concepts in other aspects of their lives after engaging with programming environments like Scratch or programming robots (e.g. Bers & Horn 2010; Mioduser et al. 2009; Resnick 2009).

Dance and Embodiment Within the d/Discourses of the fields of dance, dance education, and other scholarly domains that study embodied practices, such as dance and movement, literacy involves communication of, about, and through the body. Dance consistently utilizes and unites multiliteracies about visual meaning, auditory meaning, spatial meaning, gestural meaning, linguistic meaning, and multimodal patterns of meaning that are combinations of the semiotic modes Curran, Gingrasso, Megill, & Heiland, 2011, p. 36). Embodied literacies are also referred to as those literacies that are performed and embedded within the body with dance being an obvious form. As an embodied literacy, gesture merges meaning and the content being expressed through a nod or movement of the hands while speaking (Frambaugh-Kritzer, Buelow, & Steele, 2015; Jones, 2013). However, dance also has its own semiotic system of signs, symbols, codes, and language related to or of the body. Any discussion of dance as literacy, being literate in the elements of dance (body, space, time, effort/force), techniques, and/or discourse involves embodied ways of thinking and being literate (Curran et al., 2011; Dils, 2007).

Therefore, dance and the dancing body itself become a form of text in multimodal literacy, and even more, the dancing body becomes the writer, speaker, and

Project Design and Development The overarching goal of VEnvI is to develop an original virtual environment and curriculum that blends movement and computer programming with a goal of increasing participation and interest of middle-school students in computer science.

Providing a specially designed and engaging way to cultivate computational thinking, this virtual environment will allow users to move from choreographing in the physical world to programming a virtual character to perform their choreography in the virtual world. Finally, our aim is that through an associated and embodied curriculum in the virtual environment that users will be able to engage and perform with their virtual character.

In order to create this desktop virtual environment, we are conducting research with students and teachers through iterative analysis, design, development, and implementation cycles (Daily et al., 2015; Wang & Hannafin, 2005). In order to inform our technological and curricular design of this new 69

Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., JÜrg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation As we are designing VEnvI, we are conducting pilot research iterations using existing programs and small samples of students in various settings: after school programs, science and technology-focused summer camps, and most recently an in-school scenario—the dance class at the arts magnet school. For this ongoing research, we are utilizing a design-based research (DBR) approach, a paradigm for studying learning in a context through the systematic design and study of instructional strategies. Relying on extensive descriptions, systematic analysis of data, consensus-building within the field around interpretations of data, DBR utilizes reliable and validated techniques used in other research paradigms to refine both theory and practice (Brown, 1992; Design-Based Research Collective, 2003).

virtual environment, our team has been conducting ongoing, design-based research iterations using existing programs, such as Alice by Carnegie Mellon (Cooper, Dann, & Pausch, 2000) and Looking Glass

by Washington University (Gross et al., 2010). Both of these environments allow users to program movements of a character but, in addition to using unrealistic, low quality rendered movements, neither is accompanied by an embodied curriculum or is designed specifically for dance choreography. For example, Looking Glass allows users ages 10 and up to create and share animated stories, games, and virtual characters, not necessarily dance (Gross et al., 2010). Therefore, to create higher quality, realistic dance motions, we are using a 14-camera Vicon optical motion capture system to allow us to record accurately even the small subtleties of a dancer s movements. Based on motion capture data collected from the retro-reflective markers attached to an actual dancer s body, we are computing the associated joint rotations and transferring these results to a virtual character (Leonard & Daily, 2013; Daily et al., 2014). See Figure 1 for a comparison between Looking Glass and a beta version of what our program might look like. A video comparison can be found at this link. The first clip shows a character created in Looking Glass performing the Cha-cha Slide. The second clip is an early version of VEnvI. While neither clip perfects the dance, the second is working at coming closer to realistic movement. Any technical issues are currently being worked out within our design.

Additionally, we are utilizing the data collection methodology of participation observation (Tedlock, 2008) since our DBR approach requires the introduction of teaching computer programming, often not part of the formal school curriculum for elementary or middle- school students, and merging it with dance and the choreographic process.

Therefore, we as the researchers led the facilitation of the activities in both computer programming and choreography, as well as collected the research data with the dance instructor supporting us. For example, she provided consistency for her students through leading one of her regular warm-ups with the students each day before we began. Our pilot research iterations also stand as research and curricular interventions, augmenting the students typical school experiences (Lancy, 1993). Each iteration stands as what Stake (2008) calls an instrumental case study, one that provides insight into other similar or future programs and experiences, providing generalizability of experience (Lancy, 1993). These generalizations and case findings can then be used to inform our virtual environment design, as well as the research and curricular design for future data collection.

Figure 1. A comparison between an existing program, Looking Glass, and a beta version of our virtual environment, VEnvI (Virtual Environment Interactions). On the left, a character from Looking Glass is performing the Cha-cha Slide. On the right, a beta version of our environment shows a character performing the same step from the Cha-Cha Slide; the VEnvI movements have been created through motion capture.

Research Site

Methodology

Since the inception of this project, our team has participated in a local arts fair occurring over three days each spring. During one of these outreach 70

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 sessions, a parent who was excited about bringing STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts + Design, & Mathematics) into her school suggested that we work with a K-5 public arts magnet school in a small urban municipality in the Southeastern United States. After conversations with the principal, arts teacher, and magnet coordinator, a relationship ensued. The city s school district serves over , students according to 2013-2014 school records accessed via their district website. The arts magnet school serves over 600 K-5 students (69% from a downtown neighborhood assigned to the school and 31% from across the district who apply for attendance . Of the school s population, % are White, 20% are African American, 5% are Hispanic, <1% are Asian, and the remainder reported as other.

Of the students in grades 3-5, 40% are served in a Gifted and Talented Program, and 26% receive Free/Reduced Lunch. The school boasts a robust general education curriculum strengthened by art, music, dance, drama, technology, writing, and physical education. Every week students attend related arts classes in art, music, drama, and dance.

this curriculum standard since, although they touch upon the subject matter, they do not have time to cover it in depth.

We then moved to programming complementary choreography onto one or two characters using the introductory programming platform, Looking Glass (Gross, Herstand, Hodges, & Kelleher, 2010) (Video 2). Looking Glass (Figure 2) is designed to enable users to create 3D animated stories using drag and drop graphical blocks that represent programming constructs. In Looking Glass, students can utilize the computational concepts and practices mentioned previously to create interactive stories.

Figure 2. Screenshot of Looking Glass. On the left is an example of a virtual character, and on the right is the My Story workspace where students drag and drop actions and action orders.

During this study, we worked with two sections of Grade 5. There were 44 students total in the classes, but only 41 participated in the research, 27 females and 14 males. The students self-identified their race on a biographical survey. These consisted of 32 White, 7 African American, 1 Asian, and 4 identified as other race/ethnicity but did not specify.

When we first met with the students, they had not yet explored this material in their general education classrooms. To introduce the students to the structure and function of cells, we first re-created and embodied a cell and its basic structures of the cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, and vacuoles using our bodies. Standing in a circle, we enacted the cell membrane s semi-permeable function of allowing nutrients into the cell and blocking harmful elements from entering by having students physically acting out these scenarios. We continued to explore this content physically for the nucleus, cytoplasm, and vacuoles. Additionally, one of the researchers with an extensive background in dance education choreographed a dance that accompanied an originally composed poem explaining the cell, its structure, and function. The students learned this poem and its movements (Figure 3), and these initial movements served as the inspiration for their own cell dances. Working in dyads, the students choreographed their own cell dances to represent the

Procedures. For eleven weeks, our team facilitated programming and choreography sessions with the two classes of fifth-grade students during their 45-minute weekly dance class. We worked with one class of 22 students on Monday and 20 students on Friday. During these sessions, we began with a physical warm-up, followed by concentrated whole and small group work related to creative movement and choreographing a dance inspired by the parts of a cell, including its cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, and vacuoles3. Cells were chosen per the request of the grade-level teachers who were interested in cross-curricular connections that could be made while programming a dance. They chose 3

The function of cells and their structures, including cell membrance, nucleuas, cytoplasm, and vacuoles are part of the state science standards for 5th grade in this school.

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Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., Jรถrg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation My nucleus is like my brain; it stores all I need to survive and regenerate

concept of a cell and its four structures as outlined in the standards. They were invited to utilize the same movements from the poem or to create their own inspired by the function of each cell part. As part of the school s dance curriculum, the students were well versed in creative movement, choreographing, rehearsing, and performing short dance sequences on their own, using basic choreographic elements of theme and variation (creating a basic movement theme and creating variations on that theme), repetition (the use of repeated actions), unison (performing together with others), and cannon (performing in delayed succession with others), along with creating purposeful movement transitions to flow from one movement to the next. The original cell poem is as follows:

Some cells have vacuoles to store all their stuff and even their waste Some cells have vacuoles to store all their stuff and even their waste Vacuoles are like the their closet, cubby, and waste bin Vacuoles are like the their closet, cubby, and waste bin I am a cell. I am the basic unit of life I am a cell. I am the basic unit of life I make up all living things I make up all living things I am a cell. I am the smallest unit of life I am a cell. I am the smallest unit of life

I am a cell. I am the basic unit of life I am a cell. I am the basic unit of life I make up all living things I make up all living things I am a cell. I am the smallest unit of life I am a cell. I am the smallest unit of life I have a cell membrane that separates my outside from my in I have a cell membrane that separates my outside from my in My cell membrane is semi-permeable My cell membrane is semi-permeable It is the fence to keep what I need in; it is the boundary to keep what ) don t need out It is the fence to keep what I need in; it is the boundary to keep what ) don t need out

Figure 3. Students performing cell poem. Here the students are performing the cell movements for the nucleus, the power center to accompany the spoken poem.

I am filled with cytoplasm, my jelly-like insides I am filled with cytoplasm, my jelly-like insides Cytoplasm flows inside, and moves with me wherever I go Cytoplasm flows inside, and moves with me wherever I go

In this video link, the students, along with one of the researchers, is performing the cell poem together.

Notice the movements assigned to each cell part.

These movements are referenced in the examples in the paper and in the video.

Inside is my nucleus, the power center, controlling the whole operation Inside is my nucleus, the power center, controlling the whole operation My nucleus is like my brain; it stores all I need to survive and regenerate

Along with exploring the structure and function of a cell in embodied ways in the dance session, we also facilitated an introduction to computer programming and basic computational concepts and practices. We began by dancing a popular hip hop line dance known as the Cha-cha Slide that centers 72

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 levels of learning. Integrating technological strategies with dance strategies creates a learning environment with the potential for a multitude of solutions to problems. This way of teaching meets the needs of my diverse student population and prepares them for their future personal communication, October 2015).

around sequence of steps, jumps, stomping the foot, and the cha-cha basic step, repeating the theme sequence and variations in a counterclockwise pattern. Led by the other researcher who has an extensive background in computer science, the students were introduced to computational thinking concepts of sequence and loop, as well as the computational practice of remixing in reference to the Cha-cha Slide. In later sessions, the researcher introduced concepts of conditionals (e.g., if a constraint is met, then carry out a sequence of actions) and variables (i.e., a storage location that can hold any value). In our program, conditionals were demonstrated by saying )f ) clap my hands, then perform your sequence. The instructor would then snap, stomp, and then clap. Variables were demonstrated alongside loops; where students were asked to perform their sequence x amount of times.

The instructor, in this case, would call out the value of x which indicated how many times the students would perform and loop the sequence. Other computational practices of iterating, debugging, and remixing were used implicitly throughout. In many ways, the practice of computer programming is very much like the compositional process of choreographing a dance, where small pieces are integrated into a larger whole (modularization), and body positions are incorporated and changed slightly to create something new (remixing and reusing).

Measures and Data Collection We collected both quantitative and qualitative data throughout the sessions. The following describes each form of data collected.

Pre- and post-computational thinking test. A study-specific test was used to gauge students understanding of computational concepts: sequence, variables, conditionals, and loops prior to the sessions in a pre-test and to measure any changes after the sessions in a post-test. Neither test had a bearing on students grades within their class. The tests were used solely as a research measure. The ten questions on both the pre- and post-computational thinking tests were identical and presented blocks of code, such as the one shown in Figure 4, and asked students to determine the behavior of the character being controlled by the blocks. The images and code were captured from Looking Glass, the program that the students used. For example, in Figure 4, students were asked, (ow many times will the character clap her hands? Open-ended questions e.g., Describe a loop and What is a variable? were also included.

The full test is included as an appendix.

According to the dance instructor, initially, the differences in terminology were a steep learning curve for the students. However, through discussion, they realized that many terms in technology and dance are similar, e.g. writing code is similar to choreographing a dance; the creative process is similar, as well. Once the classes discovered these similarities, working simultaneously in both processes became more seamless. The dance instructor also noted after the project that she can now make connections between the two processes in her everyday teaching. In always looking for ways to connect with the students in ways that are not only familiar to them but that are also relevant in their lives, she explained that she was excited about incorporating computational thinking and embodied literacies in her class. She expressed, My students live in a time that races at the speed of light. My job is to present opportunities that allow for multiple

Figure 4. Problem from computational thinking test given to participants. Students are asked to determine the behavior of the character given the instructions presented by the code.

Biographic data. The biographical survey contained 36 questions to assess the students personal information relevant for our study. It 73

Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., JĂśrg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation from Friday s class . Each pair organized their notes differently, some with bulleted lists with written text, others with numbered drawings of stick figures performing individual moves (see later Figures 8 & 9).

Group discussions. At the end of many of the sessions, we came together as a group to reflect on what we had done or to assess student understanding, particularly of computational thinking. Upon the completion of the project, we had a group discussion about the entire process that was quoted in the opening vignette of this paper. These discussions, led by a member of the research team were videotaped, and student responses were coded in the qualitative analysis. Semi-structured discussion questions included asking students what they enjoyed, what challenged them, what they wanted to spend more time on, as well as thoughts on the relationship between dance and computer programming. Rather than a formal, group interview, a discussion occurred with students raising their hands and sharing their thoughts based on our prompts as in the opening vignette.

contained demographic questions to assess their age, grade, race, and language spoken at home. The questions also assessed their preference for school or subjects in a multiple choice format using a scale ranging from a lot to none at all. The questions were organized in 3 major sectionsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;computer usage, dance, and video games. The questions in these categories collected information about the number of hours spent on the computer or dancing, and their preferences for these activities, and openended questions related to why they do or do not see themselves as a dancer and how they define computer programming.

Video and photographic data. Each session with the students was video recorded and photo documented from at least one angle. On days when students formally performed their choreography with the group, there were two video cameras capturing the performance, as well as the group reactions and feedback following the performance.

Additionally, small video clips of specific studentstudent and student-researcher interactions were captured at various times.

Data Analysis As described in more detail below, statistical software was used to analyze the quantitative data.

The qualitative data was analyzed using several rounds of strategic qualitative coding. Both quantitative and qualitative strategies remained essential to our data analysis due our research questions asking about the ways in which students use embodied ways of thinking and how they support student knowledge of computational thinking concepts, practices, and perspectives. Both these questions require examination of qualitative data, and the latter necessitates the measure of computational thinking, as well.

Figure 5. Photo documentation example. Image of students programming and one student rehearsing his choreography as his partner controls the computer.

Student choreography notes. As the students choreographed and rehearsed their cellinspired dances in the physical realm with partners, they made their own choreographic notes on paper.

These notes served two note-taking purposes while the students were rehearsing: 1) to help them remember their sequences and movements from one week to the next and 2) to assist them in transferring their choreography onto their virtual characters and modifying it. We collected 22 choreography notes, one from each pair (12 from Monday s class and 0

Quantitative survey analysis. Scores were obtained from the pre-test and post-test for computational thinking. They were marked out of a total of 10, where 1 point is for a right answer and 0 points for a wrong answer. The biographical survey also was analyzed quantitatively with respect to their school subject preference, computer usage, and orientation towards dance. The data then was 74

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 representations—related to when students transferred knowledge from one mode to another, such as dance to programming or programming to verbal discourse.

analyzed using IBM© SPSS Statistics software to run various forms of analysis, like the paired sample ttest, the independent sample t-test, Pearson s correlation, and Spearman s correlation. The respective graphs (see later Figures 6 & 7) were also generated using the software mentioned. Only significant results from these tests are presented in this article.

Based on the patterns that emerged from these four thematic codes, a third round of theoretical coding focused on the nuances within these categories, particularly the fourth category of multimodal representations. Based on a grounded theoretical analysis, theoretical coding condenses themes into the central phenomenon, core experience, or common explanations of the participants that seem to explain, what this research is all about Strauss & Corbin, 1998, p. 146 as cited in Saldaña, 2013, p. 224).

Analyzing these instances in the qualitative data, relationships between the multimodal representations and student meaning making emerged, highlighting the complexity of the students literacy practices and illuminating the quantitative findings.

When the students represented their knowledge of cells, their dancing, and programming, they expressed their ideas across multiple modes of representation and discourse, demonstrating what they knew and how that related to their prior knowledge, experiences, and interactions with peers.

Qualitative discourse analysis. Qualitative analysis of the video and photographic data and accompanying observation notes, parts of the biographic survey, and student choreographic notes consisted of three rounds of strategic coding for themes. During the first round of coding, qualitative data was organized via descriptive—words or phrases about topics—and in vivo—quoted words or phrases—coding (Saldaña, 2013). For example, researchers introduced students to the concept of a conditional in programming by prompting them to fill in the blank : )f ) clean my room, ____.

Students responded, ) get a treat, or ) make my mom happy. Moments like this were coded descriptively as introduction to programming concepts. When students were explaining the characteristic of a cell membrane as semipermeable, allowing nutrients in and keeping toxins out, the students in vivo quotes were coded, such as like a water filter, like the security at the airport, or like a linebacker.

Discussion After conducting both quantitative analysis of the survey and questionnaire data and qualitative analysis of the students notes, video, photographic, and interview data, we found that the students: 1) improved their computational knowledge, and 2) engaged in complex and meaningful, embodied practices while computer programming. We also found that the process of choreographing a dance and programming a complimentary virtual character s dance based on curricular content afforded the students opportunities to engage in a constellation of [multimodal] literacy practices (Steinkuehler, 2007, n.p.).

A second round of coding was conducted to determine and develop thematic categories and patterns that emerged from the initial codes. Using a combination of pattern coding—identifying emergent themes (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Saldaña, 2013) and focused coding—searching for the most frequent or significant themes (Charmaz, 2006; Saldaña, 2013)—the descriptive and in vivo codes were organized into four large and at times overlapping thematic codes that also directly corresponded to the Discourses involved: (a) computational thinking—a set of concepts, practices, and perspectives that draw upon the world of computing and remain applicable across multiple disciplines; (b) dance & embodiment—related to dance elements, vocabulary, and practices; (c) cell biology—related to defining and representing cell structure and function; (d) multimodal

Analysis of PreThinking Test

and

Post-computational

Only significant results are presented in the findings.

There were significant learning gains when the 75

Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., Jรถrg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation difference in scores of the pretest (M = 4.66, SD = 2.12) and posttest (M = 5.82, SD = 1.67) were analyzed using paired samples T-test, t (43) = 3.447, p = 0.001 (Figure 6). The pre-test and post-test scores were also found to be significantly correlated, r = 0.329, p = 0.029.

Figure 7. Comparison between groups with and without formal training.

Means and standard deviations of the scores attained by Y (group received formal training) and N (group did not receive formal training).

Qualitative Findings Based on the quantitative data analysis, we note that the students computational thinking and knowledge significantly increased. The processes that enabled this change were captured qualitatively, and through our analysis with a focus on emergent themes, we have two significant findings in the students experiences. First, in response to our research question, we noted that the students engaged in a variety of embodied ways (through choreography, physical demonstrations, gestures, and drawings) in order to program and perform with their characters.

Secondly, these embodied engagements were varied and diverse, yet still centering on their choreography and programming, serving to paint a complex picture of the students overall experiences and meaning making during this project.

Figure 6. Pretest and posttest comparison. This bar graph depicts the means and standard deviations of the posttest and pretest scores of the computational concept test.

Quantitative Analysis of the Biographical Survey Another significant finding was that those students who identified themselves as having received formal dance training scored higher on the post-test (M = 5.82, SD = 1.67), t (42) = 2.54, p = 0.015 (Figure 7).

While we cannot determine causation, we hypothesize that this finding might be related to the overall project s effectiveness with students more inclined or versed in dance as a form of inquiry and expression. Therefore, they may have benefited from engaging in computational thinking through embodied practices. While we conducted further statistical analysis of the computational thinking test and biographical data, no conclusions could be drawn due to the small sample size. Also, there were minimal data gaps for those students who were absent during the administration of the pre- or postcomputational tests or survey.

Moreover, the students engaged in numerous forms of multimodal literacy practices throughout. We believe the accumulated and related literacy practices through these varied d/Discourses formed a constellation of multimodal literacy practices (Steinkuehler, 2007, n.p.), improving their increased performance on the computational test. In addition, engaging in this constellation of multimodal literacy practices supported the application and synthesis of their knowledge through the choreographic and programming experiences, connecting the discursive, disciplinary knowledge and relating computer programming, dance, and school curriculum.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Fall 2015 Directed embodied literacy practices. When reading and comprehending any form of text, one has to interpret meaning. To introduce the students to computational concepts of sequence, loops, and conditionals, one of the researchers invited volunteers to perform a simple movement, such as moving their arms up and down then taking small steps in a pattern on the floor. She then asked the students to loop this sequence three times for the class. At times, a volunteer would leave a step out or perform something in a similar pattern but not the same, exact pattern. After completing their loop, the researcher would question the students, )s this a loop? A discussion would then commence since to be an actual loop, the repeated sequence has to be exact. Reading each other s movements allowed the students to think and respond critically. Here verbal questioning, group discussion, and movement modes supported each other. Picture each mode as a star, connect them to reveal part of the constellationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a representation of the students knowledge and literacy practices.

A constellation is an imagined shape that stars form when viewed as a group. When looking at literacy practices as a constellation, each practice is linked to a star. When viewed together, as in a constellation, these practices illuminate a more complex picture of how these individual practices form student knowledge and meaning making. More discussion on Steinkuehler s ; use of this term will follow this discussion.

The following are coded scenarios elucidating the range of multimodal literacy practices that students engaged in where they also utilized various forms of d/Discourse, calling upon specific various funds of knowledge (Gee, 2008; 2011; 2014; Gonzalez et al., 2005; Moje, et al., 2004). First varied embodied literacy practices are exemplified, demonstrating the complexity of these practices and how they are inherently multimodal with verbal, written, and pictorial forms embedded within them. They are organized into four coded categories: directed, autonomous, verbalizing, and documenting.

Following embodied literacy practices are examples of computational thinking (concepts, practices, perspectives) as literacy practices, exhibiting the multimodal examples of students choreographing, programming, verbalizing, and documenting with the computer. Within this discussion, there is a subset of examples showcasing how students utilized the literacy practice of problem solving.

Autonomous embodied literacy practices. To be literate denotes skills that deal will autonomy, being able to communicate and interpret meaning independently. When the students were asked to create their cell dance sequences, the students were given inspiration from our explorations embodying the cell and also from the cell poem that had both very literal and abstract corresponding movements.

They then had to interpret these inspirations and create their own movements and sequences. For example, when performing the stanzas about the nucleus, one of the movements was marching with fisted hands. )n one pair s written notes, they wrote, control her next to two stick figure dancers. Since they were unable to program the virtual characters to execute these moves due to the program s constraints, they modified the movement to have the characters marching, referring to one of the moves from the movement poem and as a symbolic action of power. While many of the students also added marching to their physical and virtual choreography, others expanded upon the idea of the nucleus being the control center. To depict the nucleus, the cell s central organelle, one dyad enacted a sense of power in their dance by miming a puppeteer controlling a

Embodied literacy practices. Consistently throughout the project, the students embodied their inquiry and knowledge in numerous ways. The students engaged in directed creative movement activities where the researchers invited the students as a group to embody a cell, to perform and loop a sequence of steps, or to remember a sequence by dancing it. In embodying the content, they were expressing their knowledge using movements and movement phrases similar to how one might express knowledge with written text. Also, they were given the opportunity to engage in more autonomous creative and original embodied interpretations of the curricular content through their dances and the problem solving strategies of choreographing while programming.

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Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., Jรถrg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation Verbalizing embodied literacy practices. Part of the students sharing of their dances involved performing their dances alongside their virtual characters whose performance was projected, using an interactive whiteboard. They performed the dance once in silence and a second time, talking through their choreography to note the cell inspirations and their computer programming (Figure 9; Video below). At times, it was quite obvious what cell structure the students were representing physically and virtually, and at others, when explained, there was often an ooh or ahh from the larger group when the students explained. For example, two students explained in their second performance, talking through their choreography that the kicking motion meant to kick things out of the cell that the semi-permeable cell membrane would if they were bad for the cell. The collective audible audience response revealed a collective understanding and reading of that movement in relationship to what they knew about the cell.

puppet (Figure 8). In another dance, the students shook their fingers as if telling someone what to do.

During another instance when one student volunteered to embody the nucleus in an activity, another student is captured on video saluting the nucleus volunteer, alluding to the role of the nucleus as a commander of the cell.

Figure 8. Image of student choreography. Dyad on the right of the image rehearsing their choreography for the nucleus. Student on right is controlling the other student with her hand above her partner s head.

Note the choreographic notes on the floor .Additionally,

one of the poem s stanzas noted that the vacuoles are like the closet, cubby, and waste bin. Likewise, one pair of students described their vacuole movement in their dance as [he] grabs me and pushes me down because the vacuole stores things. )n that same dance, based on the cell membrane and its semi-permeable qualities as the fence to keep what I need in and the boundary to keep what ) don t need out, the students described their cell membrane movements as [he] grabs me and pulls me in then pushes me out. This instance demonstrates how the students took what they knew about the cell structures and related them to concepts that they were familiar with, abstracting the movements in ways that made sense to them. In these autonomous embodied literacy practices, the students transmediated knowledge across speech, writing/drawing, and movement. Part of the creative process of choreography allows for this artistic license, and the students made these choices independently, writing and speaking with their bodies and on paper in autonomous ways that were syntonic, relatable to them, based on their own funds of knowledge (Leonard et al., 2015; Gonzalez et al., 2005; Moje et al., 2004; Papert, 1993).

Figure 9. Students performing with virtual characters. The students are dancing in front of a projection of their virtual characters dancing.

In this video, two students perform their cell dance in front of a screen projecting some of their programmed choreography. If you look closely, you can see the character on the left moving on the screen. After performing the dance once, the students perform it again and talk through their choreography.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Fall 2015 preferences.

Also, these performers, with extracurricular dance funds of knowledge, wanted the dance to look polished and graceful. Part of the reason it was graceful was that they executed the movements in unison. They explained that since they were not using music, they choreographed the dance to be very specific so that they could stay together.

Here the verbal and physical explanations relied on each other, exhibiting how different modes of communication are embedded within embodied literacy practices.

After each performance, the audience of students, teacher, and researchers were invited to provide feedback using the prompt of TAG: Tell something that you noticed; Ask a question about what you saw; and Give some positive feedback. Therefore, these descriptive and peer feedback verbalizations of the work added another layer of text to the already complex text of the physical and virtual dance and the programming and choreographic work that went into it. Instances like these strengthen the overall constellation of literacy practices since each practice adds to the larger picture. During one performance, the students dancing dramatically dropped to the ground as their virtual characters disappeared on screen for a couple of seconds. Once they reappeared, the students stood up and continued to dance. During the TAG session, one student remarked that the disappearing part was cool and wished he had figured that out on the computer. The performers explained, We disappeared because you cannot see the cells because they are so small. From the group, audible responses were heard since part of the poem noted that the cell is the smallest unit of life. When the cells were introduced, it was discussed that one needs a microscope to see cells, but after that, only the line from the poem reminded the students of this. Interestingly, this resonated with the students, and they communicated by abstracting the concept physically in their movement of dropping low to the floor to hide and by programming the characters to disappear brieflyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a feature on the program that was not presented formally to the group but one that they found on their own from their own exploration.

Documenting embodied literacy practices. The students choreography notes provided insight into how they transducted their corporeal knowledge using the pen and paper media in both written and pictorial forms. It is also interesting to note that when the students explained their dances during the performance, at times they misspoke or seemed to be confused about what a particular structure was called. They seemed to know their function but mixed up the cytoplasm and the cell membrane.

However, from examining their choreography notes, it is clear what movements, via drawings or descriptions, matched which structure, and they were all correct on paper.

In addition, the students documented their choreography in a variety of forms: using written text; stick-figure drawings; symbols depicting a direction or quality of movement, such as an arrow or squiggle; and with numbers, bullets, or boxes to depict order of sequence. On several of these choreography documentations, the students expressed knowledge of computational concepts. For example, in Figure 10, the students drew separate boxes for each movement and each dancer s movements. Whether or not this was influenced by the box format used in Looking Glass to separate an individual character s distinct motion in an action ordering box to denote a specific order of the sequence is unclear, but a parallel between the pictorial representation and computer representation was noted. Also, this pair of students noted how many loops to perform using the computer programming language.

Additionally, the students verbally expressed their aesthetic choreographic choices, showcasing their dance literacy and the notion that being literate allows for aesthetic expression and representations.

During a TAG session, one student asked, Why did you chose to make [your dance] graceful instead of sharp? alluding to the fact that the constraints of Looking Glass did not allow for the characters motions to be fluid; as a result, they were often clunky, rigid, and sharp, and therefore, many students dances mirrored this quality, as many tried to perform their dance to match their characters .

The students, along with feedback from their dance teacher, discussed how people have different style 79

Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., Jรถrg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation

Figure 11. Example of student choreography notes. In this choreography note, the students made a key of their movements and then wrote them in a sequence below that is reminiscent of a sentence. It also includes parts to do together and who performs first and then who follows: ___ then ___. Please note that the students names have been covered.

Figure 10. Example of student choreography notes. In this choreography note, the students place each movement and dance in a separate box.

Note the instructions for loops.

Computational thinking as embodied literacy practice. Throughout the project, the students were developing their computer literacy and In another choreography note, the students noted computational thinking skills.

For the project, we their choreography in a list of key movements and brought in MacBook Pro laptops, one per dyad. then wrote out the dance in a sentence-like form While some students have Mac computers at home, with annotations about sequence, who performs and the students used PCs in school; therefore, in what order, and when in unison (Figure 11). They navigating on a different noted the unison as do operating system with its together, the same language Like a constellation, each unique format, key sequences, used in the computer program. and a touchpad mouse was a literacy practice that the They annotated their unique skill many needed to develop. sentence form with a bracket students engaged in from In many ways, the students around the movements have to learn new ways of adapting and interpreting referenced. This structure also moving their hands on the is reminiscent of the action concepts into movements and computer to direct the ordering boxes in Looking Glass programmed coding language activities on the screen. Even (Figure 2). Since the written their dance teacher was more and drawn texts represented to verbal, written, and pictorial familiar with a PC. Since there physical movements and explanations was part of a were only three researchers to programming structures that assist with technical questions students manipulated in the larger picture. Pieced together, and between 20 and 22 programs, these documenting these practices formed an students, often the students instances also make another had to play on their own to form of embodied literacy individualized picture of the problem solve or, at times, practices, illustrating how students knowledge and assist each other. Thus, they embodied literacy occurs in became collectively proficient meaning making. multimodal forms. on using the Mac technology quickly.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Fall 2015 playing a preview of their character dancing, then examining the coded sequence to check to make sure it was correct, and then playing the preview again and again until they figured out what needed to be fixed. This process aligns well with the computational practices of iteration (continuously refining code) and debugging (a structured process for finding errors in code). Moreover, through programming the choreography and the watching and critiquing of the previews of the character dancing, they were once again using embodied literacy practices, ones directly related to the body and their understandings of how bodies move.

One of our main research questions seeks to learn about the students experiences and development of computational thinking skills with computational concepts, practices, and perspectives. Concepts are like the computing tools (sequences, loops, conditionals, parallelism1). Practices are the processes of using those tools (iterating, reusing, and remixing2), and perspectives are ways of seeing computing as a tool for self-expression (Daily et al., 2015; Brennan & Resnick 2012a; 2012b). While it became clear through the increase in scores from the pre- to the post-computational thinking test, as well as in the group discussions and activities, that the students were developing a greater understanding of computational concepts and their applications, it also became clear by observing their interactions while on the computer (using the computer, directing their partners to use the computer-pointing and using the mouse pad) and discussing in the group interviews that they were also developing computational practices and perspectives through embodied means.

Students also noted a sense of empowerment in knowing how to make the computer do what [we] want. Another remarked, ) just like programming in general, controlling the computer and telling it what to do. (ere this control and ability to manipulate by programming and moving blocks of code, again relates to the body s role in how we compute, controlling actions on the screen with motions of our hands, clicks of buttons, and reading digital texts and physically responding to them on screen. Relating to the broader context of computing, another student responded, )f we want to do this [computer program in the future], we know how to do it. One student explained that you don t have to be a techie or good with technology to computer program. Since during this project it was clear to him that we all can program; we are all programmers! Yet, one of his peers disagreed and responded that he was not sure that they actually were programmers because his dad is a computer programmer and he knows a lot of things. It takes a lot of smarts [sic] at the highest level. You have to put in your time. Referring to this broader computer science context, it was interesting to note that the students who had the most intensive and extensive knowledge of programming and had spent significant time using other programming platforms felt that Looking Glass and this introductory level of programming to not be programming. )t seemed that the majority of the students with minimal programming experience, who did not use computer programs in their spare time, felt more empowered and optimistic about their programming abilities during our group interview session.

For example, during one session, a student asked for some assistance in creating a loop. To create a loop, one can drag numerous boxes of the same movement over to the Looking Glass workspace. Another student overheard this and chimed in to explain that there was another, possibly more efficient way to create a loop that he remembered seeing demonstrated on another day. Pointing and gesturing to the computer, he explained that one could use an action-ordering box and choose to enter in the number of times to loop a particular action.

Here the students were learning an important computational perspectiveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;thinking like a programmer: that there is often more than one way to execute a task.

Another student remarked that one of her favorite parts of the project was that one could try out different things to make it go good [sic] and figure out the right moves at the right time and do it again and again to make [the character s] arms go up at the same time using a do together box. What she was explaining was the computational practice of iterations. Computer programmers often must try multiple iterations to perfect a sequence, working on it over and over again. Students were commonly seen 81

Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., Jรถrg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation Problem solving. Even in the most traditional sense of literacy, problem solving remains essential (National Institute for Literacy, n.d.; Steinkuehler, 2007). Since the students were given the task to choreograph and program their own dance sequences in dyads, problem solving and doing so collaboratively became a huge part of their experience during the project. Consistently, the students encountered the challenge of programming a complementary dance for their characters when the capabilities of the virtual character did not parallel their own. As one student explained, the characters couldn t do exact things like people, and so different dyads solved this problem in various ways. In fact, one student remarked that since the physical and virtual dance did not have to be exact, that that made the process easier for her and her partner.

Other students shared their choreography and programming strategies. In one dyad, one student felt more comfortable dancing and the other programming so they split up the work and then taught each other what they had done. In order to match the timing of the character with the physical dance, others noted that they would take turns pressing play on the laptop while one would dance, and then would switch. Another pair of students was trying to figure out how to program two characters to perform in unison. They asked a student from another group to explain how he figured it out. He then instructed his peers to locate the specific command action, Do Together to group movements together and to populate a Do Together box of code with the same movements for each character.

In one dance, the students wrapped their arms around each other to depict the cell membrane, but in the virtual dance, the characters made a 360degree turn instead. Both movements had a rounded element to them but were not the same.

Other students had more intricate motions in the physical dance for the nucleus that were reminiscent to a puppeteer controlling a puppet, while another group used their arms as the hands of a clock to signify that the nucleus controls the whole operation, but then these groups programmed their characters to simply march in place. Yet, the marching move was one that directly corresponded to the movement poem, noting again the transfers across discourse.

Constellations of Multimodal Literacy Practice When conducting research on MMOGs, Steinkuehler found that they allowed for a constellation of literacy practices, p. , rather than degraded or replaced traditional forms of literacy. Contrary to public criticism of online gaming, her research findings broaden definitions of literacy, critically and empirically defending multimodal forms of literacy.

Calling upon the New London Group s contextual and in-practice notion that literacies (plural) crucially entail sense making within a rich, multimodal semiotic system Steinkuehler, , p.

300), her research demonstrates how MMOGs engage players in varied but related literacy practices. From in-game literacy practices of communicating with other players to fan sites and blogs, MMOGs entail not only (inter)action in the game s virtual environment but also the production and consumption of online fandom content in the form of discussion boards, website contributions, creative endeavors such as writing stories, and the like. At the micro level of a given moment in an individual s gameplay, participation means movement among multiple spaces of reading and writing. Thus, the literacy practices that comprise MMOGs are not isolated and autonomous but, rather, interrelated in complex and mutually defining ways (Steinkuehler, 2007, p. 303).

Another dyad chose to focus more upfront on the programmed dance. Once their character s movements were completed, they re-choreographed their physical sequence to match the virtual one. The only move that was different was when they motioned with their hands to create a round shape, like a cell, from the poem, while their characters clapped instead. Here both movements dealt with the hands. Their physical aesthetic performance style even matched the rigid, sharp movements of the character. Rather than be concerned about the virtual character not being like a human, they danced like the character.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 at this time, they too were powerful and effective due to that knowledge being of a syntonic relationship to the students (Papert, 1993). Even more, students enhanced their experiences and connections across curriculum and knowledge calling upon their own funds of knowledge from their extracurricular experiences and home life (Gonzalez et al., 2004).

Relating knowledge to something that made sense to them allowed them to engage across discursive contexts.

Moreover, Steinkuehler (2010) explains that unlike other media forms, video games are about a back and forth between reading the game's meanings and writing back into them p. . Therefore, players can inscribe their intentions within the game s narrative space, exemplifying digital literary practice.

Our project merging movement and computer programming, while not a MMOG, allowed for meaning making and literacy practices within a complex multimodal semiotic system. Like in the MMOGs, the students were engaging in a particular activity that required multiple forms of literacy that were interconnected and inherently multimodal. To program, one had to interpret the dance and communicate its meaning with the biology, inscribing one s own understanding and prior knowledge. Working in dyads and groups, giving each other feedback and assistance, the experiences were innately multimodal and always about representation and the transmediation of knowledge.

Steinkuehler notes, All interaction is multimodal. Our communication is more than what is said and heard but by what we perceive through expressions, gazes, gestures and movements p .

Discourse is never just about language. Gee explains, Discourses are ways of speaking/listening, writing/reading, acting, interacting, valuing, thinking, and using objects, tools, technologies, places and times, to recognise and get recognised as having specific (often contested and negotiated) socially situated identities St. Clair & Phipps, , p. 93). While computer science, dance, and biology might not be realms that one thinks of as related, the students were able to make connections, relate knowledge, and reshape them through varied yet connected multimodal literacy practices. Thus, the d/Discourses were utilized in transdisciplinary ways.

Moreover, in translating biology to dance to computer programming, the students were engaging and making connections across these socially and professionally situated networks.

And the accumulation of their experiences seemed to make a constellation of multimodal literacy practices for each student.

Like a constellation, each literacy practice that the students engaged in from adapting and interpreting concepts into movements and programmed coding language to verbal, written, and pictorial explanations was part of a larger picture. Pieced together, these practices formed an individualized picture of the students knowledge and meaning making. Like a constellation that is made from the connections of individual stars to create an image, these practices connect to demonstrate knowledge by depicting student knowledge. Just as stars can be a part of multiple constellations, here these practices can make connections in different ways for different students, forming individualized constellations of practice.

Literacy is continually shaped by social and cultural contexts. And these constellations of multimodal literacy practices are indeed culturally and socially situated in this particular school and research context but also in our broader global and digital context. Computer science, in a rapidly and continually growing technological world, stands as foundational for educational advances and impact.

This project hopes to open up pathways, allowing more students to engage in d/Discourses of professional fields, like computer science and dance, merging this knowledge with one s own syntonic knowledge (Papert, 1993). Gringrasso (Curran et al., writes, Becoming literate resembles a journey one engages in as a lifelong process more than a state one achieves that gradually builds reading fluency and thinking abilities p. ; Gordon & Gordon,

In the beginning of the paper, students were quoted as discussing the process of transferring knowledge in one form, dance, to another, programming. They noted the ease of this process since it was something that they could relate to. Even though the students did not note explicitly all the other transmediation processes that they went through during this project 83

Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., JĂśrg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation 2003, xv). Embodying and programming a constellation of multimodal literacy practices visually and physically maps part of that journey of becoming literate for these students.

literacy experiences that were inherently multimodal, the students were interweaving literacy practices, utilizing and representing across multiple modes of discourse to communicate and represent knowledge while also negotiating multiple Discourses related to computer programming, dance, and school (Gee, 2008). Examining how the students made connections across d/Discourse in this multimodal processâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;navigating computer programming, dance, and traditional forms of literacy and language in schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;becomes reminiscent of a constellation, therefore creating a constellation of multimodal literacy practices (Steinkuehler, 2007).

Conclusion Over a period of eleven weeks, VEnvI (Virtual Environment Interactions) researchers facilitated workshops in creative movement, programing, and science. The goal was to have students choreograph and perform original dances along with projections of their virtual characters, which had been programmed by the students to perform complementary choreography representing functions of cells. Seeking to make connections between the artistic process of choreographing a dance and the compositional process of programming a character, we investigated the ways in which the students made meaning through their experiences in embodied ways.

Informed by scholarship and theories of embodiment and cognition, constructivist learning, and literacy perspectives (Dils, 2007; Hanna, 2014; New London Group, 1996; Papert, 1993), this research demonstrates the complex, multimodal processes of reconstructing and recreating curricular knowledge in schools through embodied means, related to multiple forms of media: movement, speech, writing, drawing, and computers. We acknowledge that the positive effects on student knowledge and meaningmaking through our research interventions have been possible largely in part to the multimodal, embodied literacy practices that students engaged in during their virtual environment interactions, blending and navigating computer programming and dance within a school context. According to the dance instructor, integrating technology and dance was a positive, new experience for her and the students and opened the door to new possibilities.

The students have been asking for more experiences like this one, and she is inspired to make it happen.

Ultimately, in conducting and sharing this research, we seek to expand the professional and academic possibilities for K-12 students through opening up pathways that synthesize knowledge across and through digital media, computer science, and arts disciplines.

Working in dyads to choreograph and program, the students merged curricular science content with embodied, social, and computational knowledge.

Ultimately, this case study intervention has inspired design revisions to our ongoing development of our virtual environment platform, VEnvI. Following this case study, we began using our platform during research scenarios and continue to develop its design and functionality. Our hope is that it will be available in the near future for download by students, teachers, and families.

Most significant from this case study interaction, we found that students improved in their overall computational thinking knowledge and skills.

Employing multimodal literacy practices, the students also engaged in and negotiated multimodal and multimedia texts and discourse: programming, computing, dance, conversing, writing, and drawing (Kalantzis, Cope, & Cloonan, 2010; Kress, 2003; New London Group, 1996). Thus, through these embodied

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 Warburton, E. C. (2011). Of meanings and movements: Re-Languaging embodiment in dance phenomenology and cognition. Dance Research Journal, 43(2), 65-83.

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Leonard, A. E., Dsouza, N., Babu, S. V., Daily, S. B., Jรถrg, S., Waddell, C., Parmar, D., Gundersen, K., Gestring, J., & Boggs, K. (2015) / Embodying and Programming a Constellation Appendix Included here is the 10-question computational pre- and post-test.

Appendix

Included here is the 10-question computational pre- and post-test.

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Representing Reading: An Analysis of Professional Development Book Covers

Frank Serafini Dani Kachorsky Maria Goff

ABSTRACT: Multimodal ensembles utilize a variety of modes to communicate meaning potential and

mediate understandings. Professional development books covers contain visual representations of literacy

practices, particularly the practices of reading comprehension and reading instruction. The multimodal

representations of literacy practices have the potential to impact how literacy educators view, approach,

and carry out the practice of teaching reading. Using a social semiotic perspective, the authors analyze 150 professional development book covers intended for classroom teachers. This multilevel, qualitative content analysis examines specific types of literacy practices represented on books and leads to the development of the Multimodal Ensemble Analytical Instrument (MEAI) as a way to guide analysis of representative cover images. Findings are examined in two ways: (1) across four specific literacy practices (reading aloud, independent reading, reading instruction, and reading activities), and (2) within each of the individual literacy practices. Authors conclude with a call for the development of analytical frameworks to examine the types of multimodal texts encountered daily.

Keywords: multimodal analysis, qualitative content analysis, visual literacy, book covers

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

Dr. Frank Serafini is an award winning children’s author and illustrator and a Professor of Literacy Education and Children’s Literature in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. Frank has recently been awarded the Mayhill Arbuthnot Award from the International Literacy Association as the 2014 Distinguished Professor of Children's Literature.

Dani Kachorsky is a doctoral student in the Learning, Literacies, and Technologies Ph.D. program in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. Her work focuses on the connections among visual literacy, multimodality, and children’s and young adult literature.

Maria Goff is a doctoral student in the Learning, Literacies, and Technologies Ph.D. program at Arizona State University. Maria’s research interests include adolescent literacies and multiliteracies practices within classroom contexts. She can be contacted at MariaGoff@asu.edu.

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isual images and multimodal ensembles play images on the covers of professional development an ever-expanding role in the communicative books focusing on reading comprehension and landscape of contemporary societies (Elkins, instruction are not innocent, neutral representations 2008; Sturken & Cartwright, 2001). Inhabiting a of various literacy practices. The visual images world mediated by visual images and multimodal produced for these covers have been carefully texts in both print and digital environments, people selected to represent various aspects of reading are constantly involved in a wide range of literacy comprehension and instruction, classroom practices that incorporate socially-embedded experiences, and educational settings by the graphic discourses (Gee, 1992), multimodal communications designers employed by their respective publishing (Kress, 2010), and digital technologies (Gee & Hayes, companies. The visual images included on these 2011). As literacy researchers, the implications of the covers have different modal affordances than the communicative and representational resources, written language included in the title and subtitle, discourses, and technologies that support our and represent aspects of reading and reading encounters with visually dominant texts and comprehension through different modalities. multimodal ensembles and the potential effects of Investigating the meaning potential of these mixing and remixing various modes of multimodal representations may offer a window into communication in our everyday lives should be how reading comprehension and instruction are considered (Serafini, 2010). In order to do so, we conceptualized, with both intended and unintended need to consider how visual images and multimodal consequences (Sturken & ensembles mediate our Cartwright, 2001). experiences in a variety of We need to consider how Commercially produced social contexts and visual images and multimodal professional development communicative events. resources are utilized by ensembles mediate our Teachers, like everyone else, elementary and middle school experiences in a variety of are bombarded with visual teachers throughout their images and multimodal careers. For purposes of this social contexts and ensembles in both their article, we define professional communicative events professional and personal lives. development books as books The resources teachers select directed at pre-service and into include in their classroom service educators intended to

libraries as part of their literacy lessons and to share support instructional practices, in particular reading during professional development experiences comprehension and instruction. The covers selected contain semiotic resources for communicating for this study were gathered from a set of nine meanings and mediating understandings of the commercial educational publishers, including those world they inhabit. These resources include associated with professional literacy education representations of various aspects of teaching and organizations such as the National Council Teachers learning through the modes of written language and of English. visual images, in particular representations of The covers of professional development books serve literacy practices such as reading comprehension and a commercial and rhetorical purpose, meaning they instruction. How literacy practices are represented are designed to get teachers and educators to on the covers of professional development books and consider the value of their contents and persuade the potential for how these representations affect the teachers to eventually purchase them. Rhetorical ways in which teachers conceptualize reading analysis has been aligned with theoretical and comprehension and instruction is the focus of this analytical frameworks including discourse analysis article.

(Oddo, 2013) and advertising (Scott, 1994) in an The design and publication of professional attempt to provide warranted accounts of how development book covers are not disinterested discourse functions across modalities, contexts, processes. The commercially designed and produced audiences, and cultures. As with other forms of

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advertising, these covers are to get teachers and other educators to consider their value as teaching resources and to increase the sales of these books.

literacies has focused on instructional materials (Newfield, 2011), standardized test materials (Unsworth, 2014), and online reading comprehension materials (Dalton & Proctor, 2008; Unsworth, 2011).

These studies demonstrated how various visual images and written language are used to portray specific aspects of the human condition and ways of being and becoming literate.

In this article, the authors report an analysis of 150 selected print-based, professional development book covers using an observational instrument developed for analyzing visually-dominant, multimodal texts in print-based formats. The authors provide the results of our analysis of selected covers published by nine publishing companies that focus on teacher professional development in the areas of reading comprehension and instruction. The following research questions guided the research presented in this paper:

Paratextual elements (Genette, 1997) are features of print-based and digital texts that are associated with a multimodal text but are peripheral to the narrative presentation itself. Peritextual elements are those included in the physical text itself, for example, dedications, endpapers, author biographies, and book jackets. Book covers are a peritextual feature that provides a threshold (Genette, 1997) that distinguishes the world of the book from the world of the reader. These features serve both centripetal trajectories, meaning they draw readers in towards the text itself, and centrifugal trajectories that extend beyond the boundaries of the text (McCracken, 2013).

The covers of professional development books serve both trajectories; centripetal trajectories alluding to what might be included in the book and what theoretical orientation may be addressed in its contents, and centrifugal trajectories that are associated with the author, publisher, and other professional associations. The covers of a book constitute an important peritextual element worthy of analysis (Baetens, 2005; Sheahan, 1996).

1.

How do publishing companies use various visual and textual resources to represent the concepts of reading comprehension and instruction on professional development book covers?

2. What does an analysis of the multimodal features of selected contemporary professional development book covers reveal about the concepts of reading comprehension and instruction?

The analysis reported here reveals insight into how these professional development book covers represent literacy practices, in particular how the concepts of reading comprehension and instruction are represented in these multimodal ensembles.

Theoretical Framework

Review of Related Research

Multimodal ensembles communicate using semiotic resources across a variety of modes including visual images, design features, and written language (Jewitt, 2009). Visual images have modal affordances that support the depiction and communication of concepts and ideas in certain ways that differ from the affordances associated with written language (Bezemer & Kress, 2008). What a particular mode, such as visual images, can communicate and represent has both limitations and semiotic potentials. In other words, written text represents ideas in different ways than visual images, and visual images and graphic design features work in different ways from written language (Kress, 2010).

Visual images have been used to represent events, practices, and peoples in both school and out of school contexts for centuries. Although we were unable to locate any research focusing explicitly on the visual images of professional development covers associated with reading comprehension and instruction, research has been conducted into the representation of same-sex parents on picturebook covers (Sunderland & McGlashan, 2013), how reading is represented in picturebooks (Serafini, 2004), how teachers are represented on covers and visual narratives in childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s literature (Barone, Meyerson, & Mallette, 1995), and how illustrations in picturebooks allude to works of fine art (Beckett, 2010). In addition, research in visual and multimodal

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Expanding the analysis of various forms of discourse, including written, oral, and visual forms, Halliday (1978) focused on texts as a type of social action rather than simply a decontextualized object to be analyzed. In similar fashion, contemporary multimodal researchers and theorists have expanded the analysis of multimodal ensembles to include the social and cultural embeddedness of these texts (Aiello, 2006; Alvermann & Hagood, 2000; Duncum, 2004; Serafini, 2014). No matter the semiotic means of representation, the relationship among visual images, design features, and written language and their associated meaning potentials are socially embedded and worthy of investigation.

sociocultural and theoretical contexts. This grounding of literate practices within a sociocultural context allows researchers to analyze the various resources used in meaning making in relation to the cultural, social, and historical influences in which they reside (Kaptelinin & Nardi, 2009; Shanahan, McVee, & Bailey, 2014).

Like other concepts, reading comprehension and instruction are defined by the expectations, experiences, instructional approaches, assessments, and sociocultural, political, and historical contexts in which they are presented and enacted (Barton, Hamilton, & Ivanic, 1999; Bloome, 1985). Over the past decades, reading comprehension has been defined as oral comprehension plus decoding abilities (Gough, 1972), a process of building and activating schema (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983), a psycholinguistic process (Goodman, 1996; Smith, 1988), and a form of cultural mediation (Smagorinsky, 2001). Each of these definitions has specific implications for how it may be conceptualized, represented, and portrayed.

Representations of various aspects of social life utilizing multimodal ensembles that include visual images and written language are ubiquitous in modern society (Mirzoeff, 1998). Every instantiation of communication and representation implies a reduction and transformation of a considerable number of characteristics of represented reality (Kenney, 2005). Consequently, recognition of the represented elements of a visual image or multimodal text by no means implies that one understands the meaning potentials and underlying ideologies of what is experienced (Pauwels, 2008).

Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) assert that visual images or pictorial structures do not simply reproduce reality, rather they suggest visual representations “… produce [italics in original] images of reality that are bound up with the interests of the social institutions within which the pictures are produced, circulated, and read” (p.45). In the same manner, the visual images included on the covers of the professional development books under investigation represent a particular version of reality, in particular a version of reading comprehension and instruction in educational settings.

Contemporary definitions of reading comprehension address the processes of generating viable interpretations in transaction with texts and readers’ abilities to construct understandings from multiple perspectives, including the author’s intentions, textual references, personal experiences, and sociocultural contexts in which one reads (Serafini, 2012a).

Meanings constructed during the act of reading are socially embedded, temporary, partial, and plural (Corcoran, Hayhoe, & Pradl, 1994). There is not an objective truth about a text, but many truths, each with its own authority and its own warrants for viability aligned with particular literary theories and perspectives (Rorty, 1979). Because of this, readers are empowered to revise traditional meaning potentials and challenge existing, hegemonic interpretations that pervade particular institutions (Luke, 1995). In other words, readers and viewers do not have to readily accept traditional representations of reading comprehension and instruction, rather they can disrupt commonplace interpretations and re-envision how these constructs are interpreted (Lewison, Seely Flint, & Van Sluys, 2002).

The use of visual images and multimodal texts as communicative and representative resources operate within a larger sociocultural context that includes a particular set of literate and social practices (Gee, 1996; Gee & Hayes, 2011; Lave & Wenger, 1991). These practices are mediated by cognitive, technological, semiotic, and linguistic tools or resources (Werstch, 1991). Because of the complexity of the meditational means associated with multimodal ensembles, it is necessary to situate these practices within larger

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 Researcher Positionality

the researchers in this study were utilizing methods of multimodal analysis (Jewitt, 2009) for a more nuanced understanding of the representations used on individual covers to reveal the ways reading comprehension and instruction was represented across the identified literacy practices. The challenge was developing an analytical method to ensureassertions could be generated both across and within individual covers and categories of literacy practices.

As literacy researchers, it is important for us to recognize the lenses through which we approach our research processes and data analysis. Since we cannot remove our personal and professional experiences and backgrounds as literacy educators, we need to acknowledge the role these influences and perspectives play in the research we conduct. As classroom teachers, we came to these images with preconceptions of what a teacher looked like and how students engage with classroom activities. We readily One of the primary goals of identified the adults in these multimodal research designs is images as teachers and the children as students. This was to expand existing analytical also made easier by knowing frameworks for analyzing texts the intended audience of the books under study. and images

As part of the data analysis procedures, the researchers selected several representational covers from each of the four categories of literacy practices identified during the initial data analysis and conducted an in-depth, multimodal analysis of the selected covers addressing the categories included in the Multimodal Ensemble Analysis Instrument (See Appendix A) developed by the researchers and described in the following sections.

Having performed similar literacy practices in our classrooms, we were positioned to recognize the events portrayed on the covers as particular literacy events, whereas other viewers with less experiences may have interpreted them differently. Our experiences positioned us to recognize the settings in which the literacy practices were contextualized, for example, classrooms and libraries, and the participants operating in these contexts. As former classroom teachers, we have also browsed through and purchased many professional development texts and considered ourselves as part of the intended audience of these resources. Our analysis was conducted with these potential biases in mind and we understand the influence these perspectives and experiences may have had on our analyses.

One of the primary goals of multimodal research designs is to expand existing analytical frameworks available for analyzing texts and images, for example, discourse analysis (Coulthard, 1977; Gee, 1999), iconographical analysis (Panofsky, 1955), critical content analysis (Beach et al., 2009), and visual analysis (Dondis, 1973; Elkins, 2008), to consider multimodal ensembles in sociocultural contexts across various settings or sites of analysis (Rose, 2001). Drawing on a variety of theoretical frameworks, namely systemic functional linguistics, art criticism, and visual literacies, these analytical frameworks must address the multimodal aspects of the ensemble itself, its production, and its reception.

In this study, we determined it was important to analyze the covers across, as well as within our constructed categories to generate understandings about what was represented and communicated in visual images and written language across literacy practices. This type of qualitative content analysis (Krippendorff, 2004) is useful for analyzing large samples of visual images or multimodal texts and determining tendencies or frequencies across large numbers of examples. In addition to frequency counts and generalizations generated across the entire data corpus, what was equally important to

Multimodal Research Designs

Instrument Over the course of this study, an instrument was developed to guide the observations and analysis of the individual covers under investigation. The Multimodal Ensemble Analytical Instrument (MEAI) was designed to help the researchers analyze the various visual and verbal grammars used across the 99

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modes of visual images, graphic design features, and written language, and the relationship among the various modal entities.

The instrument developed was based on the systemic functional linguistic framework first presented by Halliday (1975, 1978) and later elaborated and extended to visual modalities by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) and architecture (O'Toole, 1994).

Halliday asserted that all forms of communication required three metafunctions, namely: 1) ideational, 2) interpersonal, and 3) textual. These metafunctions have been renamed and adapted by numerous scholars of visual and verbal modalities, for example, O’Toole (1994) used the terms representational, modal, and compositional, while Lemke (1998) preferred the terms presentational, orientational, and organizational. The terms representational, interpersonal, and compositional were selected for this analytical instrument because the researchers felt these terms best captured the processes they represented.

However, the three metafunctions developed by Halliday and elaborated by others did not directly address the intermodal relationships in multimodal ensembles and how meaning potentials are constructed across modalities and the sites of production and reception (O'Halloran, 2004). To address these additional features of the professional book covers, the analytical instrument developed for this study was organized into three sections: 1) intramodal considerations – focusing on the structures within particular visual images, 2) intermodal considerations – focusing on the associations and connections across various modes, and 3) ideological considerations – focusing on the interactions among modes and the larger sociocultural context. The intermodal considerations take into account the associations and meanings developed across individual modes, while the ideological considerations attempt to address the features and contexts associated with the books covers as social, cultural, and historical entities.

Data Corpus The purpose of the study presented here was to analyze the covers of selected professional development books included in the catalogs of nine

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publishers that contained the words reading and/or comprehension to better understand how these concepts were represented visually and textually and to consider the implications of these representations.

The data corpus of this study included a total of 150 professional development book covers that include the words reading and/or comprehension in the title or subtitle from the following publishers in their fall 2010 catalogues: Christopher-Gordon; Corwin; Guilford; Heinemann; IRA; Jossey-Bass; NCTE; Scholastic; Stenhouse.The books selected for this analysis were published prior to 2010 and spanned over a decade in their publication dates. Although new covers appear in publishers’ catalogs every year, the covers of the books offered by these nine prominent literacy education publishers represents a sample of convenience (Merriam, 1998) that may be used as a representation of the phenomenon under study.

Data Analysis Procedures Data analysis began with 150 book covers that were identified and collected to form the original data corpus. The book covers were digitally scanned and reviewed as digital files rather than as print-based books. The covers were initially divided into two categories: those that contained visual images and those that were simply a single-colored cover or had an abstract design element but not an identifiable visual image. There were 21 covers that displayed no discernible visual images. These book covers simply included a title and a single or multi-colored background. Although color may be a semiotic system in and of itself (van Leeuwen, 2011), and the typographical design of the title may offer potential meanings (van Leeuwen, 2006), the covers that did not include an identifiable visual image were not analyzed further.

Of the 129 covers remaining, 24 included only objects associated with reading or literacy instruction, not people. The most prominent objects displayed on these covers were images of print-based books, for example, novels, textbooks, and picturebooks. Of the 17 covers that contained books, some were abstracted illustrations and some were photographic images of actual books placed in a variety of settings: on shelves, outdoors, on tables, and on classroom desks.

In addition, seven covers featured notebooks,

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pencils, worksheets, or other potential artifacts of classroom-based literacy practices.

The objects prominently displayed on 24 of the covers were print-based reading materials, including pencils, notebooks, and worksheets. Viewing these visual objects as possible metaphors of reading comprehension and instruction, it is easy to suggest the potential meanings associated with these objects would allude to a print-based variation of reading comprehension and instruction, although this may be an overgeneralization. The dominance of worksheets, pencils, and print-based books as objects on these covers, though a ubiquitous aspect of contemporary reading education, fails to capture the multimodal and digital environments and resources that are an important part of reading education in the 21st century (Serafini, 2012b).

The remaining 105 covers were identified as narrative images (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996) because they included people or represented participants doing something and not just colored backgrounds or isolated objects. Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) suggest particular visual images are considered narrative images when they include participants, and may be of one of two types: interactive or represented. Interactive participants are involved in the image doing something to someone or something, while represented participants are simply displayed, often in portrait-like poses. Narrative representations include participants that carry a certain weight and position, and processes or vectors that create tension or force (van Leeuwen, 2008).

Each of these aspects of narrative representations helps viewers consider who is doing what to whom or to what object. Our analysis focused on the 105 covers we identified as containing narrative images to understand what patterns might be constructed from these representations associated with reading comprehension and instruction.

These 105 covers were more extensively analyzed by focusing on who was represented, what they were represented as doing or being, and the setting in which the participants were depicted or displayed.

As with the previous iterations of our data analysis, a variety of literacy practices were represented across various settings and represented participants. These results required the researchers to consider further

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analysis focusing on the types of literacy practices represented in the visual images in addition to analyzing who was depicted and where they were positioned (see Table 1 in Appendix B. Further analysis of the 105 covers generated four categories of literacy practices that were then used as a starting point for cross-case and individual cover analyses. The categories of literacy practices generated were: 1) reading aloud, 2) independent reading, 3) reading instruction, and 4) reading activities. Each of the three researchers involved in the study categorized the 105 covers individually according to the four identified categories.

Subsequently, the researchers met and discussed the inclusion or exclusion of individual texts for each category. These discussions resulted in the final four categories for further analysis and are subsequently defined and delineated here (see Table 2 in Appendix B).

Covers identified as reading aloud were those in which a teacher was depicted as reading a single text to a group of students. In our data analysis, adults who were depicted in classroom settings (due to the objects displayed, for example, desks, books, and other objects typical of contemporary classrooms) were identified as teachers. Teachers were generally depicted holding up a single text in front of the children, while the children were seated in a circle or small group on the floor to allow them to see what was being read. Covers identified as independent reading featured individual students reading a text by themselves, where each student had their own book or reading material. Covers identified as reading instruction contained images in which students were depicted interacting with texts, other students, and a teacher. It was the inclusion of an adult that distinguished the covers assigned to reading instruction from those identified as independent reading. The covers initially identified as reading instruction were further organized into two separate categories: images containing groups of children reading together without an adult and images featuring adults and children together. We eventually determined that images where children were reading together without an adult would be more appropriately categorized under the heading of independent reading because children were not being instructed by adults. The images containing

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both children and adults interacting with texts not classified as reading aloud were re-categorized as reading instruction. The remaining images were designated as reading activities because they featured a range of alternative literacy practices associated with reading and reading instruction, for example, writing, drawing, or carrying books.

Findings The data analysis subsequently generated findings in two areas: 1) analysis across the four literacy practices and 2) analysis of each of the individual literacy practices. By analyzing visual structures and representations within and across the four categories, the assertions constructed focusing on how reading comprehension and instruction were represented are more viable than individual case analysis would reveal. First, data will be presented using elements of visual grammar focusing on the depiction of represented participants in the cover images. Second, the analysis of the language of the titles and subtitles will be presented and discussed focusing on how language represents reading comprehension and instruction. Finally, a detailed analysis of covers representing the identified four literacy practices will be shared.

Analyses Across Four Literacy Practices Depiction of participants. Van Leeuwen (2008) describes how participants are represented in images and how these representations construct potential relationships between represented participants and viewers. Based on their analysis of how participants are depicted, van Leeuwen (2008) offered three dimensions for consideration and analysis: 1) social distance, 2) social relations, and 3) social interactions. All of these dimensions are, “colored by the specific context” in which the visual images are produced and received (van Leeuwen, 2008, p. 139). Sunderland and McGlashan (2013) further suggest these dimensions be considered as possibilities rather than definitive categories, allowing for, “wider, contextually-informed understandings and alternative readings” (p. 483).

In addition, van Leeuwen (2008) posited that the representation of social participants must also consider who is depicted, who is not depicted, and

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what are the participants doing or not doing. Our analysis of the 105 covers containing narrative images revealed that two covers contained only adults, 62 contained only children, while 41 had a mixture of adults and children. In addition, 64 covers depicted participants in an identifiable school setting, 12 were depicted in a variety of out of school settings, and 29 images were categorized as abstracted settings, meaning the use of white space or an abstracted background did not specify an identifiable or realistic setting (See Tables 3 & 4 in Appendix B).

The adults depicted were overwhelmingly Caucasian females. Of the 43 covers that depicted adults alone or with children, 29 were identifiable as Caucasian females depicted in the role of teacher, while only three African-American females were depicted as teachers. Ten white males were depicted while only one adult African-American male was represented in the role of teacher. The children depicted were generally more diverse as far as identifiable visible attributes as compared to the teachers depicted.

African American and Latino students were the depicted in smaller numbers, while Caucasian students represented a small majority of students.

Social distance.Social distance refers to the perceived level of intimacy created between viewers of the image and the participants portrayed in visual images. When participants are represented as closer, the viewer is invited into a more intimate relationship, while participants being depicted as farther away create a less intimate relationship.

Many of the visual images on the covers contained students in what would be considered intimate social distances revealing only faces or upper bodies. The relatively intimate positioning of the participants on the covers invites the viewer to closely participate in the world of the classrooms and other settings depicted. It would be difficult to offer long-distance representations given the fact that most of the images were illustrated or photographed in classroom settings and the relative size of most classrooms.

Social relations. Social relations have two aspects, namely involvement and power.

Involvement is represented along the horizontal axis, generally whether the participants are depicted frontally or from the side. Most of the images in our

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study depicted participants from a side view. This type of depiction signals to the viewer the participant’s involvement with the given activity in the image, rather than being directly involved with the viewer. A small number of images positioned the participants frontally, inviting the viewer to participate directly in the represented activity. The visual images were used to invite the viewer into the reading comprehension and instruction activity depicted and to feel a part of the events portrayed.

indirect addresses turn the participants into what Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) call the “object of the viewer’s dispassionate scrutiny” (p. 119). It may be suggested that the viewer is being asked to evaluate whether the depictions of the literacy events and processes being represented on these covers are how they want similar literacy events and processes to appear in their own classrooms. The indirect address positions the viewer of the image as voyeur who watching as the events in the image unfolds.

Power is depicted along the vertical axis, generally whether the viewer is positioned above, below, or at eye-level with the represented participants. Several of the images position the viewer at eye-level suggesting a shared power relationship with the viewer. However, a majority of the images positioned the viewer in a position of power above the participants, looking down on the events taking place, similar to how a teacher may view younger students in an elementary classroom setting. The depictions of events in the images across all four literacy practices were predominantly from above much like an adult would be positioned when visiting a classroom. These representations, although subtle, suggest the power in the classroom lies with the adult and students are subservient to the teacher in reading comprehension and instructional events.

Eighteen covers depicted participants, both students and teachers, looking directly at the camera or illustrated facing the audience. These demand images created a more direct connection between the participants and the viewers. This form of representation invited the viewer to not only participate in the depicted activities, but to directly transact with the participants represented. The facial expressions of the students and teachers portrayed in these images also impact the connection created by the direct address. In some instances, students looked directly at the viewer with expressions of confusion or concern as they struggled with reading activities, suggesting the viewer is expected to empathize with the student. In other images, students smiled at the viewer thus conveying a positive, inviting, friendly relationship between participants and viewers.

Social interactions. Social interactions may involve a direct or indirect address between participants in an image and the viewer. In a direct address or demand, participants look directly out at the viewer, whereas in an indirect address or offer participants look away from the viewer suggesting the viewer consider what they are attending to (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996). The 105 covers analyzed revealed that a majority of images (87 covers) featured indirectly addresses rather than directly addresses (18 covers). In other words, the majority of images featured teachers and students not looking directly out at the viewer. Instead, the teachers and students looked at each other or at texts and other objects in classrooms or other settings.

The indirect address positions the viewer outside of the classroom or other spaces represented in an image, looking in on the events depicted. These

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Analysis of Four Literacy Practices The analysis of the covers containing narrative images revealed a wide range of depicted participants, activities, objects, settings, and social interrelationships. At this point, the researchers believed a more nuanced analysis of the identified four literacy practices was necessary. After analyzing the data corpus across the four literacy practices using the visual grammar features and language representations described previously, our analysis proceeded by looking at each of the four literacy practices individually.

Three book covers were selected as representative samples from each of the four identified literacy practices. The dimensions included as part of the MEAI (listed in the appendix) were used to organize and deepen the analyses of these selected book covers. These dimensions include: 1) intramodal

Serafini, F., Kachorsky, D., & Goff, M. (2015) / Representing Reading

considerations (compositional, design, ideational, and interpersonal inventories within a particular mode, in this instance the visual image), 2) intermodal considerations (how visual image and written text interact), and 3) ideological considerations (critical, socio-cultural associations).

Results of this analysis are presented according to each identified literacy practice.

Representing reading aloud. The category constructed as reading aloud was defined as one adult person, identified as a teacher, male or female, holding a single book and appearing to read or present it to a group of children, identified as students. In these visual images, the students were positioned either in a semi-circle or small group facing the book and the teacher. The single text being held up was the focus of the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s engagement. In general, the teacher was positioned above the students and held the text so students could see it and appeared to be reading from it. The books depicted on the covers were primarily picturebooks or books with text and images. In these cover images the text became an object used to mediate the interactions between the teacher and children. It was the text as visual object that was the focus of the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; attention.

On these covers, children are positioned below the level of the teacher and face the teacher and the book. A teacher always held the book and children were represented facing the text engaged in the act of listening to the story being read. Students were never depicted in chairs or at their desks on these covers. In the reading aloud images, the majority of teachers were identifiable as Caucasian, including six females and three males. In general, the children depicted on the covers were multiculturally diverse.

African American, Latino, Asian American, and Caucasian students were depicted in equal numbers of both boys and girls.

The visual images on the covers depicted reading aloud as a communal activity that takes place in school with both teachers and students engaged in the activity enacting different roles. The setting of all the reading aloud covers was a classroom, suggesting that reading aloud occurs in school settings regularly. Whether in an abstracted image or photograph, students were depicted as facing the

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teacher, happily listening to a story being read aloud suggesting that students enjoyed this literacy event.

Representing independent reading.

Covers categorized as independent reading were defined as any time a child had his or her own text and was depicted reading or looking at the text. Of the 105 covers containing narrative images, 53 covers fit in the category of independent reading. Within the category of independent reading, two subcategories were constructed: 1) multiple children in an image, each with his or her own book, or 2) a single child with his or her own book. Images in the independent reading category depicted a variety of settings: school buildings, classrooms, outdoors, or abstracted representations containing unidentifiable settings, most commonly depicted on white spaces or single colored backgrounds.

A majority of images portray a child with an open book, looking directly into or at the book. Fewer images depict either a child looking at his or her book with the book closed or some combination of these actions. The majority of texts represented in the images are chapter books, with a lesser amount of picturebooks, textbooks, and combinations of newspapers, comic books, or unidentified texts. The prominence of chapter books identifies these specific texts as the preferred reading material for independent reading. The less frequent inclusion of picturebooks, textbooks, and other texts signals approval to the inclusion of other texts but as an alternative to chapter books.

Of the children depicted in the visual images, 21 featured only males, 22 had a combination of males and females, and ten covers featured only girls. The differences in gender representations may suggest that boys need more guidance with their independent reading practices than girls. The few images featuring girls on their own or in a group of girls suggests they may not require the same level of assistance as young male readers. Twenty images featured Caucasian children, while 23 featured a mix of races. Just ten covers depict only minority children on the covers. Further analysis of the representations of the gender and racial aspects of the independent reading covers revealed two predominate groups: Caucasian boys and mixed-gender, mixed-race groups.

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Covers categorized as depicting independent reading feature children looking away from the viewer, at a close personal distance, at an eye level angle of interaction, and are realistic in terms of the imageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s modality. Images in the independent reading category did not depict multiple students reading in groups, interacting with one another as they read.

The covers represent independent reading as a solitary activity and may suggest reading is something best done alone.

Representing Reading Instruction. The category of reading instruction was defined as any time teachers and children came together around a single text in a literacy practice identified as something other than reading aloud. The inclusion of adults in the image distinguished these covers from the category of independent reading. Twenty-nine covers out of 105 were categorized as reading instruction.

Within the category of reading instruction, the mostly commonly represented literacy practices were one-on-one reading instruction, which appeared on 14 covers, and small group instruction, which appeared on 12. Classrooms and libraries were the most common settings for reading instruction in this category. Sixteen of the 29 reading instruction images were set in classrooms, and seven were set in libraries. The frequency with which classrooms and libraries were represented in the covers suggests that reading instruction tends to occur in an academic environment or classroom setting. Reading instruction was depicted as not occurring outside or in less formal, socially oriented spaces. Students were depicted in circular group arrangements commonly associated with small group instruction and the close proximity of the students and teachers implies an interactive quality to reading instruction.

In all the images, students and teachers are positioned within close proximity to texts. In one-onone instruction, students are represented holding their own texts, while in small group instruction students either hold texts or direct their attention to a text the teacher presents to them. The type of text represented varied greatly with seven cover images containing picturebooks, seven containing chapter books, six containing paper handouts, three

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containing presentations and/or presentation materials, two containing textbooks, one containing a computer, and one containing an abstracted text.

Such a variety of texts suggested that reading instruction, while print-based and text-centric, is not specific to a particular type of text. Instead, all texts can be utilized to teach students how to read.

Representing Reading Activities. The category of reading activities initially served as a miscellaneous category for images that did not easily fit into the other three categories. However, it became clear after further analysis that certain activities associated with reading and reading instruction were depicted more frequently and were worthy of further investigation. For example, writing was depicted in a majority of these visual images.

Seven of the fourteen images included identifiable educational settings (ie. classrooms), three were set outdoors, and four were abstracted images with no identifiable settings. There were adults depicted in only two of the 14 images suggesting these activities were done independently and could be completed both in and out of school. One cover depicted a student lying in the grass with a magnifying glass, and one looking through the lens of a digital video recorder. Students participating in some form of theater or acting, having a discussion, carrying notebooks, and holding a small flower were also included on individual covers.

In addition, drawing and other art projects were also depicted. Students were engaged in some form of writing and drawing activity or conducting some form of artistic project. This relates to many contemporary classrooms where teachers have been using writing and drawing as ways of responding to texts and assessing students reading comprehension abilities.

Discussion The literacy practice of reading aloud is used primarily to share stories, build community, present examples of fluent reading, introduce readers to new titles, and teaches children about narrative stories (Fox, 2001; Trelease, 1989). In all of the images in the reading aloud category, viewers (of the book cover images) are positioned to look down on the students.

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Across these images, the students sat passively, many of them cross-legged on the floor listening to the story being read. No participants directly address the viewer, meaning they did not look at the camera or were not illustrated from a frontal position, positioning the viewer as voyeur of the literacy events in the classroom. In these images, we are given a window into the types of literacy events that are recommended in elementary reading programs.

However, these images suggest reading is something that is done to students, not something they do for themselves. Our analysis of these images further suggests that teachers direct the reading aloud activity and that students have less control over these classroom events.

Considering the dimension of social interaction discussed earlier, the teachers depicted in the cover images in the reading aloud category were depicted in positions of power, represented above and separated from the students. There was a sense of intimacy represented by the close proximity of the teacher and the students. These depictions positioned teachers above the children portraying a sense of power and control, with the teachers serving as the conduit between the students and the narrative being read.

Most of the images in the independent reading category position children at a close personal distance to the viewer and at an eye level angle of interaction. This social distance and angle of interaction portrays independent reading as an intimate activity for the participant while placing the viewer in a voyeuristic position as observer, not as participant. During independent reading, teachers and students are often not in close proximity to each other, and ideally, children are looking at their books during the entire independent reading practice, not interacting with other students or the teacher.

The variety of settings included in the cover images suggests that independent reading as a practice can occur anywhere and is not limited to school settings.

One cover categorized as independent reading, Reading to Live, How to Teach Reading for Today’s World (Wilson, 2002), features a single Caucasian boy, sitting alone on a pier, reading a book. The title suggests reading in “today’s world” is different from reading in the past; however, the depiction of the act

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the boy engages in does not suggest anything modern or new about reading. The viewer positioning at eye-level and at a far personal distance combined with a side-view of the boy looking directly into the book, together suggests the boy is “lost” in his book. The viewer is simply observing the child reading and not invited to interact with him.

The viewer positioning and outdoor setting depicted on this cover present independent reading as a solitary act not reliant on a school or a classroom setting.

The images identified as reading instruction would suggest effective reading instruction is not something accomplished in a whole class setting.

Instead, reading instruction is best accomplished through small group or individualized instruction where the students and teacher can get close to the text. Students and teachers were represented throughout these images within close social distances from one another. In one-on-one instruction, teachers are primarily positioned above students, leaning over students as they engage with a single, print-based text.

The images featuring small group instruction are arranged similarly to the covers identified as reading aloud with the teacher in the center of a circle commanding students’ attention. In these images, students’ gazes are either directed at the teacher or at the place where the teacher is pointing, in most cases a print-based text. Such positioning implies that effective reading instruction is not something students can accomplish individually; teacher guidance, in one form or another, is considered essential to reading instruction.

Many of the images included in the reading activities category focused on the act of writing. The inclusion of these activities in the cover images focusing on reading comprehension and instruction suggests that reading and writing are closely associated activities.

Students were depicted with pencils and other traditional writing implements. No students were depicted with computers or digital reading devices.

These representations of print-based reading and writing aligns with traditional schooling practices and may be used to connect with an older teaching force that may not be as well-versed in digital technologies.

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Students were depicted as actively engaged with objects like pencils, notebooks, magnifying glasses and other texts. Although these activities may be considered tangential to reading comprehension and instruction, it is interesting that these activities are included on the covers of books that focus on reading instruction. It suggests reading is associated with other forms of literate behaviors, in particular writing, acting, and drawing. This may relate to the underlying connection among the different forms of literacies, or it may suggest teachers require lots of activities to support or assess reading behaviors.

One of the covers, Catching Readers Before They Fall: Supporting Readers Who Struggle, K-4 (Johnson & Keier, 2010) features two young girls with their arms around one another holding small yellow flowers.

The girls are staring directly into the camera in this photograph and are smiling. The concept of â&#x20AC;&#x153;catching readers before they fall,â&#x20AC;? included in the title, suggests that some children will have trouble learning to read and will fall behind in school. The premise of this book title is that there are struggling readers in our schools and teachers have to support them before they fail.

The two girls depicted on this particular cover seem oblivious to their plight as struggling readers. They are depicted as happy and smiling, unaware that they are struggling and continue to fall further and further behind as readers. The two girls are minorities, one possibly Latin@, the other possibly African-American. Whether any meanings were intended by the selection of these particular participants is potentially circumspect; however, the cover suggests minority students may struggle with learning to read and will need help before they fail.

An analysis of the language used in the titles and subtitles of the selected professional development book covers reveals interesting patterns across visual representations, depicted participants, and the ways in which reading and reading instruction is described. Some titles and subtitles contained terms that suggest reading as a positive, enjoyable activity that all children should be interested in doing.

Words like awakening, wonder, deepening, strategic, growing, joyful, enhancing, and passion were used to describe the reading process or reading instruction on these covers. The titles and subtitles of some

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books contained words like struggle, struggling, improving, closing the achievement gap, misguided, tutoring and reaching. These words seem to suggest that reading is a struggle and difficult to do for some children. Further analysis, possibly using systemic functional linguistic approaches, to investigate how the concepts of reading comprehension and instruction are represented in language is warranted but was not part of our study at this time.

Concluding Remarks

This article focuses on how reading comprehension and instruction are represented on the covers of professional development books, and the meaning potentials of these multimodal ensembles. As teachers look to purchase professional development resources, it is important to understand how they may be positioned as teachers of reading in the visual images and written language of the covers of the resources they are considering.

The quest for the identification of stable, universal, objective meanings associated with particular visual images and text has been investigated throughout the past few decades (Jewitt, 2009). To complicate this endeavor concepts of multimodality have muddied the theoretical waters suggesting the relationships among various modes in a multimodal text produce more elaborate and different meanings than those suggested by either mode alone (Hull & Nelson, 2005). Because of these theoretical assertions, suggesting these covers have an identifiable, objective meaning that is universally interpreted by all educators would be negligent. We have attempted in this study to suggest potential meanings and interpretation of the selected professional development book cover images and supported our interpretations with theoretical and analytical foundations.

As literacy researchers, we need to develop analytical frameworks for expanding our understandings of the multimodal texts we encounter and select for literacy instructional approaches for our students and ourselves (Serafini, 2010). This study demonstrates the need to reconsider the visual images that portray various aspects of literacy instruction and classroom teaching. These images, as part of multimodal book covers, have underlying assumptions and messages

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that often go unchallenged. Although their effects may be hard to measure, these images play a role in

developing teacher identities and how teachers come to define reading comprehension and instruction

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 Appendix A Multimodal Ensemble Analysis Instrument (MEAI)

I. INTRAMODAL CONSIDERATIONS

Compositional Inventory: Textual Elements

•

Title: How is the title / subtitle presented? (color, size, position) Linguistics: What Verbs / Nouns are used in the title? What do these suggest?

Fonts: What are the characteristics of the fonts used? (weight, coherence, color, serif / sans serif, expanded or condensed) Author: How are the names of authors / editors presented? (color, size, position)

• • • • •

Media: What visual media are utilized? (photographs, line art, collage, other) Informational Value: What is centered? Top / Bottom? Peripheral?

Visual Composition: What design elements dominate the cover? (lines, shapes, color, borders) Framing: How are design elements used to frame the cover?

Logo: How is the publisher identified? (color, size, position)

• • • • • •

Participants / Roles: Who is in the image (race, gender, age)? Provide numbers.

Pose: How are the participants posed?

Vectors: What vectors are observed?

Setting: What setting is included? Abstract or realistic?

Objects: What objects other than people are included in image?

Actions: What literacy event (social / literacy practice) is being suggested?

• • • •

Gaze: Do the characters look at viewer (demand) or away (offer)? What does this suggest?

Interpersonal Distance: (close personal, far personal, public): Angle of Interaction: Is the viewer positioned from above, below or eye level?

Modality: Is the image realistic or abstract? How is this created? Is the image posed or naturalistic? (detail, background, focus)

• • •

Compositional Inventory: Visual Elements

Representational Inventory

Interpersonal Inventory

II. INTERMODAL CONSIDERATIONS

Image-Text-Design Inventory •

• •

Ideational Concurrence – image and text present similar information, some degree of redundancy: o instantiation – image displays ONE instance of the text o exemplification – one serves as an example of the other Ideational Complementarity – joint contributions to meaning potential (synergistic) Ideational Counterpoint – meanings potential in image and text and in opposition, offering contradictory information

III. IDEOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

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Serafini, F., Kachorsky, D., & Goff, M. (2015) / Representing Reading • • • • •

Keyword Associations: Consider keywords other than reading or comprehension in the title: What connotations are suggested?

Absence: Does anything seem missing from the image / cover?

Symbols of Literacy: Are any suggested symbols of teaching or reading included?

Literacy Practices: What does the setting / event / participants suggest about literacy education?

Appeal to Consumer: What is being used as the hook? What might compel you to buy or not buy this book?

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Appendix B

Table 1: Data Corpus Categories Types of Covers Number of Books Identified in Category Data Corpus 150 Covers with Colored Covers Only 21 Covers with Objects Only 24 Covers with Narrative Images 105

Table 2: Identified Literacy Practices Literacy Practices Number of Covers Reading Aloud 9 Independent Reading 53 Reading Instruction 29 Reading Activities 14

Table 3: Participants Depicted Cover Image Participants Number of Book Covers Children Only 62 Children and Adults 41 Adults Only 2

Table 4: Settings Identified Settings Identified in Book Covers Number of Covers School / Classroom Settings 64 Out of School Settings 12 Abstracted (No Identifiable) Setting 29

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A Heritage Language Learner’s Literacy Practices in a Korean Language Course in a U.S. University: From a Multiliteracies Perspective

Jayoung Choi

ABSTRACT: Drawing on multiliteracies, the author examines how a multiliteracies curriculum in a 3rd

year Korean heritage language (HL) class at a southeastern U.S. university contributed to the development

of a student’s HL literacy skills. Print-based and multimodal responses (i.e., a digital animation movie) to

the readings of students’ choices and language logs were aligned with the four components of a multiliteracies pedagogy (i.e., situated practice, overt instruction, critical framing, and transformative practice). The qualitative data analysis suggests that a multiliteracies curriculum helped an HL learner develop motivation to read in Korean, adopt an agentive take on Korean language learning, and form an emerging literate identity as a legitimate reader and writer in the HL. The author discusses important implications for reading/literacy educators in various contexts.

Keywords: Korean, heritage language, multiliteracies, university-level language classroom, multimodal reading response

Jayoung Choi is a clinical assistant professor of ESOL/Literacy education at Georgia State University.

Her research interests include adolescent English and heritage language learners’ literacy practices and identity development and multimodal literacies taken up and practiced by ELLs and ESOL teachers. Her work has been published in Foreign Language Annals, TESL Canada Journal, and Journal of Asian Pacific Communication. She can be reached at jayoungchoi@gsu.edu or 404-4138380.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

H

eritage language (HL) learners1 who are exposed to and speak a language other than English exclusively in their homes and communities exhibit relatively lower reading and writing skills compared to their higher speaking and listening abilities in their HL (Byon, 2008; Felix, 2009; Jensen & Llosa, 2007; Kondo-Brown, 2010; Mikulski, 2010). The lower literacy competencies exhibited by many HL learners is attributable to the paucity of bilingual programs and to English-only curricula in U.S. schools, as this lack of availability leaves parents primarily responsible for maintaining and developing their children’s HL (Lee & Oxelson, 2006; Olsen, 1997; Potowski & Carreira, 2004). The lack of structured and sustainable programs for the HL learners in their formal schooling to develop all four language domains is a true loss for the national linguistic and cultural asset. HL learners are deprived of the opportunity to expand their linguistic repertoire, to develop a more sophisticated and deepened understanding about the HL history, culture, and community, and to construct a healthier cultural and ethnic identity (Lee & Wright, 2014).

Nevertheless, it is a welcoming phenomenon that an increasing number of HL learners have been enrolling in foreign language classes in the United States hoping to improve their HL skills when they enter universities (Byon, 2008; Sohn & Shin, 2007).

However, whether or not the university language courses meet the literacy needs of HL learners has not yet been determined (Gambhir, 2008; Ilieva, 2008; Jensen & Llosa, 2007; Jeon, 2010; Kondo-Brown, 2010; Schwarzer & Petr ´on, 2005). For example, because in some cases low enrollments do not financially justify establishing separate HL and nonHL tracks (Gambhir, 2008) or because of a lack of instructor’s training on teaching HL learners (Potowski, & Carreira, 2004), many HL learners find themselves unchallenged and frustrated in language classrooms. Hence, university language course curricula that address HL learners’ literacy needs play a pivotal role in sustaining their interest in and enhancing of their knowledge about HL language and culture.

In this article, I examine how a multiliteracies curriculum in a 3rd-year Korean HL class at a

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southeastern U.S. university contributed to the development of a student’s HL literacy skills. I first turn to the theoretical framework of the study, multiliteracies, and pertinent literature on language learners’ literacy practices in the classroom contexts and literacy practices in HL classes.

A Multiliteracies Pedagogy

In developing a 3rd-year Korean HL course, I went beyond the traditional notion of literacy as a single form of print-based reading and writing. I drew on the theoretical concept, multiliteracies (the New London Group, 1996), that takes into consideration “the multiplicity of communications channels and media, and the increasing saliency of cultural and linguistic diversity” (p. 63) reflecting rapidly changing social, global, and technological landscapes. Multiliteracies involves meaning-making through orchestrating various modes of representation rather than solely relying on the written or spoken language, which has been the dominant mode in school curriculum (Jewitt, 2008; Kress, 2000; the New London Group, 1996). Central to multiliteracies is the notion of design, the intentionality in using resources for meaning construction. The design framework accentuates learners’ agency and transformation in the process of meaning making by utilizing available semiotic resources. As Kress (2000), one of the New London Group (1996) scholars, posits, “The work of the text maker is taken as transformative of the resources and of the maker of the text. It gives agency of a real kind to the text maker” (p. 340). In designing texts, the use of multimodal resources is essential (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000): The increasing multiplicity and integration of significant modes of meaning-making, where the textual is also related to the visual, the audio, the spatial, the behavioural, and so on meaning is made in ways that are increasingly multimodal-- in which writtenlinguistic modes of meaning are part and parcel of visual, audio, and spatial patterns of meaning. (p. 5)

When applied in the classroom, a multiliteracies pedagogy is comprised of four components: situated

Choi, J. (2015) / A Heritage Language Learner’s Literacy Practices

practice, overt instruction, critical framing, and (Blattner & Fiori, 2011). The studies have collectively transformative practice (the New London Group, reported that a multiliteracies approach to language 1996). “Situated practice” is primarily concerned with teaching and learning helps develop students’ immersing learners in an authentic learning linguistic competencies, agency, and learner environment in which they engage in rich literacy communities. tasks by interacting with others and by drawing on

their out-of-school interests and expertise.

Research more pertinent to the current study took Nevertheless, the sociocultural view of literacy that place in a university ESL reading course in Taiwan emphasizes practice through immersion does not (Lee, 2013). After the class read classic literature in overlook ‘overt instruction’ to ensure that learners English, the students created multimodal responses develop metalinguistic skills for the ultimate instead of expressing them in an exclusively immersion learning experience (Vygotsky, 1986). linguistic format. The students’ work included skits, After all, learners must be able “to gain conscious comic strips, and operatic music that represented awareness and control of what they acquired” (the their understanding of the text. The analyses of New London Group, 1996, p. 85). In addition to videotaped group presentations, peer evaluations, situated practice and overt instruction, a and open-ended surveys indicated that multimodal multiliteracies curriculum creates spaces for learners reading responses empowered language learners to step away from what they know and have learned often limited by language abilities, helping them to and to examine their work critically (“critical comprehend the text better. In a radio show, one framing”) and to recreate their realities, identities, group of students created a sequel to the literature and discourses by challenging common practices and that reflected their lived experiences with and discourses (“transformative practice”; Kern, 2000). knowledge of the traditional Taiwanese puppet

shows. While creating the multimodal reading A Multiliteracies Pedagogy in Action in response, “they [the ESL students] created, entered, Language Classes and sustained the story

world and transformed it In this section, I explore to make it fit their own the application of the world” (p.

197). theoretical concept, Importantly, Lee found Designing identities and text through multiliteracies, in the that sharing various divergent literacy components ranging university-level language multimodal reading from unimodal literacy practices and skills classroom. A number of responses to the single text English as a Second seemed to enhance the instruction to multimodal reading Language (ESL) and class’s understanding of responses could importantly contribute to foreign language university the text collectively and expanding the timely theoretical concept, classes have increasingly that presenting it ‘multiliteracies.’ incorporated multimodally reinforced multiliteracies into their their understanding of the

curriculum.

In these literature. Lee documented courses, students that in this process, the composed digital stories students appeared to gain about personal topics confidence as learners of (Alameen, 2011; Vinogradova, Linville, & Bickel, 2011), English and were more likely to sustain an interest in created digital videos for a science project in an reading in English. Lee’s study highlights that English as a foreign language setting (Hafner & language learners gained more nuanced Miller, 2011), communicated with other global understanding about reading contents when interlocutors by using video conferencing software permitted to express what they learned (Guth & Helm, 2012), and searched and studied multimodally. In addition, the study suggests that a groups in Facebook in an intermediate Spanish class multiliteracies pedagogy that builds on students’

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lived experiences, especially through situated and transformed practices, helps learners see themselves as readers and writers in the target language.

Literacy Practices in Heritage Language Classes

Researchers (e.g., Byon, 2008; Felix, 2009) have emphasized the importance of literacy instruction in HL classes to meet the needs of HL learners with reading and writing, needs that are different from those of non-HL foreign language learners.

Nevertheless, many HL curricular approaches have not adequately reflected the unique needs of the HL learners (Kondo-Brown, 2010). Instead, HL instruction has focused on explicit grammar (Schwarzer & Petr ´on, 2005), spelling instruction (Pyun & Lee-Smith, 2011), and vocabulary and translation practices with prescribed reading materials (McQuillan, 1996). For instance, Schwarzer and Petr ´on (2005) studied three Spanish HL learners’ disappointing experiences with a college grammar-focused Spanish HL course. The mismatch between the HL curriculum and the HL learners’ needs was clearly demonstrated by one of the participants, Felipe, who lost his desire to take any Spanish courses despite his voluntary literacy engagement with poetry writing in the HL outside of the class and his major being bilingual education.

This is not to point out that such explicit language instruction is unnecessary for HL learners; however, these studies call for balanced language and literacy instruction in HL courses.

In only a few HL studies, researchers have examined literacy practices of HL learners in the classroom context by focusing primarily on writing (i.e., collaborative fiction writing in a third-year Hebrew HL college course; see Feuer, 2011) not on reading, with the exception of a recent study by Choi and Yi (2012). For instance, one student in Nichols and Colon’s (2000) study, Marta, had displayed a great deal of spelling mistakes in HL writing at the beginning of the course because of 8 years of formal schooling only in English. However, after participating in timed free-writing on multiple topics in the Spanish HL courses for 4 years, she showed a significant growth in writing fluency and orthographical accuracy. Although feedback was not given to the written work by the instructor, through

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her growing familiarity with written HL and rich language input in class, Marta was able to selfmonitor her own errors in writing and to improve HL writing skills significantly.

Given the sparseness of literacy studies on HL learners (Lo-Philip, 2010), it is not surprising that any research examining HL learners’ multiliteracies engagement, especially multimodal practices at the university level, is scarce. I was able to locate only two studies conducted in primary and secondary HL class settings in the United Kingdom (see Lytra, 2011) and a theoretical paper that discussed the importance of digital storytelling for HL learners (Vinogranova, 2014). Considering the call for multimodal research in the English as a second language field (Block, 2013; Lotherington & Jenson, 2011) and for more language teachers to adopt multiliteracies in curriculum (Blattner & Fiori, 2011; Gonglewski & DuBravac, 2006), not incorporating students’ use of multimodal resources (Jewitt, 2008) in in-class literacy practices does a disservice to the current generation of the students, including HL students.

Method

Drawing on the theoretical framework and previous research that point to the importance of multiliteracies practices particularly for HL learners, in this study, I aimed to explore how a multiliteracies curriculum in a 3rd-year Korean HL class contributed to the development of a student’s HL literacy skills.

The following research question guided the study: “How did one heritage language learner take up multiliteracies practices in the course?”

Context: The 3rd-Year Korean HL Literacy Course

As part of a larger study of literacy practices that built on HL learners’ out-of-school interests, such as popular culture (Choi & Yi, 2012) in the advanced Korean HL classroom setting, the current study reports on one HL learner’s gains in literacy skills within the multiliteracies curriculum in a third-year Korean HL offered at a southeastern U.S. university. I was the instructor of the course, which met twice a week for 15 weeks for the duration of 85 minutes. I

Choi, J. (2015) / A Heritage Language Learner’s Literacy Practices

had the liberty of designing the curriculum for this advanced course, which provided the students with rich literacy experiences. Key literacy practices in the curriculum included composing projects, such as autobiographic essays, poems, and movies; a research paper about a person that they respect in their community; and self-selected reading outside the class for one hour that was discussed in small groups, using both print- and multimodal- based reading responses coupled with explicit instruction and scaffolding (i.e., print-based reading responses and language logs in which the students selfmonitored and attended to their spelling, grammar, and vocabulary).

The course consisted of 10 U.S.-born and 9 Koreaborn Korean American students with 11 females and 8 males. The students’ majors varied from management and computer science to various engineering studies. Although it was a third-year course, their proficiency levels in Korean ranged from low to advanced. Research consent was obtained from all students in the course.

The Participant

In this paper, I focus on one focal student, Jenny (pseudonym). I chose Jenny as the focal participant because she was representative of the U.S.-born students in the course (a) who had not had prior experience with reading and writing in Korean, and (b) who showed a higher engagement with and much growth in reading and writing in Korean as exhibited in the interviews and my assessment of their course work.

Jenny was born and raised in a Korean household in the United States while predominantly listening to and speaking Korean with her family members.

However, she did not have much exposure to reading and writing in Korean at home or inside school. I considered her proficiency in Korean as lowintermediate, as she had a considerable number of orthographical errors in her writing and low oral fluency in Korean. She considered herself quiet and liked to figure things out by herself. She appeared to be shy when participating in group or peer activities in the course. She was soft spoken and had a heavy English accent when pronouncing Korean words.

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When enrolled in the course, she was majoring in computational media.

Data Collection and Analysis

Data sources consisted of the course materials (students’ work and lesson plans) and the entire copies of Jenny’s class work, which included an autobiographical essay, six print-based reading response entries, language logs, a storyboard for the multimodal reading responses, and a digital animation movie. Also included were one 30-minute long individual interview session and an audio recording of an in-class group talk session about the learning experience at the end of the course, which was later transcribed for analysis, as well as two email correspondences (right after the interview and 1.5 years past the completion of the course), and researcher journal entries. As a Korean-English bilingual, I translated the Korean data, which was later reviewed by the participant.

I first read and viewed multiple times all of Jenny’s texts produced in the course (autobiography, printbased reading responses, language logs, and a multimodal reading response) and other texts (transcripts from a recorded class talk, one interview transcript, and two email correspondences; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Yin, 2003). While keeping the research question in mind, I annotated initial interpretations and themes by paying attention to content and linguistic features in her written work and colorcoded them (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003; Merriam, 1998).

For her multimodal reading response, Jenny utilized visual data analysis tools (i.e., visual meaning of foregrounding and backgrounding, placement of image elements, and colors) developed by Cope and Kalantzis (2009). Jenny’s experiences with the multiliteracies tasks in the course led to the major coding categories, such as increased motivation in reading in Korean, agentive take on Korean language learning, and formation of Korean literate identity.

Findings and Discussion

In this section, to explore how one heritage language learner took up multiliteracies practices provided in a university language course, I describe reading and writing opportunities in the course by specifically

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focusing on one HL learner’s, Jenny, and her experiences with them. I do so by closely examining four components of a multiliteracies pedagogy (i.e., situated practice, overt instruction, critical framing, and transformative practice) in the curriculum.

Increased Motivation in Reading in Korean through Individual Silent Reading and Printbased Reading Responses

The curriculum provided the HL learners with rich, situated practice. That is, the students were immersed in rich reading and writing experiences by reading a text of their choice for one hour every other week, documenting their individual reading in six print-based reading response entries, and discussing it in a small, book-club setting (Daniels, 2002). The students were asked to bring books from their family members and friends. Many brought in translated English books in Korean. I also provided approximately 20 books with different proficiency levels, topics, and genres, including children’s books.

The children’s picture and chapter books were often circulated among the lower level learners throughout the course. Each student was required to consult me regarding their appropriate reading level as proficiency levels greatly varied within the class.

However, the students had the freedom to stop reading if they found it uninteresting or not suitable for their reading level.

Given Jenny’s lower proficiency in Korean, I recommended easier children’s books; however, she insisted on the book whose original text in English consists of eight chapters with different stories about life lessons and leading a successful life. Jenny completed reading one half of the 173-page translated book that she brought from home, called 마시멜로 이야기 [Don’t eat the marshmallow…yet!: The secret to sweet success in work and life]. She used to dread reading in Korean as evinced in the deliberate stretching of each letter of the word, ‘Korean,’ in the interview below. However, when invited to read a text of her choice, she willingly and pleasantly took up the challenge by selecting a book she had a preestablished familiarity with and personal interest in and that generated an extra boost for her to sustain and increase engagement with reading a longer text:

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When I look at a Korean book, I am like uh (laughing). . . it’s K-o-r-e-a-n (laughing while stretching out each letter). My Korean skills are not good yet, but this made me try to do my best in trying to read it and understand it. (interview, 05/04/2010) A student like her who had not read any Korean books prior to this course could have easily given up on reading because of frustration if he or she had not had genuine interest in the reading material.

In addition, the specific directions in the print-based reading responses addressed both situated practice and overt instruction in that they fostered students’ deeper engagement with reading, beyond reading word-for-word, by prompting them to make predictions, guesses, and personal connections to the text and to further critique it while simultaneously paying attention to language features, such as vocabulary and grammar. Jenny’s reflections in printbased reading responses included her evaluations and impressions, such as, “두번제 챕터에 이야기는 첫번제 챕터에 이야기 처럼 많이 비슷해서 좀 심심했어요” [the story in the second chapter was a bit boring as it was similar to the one in the first chapter] (print-based reading response entry #4, 03/11/2010); and predictions about text, “내용은 좀 엉둥해고 이상하게 생각을 합니다. 아마도 사장님이 햄버거를 마시멜로를 부르는 이유가 복잡하고 기쁠거에요” [I think what I am reading was a bit bizarre and strange.

I speculate the reason the boss refers to the hamburger as marshmallow must be complicated and interesting] (print-based reading response entry #1, 01/21/2010). Drawing on her reading experiences in English, it is likely that Jenny would have utilized similar strategies while reading without the specific instructions. However, the probing questions, intended as a reading guide, might have made her reading experiences in Korean more engaging. One of her print-based reading response entries is shown in Appendix A.

Agentive Take on Korean Language Learning through Language Logs

Based on the print-based reading responses, the students had the opportunity to develop metalinguistic skills by examining their own writing in Korean. Each student completed five follow-up

Choi, J. (2015) / A Heritage Language Learner’s Literacy Practices

language logs in which they self-corrected their writings, in later writing samples in the course, I written work that had been submitted to and noted the improvement of this grammatical feature, received feedback from me. Instead of directly though she was not accurate all the time. This shift correcting the errors, I encouraged the students to indicates that she was taking control of her own monitor their own mistakes by pointing out error language learning and that she clearly took types in spelling, word choice, vocabulary, spacing, advantage of the curricular opportunities (i.e., and grammar. Language logs were an important part reading responses and language logs) in which she of the multiliteracies curriculum in the Korean HL paid specific attention to linguistic features course that aimed to provide overt instruction. I (grammar, spelling, and vocabulary) of the text. The incorporated overt skills instruction to meet the HL findings above demonstrate Jenny’s proactive and learners’ needs for improving spelling and grammar agentive take on the component of the as they lacked formal literacy instruction prior to multiliteracies curriculum that also addressed overt coming to the university language class. instruction.

Nevertheless, the skills instruction was not discrete

and random, but drew on the students’ own writing Literate Identity in Korean through a and increased their awareness about their language Multimodal Reading Response use.

As a culminating reading activity in the course, each In completing the language logs throughout the student created a multimodal reading response in course, Jenny did not passively perform what was which he or she told two stories from their individual asked of her. Instead, she actively engaged in first reading(s) to the class. To do this, I guided them to identifying her problem areas and then working revisit their text as well as print-based reading toward improving her writing conventions in Korean. responses in order to create a storyboard. Creating a One of the weakest areas storyboard was a form of of Jenny’s writing, as overt instruction in the recognized by both her multiliteracies curriculum. and the instructor, was I provided the students orthographic accuracy with scaffolding and Nonetheless, various multiliteracies and grammatical modeling for how to select curricular opportunities, particularly the knowledge, which are two important storylines multimodal reading response, encouraged common problematic that could be featured in her to build on her out-of-class interests in areas for HL learners the storyboard. In this animation and story-making/telling and to (Pyun & Lee-Smith, 2011). process, they distanced represent and communicate meaning The last column of a themselves from their beyond the linguistic mode while still language log required readings and print-based learning linguistic features through overt students to reflect on reading responses with a instructional opportunity, such as language their own errors (see different audience in mind logs.

Appendix B for a language (from instructor to a wider log entry). Jenny deeply audience; i.e., critical reflected on her writing framing).

Students’ conventions and multimodal reading identified a consistently responses included recurring linguistic pattern, which was the incorrect PowerPoint and poster board presentations, use of honorifics2 in addressing seniors, such as her booklets, a puppet show, and movies using moviemaking software. parents. She wrote, “honorific 을 더 많이 필요한다.

부모님들 위에 서 쓰실데 써야됀다 [More honorific is Jenny created a silent black-and-white, digitally needed. When writing about parents, it has to be animated movie used]” (02/27/2010). Whereas the lack of the (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-THL3pnBJU), grammatical feature was prominent in her earlier

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which well reflected her personal interests and expertise in animation and storytelling. As a computational media major, she exhibited a strong interest in digital animation production as shown in an email exchange: “I wanted to make the finished product relevant to my interest, animation. I have always wanted to make my own animated series, . . . so I made my presentation in Flash3” (email, 10/26/2011). Jenny also drew on the strong identity as a writer, reader, storyteller, and animator that she had developed only in the English language since youth, “아직도 취미를 이야기를쓰고 어떤 이야기는 그려서 만화으로 보여줘요 . . . 제가 어릴때 부터 책을 많이 쓰고 만화영화를 많이 만들고 한 책장을 채우는것이 제 포부였어요” [still write stories and share my cartoons with others as my hobby. . . It has been my dream to write a lot of books, make many animation movies, and filling one book shelf with such work since young] (Jenny’s autobiography final essay).

To examine how her multimodal reading response that allowed her to capitalize on her personal interests and knowledge helped her improve reading comprehension, I now pay particular attention to her linguistic and visual representation of one story, called “위대한 아들을 키운 위대한 아버지” [A great father who raised a great son], which is about a father who taught his son a lesson about the importance of honesty and integrity. She considerably fleshed out the storyline in the multimodal reading response (i.e., 23 sentences) whereas her print-based reading response about the same story had included only eight sentences (see Appendices C and D). More linguistic details that she included in the multimodal reading response suggest that she must have reread the text, which could have contributed to her better understanding of the content. In addition to a more detailed linguistic representation of the story, drawing images that accompanied the linguistic text for the multimodal reading response helped her go back to the text and understand the content thoroughly as she pointed out in an email, “With the storylines, drawing pictures to go along with my summary forced me to make sure I understood the material in the stories” (05/05/2010).

To demonstrate how she gained a more nuanced understanding of the content and how she

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represented the content in more sophisticated ways using visual, a non-linguistic mode, I describe one scene from the movie in detail that included three animated images accompanying the linguistic text, “아들이 억울한 표정으로 아버지한테 거짓말을 했어요. 아버지는 속지 않았어요” [The son lied to his father with a hurt face. The father was not deceived].

See figure 1 below:

Figure 1. Linear representation of one animated scene from Jenny’s multimodal reading response. The images from top to bottom changed for animation effects. The linguistic text on the top of the visual, “위대한 아들을 키운 위대한 아버지” [A great father who raised a great son], was the title of the story and the text below the visual is the linguistic explanation of the story, “아들이 억울한 표정으로 아버지한테 거짓말을 했어요. 아버지는 속지 않았어요” [The son lied to his father with a hurt face. The father was not deceived].

In the original story, the son comes up with elaborate excuses for his tardiness to the father. The first image shows that the son is exaggerating his excuses, expressed by the English word, “lies,” inserted three times, the hand gestures, and the facial expressions (i.e., the mouth wide open and big eyes staring at the

Choi, J. (2015) / A Heritage Language Learner’s Literacy Practices

upper side on his artificially sad face). As if to signal his turn to speak in the storyline, he is placed in the foreground. By contrast, the tiny fraction of the top of the father’s head shown with the three eclipses right above, situated on the left of the frame, significantly marks his speechlessness and grave disappointment. In the next image, the close-up of the father's raised eyebrows and thinly stretched lips powerfully illustrate the father's sense of resentment toward the son. Lastly, the son’s posture, his shoulders, back, and arms bent forward, while facing his father who still maintains a stern face with a question mark added in the front, indicates his failed attempt to deceive his father that quickly led to a sense of disgrace and shame. The visual description of the son in this image sharply contrasted with the depiction of his self-assuredness conveyed by the frontal view in the first image.

All of the visual meanings that Jenny represented and communicated powerfully add much more nuance, emotion, and intricate tensions of the characters to the “flat” linguistic text (Lotherington & Jenson, 2011). Her deliberate design of visual elements to complement the linguistic text on a deeper level maximizes the dramatic effects of the storylines. Although she initially identified this reading as a challenging tale to comprehend as she wrote in print-based reading responses, she reached a sophisticated understanding of the text through multimodal representation. She was able to express a subtleness that would not have been possible to communicate in a text format due to her lower proficiency. At the same time, it is important to note that her immaculate multimodal design of the text does not equate to an accurate understanding of the original text. Not having the advanced linguistic means to express the details of the tale, in a few places, she copied or slightly paraphrased some phrases from the original text. Some detailed information was also misguided, such as the exact time of an event.

Although an HL learner’s acquisition of Korean literacy cannot be quantitatively measured, it was evident that the multiliteracies curriculum in an advanced Korean HL class made an HL learner feel more confident with her Korean and sustained her interest in HL literacy practices in her life. During an

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interview at the end of the course, Jenny was confident that she was gradually making improvements in Korean: “I know that I am improving really slowly, so it seems like I am not improving but I am actually improving.” In addition, the fact that she continued reading Korean picture books on her own even after the completion of the course is a telling example of the effects of the multiliteracies curriculum on her sustained engagement with Korean literacy: “I have felt confident enough to peruse Korean picture books on my own during the summer though. I've recorded myself reading one picture book out loud” (email, 10/26/2011).

The findings suggest that a multiliteracies curriculum helped Jenny transform her identity from only an English reader, writer, and storyteller to an emerging Korean literate individual. In other words, a multiliteracies curriculum that “acknowledges, emphasizes, and enthusiastically includes students’ diverse, multilayered, and dynamic identities” (Vinogradova, 2014, p. 318) played an important role in the process of her discovering her Korean literate identity. Here I draw on identity as being socially mediated and constantly negotiated through interactions with others, while also engaged in meaning making practices (Gee, 2003; Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998). A large number of orthographical and grammatical errors and lack of vocabulary knowledge found in her written work, as well as her low fluency in speaking, had situated Jenny as a lower proficient learner in the third-year Korean HL course. She also had barely talked, so she did not have a strong presence in class. Nonetheless, various multiliteracies curricular opportunities, particularly the multimodal reading response, encouraged her to build on her out-of-class interests in animation and story-making/telling and to represent and communicate meaning beyond the linguistic mode while still learning linguistic features through overt instructional opportunity, such as language logs. Consequently, the in-class literacy practices enhanced her engagement with Korean literacy and additionally fostered her Korean literate identity. Additionally, Jenny shared the animation movie that she had made with her family and friends, even non-Korean friends, to present herself as a Korean storyteller, reader, and writer. These are

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

telling examples of transformed practice in a multiliteracies pedagogy.

Discussion

The Korean HL multiliteracies curriculum included four components: (a) situated practice through immersion into reading and writing in Korean based on students’ interests, (b) overt instruction for helping students monitor and self-identify linguistic areas to improve and making storylines, (c) critical framing in that it helped learners distance themselves from their creations with a different audience in mind for their multimodal reading responses, and (d) transformed practices through multimodal reading responses to help the HL learners see themselves as readers and writers in the HL for the first time.

As shown in Jenny’s example, these opportunities helped her gain more literacy skills in Korean, leading to confidence in Korean and a new literate identity. This transformation was particularly possible as HL learners were invited to draw on their interests in selecting texts to read and write about and as they took charge of their own linguistic features, developing metalinguistic skills. The findings are congruent with Lee’s (2013) study in that Jenny connected her life with comprehending the text in the target language, Korean, as the Taiwanese ESL students at the university level enhanced their understanding of a piece of literature in English and gained more confidence in the English language.

The current study that has explicated a multiliteracies curriculum, as experienced by one HL learner, contributes to the fields of language and literacy education for the following reasons. First, the classroom-based literacy research can be a valuable contribution to a dearth of literacy studies of HLs, particularly of less commonly taught languages, which is a call from Kondo-Brown (2010).

Furthermore, the expanded notion of literacies practices, which includes multimodality (the New London Group, 1996) enacted in the HL setting, addresses the scarcity of studies in this regard in language research settings compared to first language literacy contexts (Blattner & Fiori, 2011; Block, 2013; Gonglewski & DuBravac, 2006;

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Lotherington & Jenson, 2011). Lastly, the exhaustive, in-depth, and comprehensive description of one learner’s various literacy events could be an invaluable contribution to the wider fields. Many multimodal literacy studies have narrowly focused on one creation of a multimodal project often involving autobiographic composing about the self (e.g., Hull & Nelson, 2005). Designing identities and text through divergent literacy components ranging from unimodal literacy practices and skills instruction to multimodal reading responses could importantly contribute to expanding the timely theoretical concept, ‘multiliteracies.’

Pedagogical Implications

Provided that an increasing number of HL learners with divergent proficiency levels have been enrolled in foreign language postsecondary courses (Byon, 2008; Sohn & Shin, 2007), the pedagogical implications of the current case study could not be more relevant to and timely for HL instruction.

Tapping into students’ out-of-school interests and giving students choices in in-class literacy practices (Choi & Yi, 2012) should be a vital consideration when designing an HL curriculum. Given some HL learners’ access to HL books at home and their interest for reading opportunities in an HL course (Jensen & Llosa, 2007), longer and authentic reading materials (Maxim, 2002) should be embedded in HL classes. In addition, individualized reading activities that respect each student’s pace and that encourage personal reflections and connections, instead of set comprehension questions, can further engage learners with reading (Day & Bamford, 2002).

Second, the level of literacy engagement shown in the study would have been unachievable without the provision of sufficient and explicit modeling and scaffolding, especially through the use of print-based reading responses and language logs. Sociocultural approaches to literacy instruction do not preclude explicit skills instruction (Vygotsky, 1986). Given such issues as multiple proficiency levels in one class and difficulty with engaging students with literacy practices, the implications could be applicable to any language and literacy class. Lastly, to encourage enhanced literacy engagement, learner agency, and literate identity, HL, second, and foreign language

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courses should give the students the opportunity to become designers of their own meaning-making through the integration of different modes, other than the linguistic mode (Kress, 2000; the New London Group, 1996). Provided that the pressures for standardized testing and mandated standards are not as prominent in post-secondary language classes as in K-12 content area courses, HL/foreign language classes at the post-secondary level, might be an appropriate place to enact such a literacy curriculum that builds on the students’ out of school interests in technology and the ”designing” act.

Limitations and Directions for Future Research

Despite the potential contributions to the field and implications for language and literacy instruction, the study includes limitations that point to directions for future research. First, the inability to measure prolonged effects is one of the limitations of the study. Given that the course was short-lived (only 15 weeks), whether or not the multiliteracies curriculum opportunities positively reinforced sustained literacy practices and promoted learner agency and Korean literate identity long after the end of the course is a worthwhile future investigation. Future studies that examine prolonged engagement with literacy could enrich the study findings.

Additionally, the multiliteracies curriculum in the Korean HL class could have addressed more transformative practices by having students critique the texts that they chose to read or through critical engagement with sociocultural issues pertinent to the Korean HL community. A good example is

Leeman, Rabin, and Roman-Mendoza’s (2011) study in which they examined a Spanish critical servicelearning program in a university HL course that led the students to take on identities as language experts and to become activists in their community.

As shown in Jenny’s example, these opportunities helped her gain more literacy skills in Korean, leading to confidence in Korean and a new literate identity. This transformation was particularly possible as HL learners were invited to draw on their interests in selecting texts to read and write about and as they took charge of their own linguistic features, developing metalinguistic skills. The findings are congruent with Lee’s (2013) study in that Jenny connected her life with comprehending the text in the target language, Korean, as the Taiwanese ESL students at the university level enhanced their understanding of a piece of literature in English and gained more confidence in the English language.

Lastly, the participant’s exceptional capabilities with the computer/media and visual literacies could make it hard to make the findings more transferrable to other settings in which there might be lack of resources, such as technology. Still, many of the students at this setting were knowledgeable of designing, interpreting, and communicating via multimodal means. Thus, future studies could report on a multiliteracies pedagogy for language learners who are not skillful with technology or do not have access to it. Future studies that address these points could contribute to deepening and expanding our current understanding of the important concept, “design,” from both instructor’s and learner’s perspectives to achieve literate identity.

Endnotes

1 I use the term, “heritage language learners” to refer to “learners that have identity and/or linguistic needs with regard to language learning that relate to their family background” (Carreira, 2004, p. 18).

2I adopt the definition of “honorifics (indexical politeness forms) as grammatical and lexical forms encoding the speaker’s socio-culturally appropriate regard towards the addressee (i.e., addressee honorification) and the referent (i.e., referent honorification)” (Sohn, 1999, p. 408).

3Adobe Flash is a multimedia creating software used to create interactive and dynamic webpages and animations.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Fall 2015 Appendix A Jennyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Print-based Reading Response Entry #6

Notes. (a) Date and time of reading, (b) source and page numbers, (c) gist of the story, (d) words that you like to learn or you have learned/ the sentences in which the words are drawn, (e) making your own sentences using each word above, (f) grammar, spelling, or spacing rules learned while reading, and (g) the most impressive part, areas in which you thought you would have written differently if you were the author & overall reflections about the reading.

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Choi, J. (2015) / A Heritage Language Learnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Literacy Practices Appendix B Jennyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Language Log Entry

Notes. Column 1: incorrect spelling and spacing; column 2: correct spelling and spacing; column 3: reflections.

Types of mistakes identified: (a) vocabulary word choice, (b) honorific, (c) spelling, and (d) spacing.

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Appendix C Jenny’s Description of the Tale in the Print-based Reading Response

조나단이 얘기해존 이야기 때문에 찰리가 지질해면서 살라구 에쓰게 시작했어요. 조나단 사장님이 찰리 위에서 신경을 쓰요. 시간을 같이 보내서 찰리가 감사해요. 둘다 많이 치내좄어요. 어늘 아침 조나단이 마하트마 간디에 난 이야기를 애기해준다. 한 아버지가 아들한태 차를 고쳐주고 5 시에 대려주라고 말씀했어요. 아들이 차를 빨리 고쳤는데 시간이 많이 나맛다구 영화를 시컷 봤어요. 시개를 다시 밨때 5 시를 넘었어요. 아들이 아버지에 부탁을 못만나고 거짓말을 해서 아버지가 많이 속상했어요.

[Because of Jonathan’s story, Charlie began trying hard to live. Jonathon, the president of the company, cares about Charlie. Charlie is thankful because they got to spend time together. The two of them became closer. This morning, Jonathan told the story about Mahatma Gandhi. A father told his son to fix his car and then to bring it back at 5 p.m. Although the son finished fixing the car early, he went to watch movies because he had a lot of time left. Later when he saw the clock, it was over 5 p.m. Because the son did not obey and keep his promise, his father was very upset.]

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Learning In/Through Collaborative Poetry Translation: Documenting the Impact of Poetry Inside Out with High School-Aged English Language Learners

Jie Park

ABSTRACT: Although translation is part of the bilingual experiences of English language learners,

literacy teachers and teacher educators know little about how translation can be used with high school aged English language learners and with what affordances. Based on discourse data collected from a

mixed-grade (grades 11 and 12) sheltered English class in an urban high school, this paper reports on the impact of Poetry Inside Out, a literacy program in which students translate world-class poems from their original language (e.g., Spanish, French, Chinese, etc.) into English. Findings suggest that participation in poetry translation and in structured discussions about poetry and translation can foster students’ semantic awareness; capacity for evidence-based reasoning; and their willingness to listen to and learn from classmates. The study’s findings speak to the potential of Poetry Inside Out as a program which recruits English language learners’ emergent bi- and multilingualism as a resource.

Keywords: middle school, struggling readers, reading strategies, literature discussion

Jie Park is an Assistant Professor of Education in secondary literacy and English language learning at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. Her research interests include adolescent literacies across contexts, language practices of bi- and multilingual youth, and youth research as a form of practitioner inquiry. Her work has appeared in English Education, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, and The English Journal.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 collaborative poetry translation, a central component of PIO, enables English language learners to engage in linguistic, analytical, and social work. Although translation is part of the unique bilingual and multilingual experiences of English language learners (Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders, & Christian, 2005; Orellana, Dorner, & Pulido, 2003), literacy teachers and teacher educators know little about how literary translation can be used in classrooms with high school-aged English language learners and with what affordances.

Introduction

I

n my capacity as a university-based teacher educator, I often hear preservice and in service teachers say that they are committed to providing language-rich experiences for their English language learners, but struggle with how to make the necessary changes to their practice. Many times the challenge is in response to the Common Core English Language Arts and disciplinary literacy standards and is especially difficult for educators who are tasked with Collaborative poetry supporting language learners who For the past two years I translation, a central come to the United States at the have been collaborating secondary-school level (Suárezwith a university-based component of PIO, enables Orozco, Suárez-Orozco, & colleague and two ESL English language learners to Todorova, 2008). Current and teachers to understand engage in linguistic, analytical, what happens when English aspiring teachers wonder: How can we build a classroom culture language learners are and social work. where students participate in apprenticed into the challenging intellectual work, practice of collaborative regardless of their current level of poetry translation. For the proficiency in English? What are some examples of purposes of this paper I focus on data collected and literacy programs that not only build on, but also analyzed from the first year of the study, where we extend what English learners know about and can do found that in collaborative poetry translation, Lori’s with language? students developed their capacities as thinkers, language users, and collaborators. Moreover, Lori herself came to a fuller understanding of her In this article, I introduce one such literacy program, students’ resources and power. In the conclusion of known as Poetry Inside Out or “PIO.” Developed by the paper I argue for developing sites for teacher the Center for the Art of Translation in 2000, PIO is a inquiry into language and literacy—sites where poetry- and translation-based literacy curriculum teachers of English language learners, with the where students translate world-class poems, from support of university-based teacher educators, can their original language (e.g., Spanish, Chinese, document their work, question their assumptions Japanese, etc.) into English. Since its inception, the about language learners, and inquire into the program has trained teachers in San Francisco, New interplay of literacies and identities within larger York, San Diego, Boston, and Philadelphia (Center activity structures. for the Art of Translation, 2015). PIO has been used in elementary and high school classrooms, with monolingual English as well as bi- and multilingual Poetry Inside Out: A Literacy Program Based on students, and towards different ends (Rutherford, Poetry Translation 2012). For example, with monolingual English students, PIO has been shown to create In Poetry Inside Out students translate poems from “opportunities [for students] to learn to write poetry their original language into English. Although via the closest possible contact – translation” translation and interpretation are often used (Rutherford, 2009, p. 208). This article, however, interchangeably, there is a difference between the focuses on the implementation of PIO with English two. According to Marty Rutherford (2012), a key language learners. Drawing on data collected from a designer of Poetry Inside Out, bilingual youth are mixed-grade (grades 11 and 12) sheltered English class skilled at impromptu interpreting for themselves and 1 taught by Lori , I illustrate the ways in which others; they are adept at oral paraphrasing, in real 1

All names except hers are pseudonyms.

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Park, J. (2015) / Learning In/Through Collaborative Poetry Translation time and on the spot, from one language to another.

In fact, deep ethnographic work (see Orellana, 2009; Valdés, 2001; Zentella, 1997) has shown that immigrant children and youth regularly serve as interpreters, speaking for and on behalf of families and friends, so that they may access knowledge, information, and resources. Professional literary translation of written texts, on the other hand, rarely occurs on the spot (Valdés, 2014). Instead, the words and the text are fixed, allowing the translator to take her time in considering her options, use multiple resources such as dictionaries, and make judgments about what the author is trying to communicate. The translator has more time than an interpreter to pay attention and care to word choice, grammar (e.g., verb tense or agreement), syntax (e.g., word order in languages that differ in basic subject/verb/object structure), and even the cultural and political aspects of language.

The kind of literary translation that is supported in PIO is made possible, even in cases where students do not speak the language of the original poem, through a strategically designed “poem page packet” (Figure 1). The first page of the poem page packet contains the poet’s name, birth (and death) date, country of origin, and language the poem is written in. Below that, on the left side of the page, is the poem itself. If written in a non-Roman script, a transliterated version is provided as well so the poem can be read aloud by all who read English. On the right side of the page there is a photo or drawing of the poet and a brief biography that includes information relevant to the meaning of the poem.

Beginning on the second page is the key that makes translation possible — the “translator’s glossary” which includes a dictionary-type definition with part of speech information, as well as carefully selected possible synonyms for every single word or linguistic particle that makes up the poem (see Figure 1 for the translator’s glossary of El Grillo by Alberto Blanco).

In terms of the choice of poems used in the classroom, teachers are encouraged to use Poetry Inside Out flexibly and purposefully, in ways that complement and amplify the classroom curriculum.

Once teachers complete a multiday workshop given by the Center for the Art of Translation, they receive

access to a password-protected folder, on Google Drive, which holds all the poem page packets.

Teachers have autonomy to choose the poems that best fit their students’ interests and needs. For example, although Lori began the program with a Spanish poem, she subsequently chose poems written in languages that none of her students knew (e.g., Albanian, Polish, Chinese, and Japanese). Lori’s colleague, however, relied primarily on poems written in Spanish because he taught Spanishspeaking newcomers, many who were at “zero English” (Valdés, 1998).

In terms of its structure, there is a recurring set of activities and participant structures in a typical PIO program. Before students engage in the work of translation, they read aloud and discuss the biography of the poet, written in English, and several students take turns reading the poem in its original language – even in cases where no one in the class speaks the language. If the original language uses an alternate orthography (e.g., Japanese), students rely on a transliterated version to help them read the poem aloud. After reading the biography and poem, students work with the poem page and translator’s glossary — first in pairs, developing a “phrase-byphrase” translation. This phrase-by-phrase version is an initial attempt to break into the language and meaning of the poem, akin to a rough draft. The lines of the translated poem might sound odd, but it is the best attempt at a beginning translation the partnership can produce. Then, two groups of two come together as a group of four, with their respective phrase-by-phrase translations, in order to create what is called a “make-it-flow” translation – a version that is faithful to and does justice to the original poem. Then each group of four presents a public reading of their “make-it-flow” translations, followed by a whole-class discussion about the translations, the choices each group made, and the meaning of the original poem. Inspired and informed by the translation of several poems from around the world, over a period of weeks, students eventually write their own poems2 (see Figure 2).

In the case of PIO, students translate with and in the company of others, making translation a discourseintensive communal practice. In other words,

2 Students create a poem page packet of their own, with a poem, self-portrait (instead of a photograph) and biography. If the poem is in their native language, they create a translator’s glossary. These poems are often collected into a class book, presented publically in a poetry reading, and even 136 sometimes published.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 translation motivates participants to engage in discussions that depend upon, and support ways of using language, of thinking, and of associating with others (Gee, 2001). This paper builds on and extends existing research on Poetry Inside Out (Park, Simpson, Bicknell, & Michaels, 2015; Rutherford, 2009, 2012) by highlighting how a group of highschool aged English language learners participated in translating experiences, and by paying attention to the affordances of collaborative translation on not only students’ language and literacy, but also relationships with classmates.

including the poem page and recurring participant structures and activities, as a mediational tool that creates affordances for both teachers and students.

Lastly, a sociocultural framing helped research group members to pay attention to the hybridity and movement of language. Rather than a separation of languages, sociocultural theorists are interested in studying the movement of languages and identities across contexts as well as exploring how a practice like translation is part of a “larger ecology of a student’s life (or literacy repertoire)” (Gutierrez & Orellana, 2006, p. 504).

Theoretical Framework Context and Participants This article draws on data collected by a research group, which includes Jie and Lori. Sociocultural understandings of language and literacy informed the research group’s work (Gutierrez & Orellana, 2006; Lam & Warriner, 2012; Valdés, 2014) and highlighted the resources, strategies, and experiences that language learners bring to the work of translation. Instead of viewing language-learning youth as deficient, sociocultural theorists acknowledge that language learners, as emergent bilinguals (García & Kleifgen, 2010), understand how language works, and bring a heightened awareness of the social, cultural, and even ideological aspects of language. Rather than consider what Lori’s students lacked, we intentionally shifted our gaze to what they were doing and saying in the context of PIO. Sociocultural frameworks, built on the work of Vygotsky (1978), center on investigating the social formation of literacy. This tradition has emphasized the patterned interplay of language, knowledge, and technologies (i.e., tools or artifacts) within larger activity structures. In other words, sociocultural frameworks help literacy researchers and educators to “shift away from students’ individually accomplished competencies and abilities to focus on the mutually constitutive roles of co-participants […] in goal-directed activities” (Pacheco, 2015, p. 136). In addition to the interactions between and among coparticipants, socioculturalists recognize the ways in which participation in a literacy event is mediated by textual tools and social practices (DeNicolo & Franquiz, 2006). Informed by the thinking of socioculturalists, we approached Poetry Inside Out, 137

Lori teaches ESL (English as a Second Language) and sheltered English in a Grade 7-12 school in an urban district in the US Northeast. For 72 percent of the 497 students in the school, English is not their first language. Eighty-nine percent receive free and reduced-priced lunch. Lori and a colleague are responsible for educating adolescent language learners with varying degrees of English proficiency.

Because of state policies on bilingual instruction, English language learners at Lori’s school receive language support through ESL and sheltered content-area courses – although at the time of the study, only the Biology and English classes were sheltered. The students were assigned to Lori’s sheltered English class based on English proficiency levels, determined by the ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication State to State for English language learners), which is an annual assessment developed by the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment Consortium (WIDA).

Knowing my interest in working with adolescent language learners and their classroom teachers, the school principal introduced me to Lori in October 2013. I began as an observer, but shifted to the role of participant observer as I developed relationships of trust with Lori and her students. In January 2014, I invited Lori and her colleague to attend a two-day workshop on PIO, given by Marty Rutherford from the Center of the Art of Translation. Shortly thereafter, Lori began to implement PIO in her sheltered English class, which consisted of twelve

Park, J. (2015) / Learning In/Through Collaborative Poetry Translation record not only the small group discussions as students, ages 16 to 18, whose home languages students worked on the “phrase-by-phrase” and include Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, French, and “make-it-flow” translations, but also the public Twi. Some, like Maryam, had been in the country for sharing of translations and subsequent whole-class less than a year, while others had been in the country discussion. Lori also documented, through a teacher for three years. According to levels set forth by journal, her experience of designing, orchestrating, WIDA standards (WIDA, 2012), Lori’s students and sustaining discussions about poetry and mostly had levels of “developing” (Level 3) or translation. I also documented the work of Lori’s “expanding” (Level 4).), When Lori and her colleague students, taking field notes and audio-recording began to implement PIO, I asked them to join a foursmall-group work and whole-class discussions. I was person research group – of teacher researchers and a participant observer in Lori’s classroom, visiting university-based researchers – to document Poetry the class for three or four Inside Out and its impact on consecutive days, every two English learners. For this paper, weeks, while students engaged I decided to focus on Lori’s with Poetry Inside Out. sheltered English class because Informed by the thinking of Between January and June it was the class where I spent socioculturalists, we 2014, Lori implemented PIO the most time as a participant observer. This meant that I had approached Poetry Inside Out, once every two weeks. in-depth knowledge of the including the poem page and I transcribed audiotapes from youth and could gather robust small-group discussions of data. recurring participant poetry translation and wholestructures and activities, as a class discussion. In analyzing Data Collection and Analysis transcripts of discussions— mediational tool that creates “phrase-by-phrase,” “make-itCritical to the design of the affordances for both teachers flow,” and the whole-class research is the collaboration discussion after the public between university-based and students sharing of translations—the researchers and teacher research team, including Lori, researchers. This collaboration relied on a descriptive review provided the opportunity to protocol (Carini, 2000). Using the descriptive review collect a wide range of data sources and perspectives, protocol, we first described what we noticed in the providing a more complete picture of student transcript in terms of students’ discursive maneuvers learning. After several weeks of documenting PIO, and reasoning practices. For example, we noticed the research team noticed that the talk involved in that students repeatedly said, “It’s almost the same PIO stood in contrast to what typically happens in thing.” Then, from the descriptions, we generated class discussions (often referred to as IRE or claims about what the students were working to Initiation-Response-Evaluation), where the teacher understand or accomplish. If we take the example of asks a question, students attempt to get the answer, “It’s almost the same thing,” we inferred that and the teacher evaluates the student’s contribution students were working through the subtle as right or wrong (Mehan, 1979). Having noticed this, differences in word meaning, and exercising their the research team decided to investigate the semantic awareness. The last round of the capacities developed in and from the talk that descriptive review process focused on identifying happens when students participate in collaborative pedagogical implications from the data. For example, poetry translation. during a descriptive review of a transcript from a whole-class discussion of a Chinese poem, we In an attempt to track her own talk moves and those noticed students exploring the rules of translation of her students, Lori audio-recorded herself and her (i.e., Can translators add words?). Based on this students as they engaged in PIO. She, often used descriptive review, Lori structured future whole-class more than one tape recorder around the class to 138

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 discussions so that students were discussing not only the meaning of the translated poems, but also their decisions as translators.

In keeping with sociocultural theories’ focus on language and communication, we also used dialogic, deliberative, and participatory talk in classrooms to guide our data analysis (Michaels, O’Connor, & Resnick, 2008). Reading the transcripts, we identified instances of highly dialogic discourse between students—based on evidence of students carefully listening to each other; explicating their ideas and questioning others; engaging in evidence-based reasoning; and valuing themselves and each other as thinkers and language-users.

At the end of the school year, I interviewed ten out of the twelve students about their experiences with PIO. I was unable to interview two students, Maria and Lorenzo, because Maria moved out of state, and Lorenzo was absent during the week of the interviews. Interview data were analyzed inductively for themes related to the process of collaborative translation; strategies used to translate a poem; and perceived challenges and benefits to collaborative translation. Although much of the interview data confirmed what we learned from analyzing transcripts of the translation process, I took seriously any discrepant data, including data from a small number of students who said that they did not feel invested in translating an adult-poet’s work. A student shared in an interview, “The poems that we’ve read […] it’s either about animals or mystical things or you know. So I don’t see anything that connects to me.” Their comments shed light on the challenges of implementing Poetry Inside Out, which are described in detail in the discussion section.

Findings: Developing Capacities and Knowledge through Collaborative Translation As stated before, the research group sought to investigate the capacities and understandings that adolescent English language learners developed in and through collaborative poetry translation. Based on analysis of data from sociocultural perspectives, we learned what Lori’s students were developing as a result of engaging with the mediational tools, activities, and practices of Poetry Inside Out. Specifically, we learned that Lori’s students were 139

developing their semantic-awareness; capacity for evidence-based reasoning; and stance of collaboration. The study’s findings feature the voices of all twelve participants in three divided sections: Semantic Awareness, Capacity for Evidence-Based Reasoning, and Stance of Collaboration. Table 1 (see Appendix) provides, participant names, year of arrival to the US, home country, and primary language(s).

Semantic Awareness When Lori first introduced PIO and announced that they were going to translate a Spanish poem, the students were skeptical. Oliver, a native Spanish speaker from the Dominican Republic, predicted that translation would be difficult “because there are some expressions in Spanish that you can’t translate into English.” Manuel questioned whether he could translate into English since, although he knew many words in Spanish, he did not know the same words in English. Others focused on the fact that they were translating poetry. Maryam, who had attended school in Jordan, expressed a fear of poetry. She said, “I never stand up and say, ‘That’s what I feel about the poem. That’s the meaning for it.’ I’ve never done that before.” William insisted that “nobody, nobody likes poetry.” Unfazed by the students’ comments, Lori explained that they would rely on the translator’s glossary and each other to translate the poem, El Grillo by Alberto Blanco. She reminded students that they had the “gold of knowing two or even three languages,” and shared that she had translated the Spanish poem herself—a fact that impressed students and even elicited a few giggles.

Lori began by asking volunteers to read El Grillo aloud. During the time that three students read the poem, I noted students encouraging each other to read (“take your time” or “do the best you can”) and clapping after each reading. Maryam affirmed Aaron, the second reader who did not speak Spanish, for being “good with languages.”

When students began translating El Grillo, I observed how they acknowledged and wrestled with subtle nuances of meaning in words. In most phraseby-phrase work, students questioned word choice, worked to define words, questioned whether and

Park, J. (2015) / Learning In/Through Collaborative Poetry Translation how a word’s meaning differs from its definition, and came to understand the concept of synonyms—all of which build semantic awareness (Kaiser, 1987; Wright, 2010). In other words, semantic awareness refers to an awareness of the meaning of words and phrases, as well as the relationship between words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, etc.). It also refers to an awareness of how we make sense of and respond to language. In debating which words to use, Lori’s students were exploring what words mean, how the possible synonyms differ, and which possible synonym to use in the translation and to what effect. For example, in the discussion below, Jo, Manuel, and Maryam were working on the “phraseby-phrase” translation, and discussing the meaning of the word, hierba. According to the translator’s glossary, the possible synonyms for hierba are grass, lawn, or weed. Jo asked Manuel what hierba means.

Jo: What does it mean, this word?

Manuel: What? That’s like grass. Like, you know what grass means?

Jo: Yeah. Among the grass of the. It’s making it more. Grass of the sky. It’s weird.

Manuel: Yeah. Between the grass of the sky.

Something like that.

Maryam: Grass or lawn. It’s almost the same thing but with different feelings.

Jo: Grass is a good word because we’re talking about the country sky, like, empty.

Like grass better. With like, something that is the grass. Yeah, I think we should choose grass. It’s more natural. Natural. Is it among or between? I chose among.

Maryam: Not between?

Jo: I chose among.

Maryam: You choose among? But what that word means? (January, 2014, Make-It-Flow Translation) In this exchange Jo, Manuel, and Maryam not only made decisions about what word to use and why, but also considered the larger meaning of the poem, perhaps even drawing on the biography of the poet which mentions that nature is a frequent theme in Blanco’s poems. The students positioned Manuel, a native speaker of Spanish, as an expert. However, Jo, a student from Vietnam, also brought her own insights. Defending “grass” over “lawn,” she insisted, “The author try to put the readers in the feeling of nature. Silence night and music of the cricket.”

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Maryam acknowledged that grass and lawn convey different feelings to the reader. Neither Manuel nor Jo knew the meaning of “among,” prompting Maryam to reach for an English-Arabic dictionary on the table. Even after consulting the dictionary, Maryam was unsure whether to use “among” or “between.” Manuel convinced Jo and Maryam that they should use “between” since “among” was too “fancy” and “people in the nature don’t talk like that.”

As Maryam, Manuel, and Jo decided on “between the grass”, a different pair decided to use “weed,” offering up evidence that weeds are taller than grass or lawn. In the pair-work, I also heard students say to each other, “What did you get for this part?” and “Let’s talk about it.” If a pair included two Spanish speakers, I heard them ask each other, “Que tu piensas?” (What do you think?) and “Que significa?"

(What does it mean?). In a research meeting, Lori commented on the ways in which her students were listening to each other, asking for clarification, building on as well as questioning the thinking of classmates, and arriving at consensus—all without relying on the teacher.

After translating El Grillo, Maryam described translation as simultaneously easy and difficult: “In the beginning I thought that translating poems is something hard, but after this poem, it makes me feel like it’s not a hard thing. And it’s not an easy thing to do too because you have to understand the meaning.” In order to produce a translation with fidelity, students have to choose words that “fit” the meaning of the poem. In the interview, William explained, “You have to find the right words. You have to find the right words to fit the poem in order to, you know, make it connect to the author’s purpose.” Students took seriously each word that made up the poem, exploring subtle differences between possible synonyms and inquiring what makes one synonym better than another, given the intended tone, message of the poem, and even setting of the piece. Cyrus, a young man from the Central African Republic, shared that selecting a word involves that they “sense the tones of the communication.” In translation, students not only developed the ability to make viable meaning out of words and phrases (Weingartner, 1969), but also

s it

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 gained awareness of how they use available resources (e.g., dictionaries, poet biographies, personal connections to the poem) to assign meaning to words when translating poetry.

Capacity for Evidence-Based Reasoning The students understood poetry translation as a meaning-making act in which translators have to make sense of the original text and consider the poet’s purpose. To construct meaning from the poem and infer the poet’s intent, students drew on the biography of the poet. They began to take seriously who created the text, what was important to him or her, and what motivated the poet. Thus, as translators, students also became more perceptive and careful literary readers, understanding that texts are created by human beings from the contexts of their lived experience. Students inferred the intentions and message of the poet by examining the evidence in the form of the poet’s biography. In addition, they were able to consider the validity of their own and classmates’ translations. Literature on deliberative discourse (see Cazden, 2001; Michaels, O’Connor, & Resnick, 2008) suggests that powerful learning happens when students draw reasoned connections and conclusions, which are then used by others for the purpose of further deliberation, critique, and elaboration. In the exchange between Carlos and Aaron, they drew on the biography of Huang Xiang to make sense of the poem Du Chang 3.

Lori’s students translated Du Chang during the third week of April, three months into the PIO program.

Carlos: He was in the prison alone [….] He put his country, his people first, then hisself. That's what it's about. Like, he was a poet that had been in prison because he believed in the right of democracy.

Aaron: Communist.

Carlos: Mm hmm. This one, I don't get it, this line.

Aaron: The poem kinda relates to his life?

Carlos: Yeah.

Aaron: His biography? Kinda relates to it so.

Carlos: When he was in prison. (April, 2014, Phrase-by-Phrase Translation) 1

In the interview, Carlos shared at length how the poet’s biography became a frame of reference from which to construct the poem’s meaning. He explained, “In the biography he talk about his life that he was in jail and all that stuff. And in the poem he was saying almost the same thing. Like, he were in jail. And we could understand it.” Carlos understood that readers cannot separate the poem from the poet, in this case the poet's feelings, beliefs, and political and historical positions in communist China. Students started to pay more attention to the creator of the original text –who the poet was or is and what happened to him or her. The fact that so many students continually referred to the biography of Huang Xiang suggests that English learners were not only paying more attention to the creator of texts, but also personalizing and humanizing poetry.

Students developed in their ability and willingness to not only share their reasoning with others, but also listen to, understand, and question each other’s reasoning. For example, Carlos, Aaron, and Pablo worked on creating a “make it flow” translation of the Chinese poem, Du Chang. Agreeing that the poem was about the poet’s time in solitary confinement, the three boys discussed possible translations for the title, which included “Singing Alone,” “I Sing Alone,” or “Alone Croon.” The boys eventually decided on “Alone Croon” after the following discussion: Aaron: I don’t know. We chose “croon” and to me Carlos: Croon (overlapping talk). I don't like croon.

Aaron: I don't understand 'croon' but I think, but I want the meaning of that word.

What “croon” is?

Pablo: Could it be the spirit or soul?

Carlos: Oh. So like with your voice. You hear (to Aaron)?

Aaron: Umm hum.

Carlos: Using your voice, like he likes to make music with his voice, his spirit.

Aaron: See the “croon?”? I'm not sure about the "croon" (looking in dictionary). It's to sing in gentle or murmuring voice. You know like when he was in prison, you know,

Huang Xiang’s biography on the poem page: Huang Xiang was born in Hunan Province in China in 1941 and has been writing poems since 1950. In 1978, he started an underground writers’ society and a literary magazine, both named Enlightenment. Ten years later he was arrested for his proDemocracy activities and sentenced to three years of labor. He ultimately served twelve years in prison where he spent much time in solitary 141 confinement. Huang Xiang and his wife lived in exile in the United States since 1997. He and his family now live in New York. To this day, Huang Xiang’s works remains banned in China.

wa

Park, J. (2015) / Learning In/Through Collaborative Poetry Translation sing like quiet, he would. So like, "alone croon.”

Carlos: Alone croon?

Aaron: Yes. (April, 2014, Make-It-Flow Translation).

I was surprised by Carlos’ statement—“I don’t like croon”—since Carlos and Aaron, as a pair, had already decided to use croon. However, I realized that in saying “I don’t like croon,” Carlos understood translation as an ongoing attempt to construct meaning. Second, I noticed Aaron’s commitment to understanding the word croon. He stated, “I want the meaning of that word [croon]” Aaron’s use of want signals a strong desire to understand the meaning of a word. Third, although Pablo did not participate as much as Aaron and Carlos, he made an important contribution, suggesting that “croon” could be related to the spirit or soul. Carlos extended Pablo’s contribution by adding “So like with your voice…” Together, Pablo and Carlos constructed the idea that one’s voice can be an expression of the spirit or soul, and not just the sounds uttered through one’s mouth. I noticed Carlos’ talk move (“You hear?”), directed at Aaron, and intended to ensure that Aaron heard Pablo. Through this talk move, Carlos signaled the importance of Pablo’s idea.

Lastly, Aaron did not accept “croon” until he consulted the dictionary. He read the definition of “croon” to the group—“To sing in gentle or murmuring voice.” Referencing the poet’s biography, Aaron reasoned that the poet must have sung “quiet” because he was in prison. Going through this deliberative process, Pablo, Carlos, and Aaron agreed on “Alone Croon” for the title. This process motivated the boys to articulate, with evidence, their translation choices to themselves and others.

Although students knew that there is not a single “right” answer in Poetry Inside Out, they debated what makes a good translation. Below is part of a whole-class discussion, following the public reading of the translations for Du Chang. The excerpt below captures a particularly rich exchange between five students.

It began with Maryam’s uncharacteristically bold pronouncement.

Maryam: My poem is better.

William: No. You want to go bring judges?

Bring judges? My poem has a more, like, you know, a generalized idea of what the author 142

was, like, you know the background of the author. His life and everything.

Lorenzo: I have a question. I have a question [to William]. Why does your poem say, “Poem, poem” twice?

William: Because it’s a repetition in poem.

Aaron: Yeah, (snapping his fingers) I was going to talk about it.

Lorenzo: There’s only one, once, it says poem in there. Only once. Not twice.

Aaron: That’s what I’m saying.

Lorenzo: Then you wrote poem, poem twice.

Maria: Because we can add words to make more sense. (April, 2014, Public Sharing and Whole-Class Discussion) Lorenzo questioned William because William’s group, in translating the poem, decided to use “poem” twice. William responded that poems often contain repetition. Not entirely satisfied with William’s response, Lorenzo cited the original poem, which only says “poem” once. Lori and I were struck by not only students’ careful attention to and respect for the original text, but also the relative absence of Lori’s voice in this discussion, which continued for another twelve minutes, and focused on whether, and what words can be added by a translator.

Stance of Collaboration Coming up with a “good” translation of a word, line, or entire poem is a complex feat. Different from most traditional translation activities performed by a single translator, Poetry Inside Out requires students to translate with others (Rutherford, 2009). In the company of others, students-as-translators consider, learn to articulate, and revise what they believe and where they stand on word choice and the meaning of the poem. Interviewing students, I heard comments like the one below: William: So if I say, I want this word, and my group member want that word, he has to give me reasons why this word best fits that word he wants to choose, you know. So you have to come into an agreement upon one word, but you have to back up your reasoning why you want that word to be chosen.

Manuel: When we choose a word, like, ‘cause we were in group, and we have to

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 discuss and if another, if one of my group thinks that that’s not a good word and I think that’s a good word, we have to discuss.

Maryam: We need to discuss about it. Speak a lot. And why do you choose that. I’m telling you that mine is right. Why do you choose that one? We always say, yeah, I want to know why.

I-R-E and skills-based instruction offer limited opportunities for problem solving and engagement in substantive discussions (Petrosky, McConachie, & Mihalakis, 2010). Contrary to skills-based instruction, PIO facilitated a process by which students used collaborative inquiry to produce meaning. William, Manuel, and Maryam described how being part of a group involved coming to an agreement and sharing thought processes.

Collaboration (Bruffee, 1993; Wells, 2001) in which participants work together to problem solve and construct meaning is not without tensions, however.

Even among Lori’s students, some believed that certain voices are more valid and privileged than others are. Denis described his group’s interactions during PIO: Denis: I do whatever they want me to do.

They said its cricket. I tried, but they said, this is good, this is good. And when I was with William ‘cause he know a lot, he said, “Nah, nah, nah. This is good.” So we said that, the thing he said. Maybe Maria was agreed with me, Oliver, maybe, because they, like me, they don’t know a lot of English. And William said, “Oh, this is good.”

Denis suggested that English language proficiency is a form of power that shapes who gets to speak in the group. In settings where some students are perceived (or see themselves) as having more English than others have, collaboration can become a site of contestation and silencing.

The majority of transcript and interview data, however, pointed to the benefits of engaging in a collaborative, deliberative process whereby participants must reach consensus and generate a group translation. In that process, Lori’s students came to not only listen and tolerate, but also value others’ ideas and reasoning. Going beyond what their peers think or believe, they worked to understand 143

why their peers believe or think in certain ways. For example, Jo said that she tends to bring a “realist perspective” to translating poems while Maryam thinks in “metaphor.” Lori’s students came to see how they translated using their own “funds of knowledge” (Moll & Gonzalez, 2001), whether it is knowledge of the language of the poem, life experiences that might resemble the poet’s, or a particular perspective or interpretive lens (e.g., scientific, metaphorical, etc.). They asked each other for their reasoning (“I want to know why”). William summarized the learning that happens in and through collaboration: William: I feel like working alone isn’t learning. Cause learning’s getting a new idea from someone or something, and improving your own idea with the same idea that you’re getting. And then exploring the idea with other people. Then you’ll learn from them too.

They learned to work through a complex text and task— a “puzzle," according to one student. They also learned to take in different and new ideas from others, and use those ideas to expand, reflect on, and improve their own thinking.

Discussion Translation is an under-utilized practice in middle and secondary schools (Martínez, 2010; Orellana & Reynolds, 2008). However, as we can see from Lori and her students, collaborative translation of poetry can become a site for cultural, linguistic, and intellectual accomplishment, for English learners and teachers of English learners alike. Drawing on the mediational tool of the poem page packet, and working with co-participants in the shared activity of poetry translation, students developed semantic awareness; engaged in evidence-based reasoning; and cultivated a stance of collaboration. In this section, I review and discuss the key points from the study’s findings.

Most of the “phrase-by-phrase” deliberations focused on word choice. Students’ discussions focused on finding the best possible synonym to advance the meaning and tone of the poem. In the process of deliberating about word meaning and synonyms, students developed semantic awareness, which, as a

Park, J. (2015) / Learning In/Through Collaborative Poetry Translation form of metalinguistic knowledge, can help students to see “language as an object, subject to manipulation” (Lee, 1993, p. 94). There was, however, less evidence of students discussing issues of syntax and grammar – although they did, at times, discuss rules for subject-verb agreement; difference between the articles “a/an” and “the”; and the idea that in some languages, like Spanish, the adjective might follow the noun, and not the other way around.

In choosing the words, Lori’s students understood that translation involves first figuring out the idea(s) or meaning(s) of the poem, not just substituting words from one language into another language.

That is, their perception of the poem's meaning informed their word choice. In constructing the meaning of the poem, students focused on the biography of the poet, using information about the poet to infer the poet’s background, worldviews, and even artistic commitments. At times students also drew upon their lived experiences as evidence. For example, to help others understand why the poet, Huang Xiang, was imprisoned for pro-democratic activities, Jo explained that in her country’s history: Communists, they just only want for the government. The leader, they always say good about the people, that everything the leader give for the people, but, but the truth, they just eat for themselves, they just make for themselves, and the people have to work hard every year, and they didn’t get anything.

In justifying their understanding of the poem, students marked, for themselves and others, where their evidence came from, and how the evidence supported their position. Students assumed a critical orientation towards the translations created by their classmates, questioning how their classmates arrived at their translations and with what evidence. Two expressions we heard a lot from students were “Prove it” and “I want to know why.” Students were engaged in reasoning in the company of classmates.

Despite data suggesting that the more English proficient peers dismissed the less proficient English speakers, the majority of students took seriously not only what their peers think, but also how and why they think in certain ways. In interviews, most students commented on gaining a new view of 144

collaboration as a result of Poetry Inside Out. They developed the willingness and stamina for collaboration, as well as “talk moves” (e.g., “I want to understand” or “I agree with you, but…”) which supported them in learning about and from their classmates’ ideas. In an interview, Jo shared, History, like, we usually have team work, and I always say, “Just let me do it. You can, um, I will give you something.” Sometime he gave his own idea. And now really I accept it. Before I didn’t. I don’t use to accept it. I put it in the project. And I told him, explain him about my idea and his idea, and put it in one. And in art one, we, uh, we have to do like some project. And um, I explain how why I draw like this, like that, and they sometime, they gave really great idea for me.

According to interview data, the stance of collaboration was what students carried with, and applied to contexts beyond the Sheltered English class. Students like Jo shifted their approach to collaboration. Instead of offering to do the work (i.e., “Just let me do it”) or assigning smaller tasks to individuals (i.e., “I will give you something”), Jo engaged in an exchange of ideas. In an exchange, participants not only “go public” with their own thinking and recognize the thinking of their classmates, but also come to hold multiple perspectives about a single text or line of text.

The study’s findings speak to the potential of PIO as a program, which “treats multilingualism as normative, not deviant” (Bailey & Orellana, 2005, p.

67). However, I acknowledge that PIO and collaborative translation can be difficult to implement under certain circumstances. For example, in Lori’s classroom, we noted how some students relied on their more English-capable peers to make decisions for the pair or group, while others felt silenced by their more English-capable peers.

However, we also know from working with Lori and other teachers in the district that in order for the PIO curriculum to be effective with diverse students, including newcomers, it should be modified (see Park et al., 2015). In one example, Lori’s colleague adapted the poem pages so that Spanish-speaking newcomers translated from one language (e.g., English, Japanese) into Spanish—the students’ dominant language. This was after he observed his

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 newcomers mostly substituting English words for the poet’s words. He discovered that students were translating from one foreign language (e.g., Chinese) to another language still new to them – in this case, English. In another example, Lori asked the Center for the Art of Translation to draw upon more poems that address issues and themes, including homesickness, immigration, racism, to which her English language learners can connect.

Concluding Note: Fostering Teacher Learning and Inquiry Throughout the spring of 2014, Lori explored questions related to implementing PIO with the support of a weekly teacher-research seminar with other teachers at her school and a neighboring elementary school. Facilitated by a colleague and myself, teachers brought aspects of their own classroom practice to the table in the form of transcripts and audio recordings. Lori ended the school year excited to continue PIO in the 2014-2015 academic year. Not only did she have specific questions she wanted to pursue, she had also developed a commitment to documenting her own work as well as that of her students’ participation and learning. At the end of the 2014 school year, Lori shared the following reflection: Conducting teacher research around PIO has provided me with the opportunity to reflect on my student's learning and how I can better address their learning needs. During the research process, I recorded and transcribed classroom discussions that students were having. With each encounter, I was able to better see how students were making connections to the poet, his [poet’s] life and how their respective lives could have

affected the meaning of the poem. They engaged in discussions that included religion, other works of literature and their own personal experiences. There are many times that I am unable to give students individualized attention during the class. By recording and listening later, I was able to pick up on things that I had originally missed. Working with another school teacher and professors provided another opportunity for patterns to be seen. By analyzing and discussing the transcripts that were generated, I was provided with yet another chance to reflect on what my students were saying. (June, 2014, Research Meeting) She has plans for several conference presentations in the coming year. PIO has positioned both her students and her as makers of meaning and new knowledge.

In closing, I want to echo the necessity of supporting teachers of English-language learners (Genesee et al., 2005). Teachers of emergent bilinguals need new kinds of professional learning opportunities to meet the challenges of standards-based reforms and accountability mandates. They need support with respect to instructional practices that recruit the linguistic and cultural strengths of their students, but also with structures that promote a classroom culture of public reasoning. Teachers also need time and space to work with colleagues to reflect on and document their work, improve their practice, and contribute to the development of new knowledge in the field of language and literacy education.

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Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

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Park, J. (2015) / Learning In/Through Collaborative Poetry Translation Carini, P. F. (2000). Prospect's descriptive processes. In M. Himley & P. F. Carini (Eds.), From another angle: Children's strengths and school standards: The Prospect Center's descriptive review of the child (pp. 82220). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Cazden, C. B. (2001). Classroom discourse: The language of teaching and learning (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Center for the Art of Translation. (2015). Poetry Inside Out. Retrieved from http://www.catranslation.org/poetry-inside-out DeNicolo, C. P., & Franquiz, M. E. (2006). “Do I have to say it?”: Critical encounters with multicultural children’s literature. Language Arts, 84(2), 157-170.

García, O., & Kleifgen, J. A. (2010). Educating emergent bilinguals: Policies, programs, and practices for English language learners. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Gee, J. P. (2001). What is literacy? In P. Shannon (Ed.), Becoming political, too: New readings and writings on the politics of literacy education (pp. 1-9). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Genesee, F., Lindholm-Leary, K., Saunders, W., & Christian, D. (2005). English language learners in U.S. schools: An overview of research findings. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 10(4), 363385.

Gutierrez, K. D., & Orellana, M. F. (2006). The “problem” of English learners: Constructing genres of difference.

Research in the Teaching of English, 40(4), 502-507.

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Lam, W. S. E., & Warriner, D. S. (2012). Transnationalism and literacy: Investigating the mobility of people, languages, texts, and practices in contexts of migration. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(2), 191-215.

Lee, C. D. (1993). Signifying as a scaffold for literary interpretation: The pedagogical Implications of an African American discourse genre. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Martínez, R. A. (2010). “Spanglish” as literacy tool: Toward an understanding of the potential role of SpanishEnglish code-switching in the development of academic literacy. Research in the Teaching of English, 45(2), 124-149.

Mehan, H. (1979). Learning lessons: Social organization in the classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Michaels, S. & O’Connor, C. (2013). Conceptualizing talk moves as tools: Professional development approaches for academically productive discussion. In L.B. Resnick, C. Asterhan, & S. N. Clarke (Eds.), Socializing intelligence through talk and dialogue (pp. 333-347). Washington DC: American Educational Research Association.

Michaels, S., O'Connor, C., & Resnick, L. (2008). Reasoned participation: Accountable talk in the classroom and in civic life. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 27(4), 283-297.

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Petrosky, A. R., McConachie, S. M., & Mihalakis, V. (2010). Disciplinary literacy in the English language arts classroom. In S. M. McConachie & A. R. Petrosky (Eds.), Content matters: A disciplinary literacy approach to improving student learning (pp. 129-162). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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Park, J. Y., Simpson, L., Bicknell, J., & Michaels, S. (2015). “When it rains a puddle is made”: Fostering academic literacy in English learners through poetry and translation. English Journal, 104(4), 50-58.

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Rutherford, M. (2012). Poetry Inside Out: A high expectation, cross-cultural literacy program. In C. DudleyMarling & S. Michaels (Eds.), High-expectation curricula: Helping all students succeed with powerful learning (pp. 45-58). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

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Park, J. (2015) / Learning In/Through Collaborative Poetry Translation

Wells, G. (2001). Action, talk, and Text: Learning and teaching through inquiry. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Consortium. (2012). Performance Definitions.

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Wright, W. E. (2010). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice.

Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing.

Zentella, A. C. (1997). Growing up bilingual: Puerto Rican children in New York. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 Table 1

Students in Lori’s sheltered English class

Country of Origin

Age*

Aaron

Ghana

Carlos

Gender

15

Primary Language(s)

Twi, English

M

Year of Arrival to the US 2012

Puerto Rico

17

Spanish

M

2011

Cyrus

Central African Republic

18

Kari, Sango, French

M

2011

Denis

El Salvador

18

Spanish

M

2011

Jo

Vietnam

16

Vietnamese

F

2013

Lorenzo

Guatemala

18

Spanish

M

2009

Maria

Puerto Rico

16

Spanish

F

2011

Maryam

Iraq/Jordan

17

Arabic

F

2014

Manuel

Puerto Rico

18

Spanish

M

2011

Oliver

16

Spanish

M

2013

Pablo

Dominican Republic Peru

17

Spanish

M

2013

William

Ghana

17

Twi, English

M

2010

*Age as of 2014

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What Teachers Bring: The Intellectual Resources of Adolescent Literacy Educators in an Era of Standardization

Kathleen Riley

ABSTRACT: Within a political context focused on learning outcomes measured by standardized tests and

driven by market-based reforms, teachers are increasingly viewed as recipients of professional

development focusing on what has been deemed “best practices” by those outside of their teaching

context. This article uses concepts from critical literacy and feminist epistemologies to analyze data from a

year-long teacher inquiry community focused on adolescent literacy education. It demonstrates how teachers mobilized four knowledge sources, or resources, to understand and improve their practice: Autobiographical reflexivity, outside readings, interactions with students, and visions of the possible. It makes the argument that learning spaces for teachers should be constructed to leverage, rather than ignore, what teachers bring to their learning through self-directed study, years of teaching, and a lifetime of experiences. Implications for facilitators, school leaders, teacher educators, and teachers include using the concept of teacher resources in professional development, creating more spaces for teachers to engage in authentic inquiry, and exposing pre-service teachers to images of intellectually-engaged teacher communities.

Keywords: adolescent literacy, professional development, teacher inquiry, teacher education

Kathleen Riley is an assistant professor in the Department of Literacy at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She has worked for over thirteen years as a teacher and researcher in a wide range of settings. Her research interests include critical literacy education, teacher inquiry and activism, and teacher education. Her recent work appears in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor and Teacher Education Quarterly. She can be reached at kriley@wcupa.edu.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

I’d never realized that my own inquiry is powerful and can help me teach. That meeting…the resources that were in that room. I’m not talking about what we were holding in our hands, but what we brought as teachers, in our minds, our experience.

– Lucy

L

ucy (all names are pseudonyms) was part of the Adolescent Literacy Education Study Group, a collaborative research project in which I, a university-based researcher, brought together five teachers in a large urban area to inquire into their practice. The group met twice monthly over the course of a year to discuss challenges of teaching, pose questions about practice, and engage in collaborative self-directed learning. Lucy’s quotation refers to an early meeting in which the teachers were invited to bring an “artifact of practice” that served as a thinking partner. The artifact experience was one example of my attempt to facilitate a space that leveraged, rather than ignored, the questions, experiences, and insights that the teachers brought to their teaching practice. Lucy’s comment highlights the value of an experience that drew upon the knowledge that she and her colleagues brought to the learning space. Her surprise at the power of her own inquiry is also noteworthy. In her nine years of teaching, Lucy shared that she had never experienced professional development that fully acknowledged all that she brought to her learning.

As a university-based researcher, teacher educator, and former K-12 teacher, I formed the study group out of a sense of concern about the positioning of teachers in much of professional development and a curiosity about how professional development might reposition teachers as knowledge generators, rather than knowledge recipients. As the teachers and I worked together, we came to a collective awareness of the central questions in the teachers’ work; saw problems in new ways; and took action in the form of a changed practice along with the sharing of our work to outside audiences.

I formed the group in the context of recent reform efforts that have resulted in increased standardization and monitoring of the teaching profession (Nieto, 2003; Ravitch, 2013; Sleeter, 2008;

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Zeichner, 2010). In this political climate, teachers’ work has been increasingly regulated (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2006; Ingersoll, 2003), with initiatives such as merit pay and scripted curricula, leaving them with little instructional autonomy (Kumashiro, 2012; Ravitch, 2010). While tight regulations of the teaching profession are hardly new (Goldstein, 2014; Tyack, 1974), the No Child Left Behind Act and the adoption of the Common Core State Standards have led to an increase in testing, a narrowing of curriculum, and a focus on college and workforce preparedness to the exclusion of other aims of education (e.g. Au, 2009; Sleeter, 2008). These trends fall under the rubric of neoliberalism, which Harvey (2005) defines as “a theory of political economic practices that proposes that human well-being can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills within an institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free markets, and free trade” (p. 2). These reforms have led to shifts in teacher education and professional development from valuing students’ communities and lives toward a more narrow focus on increasing test scores and preparing students for the workforce (Au, 2009; Ravitch, 2010; Lipman, 2011).

This new wave of reform also impacts teacher education and professional development. While research, policy, and practice in the 1990s reflected a trend toward collaborative learning for teachers (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995; Hawley & Valli, 1999), many of these efforts have been co-opted by the standards movement (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009). For example, in response to the Common Core State Standards, many schools are adopting new curricular materials and relying out outside experts to come in and deliver “best practices” to teachers. This model of professional development renders invisible the intellectual resources that teachers bring to their practice (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; 2009; McLaughlin & Talbert, 2006; Lieberman & Wood, 2002).

At the same time, there is growing concern about teachers remaining in the teaching force (e.g.

Ingersoll, 2003; Johnson & Birkeland, 2003; Johnson, 2007), with scholars pointing toward meaningful

Riley, K. (2015) / What Teachers Bring

professional development as one opportunity to of a teacher inquiry group that focused on critical nurture and support intellectually engaged teachers literacy, emphasizing the importance of a space for (e.g. Johnson & Birkeland, 2003; Nieto, 2009). Nieto “personal and sociopolitical analyses to exist side by (2009) writes: side” (p. 77). Together, these studies offer images of If we are to keep good teachers in the professional development that emphasize classroom, school administrators and relationships among teachers, students, and policymakers, among others, need to find communities and value the experiences, insights, and ways to create environments in which questions that teachers bring to the table. teachers can form strong collaborative

relationships with their peers and in which This article builds on this body of work by offering they can continue to learn about themselves, an in-depth analysis of a teacher learning community their students, and their students’ that fostered collaborative relationships and communities. Until these things happen, foregrounded teachers’ knowledge. Specifically, it survival will be the most we can hope for. adds to existing empirical research by explicitly And survival is simply not good enough – for analyzing the resources that the teachers brought to teachers, for their students, or for the United their professional development. Drawing on data States (p. 13). from the Adolescent Literacy Education Study Recent work on inquiry Group, I engage the question: communities with Within the context of the study I formed the study group transformative (Saavedra, group, what resources did out of a sense of concern 1996), inquiry-based teachers use to understand and (Blackburn et al., 2010; Meyer, change their practice? about the positioning of 1998; Nieto, 2003), and

teachers in much of emancipatory (Luna et al., This analysis shows how the 2004; Souto-Manning, 2011) teachers mined multiple professional development underpinnings, expand on knowledge sources – or and a curiosity about how Nieto’s vision by providing resources – to understand professional development powerful counter-examples to their work and how these current political trends; might reposition teachers as resources intermingled with positioning teachers as each other to open up new knowledge generators, generators, rather than ways of looking at students, recipients, of knowledge. Nieto schools, and teaching. I make rather than knowledge (2003), for example, draws on the argument that teacher recipients. her work with an inquiry group education and professional of urban teachers to offer a development that use, rather vision of teaching that includes than ignore, these valuable love, autobiography, anger, hope, intellectual work, tools for sense-making will expand teachers’ capacity and democratic practice. Souto-Manning (2010) to understand their students and design learning works within the Freirian tradition of problemexperiences that are responsive to their lives. By posing education (1970) to create culture circles in developing a heightened sense of what teachers which teachers consider their own literacies in bring – through self-directed study, years of relation to their students.’ In her work in an inquiry teaching, and a lifetime of experiences – we increase community of teachers committed to combatting our ability to understand the complex ways that they homophobia, Blackburn et al. (2010) highlighted the approach their work and consider how spaces might importance of teachers supporting each other in be designed to better support their professional responding to homophobia in ways that accounted growth. for their unique autobiographies and contexts, as

well as the group’s collective vision for how schools In the sections that follow, I provide a brief history should be. Luna et al. (2004) documented the work and description of the Adolescent Literacy Education

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Study Group, explain how theories of critical literacy and feminist epistemologies shape my analysis of the group, and describe the methods of data generation and analysis. Then, I draw on data from the group’s conversations to show how the teachers in the group drew on autobiographical reflexivity, outside readings, interactions with students, and visions of the possible to inform their practice. I conclude with implications for facilitators of teacher learning, teacher educators, and school leaders.

The Adolescent Literacy Education Study Group

In February and March of 2011, I contacted English/Language Arts teachers from a large urban area through email lists of the local site of the National Writing Project and the graduate school of education in which I taught. In my initial email, I identified myself as “a strong believer in the power of collaborative, intellectual learning spaces for teachers to think about their work” and noted that “we might grapple with issues about language and identity, critical literacy, linguistic and cultural diversity, or building literacy-rich environments in the face of constraints.” The teachers who were attracted to the group were aligned with the vision of taking an inquiry stance towards practice (CochranSmith & Lytle, 2009). Table 1 in Appendix A offers a window into the five teacher-participants in terms of their school, race, background, and students’ race.

The teachers came from a range of experience levels and school contexts. All of the members of the group, including myself, were White and all of the teachers taught primarily students of color, which became explicitly significant at various points during the group’s work. The teachers’ reasons for joining the group included wanting to engage in the kind of inquiry community that they had experienced in college or graduate school (Joel, Becca), wanting to talk about the “real” challenges of practice and not just learn about strategies (Mary), seeking professional community (Melissa, Lucy), and feeling disconnected from beliefs about teaching for social justice in the context of a tightly controlled school environment (Becca). While the teachers had different reasons for joining the group, they expressed their shared commitment to supporting and challenging each other, reflecting on their

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theories-of-practice, considering how to align their practices with their visions, and holding themselves and each other accountable for their goals, learning, and actions.

I was a former public school teacher who brought five years of K-12 teaching experience in both urban and suburban schools. Like the teachers, I was a White teacher who had taught primarily students of color in both contexts. I foregrounded my teaching experience early on, recounting some of the struggles and questions I had during my own teaching career and describing how my positive and negative experiences with professional development inspired me to create the study group. Bringing my experiences to the group, sharing my struggles, and empathizing with the teachers’ situations supported my efforts to position myself as a co-thinker and coresearcher with the teachers. As facilitator, I created structures for the teachers to talk, write, share, and respond, and also sought feedback from them throughout our work together.

We spent the first nine meetings discussing texts selected by group members, including articles, book chapters, and the teachers’ writing. During this time, the group built a sense of trust and identified common areas of inquiry (e.g. teacher identity, student writing, relationships, White privilege, language and power, classroom talk, classroom community). During the second phase of the group’s work, each teacher conceptualized an inquiry, which included developing questions, regular reflective writing on a shared group document, and collaborative oral inquiry into artifacts of practice (e.g. recording of a discussion, student work samples, problem of practice) using Descriptive Review processes (Carini, 2002). The group’s culminating conference presentation featured a threaded dramatic narrative capturing “the life” of each teacher’s inquiry, which included compelling stories from the classroom that offered windows into the ways that the teachers grappled with questions of practice at various points in their inquiries.

Theoretical Frameworks

I draw on two theoretical frameworks to illuminate the resources that the teachers brought to their

Riley, K. (2015) / What Teachers Bring

discussions of their work with adolescents. Critical literacy makes visible the complex ways that adolescents engage with texts and opens up a broader sense of what kinds of knowledge bases must be employed when engaging in literacy practices with young people. In addition, my analysis also focuses on the ways that the teachers’ own critical readings of their contexts shaped their choices. Feminist epistemologies illuminate ways in which the context and structure of the group itself brought forth rich and varied personal and professional resources that would have been invisible in more top-down forms of professional development.

Critical Literacy

Critical literacy requires a broadening of the definition of literacy from a set of skills or school knowledge, to a social and cultural construct (Willis, 1997). From a critical literacy perspective, “reading the world precedes reading the word” (Freire, 1987, p.

35). For example, Luke and Freebody (1997) describe the relationship between textual interpretations and social location: “One never just (generically) reads.

Readers always read something, a textual representation, and readers always take up an epistemological standpoint, stance, and relationship to the values and ideologies, discourses, and worldviews in the text” (p. 195). This quotation highlights the non-neutrality of both texts and readers, emphasizing the sociopolitical context in which reading and writing take place.

The study group teachers’ definitions of literacy focused less on students’ reading and writing skills and more on how they could use reading and writing to navigate the world, see things from multiple perspectives, and take action based on their ongoing sense-making. They defined literacy using descriptions like “communication,” “the way you interact with the world,” “interpreting and responding to some context that you’re in,” “having more awareness of the techniques that media is using,” and “how students identify themselves and how they understand the world around them.” These assumptions about literacy require understandings of adolescents’ lives, sociocultural and political contexts, and the communities in which they lived.

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Within the broader framework of critical literacy, the literacies of teaching (Lytle, 2006) informed my analysis of the ways that the teachers made sense of their practice. Lytle (2006) describes the literacies of teaching as a “critical framework through which classrooms, schools, districts, and communities are viewed as texts with multiple possible interpretations and the potential to become generative sites of inquiry” (p. 258). This framework illuminates how the resources that the teachers brought to their practice were used to read and write the life-texts of their classrooms, inform their beliefs about practice, and influence subsequent actions.

Feminist Epistemologies

As the facilitator of the study group, I aimed to create a space that enabled teachers to use multiple perspectives in order to question their assumptions, draw on feelings as a source of knowledge, act with an awareness of power differences, and analyze practice in ways that accounted differences related to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other forms of difference. These approaches were informed by feminist ways of knowing. Rather than assuming a single universal truth, feminist epistemologies assume that understandings are situated and one’s experience of the world is predicated on social location (e.g. Evans, 1979; Richardson, 1997; Weiler, 1991). In addition to accounting for multiple and partial understandings, feminist practices legitimize the epistemological value of feelings. For example, Lorde (1984) writes: “I don’t see feel/think as a dichotomy. I see them as a choice of ways and combinations” (pp. 100-1). This perspective has led to the legitimization of affective ways of knowing within teaching and research contexts, such as poetry (Richardson, 1997), narrative (Hesford, 1999), and art (Ellsworth, 2005). Black feminist perspectives focus on intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991; Collins, 1991) to understand the multiple and overlapping identity categories that shape experiences of the world, such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and nationality.

Feminist teachers in university settings recognize how teaching and learning are situated within institutions and systems of power (e.g. Britzman,

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1999; Kamler, 2001). Britzman (1999), for example, writes about the role of “institutional biography,” which allows teachers to gain a critical distance from their own assumptions and avoid unconsciously reproducing educational practices. In the study group, the teachers didn’t just accept their own experiences uncritically, but rather used the space of the study group to approach their autobiographies reflexively, allowing them to gain new perspectives on their practice and see the assumptions that they had previously taken for granted. In the context of field research, England (1994) writes, “reflexivity is self-critical sympathetic introspection and the selfconscious analytical scrutiny of the self as researcher.

Indeed reflexivity is critical to the conduct of fieldwork; it induces self-discovery and can lead to insights and new hypotheses about the research questions” (p. 82). Teaching, like research, involves ongoing sense-making as one reads classrooms, schools, and students in order to interpret and act.

Therefore, a reflexive stance enables teachers be more open-minded and responsive to students and situations.

Taken together, the frameworks of critical literacy and feminist epistemologies offer opportunities to analyze how teachers’ experiences, questions, and knowledges influenced their readings of their worlds and teaching practice. In the next section, I describe my data collection and analysis methods before discussing the resources that the teachers brought.

Methods of Data Generation and Analysis

I locate this project within the methodologies of participatory action research (McIntyre, 2008) and practitioner inquiry (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009).

The study group was a participatory action research project in that a group of us came together to better understand issues and take action based on our collective sense-making. At the same time, I considered my facilitation and leadership of the study group as a practice and so I also considered myself to be a practitioner researcher within the group.

Data sources included transcripts of the group meetings, two semi-structured interviews with each teacher, artifacts, field notes, and my research

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journal. These multiple sources allowed me to see how themes and patterns emerged across the data. I inductively coded the data ethnographically using ongoing and recursive analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). I viewed writing as a method of inquiry (Richardson & St. Pierre, 2000), and wrote extensively in the form of field notes, analytic memos, and practitioner researcher reflections.

In early rounds of analysis, I began to see the various ways that the teachers drew on various knowledge sources to make sense of their practice. After an initial round of inductive analysis, I identified twelve categories of resources, which included nine that represented knowledge that the teachers brought and three that described the way that the group itself was a resource for the teachers. Because I wanted to understand the types of knowledge sources that teachers bring to their learning and practice, I narrowed my analysis to exclude the ways the group itself functioned as a resource. I then continued refining the categories through subsequent rounds of recursive analysis, collapsing some (e.g. “cultural resources and family legacies” and “autobiographical and experiential resources”) and eliminating ones that were not as prevalent throughout the data as a whole (e.g. “material and community resources”).

After this round of analysis, I saw three categories of resources that teachers used to make sense of their practice – personal histories, experiences with students, and outside texts. I then broke the transcripts down into episodes of talk and asked, “How are the teachers mobilizing these resources to make sense of their practice?” As I looked at the ways that the teachers drew upon the resources within their conversations, I refined each category description to be more specific (e.g. personal histories became autobiographical reflexivity). As part of my larger research project, I had coded the emergent theme of “images of the possible” and I began to see the ways that expressions of hope and desire functioned as a resource in terms of generating a sense of urgency and purpose for the work. Throughout the process, I met regularly with several peer debriefers (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), had two collaborative analysis sessions with the group, and received feedback from the teachers about my

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ongoing interpretations through the context of our conversations.

Teacher Resources for Literacy Education

In what follows, I discuss each of the four resources that emerged from the data –autobiographical reflexivity, outside readings, interactions with students, and visions of the possible – in terms of how each enabled the teachers to question their assumptions, see issues from new points of view, and make decisions about future actions.

Autobiographical Reflexivity

In the study group discussions, the teachers frequently drew upon their own autobiographies to make sense of practice. However, rather than view their autobiographies as fixed and deterministic, the teachers tended to actively reflect on how their past and current experiences influenced the way they approached their work. Stories of their experiences with schooling came up in many conversations.

These stories were formalized during the seventh meeting, when Joel suggested that each teacher share a Where My Teaching is From poem, inspired by George Ella Lyon’s (1999) poem, Where I’m From.

These poems allowed the teachers to reflect on the roots of their beliefs about teaching and the subsequent discussions opened up new ways of thinking about their practice. This excerpt from Mary’s poem, and the discussion that followed, offers a window into how the teachers’ used their autobiographies to see their students and teaching practice differently.

Where I’m From (Education Version)

By Mary

I am from my silent tears when the returned assignment read 89 And not 90 From my own cries of “Can someone please check this?” and “Are you SURE I did it right?”

I am from my obsessive perfectionism As my ability to do well in school became the defining factor of my identity…

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I am from hating the assignments that teachers thought we all would love We have to work in groups? You want me to read something out loud?

“I need to bring this to the office.” “Yes, I think I am sick.”

I am from the terror that these assignments caused me And the subsequent lack of focus on what we were supposed to learn from the assignment…

I am from adoring my teachers, Their passion and energy for learning And their care and concern for me.

I am from completely trusting the adults in my school To provide me with what I needed academically and personally…

I am from wishing I could go to school forever.

Mary’s poem opened space for the group to see the high school classroom from the perspective of a student for whom school success was extremely important, close relationships with teachers were a central part of her experience, and social aspects of learning (such as group work and reading aloud) caused anxiety. For Becca, whose school experience was different from Mary’s, the poem offered another perspective on her own practice. Hearing Mary’s poem prompted her to reflect on how her students may experience her classroom and question her assumptions about relationships between students and teachers. After Mary shared her poem and explained how, even in college, she developed important supportive relationships with professors and staff, Becca responded: I’ve never been able to feel that with people I consider professors or staff because I don’t feel comfortable. I really admire that, to feel like I’m comfortable sharing my bad day with you because I’m not worried about your judgment. I’m sure that affects the way that I am with kids in ways that I don’t realize. Like I don’t know if I’m more standoffish than I

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meant to be because I-, always felt, I don’t grappled with the ways in which her desire to be a know. “good teacher” impacted the choices that she made.

Hearing Mary’s poem provided space for Becca to reShe noted that the moment when she read her poem read her own classroom and wonder aloud about aloud was when she realized how important others’ how her practice was shaped by her unique personal perceptions were to her, especially when related to experiences. She went on to reflect on all of the school success. students in her class who may not have felt

comfortable for a wide variety of reasons and Mary’s poem, and the discussion that followed, is consider idea that she may never really know how one example of the way that critical autobiographical they felt in her class. reflection acted as a resource for the teachers.

Throughout the course of the study group’s work, it In addition to opening up new questions for others, was common for the teachers to draw on their sharing her poem offered Mary the critical distance experiences to raise questions about practice. For necessary to come to a new realization about her example, Lucy, who had grown up in a rural farming own identity as a student and teacher. After reading community, remembered the pain she experienced her poem out loud, she said: in college when she began to feel a tension between When I was writing assimilating to Standard this, my ability to do Each of the resources described English conventions and well in school became proudly speaking in her in this article – the defining factor of home dialect.

Joel my identity (pause). frequently discussed how autobiographical reflexivity, Sometimes feel like his upper middle class outside readings, interactions all I have is teaching upbringing just fifteen and school. I feel like minutes away from the lowwith students, and visions of it completely takes income urban school in the possible – already existed over my identity and which he taught shaped his so when I’m with relationships with students. within the teachers. The space other teachers and At one meeting, Becca came created by the study group they’re like, “Oh let’s to realize how her family’s talk about something political debates at the enabled the resources to be else other than dinner table influenced her animated and leveraged for school,” I’m sort of assumptions about what like I don’t have makes a “good discussion” learning, growth, and action. anything else other in her classroom. At another than school, like meeting, the group focused what else do you on experiences travelling want me to talk about?. . . So the connection abroad, drawing on their feelings of being linguistic between those two, when I was in school that and cultural outsiders to think through issues of sort of taking over how I saw myself and, I language, culture, and power. don’t know whether how I see myself now is

related to that.

From the beginning, the study group teachers talked This realization was the beginning of what became about the ways that teaching was relational work.

Mary’s ongoing inquiry into her identity as a teacher.

During the third meeting, prompted by a discussion At various points during the study group’s work, she of the book Understanding Youth (Nakkula & discussed dilemmas related to how she was perceived Toshalis, 2006), the teachers came to consensus by her colleagues, administrators, and students. She about the importance of relationships in teaching. sometimes reported feeling stuck between the Mary said, “everything about teaching is about identity of a social justice educator and that of a interactions and relationships” and Lucy reflected at more traditional teacher. At other times, she the end of the meeting by saying “I’m just feeling the

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pull again that I do prioritize relationships.” If on their agency around the use of “I” in academic relationships are central to teaching, then it follows writing. Mary described how she was excited to use that a central element in teaching is who one is. this book, but her department chair said that she Whether it is drawing on experiences being isolated couldn’t use it because it did not explicitly prohibit in order empathize with students experiencing the use of the first person in academic writing. The isolation, wondering how a privileged upbringing conversation then coalesced around what the impacts relationships with students, or realizing that teachers called the “No I Rule.” The following interactional patterns within our own families shape exchange demonstrates the range of outside readings our assumptions about communication, the teachers that the teachers employed to analyze a problem of critically reflected on how their pasts shaped their practice: understandings and drew upon each other’s Becca: I’m trying to think of a famous essayist autobiographies to see classrooms, students, and right now. Someone who writes an editorial practice in new ways. for the New York Times or whatever, if they

were to say “I will argue that,” you wouldn’t Outside Readings think anything of it. But when an

unsophisticated or less sophisticated or not While traditional conceptions of teacher knowledge famous writer uses it? assume that it is comprised of

pedagogical knowledge, Within the context of neoliberal Melissa: But then maybe content knowledge, or a the “I” holds more weight, school reform, which privileges synthesis of the two (e.g. because we know that that Shulman, 1986), the teachers “I” is this really strong profit, efficiency, and in the group evoked an even researcher? So, bringing competition, and threatens to wider range of knowledge himself or herself into that from outside reading that piece makes it more supplant ideals such as represented a variety of credible? Whereas for democracy and empathy, it lenses for looking at most people? You don’t classrooms, students, and have that background or becomes increasingly urgent to schools. Throughout the that persona or that create and protect spaces where prestige to be able to make conversations, the teachers drew on a rich repertoire of your argument sound like teachers are able to engage in collective reading experiences a better argument just humanizing learning practices that they gained from their because it’s yours. own academic or personal such as the ones described here. reading in areas as varied as Kathleen: I would say the political science, majority of the research anthropology, linguistics, I’ve read has “I” in it or psychology, adolescent development, critical social “we.” So what this conversation is making me theory, history, feminist studies, multicultural realize is that the argument’s not that “in education, news, stories, and popular media. They academic writing in college, no one uses ‘I.’” employed these readings in a range of ways to engage Because if that’s the argument, I don’t think with questions about how students understood that’s true. themselves within their worlds and how their

teaching fit within webs of power relationships.

Melissa: A lot of the reading I’ve done at [the

university] has been, “You have to explain At one meeting, Mary shared that she wanted to use your methodology” and that’s not what a book They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in students in high school or middle school tend Academic Writing (Graff & Birkenstein, 2007) in to have to do. order to support her students in critically reflecting

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Becca: I know that my students are taught that if you are doing the most basic paper about a book, where you’re just analyzing the theme of the novel, you shouldn’t use “I.” I’m not sure that I agree with that, but that is the commonly held belief.

Lucy: Is there research that talks more about when this “I rule” came about?

This discussion excerpt highlights the ways that teachers drew on a rich repertoire of learning in multiple contexts, genres, and disciplines (e.g. news media, popular culture, pedagogical texts, history, academic research) to inform their analysis of their work, and consider how they might respond. Becca and Melissa drew on their knowledge of newspaper columns to analyze how columnists incorporate “I.” Melissa and I then analyzed how we had seen researchers use “I” in academic research. Then, Lucy expressed a desire to take a historical perspective on this issue, wondering aloud how the idea of using “I” in writing has changed over time. The conversation about the “No I Rule” highlights how the teachers’ discussions included a range of outside perspectives to understand the history, politics, and implications of various educational practices and events at their schools.

Throughout the conversations, the teachers consistently drew on these outside readings to inform their thinking on a range of issues. When the teachers were invited to bring in an artifact that was a thinking partner for them, Mary brought in a newspaper article about school safety, which led to a discussion about the negative messages that students implicitly receive when schools are set up to resemble prisons. Lucy brought two images of Black men from popular culture that one of her students had shared with her, which reminded her of the ways that the outside world viewed many of her students and the importance of making space within her classroom to engage in critical media analysis. Other artifacts were a work of literature and a book on education theory.

Frequently, the teachers employed concepts from their own reading in order to explain or make sense of phenomena from their classrooms. For example, Lucy and Joel came to the group with questions

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about language politics and a desire to understand how students navigated multiple discourse communities. Lucy drew on her reading of Lisa Delpit, Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Gyekye, and others to shape her theory of language education.

Joel drew upon concepts from critical pedagogues, such as Paulo Freire and Linda Christensen, to inform his theory of practice and conceptualize himself as a “critical social educator.” Through ongoing dialogue that spanned almost the entire duration of the group’s work together, Lucy and Joel drew upon knowledge from various theoretical and pedagogical texts, as well as Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel’s (1993) short story, Who Said We All Have to Talk Alike, to consider how language arts instruction could create space for their students to expand their repertoire of discourses, read the world critically, and act with agency in a range of discourse communities.

Interactions with Students

The teachers came to the study group with years of collective experience interacting with students, and they brought this knowledge to the study group as a resource for understanding their practice. In this section, I show how the teachers drew on stories of interactions with students to question their assumptions and see new possibilities. Since all of the group members were White and taught mostly students of color, students’ perspectives and experiences were especially valuable for the teachers to become aware of their blind spots related to race and culture. The teachers also spent time grappling with their privilege as White people teaching students of color and the difficulty, yet importance, of trying to understand situations from their students’ perspectives.

Teachers’ stories prompted contact zones, which Pratt (1991) defines as “social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power” (p. 33). While some stories that group members shared were not about race, many of them were, and I found the stories about race to be a productive site of individual and collective sense-making. For example, in one of the group’s early meetings, Becca

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shared how a student named Amber helped her to question her language choices. She shared: It was Black History Month and my school was having a door decorating contest. Every homeroom drew a topic and you had to decorate your door according to the topic.

Ours was Black educators. For a week, in homeroom, I probably said the words, “Black History Month” and “Black educator” fiftyfive thousand times. And I could see that Amber Willis was just not happy. Finally one day I was like “Amber, your face is reading ‘I am miserable.’ What’s going on?” And she said in front of twenty-seven kids, “I don’t want to tell you because I think it’s going to hurt your feelings.” And I was like, “Mm. I think I can handle it.” She was like, “I don’t think you should ever say the word Black. I don’t think that you should say Black anything. I don’t like it. You can’t say it. I can say it, but you can’t say it.” And it was one of those moments where it was like “Do we talk about this right now? We have twenty minutes left. Do we talk about this right now?”

After Becca told this story, the study group members asked several questions to unpack the incident – about Becca’s relationship with Amber, the choices she made in that critical moment, what happened next, and how she would change her response if she could go back. Becca explained how she responded with something that she realized in retrospect was “just dropping some college knowledge” and “blah blah blah,” but she and Amber talked for a long time after school. During that conversation, Becca came to a deeper understanding of Amber’s reasons for not wanting her to use the word Black to describe African Americans. The telling of this story and the collaborative unpacking of the incident opened new questions for members of the group – about teachers’ relationships with individual students, race politics, language, and the teacher’s role in modeling learning, vulnerability, and uncertainty.

Throughout the study group conversations, the teachers used these kinds of critical incidents with individual students as a source of learning and knowledge. For example, at another meeting, Lucy shared a moment in which a female student in her

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class had a strong reaction to a vernacular term used by one of the male students, which opened up space for Lucy to learn from her students about the history and usages of this widely-used term. When recounted in the study group, the moment provided a starting point for the teachers to discuss the complexity of intersections of race, class, and gender in the classroom and society. As with Becca’s story, Lucy’s story allowed the teachers to analyze a contentious moment in the classroom and consider options for responding in the future. These stories of interactions with individual students, retold in the study group, were a way to “slow teaching down” (Ballenger, 2009). They opened up new understandings of students’ readings of the world (Freire, 1987) and helped the group members question their assumptions about language, literacy, teaching, and learning.

It is worth noting that the telling of and responding to these kinds of stories in which the teachers grappled with their assumptions, came to terms with their blind spots, or exposed their missteps, took a high degree of trust. The study group became the kind of trusting space where these stories were possible, which led to sharing, progress, and learning. As a facilitator, creating this kind of space took intention, effort, and critical reflection. Early on, I tried to support the teachers when they expressed vulnerability or uncertainty, and also validated race as a worthy topic of discussion when it came up. Throughout this process, I grappled with how to maintain that sense of trust while also encouraging a space where the teachers and I pushed each other in ways that were productive, yet sometimes uncomfortable. Creating the context in which difficult stories could surface enabled the teachers to learn from these interactions with students in the classroom.

Visions of the Possible

Many scholars (e.g. Giroux, 2013; Greene, 1995; hooks, 2003; Nieto, 2003) write of the importance of hope and imagination in educational discourse.

Giroux (2013) makes a link between hope and social change when he writes: Political exhaustion and impoverished intellectual visions are fed by the widely

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popular assumption that there are no alternatives to the present state of affairs (para. 17)… As a form of utopian longing, educated hope opens up horizons of comparison by evoking not just different histories, but also different futures (para. 26).

In the study group, the capacity to imagine alternatives served as a resource for analyzing and changing practice. As I read the transcripts, field notes, and interviews, I noticed that the teachers sometimes switched into a visionary mode in which they expressed images of things being different. I saw these visions functioning as a way for the teachers to engage in “critical world making” (Kincheloe & McLaren, 2003, p. 303), imagine possibilities, and make their desires explicit to themselves and each other. Visions of the possible functioned on pedagogical, classroom, and societal levels.

An example of how visions were expressed on a pedagogical level occurred early on in the group’s work together. When Becca expressed a tension that she felt at her school between teaching skills to prepare students for college and teaching in a culturally responsive way, Lucy responded passionately with her desire to have both: I got really impassioned right now to be like “if this is not the group that solves your problem, then we will make a group to solve your problem.” Cause I feel whole heartedly and that there is a way to marry the two in a lovely, beautiful marriage. There is a way and we can find that way…. That’s such an idealist perspective.

Lucy’s comment demonstrated a deep desire to find alternative ways of thinking, even when it seemed like there were limited options. These articulations of alternative realities represented moments when the teachers broke free from what is and imagined what could be.

In addition to expressing a vision of a different kind of pedagogy, as Lucy did, members of the study group sometimes used the space of the group to explore visions of different kinds of worlds. Joel, for example, had travelled abroad to Sweden for his student teaching and was actively coming to consciousness about racial and economic inequality as he lived with his family in an affluent, mostly

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White, suburb and worked at a close-by school with mostly low-income African American students. He used these experiences to fuel his own imaginings of alternative worlds. In one meeting, he raised the question to the group: How would America really look differently if we embraced multiculturalism and multilingualism? What would it actually look like if we embraced diversity and valued multiculturalism in our society? Instead of hundreds of White men in congress, it would be more diverse. All our spaces would be more diverse.

Joel’s imagining enabled him to create a different reality in his mind, one worth aiming for and drawing on when making decisions about practice.

Rather than take the status quo as a given, imagining different social arrangements enables people to see alternative actions, or in the case of the teachers, pedagogies. Later, when the group engaged in a discussion about preparing students for college and careers, Joel drew on Sweden as an example of what our society could look like. He said: They have schools that are totally equitable, for all of these different professions. If you’re a truck driver or a janitor, there’s no stigma.

You don’t have any fewer resources. Whereas in America, “truck driver” gives you a certain stereotype of a person. Janitor gives you a certain stereotype of a person. When I went to Sweden I was like “wow.”

Joel’s experience abroad enabled him to imagine a different reality than the one he experienced in the United States, which could serve as the basis for taking action toward that reality.

While in these examples, Joel’s imaginings were operating on a societal level, on a more micro-level, the teachers in the study group also expressed hopes and visions for their classrooms. For example, when Becca explored her rationale for focusing on student talk in her classroom, she presented the group with an image of how she wanted her classroom to be: If you were to measure or quantify student talk, I want their voices to be equal to mine. I want my classroom to be less teachercentered, and for the life of the class to come from student talk, from their voices, ideas, and interactions with each other. I want to

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guide my students to a place where we use student talk to deepen and build on their understandings of texts, and I want the nature of talk in my room to be something that invests kids, something that engages them.

Becca’s repetition of the word want indicates a desire to create a different world within her classroom. As she pursued her inquiry, she intentionally worked toward this classroom she imagined. Throughout the course of the study group’s work, other group members spoke in similarly visionary terms about their classrooms. In one meeting, Lucy said, “I want my classroom to serve as a little small world that legitimizes where my students come from, but I want my students to leave the classroom and succeed in the quote-unquote game with a capital ‘G.’” I asked Lucy to try to define a “successful student” in her class, to which she answered: “my students will be more successful if my classroom culture and my school culture revolved around the idea of meeting in the middle.” In this example, Lucy used her vision as a starting point to elaborate on a concept that she found generative.

These examples demonstrate how visions and desires occurred when the teachers freed themselves from some of the perceived constraints of their schools and moved into an imaginative state. They had permission to dream big and articulate alternatives to the status quo. Even when expressed at the level of the classroom, the teachers’ desires were connected to large-scale visionary questions like: What do we want for our students and ourselves? What kind of classroom do we hope to create? How do we define success? And what are we working towards? These kinds of questions drove the teachers to continue to search, wonder, and create together.

Theorizing the power and possibility of imagination in educational contexts, Maxine Greene (1995) wrote: “To tap into imagination is to become able to break with what is supposedly fixed and finished, objectively and independently real. It is to see beyond what the imaginer has called normal or ‘common-sensible’ and to carve out new orders of experience” (p. 19). These new orders of experience, carved out in the study group teachers’ ongoing dialogue, worked as a resource towards changing

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practice in ways that were more humanizing and equitable.

Discussion

This analysis shows how this group of teachers mined multiple knowledge sources, or resources, to understand their practice in an era of top-down school reform. It demonstrates how these resources intermingled with each other to open up new ways of looking at students, schools, and practice. By developing a heightened sense of what teachers already know, through self-directed study, years of teaching, and a lifetime of experiences, we, as a field, are able to expand our capacity to better understand the complex ways that they approach their work and raise questions as to how spaces might be designed to support their professional growth. Ultimately, teacher education and professional development that use, rather than ignore, these valuable tools for sense-making will expand teachers’ capacity to understand their students and design learning experiences that are responsive to their lives.

Within the context of neoliberal school reform, which privileges profit, efficiency, and competition, and threatens to supplant ideals such as democracy and empathy, it becomes increasingly urgent to create and protect spaces where teachers are able to engage in humanizing learning practices such as the ones described here. Despite the challenges and threats, teachers are coming together to organize their learning in ways that foreground values and aims that run counter to those “best practices” privileged by the neoliberal agenda and instead define best practices based on their own knowledge of their school context, students’ communities, and beliefs about what education should look like. For example, in New York, Philadelphia, and other major cities, teacher activist groups are organizing Inquiry into Action Groups (New York Collective of Radical Educators, 2012), which are small groups of teachers who meet for a fixed period of time to learn together and take action on a range of social justice issues identified by group members. The National Writing Project has long operated under the principle of “teachers teaching teachers,” with local sites offering opportunities to engage in workshops, institutes, study groups, and book discussions that are led by

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other teachers. These organizations serve as inspiring and instructive examples of alternatives to top-down models of teacher learning, and provide support for teachers who choose to approach their practices in ways that run counter to the discourses and goals of the standardization movement.

Each of the resources described in this article – autobiographical reflexivity, outside readings, interactions with students, and visions of the possible – already existed within the teachers. The space created by the study group enabled the resources to be animated and leveraged for learning, growth, and action. The dialogues, support, and opportunities for collective analysis enabled these resources to be transformed into tools to question assumptions, rethink practice, and see new possibilities for moving forward. Therefore, facilitators of teacher learning and leaders at the school and district level who have the power to shape such opportunities must actively consider how they can create the contexts for the kinds of meaningful collaborations that foreground teachers’ questions and insights.

Implications

This study has implications for facilitators of professional development, school administrators, teacher educators, and teachers themselves.

Facilitators of teacher learning communities can use the concept of teacher resources to guide their approach. Spaces for teacher learning should include time for developing trust, building relationships, and setting group norms, all practices that lay the foundation for teachers to share candidly and receive valuable feedback. Early on, I facilitated an explicit discussion focused on group norms, in which the teachers shared their goals for being in the group and what they expected of themselves and each other to support their learning. This discussion supported the establishment of a culture of risk, trust, and accountability, which were all values articulated and agreed upon by the teachers.

Practices that supported the cultivation and use of resources in the Adolescent Literacy Education Study Group included a combination of structured activities and open dialogue that encouraged problem-posing (Freire, 1970), story sharing, and collective sense-making. In terms of more structured

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experiences, teachers in the study group were invited to share influential texts, write critical incidents from their classrooms, and share their personal histories in the form of Where My Teaching is From poems.

While there is no one formula for creating spaces that leverage teachers’ resources, facilitators of professional development for teachers can ask themselves questions about the kinds of opportunities teachers have to bring what they know to their learning. For example, they can ask: Where are the spaces where teachers are explicitly invited to share their own autobiographies, critically examine their experiences, and consider their experiences in relation to others’? Where are the spaces for teachers to share the authors, thinkers, and concepts that currently influence their practice, gain windows into the influences of other teachers, and expand their lenses for viewing their work? Where are the spaces for teachers to share and get feedback on stories of interactions with students that may lead them to question their assumptions about teaching, see their classroom from another perspective, or learn from their students? Where are the spaces where teachers are encouraged to imagine alternatives to how things currently are in their classrooms, in their schools, in their communities, and in society? Where can they articulate their desires outside of the frames of accountability and efficiency that are prevalent in the current climate of reform?

School leaders and those in positions of advocating for school-wide change must consider how they can structure environments so as to allow for more teacher-driven, intellectually engaged professional development. Within cultures that value the certainty of a universal set of “best practices,” school leaders must consciously work to trust teachers to generate theories of practice that are grounded in their lives, the lives of their students, and their visions for a more socially-just society. While professional development practices that leverage teachers’ resources take time for trust-building, sharing, and critical reflection, they have the potential to support teachers in creating more humanizing learning environments for students. To create professional development that has the capacity to keep teachers in the profession, we need to use, rather than ignore, the intellectual resources

Riley, K. (2015) / What Teachers Bring

that they bring. School leaders can ask themselves questions such as: Do teachers at my school have spaces within the current professional development offerings to engage with the daily dilemmas of practice and pursue their own questions? Do they have space to grapple with issues related to race, gender, sexuality, class, and other forms of difference, in a critical, yet supportive, space made up of other educators? Are there places where their outside intellectual interests can be valued and leveraged for their professional learning? Are there spaces where they can connect with other educators interested in similar issues? Rather than exclusively measuring the success of professional development by student scores on high-stakes tests, school leaders can view the success of professional development in terms of its capacity to leverage knowledge sources that teachers already bring to their work through ongoing critical dialogue.

This study has implications for teacher educators as well. Positioning teachers as generators, rather than recipients, of knowledge of teaching can start with the education of pre-service teachers. Within a wave of neoliberal reform in which schools are turning professional development over to curriculummakers, teacher education programs must offer spaces for pre-service teachers to engage in critical analysis of these formats for professional development and expose them to alternative forms of teacher learning. In addition to constructing classroom spaces that enable pre-service teachers to draw on their resources and raise critical questions about the status quo, teacher education programs can provide images of intellectually stimulating professional development. In the work that I do with pre-service teachers, for example, I have class sessions devoted to the topic Becoming Literacy Educators, where part of my aim is to provide images

of meaningful, intellectually engaged professional learning. Students read excerpts from Meenoo Ramiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (2014) book, Thrive: Five Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching, which is organized around five themes related to pursuing their own questions and building a professional community. In addition, students go online to explore and report on various teacher organizations and networks as a starting point for considering the kinds of networks that they might like to join. It is my hope that when these students become teachers, they will see teacher learning as extending beyond what their district or school offers them.

Finally, this study has implications for teachers themselves. While the current neoliberal climate threatens spaces for critical, humanizing dialogues, teachers must remain committed to carving out spaces to engage with other educators in meaningful ways. Depending on teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; professional position, relationships within the building, and degree of tenure, they can advocate for and create a wider range of professional development formats, such as book discussion groups, study groups on issues of importance to teachers, and workshops that draw on the knowledge of the teachers in the building.

I hope this study will lead to additional studies on professional development spaces that seriously consider the resources that teachers bring to their work as they make sense of their practice. Accounts of teachers coming together to inquire into their practice have the potential to both empower other groups of teachers to create similar conditions for themselves, and add to a growing body of scholarship that calls for more humanizing, democratic, and intellectually engaging learning opportunities for teachers and their students.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 Appendix A Table 1

Table 1 Adolescent Literacy Education Study Group

Teacher

Yrs. Teaching

Type of School and Grade

Students’ Race as Teachers’ Race and Reported by Teachers Background Marked Salient in Discussions

Joel

2

Comprehensive Neighborhood School Grade 10

Majority African American

Mary

4

College Preparatory Majority African Magnet School American Grade 12

White Catholic School

Melissa

3

K-8 Elementary School Grades 7 and 8

Majority African American

White Rural Background

Lucy

9

Program for 18-21 year olds returning for high school diploma

Majority African American

White Rural Background

Becca

10

College Preparatory 70% African Charter School American, 30% Grades 8 and 12 Asian and White

169

White Suburban

White Southern Background

Crossing Blocked Thresholds: Three Stories of Identity, Embodied Literacy, and Participatory Education Anne W. Anderson Margaret Branscombe Tara Nkrumah ABSTRACT: Labeling ourselves or accepting others’ labeling our identities as less than or as in some way incompetent can become an embodied obstacle, physically preventing us from crossing thresholds, from moving through doorways of opportunities, and from fully participating in an environment. In order to discern processes of identity formation and transformation, the authors used autoethnographic (Ellis, 2004) and narrative writing (Bochner, 2002) to probe their concepts of self as literate beings operating within a literate milieu. Each of these three autoethnographic narratives drew on Gee’s (2000) work on identity as a four-part construction and considered selfidentity as most audible only when heard against what Bakhtin (1981) termed social heteroglossia, which is a background of voices speaking counter to one’s own developing convictions. Finally, each narrator addressed Taylor’s (1989) thoughts about identity as the difference between doing and being and Bochner’s (2002) claim that we, in effect, reshape our identities by changing the narratives we tell ourselves.

Keywords: embodied literacy,atsocial process drama Pamelaidentity, Pittman, autoethnography, M.Ed. is currently a doctoral candidate North heteroglossia, Carolina State University writing her

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 1 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015

Anne W. Anderson, a doctoral candidate in Literacy Studies at the University of South Florida, Tampa, also is Director of Blended and Online Learning for the Program for Experienced Learners at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. She uses a variety of methods to study fiction and non-fiction texts and sometimes presents her findings using drama, poetry, and other arts-based research methods. She can be contacted at awanderson@mail.usf.edu

Margaret Branscombe earned a doctorate in Literacy Studies from the University of South Florida. Her dissertation research studied the use of drama to enhance comprehension of abstract science concepts.

She now lives in Birmingham, England, where she heads her own consulting agency that trains teachers to use process drama in all areas of the elementary school curriculum.

She can be contacted at mbranscombe@mail.usf.edu

Tara M. Nkrumah, a doctoral student in Education Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of South Florida, Tampa, is an Instructional Leadership Science coach in Hillsborough County. Her research interests include culturally relevant pedagogy, leadership, curriculum, teacher training and social justice. Tara has more than 16 years of secondary school teaching experience in the United States and West Africa. She can be contacted at tnkrumah@mail.usf.edu

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I

n the 1980s, Tara was a little girl forced into remedial classes. Today, she is a middle-school science coach working toward a doctorate in education leadership. In the 1960s, Anne was convinced she would forever be an awkward, incompetent child. Today, she is the author of short stories, articles, and books and is a doctoral candidate. A year or so ago, Margaret was a doctoral candidate barred by short-sighted policies from conducting research using process drama teaching methods. Today, she has earned her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and—more important —she has introduced other educator to alternative teaching methods. But these transformations did not just happen. In this article, we explore pivotal scenes that illustrate the process of identity formation and transformation, scenes we didn’t, at the time, realize would be either pivotal or transformational in defining ourselves as fully participatory, literate beings.

Bakhtin (1981) termed a “social heteroglossia surrounding the object” (p. 278), that is the background of physical, metaphorical, and institutional voices against which we began to hear our own convictions voiced.

We also saw more clearly how the seemingly small choices we had made in accepting and/or rejecting labels rewrote the story lines of our lives in ways we still are discovering today.

Four Strands of Identity Creating a Background of Social Heteroglossia Taylor (1989) noted that concepts of identity have changed over time from being centered around membership in clans, families, and other communities to our “modern notion of what it is to be a human agent, a person, or a self” (p. 3) apart from our communal settings. Communal settings still play a part in our concept of self, however. Gee (2000) suggested identity is more externally imposed than inherent, seeing nature as a force acting upon us rather than an innate part of us. He identified four “ways to view identity,” which he described as “what it means to be a ‘certain kind of person’” (p. 100).

Furthermore, Gee (2000) claimed those four ways work in concert, although “we can still ask, for a given time and place, which strands predominate” (p.

101).

Bochner (2002) noted, “Sometimes we find ourselves in stories we would rather not be living; sometimes we construct new story lines for ourselves that help us exert control over life’s possibilities and limitations” (p. 73). How does that construction of a new story line take place? Is it as easy as Dorothy’s singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and waking up in OZ, then changing her tune to “There’s no place like home” and returning, changed by the experience, to Kansas? For the three of us, the transformational process has involved resisting constructions of identity that limited our full participation as literate beings in a literate milieu, but the process has become apparent only in retrospect.

Gee’s (2000) four ways or strands include nature, institutions, discourse, and affinity (p. 100). Nature refers to one’s genes and natural development.

Institutions refers to the structures of authority found in organizations such as schools, government bodies, corporations, and even families. Discourse refers to the ways other people talk to and about us, and affinity refers to the different kinds of groups and activities in which we participate or to which we belong. Although Gee (2000) said we can be somewhat proactive in response to the workings of each of these strands, suggesting choice on our part, we cannot entirely escape their influence.

Additionally, Taylor (1989) argued that identity can only be discerned as it is set against a contextual background of morality—similar to Bakhtin’s social heteroglossia—the modern version of which, Taylor

Autoethnographic explorations of these scenes helped us examine two aspects of the construction of identity: First, we considered the role of labels, which, Gee (2000) implied, are categorizing words attached verbally or by implication (as in being assigned to a particular learning group). We found it telling that the Oxford English Dictionary (2015) uses the terms “narrow piece” (def. 1) and “small strip” (def. 2) in its definitions of physical labels, which suggests metaphorically how limiting verbal labels can be. Second, we considered the role of what 172

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 said, “has tended to focus on what it is right to do rather than on what it is good to be” (p. 3).

told of a pre-teen girl who labeled herself as physically awkward, socially immature, and verbally inept but was shown, through a novel, a different vision of who she could become. The third story told of a graduate student labeled as a time-waster by one educational system, whose own identity was shrunken and shriveled by a culture of testing and accountability, and welcomed by another, more open, system. Each story however, could be told in narrative form. Aligning Bakhtin’s (1981) discussion of the author with Bochner’s (2002) thoughts about changing our own story legitimized this approach— and so we turned to autoethnography.

Of Gee’s (2000) four strands of or forces shaping identity, discourse is the most obviously associated with what we recognize as labels; however, Gee noted, all four forces operate through words and descriptions, that is to say through labeling. Gee’s (2000) example of a child with ADHD shows how one identity label can be used as an example of these different strands/forces in play. ADHD can be considered as part of the child’s nature or as a disorder of nature that is institutionally diagnosed (labeled), is discussed as problematic in multiple spheres (discourse), and may, perhaps, lead to inclusion in a particular learning group (affinity) at school.

Autoethnographic Narrative as a Method of “Think[ing] With Stories” Autobiography, memoir, and autoethnography each use narrative writing in different ways to explore one’s own experiences for the benefit of an audience.

Autobiography generally considers the life as a whole and includes specific dates and places. Memoir, Schwartz (2005) wrote, often is the writer’s attempt “to explore the emotional truth of memory” (p. 401).

The research tool autoethnography, however, is built on what Ellis (1991) termed “systematic sociological introspection” (p. 32) used to “connect the autobiographical and personal to the cultural, social, and political” (Ellis, 2004, p. xix). Ellis (2004) explained the goal of conducting autoethnography is “not so much to portray the facts of what happened to you . . .but instead to convey the meanings you attached to the experience” (p. 116).

Each of these views, however, is articulated through both verbal (spoken and written) and non-verbal (classroom placement, teaching materials) labels— voices speaking at and about us in multiple modes, or as Bakhtin (1981) termed it, social heteroglossia.

Referring to the emergence of an author’s voice, Bakhtin (1981) described social heteroglossia as a “Tower-of-Babel mixing of languages” (p. 278), suggesting confusion and even incoherence, and he asserted that “these voices create the background necessary for [one’s] own voice…to be perceived” (p.

278). Continuing the previous example, another articulation of the ADHD labels might be that the child is a highly energetic and creative dancer or gymnast. This construction of identity competes with the other voices that act as a form of negative relief, causing the lone voice to stand out.

Although this seems to run counter to research in the traditional sense, Ellis (2004) noted that even present-tense “[f]ield notes are one selective story about what happened written from a particular point of view at a particular point in time for a particular purpose” ( p. 116). To facilitate the recollecting and recording of lived events—past-tense field notes, as it were—Ellis (2004) suggested researchers use a “process of emotional recall similar to the ‘method’ acting of Lee Strasburg at the Actors Studio [and] imagine being back in the scene emotionally and physically” (p. 117). Such immersion, Ellis (2004) found, leads to long-forgotten details emerging from the depths and allows researchers to “move around in the experience…to see it as it might appear to

We recognized that our experiences illustrated the idea of obstacles blocking particular doorways through which we each had to pass in order to fully and creatively be before we ultimately could fully do in terms of participating in various areas of education and cultural literacy. We also recognized that each crossing involved an internal rethinking of an external factor or factors and an embodied moving through to another space. How to combine our very different experiences into a coherent article, however, was more problematic. One story told of a little girl labeled slow and stupid by one teacher and labeled bright and capable by others. A second story 173

Anderson, A. W., Branscombe, M., & Nkrumah, T. (2015) / Crossing Blocked Thresholds others...to analyz[e] their thoughts and feelings as socially constructed processes” (p. 118) even as they are creating a narrative recounting of the event.

Bochner (2002) noted that stories—narratives— “interpret and give meaning to the experiences depicted in [the] stories,” and that the narrative exploration of experience is “a mode of research that invites readers to think with stories” (p. 81).

of certain implied labels, causing us to rethink our positions within our narratives and to think more broadly about labels. We revisit these questions in more detail in the conclusion. For now, we say only that we each felt strongly that the stories were more about overcoming obstacles encountered because of labels and not about the labels themselves.

These, then, are our stories.

Immersing ourselves into the emotional world of a particular moment in time meant reliving difficult scenes and attaching our names to them. At times, we used documents from our past or conducted historical research to confirm dates and other details.

For instance, Anne, in “imagining being back in the scene emotionally and physically” (Ellis, 2004, p. 117), examined the scene slowly in her mind’s eye to recapture details of the sights, sounds, smells, and tactile sensations she experienced half a century earlier. She then researched slang words, movies, and clothing styles from the 1960s to confirm the sense of time and place she had recalled, and she alternated examining the scene, creating a narrative record of the memories, and confirming cultural details.

Tara’s Story: “What Does ‘Remedial’ Mean?”

In 1981, I thought of myself as an excellent student.

My report cards always contained “exceeds expectations” comments beside each A letter grade in reading, math and writing.

Teachers often recognized my work as the model example for assignments completed well. I enjoyed pleasing my teachers, so I obsessed over perfectly scribing each word on the defined lines of my manuscript tablet and in memorizing all my times tables. During reading class, I fluently read passages with confidence; often I helped other students pronounce difficult words when they faltered. I thought I had mastered the doing component for being considered smart.

To different extents, each of us struggled with switching from a more objective and distant academic voice and writing style to a more subjective and immediate narrative voice that played with language and included such devices as dialogue.

Each of us, from our present perspective as education and literacy researchers, interjected meaning-making comments as we related our experiences to the culture of school, of the educational system, and of the fringe areas of both. With the benefit of hindsight and perspective, we were thinking with what we were reliving through the method of narrative storytelling. We were studying, as opposed to just recounting, the experiences.

Figure 1. Tara Nkrumah, age 6 or 7. Tara's Imah had the doll and matching dresses made for her.

As we brought our stories about labeling and identity together and as we shared them with each other and with outsiders, however, we discovered we couldn’t escape the human tendency to label. Anne, in particular, hesitated sharing her story because she labeled it trivial in terms of consequences compared to Tara’s and Margaret’s stories, yet we felt it in some ways conveyed a more universal experience.

Anonymous reviewers also questioned our omission

However, my self-identity as an excellent student changed dramatically when we moved to a new state and I enrolled in Mrs. Williams’ (pseudonym) third grade class. My report cards began to list me as being in the “remedial” reading, writing, and math groups.

I didn’t know what that meant. But I knew how I felt every day when it was reading time.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 to cultivate student excellence. encounter both.

“All basic readers move to the back table,” Mrs. Williams’ cold voice would instruct.

I was about to

“How was your school year?” asked Imah with a warm smile, as we drove out of Texas and headed toward Tennessee.

Slowly, I would push back my chair to relocate to the back of the classroom where two other children, whose parents also were poor, and who were not good readers, sat during the reading lessons.

Although I wasn’t clear as to what the label remedial meant, it was obvious to me that the three of us were not considered smart like the other children in the class. Isolated and given a different book with less text and more pictures, I wondered how my father’s words, “You are smart,” spoken often and with conviction, conflicted with what the teacher thought about my ability. I wondered how I went from receiving the same instruction as the rest of the class in my old school, where I felt equal in ability, to being labeled as a basic reader in this school.

In the past, this question always had opened a floodgate of non-stop conversation about how much I had learned and how much I enjoyed my friends and teacher. I know she expected to hear rave reports of my great experiences in a different school environment. From the back seat of the blue El Camino, I responded with a question that froze my grandmother’s smile.

“What does it mean to be a remedial student?” I asked. I had wanted all year to know why I was in the remedial classes for every subject. I had thought maybe it was because we were poor—it was obvious to me how little I had in comparison to most of the others in my class. My parents’ failure to investigate my concerns left me wondering about the new labels.

The good grades I made in remedial classes did not seem to carry the same weight as before where my excellence had been publicly rewarded.

Being labeled remedial wasn’t the only change that happened in third grade. When my parents moved from Chicago to a small town in Texas, I became the only Black student in the class. I went from being called “Tara” in my Chicago school to be being called “Tar-face Tara” openly in class by my new peers while the teacher’s silence encouraged their rude behavior. The other two students I was grouped with in reading clearly lacked in skills as they struggled with what was basic work for me. I wanted to help them like I had done in my other school, but they seemed to resent my help. I burned with sadness each time Mrs. Williams talked with the other children about their work but never asked about mine.

We drove in silence for a few miles then Imah finally spoke. She asked me a series of questions as if I was on trial for a criminal case. “Did you use the same textbooks as the other students?” “What did your teacher’s comments say on your report card?” “How did your teacher treat you?” All my answers raised alarm, prompting my grandmother to stop at the next exit, call my parents, and tell them to immediately mail her my report card with the test scores.

Summer vacation, however, was like Christmas in June, as my sister and I spent the two-month summer break with our father’s parents, Imah (EEma) and Daddy Leslie in Tennessee. Imah, which means mother in Hebrew, was my grandmother’s choice for us to call her instead of Grandmother Ada. Unlike our parents, who were young, poor, and not able to invest much quality time with my sister and me because they were working and going to school, Imah had been a kindergarten teacher in the 1960s and later became an education professor. Dr. Willoughby became well-known for her compassionate but firm and uncompromising quest

The rest of the trip was blanketed in silence as my grandmother brooded over her plan to address this unsettling news. When we arrived in Franklin, my sister and I were ushered to bed. The next day we were awakened for the first of what I later termed “summer school boot camp.” After breakfast, my grandmother directed us to the playroom and had us sit in huge, comfortable chairs at a black table. On the table, my grandmother had placed reading, math, and writing standardized tests from the

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Anderson, A. W., Branscombe, M., & Nkrumah, T. (2015) / Crossing Blocked Thresholds Tennessee public school district. I knew full well what was expected.

more than about not enough money. It is also about not enough time to review homework and attend parent conferences. Dad, on the other hand, finally graduated from college in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in science, started his own painting contracting business, and worked his way to becoming financially stable. This adjusted his focus on his daughters’ education. Imah had expressed concern that, because we were living in poverty with my mother ten months out of the year, our intellectual development was hindered beyond what she could do during the summers.

Imah spoke in her teacher voice to me as if I was a student in her class and not her first granddaughter.

She carefully read the test instructions aloud: “You are to answer all the questions in the reading test completely in the time given. If you are unsure about an answer, do your best and do not leave any blanks.

Are there any questions?”

I looked up at her and shook my head. I spent the entire day testing, while my younger sister colored and read. Then Imah scored my test papers. In reading and math, my performance ranked below average for students my age, but the writing score was fairly comparable. The drop in performance could have occurred over the past school year, thought my grandmother, because of my teacher’s lack of attention to me and because my schooling was low on my parents’ list of priorities. But Imah was determined not to let either reason decide our academic futures.

Just as he had the previous three years when school ended, Dad picked us up from our home in the projects. This time, however, it wouldn’t just be for summer vacation; Dad was moving us to Nashville for good. Imah had made up her mind that her granddaughters would attend the best schools in town: Martin Luther King Magnet, for my sister, and Hume Fogg Academic Magnet High School for me.

Both schools conducted heavy screening with entrance exams, interviews, and records to support we were academically capable of meeting their standards. I still wonder with amazement how my grandmother pulled off getting us enrolled in such competitive schools with our existing sub-par school records. Officially, we had been labeled lowperforming and deemed incapable of high scholastic levels. I was skeptical.

Each summer, vacation became a summer school boot camp of documenting our level at the beginning of the summer, setting goals for achievement, and assessing our progress at the end. Imah made going to the library to check out books a real joy. We read storybooks, then wrote one-page summaries, and we completed practice workbooks to improve our math skills. We believed that all kids our age were spending their summers the same way. Our efforts were constantly challenged, and by the end of the summer our confidence had been restored.

“I’m not a strong student,” I argued, thinking of the years of being labeled a remedial student. “Look at my report cards and teacher comments. I am not sure I can do the work.”

But when we went back to school in Texas, we again were labeled as poor and stupid. The vicious cycle continued of having our teachers dumb down their instruction of us ten months out of the year and of Imah repairing our perception of our academic ability during June and July. In 1983, my parents divorced, and we went to live in the projects with our mother who soon had three more children. My mother worked multiple jobs to try to support us and received financial aid from the government to help subsidize some of the expenses. I often had to assume the mother-of-the house role to my siblings, so I grew up fast learning very early that poverty is

Imah, seated in a vanity chair and about to apply her lipstick, interrupted my words of doubt. She turned from facing the mirror and looked directly at me.

“You were born to do and to be great things,” she said firmly.

I wondered what the difference was—to do and to be.

Gee (2000) may have maintained that my “institutional perspective” (p. 102) or identity was being challenged. My first educational institution, in 176

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 Chicago, had recognized my “natural identity” (Gee, 2000, p. 102)—my intellectual capacity for academic success—and had nurtured that identity accordingly.

But the educational institution in Texas did not recognize or nurture my intellect, whether from racist or from classist or from some other form of separatist bias, and I wasn’t capable yet of nurturing myself. My institutional identity withered from instructional neglect. As a result, my natural identity became stunted. Countering those voices and that neglect were my father’s affirmations and my grandmother’s concerted efforts to shape my own “discursive perspective” (Gee, 2000, p. 103) or identity, helping me think of myself as being smart and able to learn and to enjoy learning. This allowed my natural identity to recover and to bloom in high school where the discourse of my high school teachers, who represented a higher educational institution, revived my institutional identity as an academically successful student.

I also discovered that academia was part and parcel of what Gee (2000) called my “affinity perspective” (p. 103) or affinity identity. It was the community I “actively [chose] to join” (Gee, 2000, p. 106) as a profession and as a vocation. In a sense, I have become Imah for a new generation of students who often come to me as having been labeled less than. I tell them what Imah told me, “You were born to do and to be great things.”

Anne’s Story: “Just an Ugly Baby” My story begins in the mid-1960s when I was twelve and a physically awkward, socially immature, and verbally inept pre-teen at a junior high school in Southern California—the only year my mother didn’t buy my school pictures. It’s after lunch, and most of us seventh-grade girls sit on the grassy field talking and watching the seventh-grade boys play basketball on the nearby asphalt courts. We sit in scattered twos and threes and larger groups, close enough that a casual observer might see us as one gathering of mostly twelve-year-old, somewhat giggly, girls. A few girls have bodies and minds already matured into young womanhood. These girls, with their sleek hair, plucked eyebrows, and manicured nails ooze confidence and poise. Others, baby-faced innocents who still play clapping games, look like elementary school students.

Initially, however, it was not easy. In class, I had to learn not to bury my head in the book as if searching for answers when the teacher asked the class questions. When I did my homework at night, Imah rehearsed possible questions the teacher might ask the next day, and I began forcing myself to raise my hand and risk giving the wrong answer. I learned that giving the wrong answer did not change my teachers’ opinion of me: In the eyes of my teachers, I was capable. Whenever I did not do well on an assignment or test, my teacher would say, “You did not do your best.” This comment, even though negative in context, became encouraging because my teacher ultimately was saying, “I know you can do better.” Regardless of what I did on a particular assignment, my teacher saw my potential for being.

Most of us fall somewhere in between. Our bodies, with their rounded breasts and monthly lets, have crossed the boundary between child and adult, but we wear these ill-fitting frames with anything but confidence and poise. We blush too easily. We stammer when we try to talk. We wear blouses and full skirts with white, ankle socks and saddle shoes instead of the more fashionable empire waist dresses and flats—no socks—the more mature girls wear.

With my dated glasses, metal-banded teeth, freckled face, and dorky, curly-frizzy hair, I’m not just in between, I’m totally out of it.

The four years of high school revitalized my academic identity. My high school diploma acknowledged more than the successful completion of the coursework. It forever refuted the label remedial, and it affirmed my high school teachers’ beliefs that I was academically excellent, my grandmother’s saying that I was “born to do and to be great things,” and my father’s telling me, “You are smart.”

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Anderson, A. W., Branscombe, M., & Nkrumah, T. (2015) / Crossing Blocked Thresholds I show her the cover. “The Moon-Spinners.” I tense, but I try to speak casually.

“Never heard of it,” she says.

“It’s about a British girl who works at the embassy in Greece,” I start to explain.

They glance at each other and smirk. If it was a magazine like Seventeen with an article about the Beatles or getting boyfriends, that might capture their interest. But a book about working at the British embassy in Greece? Hardly.

Figure 2. Anne, age 11, from her 6th-grade class picture— rabbit ears and all.

“They made a movie out of it,” I add meekly.

“Oh.” Michelle recognizes Haley Mills on the cover.

“She was in Summer Magic.”

Bangs are in, but mine curl every which way across my forehead. The social graces haven’t graced me . I stumble and bumble my way through the day saying and doing everything wrong. It doesn’t help that I usually have the right answer when I’m called on or that I ask lots of questions in class. A rhyme from childhood haunts me: “There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.

And when she was good, she was very, very good. But when she was bad, she was horrid” (Longfellow, 1904). Outwardly, I look horrid; inwardly, I feel horrid.

“But that was ages ago,” Sheila says.

Haley Mills is so yesterday. Maybe not to our parents who loved her as the little girl in Disney’s 1960 movie, Pollyanna, and who still see their daughters as little girls. But to us twelve-going-on-twenty-yearolds whose hearts belong to John, Paul, George, and Ringo and who pray daily for the deaths of Cynthia, Jane, Patti, and Maureen, with their straight-as-a-pin hair and Carnaby Street wardrobes? Forget it. If Michelle or Sheila had shown interest, I would have told them it wasn’t just about working at the Greek embassy. It was about a young woman on a holiday who stumbles onto a young man who has been shot and who helps him escape the people who are trying to kill him. I didn’t buy the book because of Haley.

Well, maybe I did. I bought it to take to the beach, and it was the only cover in the drugstore bookrack that interested me.

Nor does it help that I moved here at the end of fifth grade—my fourth move in as many years, this time from a sparsely populated spot in the Mojave Desert to suburban Orange County, California. I made a few friends in sixth grade, but then we were shuffled and redealt among several junior highs. I usually sit between groups—part, but not quite, of several clusters. Some days I join the conversations of one or another of the groups; many days I enter a fictional world and stay there until the bell rings.

Once I started reading, however, I was hooked.

I let the conversation swirl around me for a bit, then, from between the covers of my notebook binder, I slip out a paperback book. I am careful not to let the others see what is scrawled all over the top page of my binder. Mentally, I make a note to tear it up.

It was the egret, flying out of the lemon grove that started it. I won’t pretend I saw it straight away as the conventional herald of adventure, the white stag of the fairytale, which, bounding from the enchanted thicket, entices the prince away from his followers, and loses him in the forest where danger threatens with the dusk. But, when the big

“What are you reading?” Michelle, seated next to Sheila , asks.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 white bird flew suddenly up among the glossy leaves and lemon flowers, and wheeled into the mountain, I followed it. What else is there to do, when such a thing happens on a brilliant April noonday at the foot of the White Mountains of Crete; when the road is hot and dusty, but the gorge is green, and full of the sound of water, and the white wings, flying ahead, flicker in and out of deep shadow, and the air is full of the scent of lemon blossoms? (Stewart, 1964, p. 1 ) Something in that first paragraph took me out of myself and spirited me away into a world where a girl—no, a young woman—wasn’t at the mercy of school bells telling her when to move with the herd to a different spot, a world where junior high classrooms and lunchrooms were replaced with mountains and lemon groves, a world where anything was possible. A world where the princess could rescue the prince—before, of course, he rescued her in return.

Figure 3. Anne, age 13, from a family photo.

Decades later, when I began writing and publishing in multiple genres, I would discover another legacy of The Moon-Spinners and of that very painful year.

The bell rings. Still reading, I grope for my notebook.

But I miss and knock it open, just as Shelia reaches down for her own notebook. Sheila grabs mine and hers and stands up.

I didn’t tell Michelle and Sheila I’d been reading and re-reading the book for the better part of the school year, and I had even started copying the book by hand to share with a pen-pal. I hadn’t seen the movie when it came out last year. I didn’t need to. The movie I had created in my head, my identity by affinity (Gee, 2000), the one starring a twenty-twoyear-old, adventuresome, confident, and capable me—a me who had skipped over the rest of what, according to my natural identity at the time, was obviously going to be a painful adolescence—could be screened anytime I chose. Institutionally, I was at school but not really part of it; discursively, the smirks and snide remarks branded my reading choices a joke.

“Ooooh! Guess who Anne likes?!” She waves my notebook at the other girls who crowd around her as they make their way back across the playground to the classrooms.

I feel my face flush. I grab my things, scramble to my feet, and run after the group.

“Wait ‘til we show him!” they tease, naming one of the most popular boys in the seventh grade, the one whose name fills the top page of my notebook.

I reach Sheila and try to grab my notebook from her.

She turns away, tucking the damning evidence against her.

So I found affinity in a new fictional world. I not only acquired a vision of who I might become, I also physically moved from the children’s side of the library to the adult side. In a few weeks, I went from Laura Lee Hope’s The Bobbsey Twins and Julie Campbell’s Trixie Belden to books by Mary Stewart, Helen MacInnes, and Victoria Holt. The next summer would see an end to the braces and the bangs and would bring a new pair of glasses.

“Give it back!” I sputter. But she just ignores me.

Desperate, I reach my arm back. And then I slug her.

In the arm. But still.

The other girls gasp. But Sheila just laughs in derision and tosses me the notebook.

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Anderson, A. W., Branscombe, M., & Nkrumah, T. (2015) / Crossing Blocked Thresholds All my childish reaction has done is to confirm to her—to all of them—what a baby, what a horrid, ugly baby, I am.

instructional time; process drama was an instructional method. I was irked by the perception of drama as a deficit learning experience and, as someone who for twenty years had witnessed the power of drama as a teaching tool, I felt my identity as a drama teacher was being diminished and my expertise as an educator was being questioned. In Gee’s (2000) terms, the institutional discourse about process drama as a pedagogy conflicted with my affinity for its efficacy, leaving me, naturally, perturbed. Suddenly, I realized that I had missed my exit for the university and was heading way north. I was upset by the phone call and panicked by not knowing where I was—literally and metaphorically. I turned the car around and headed back to familiar territory.

Margaret’s Story: “What Are You Trying to Do to These Students?!?”

I remember saying at my dissertation proposal defense, “Anyone listening in to this conversation would wonder what I was trying to do to these kids!”

We were reviewing the local school district’s decision to decline my research proposal, and there had been humorous talk of “sneaking in” and trying to get in “through the back door” in order to “gain access” to a local school. The talk was light-hearted, but I was worried. Where and how would I find a school that would approve my using process drama as a teaching method in a science class? I hadn’t much time, either, as I needed to graduate the following May and find work. I had to conduct the research by January at the latest.

O’Toole and O’Mara (2007) wrote, “Drama, the playful giant, is knocking at the door [of education], but despite its protean wiles, it is barely over the threshold yet” (p. 215), and these words came to represent my experience of trying, and failing, to have research using process drama as a teaching method approved by two school districts. In Greek mythology, Proteus was a god of the sea and bodies of water, and the adjective protean alludes to the fluidity of something, in this case the uses of drama as a pedagogy.

The week before my defense in September I had received a phone call from the local school district’s Department of Assessment and Accountability. I had come to know the person calling quite well, and I liked him, but any phone call received at 8 a.m. on a Monday morning while driving in heavy traffic on the interstate had to be bad news. He was sorry to tell me the research approval committee had declined my application. The main concern, he said, was the amount of time my research would take away from instructional time in an already failing school. I was disappointed but not altogether surprised by their thinking. I had discovered that most schools in Florida hadn’t experienced the possibilities of process drama as a teaching method, had no frame of reference, and didn’t know what they were missing. I asked if I could appeal the decision, but the caller didn’t think so. My only hope of getting it approved was as an after-school project.

I did not want to do this, but by the end of the conversation I had become resigned to it.

O’Toole and O’Mara (2007) called drama an “in the moment” experience compared with standard curriculum’s being “conceptualized with status and permanence” (p. 203). The use of drama as an instructional method does not guarantee academic success, but what if the in-the-moment physical embodiment of a concept leads to greater retention and understanding of material? Process drama is not about putting on a play; it is a teaching method requiring students to devise unscripted scenarios that depict important social issues, literary themes, or concepts and ideas. Its identity does not fit well with current teaching practices as students do not produce a permanent product that can be evaluated nor do they sit and passively receive instruction.

Rather, students explore ideas and concepts through physical and social interaction in order to know them in an embodied—not just cognitive—form of literacy.

As I reflected on the conversation, my disappointment turned to anger. I felt the decision reflected an anti-arts bias that labeled drama an extra-curricular frill rather than a pedagogy in its own right. My research wouldn’t take away from 180

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 A few weeks later, I received a letter from the district’s Department of Assessment, Accountability and Research. They had decided “not to participate in” my study. No reason was given, but a phone number was provided if I had any questions. When I called in search of answers, the administrative assistant said the notes on my file read “not of high importance at this time” and “time impact on all involved.” I requested a meeting with the executive director. I knew I would not be able to change his or her mind, but I wanted to know more about these reasons. I was told that somebody would call me to arrange a meeting, but that didn’t happen. Sensing it never would, I requested a phone conversation with the director, and eventually she called me.

Figure 4. Margaret (back to camera) works with a group of students (Kindergarten to Grade 8) to embody the idea of a pyramid.

Process drama in action can look like play, giving rise to its identity as a playful giant, a personification that sounds innocent but which also alludes to the power of drama.

When my phone rang, I took a deep breath and forced myself to remain calm. “Thank you for calling me,” I said. “I have been trying to find out why my research to use drama as a teaching method in schools was not accepted.”

My study planned to focus on helping students understand the main idea of a science text by physically representing those ideas. I wanted to study how the power of drama could alter perspectives and build knowledge. But in trying to get my research approved, I came to realize that administrators did not associate drama with building knowledge.

The director’s voice was not unfriendly, but it was firm. “While we appreciate all interest that is shown in our public schools,” she began politely, “county policy is to not approve studies that involve visits to the classroom. We only approve studies based on the use of existing data, and do not permit studies that generate new data.”

To myself, I argued how knowledge of how students learn could ever be advanced if new data were never generated. I bit back the words, however, and said, “I did review your goals for success on the district website and I noticed that the engagement of students was one of those. I believe the students would find this study very engaging—”

As the morning wore on, my anger turned to resolve.

I was determined to research the effectiveness of drama in teaching main ideas during regular teaching hours, so I decided to look elsewhere for a research home. I wondered about the possibility of collecting data at the school my daughters attended—it was in a different school district, and the personal connection might help my case. Unlike the school where I had first applied, it was not a Title 1 school, but it was a public school, and that was important to me. In my experience supervising preservice teachers in the public schools, I hadn’t seen many opportunities for students to learn in innovative ways, and I hoped in some small way to create that experience for a class of students and their teacher. So, I submitted an application to my local school district and waited for the answer.

The director continued without pause. “There were also concerns about the time it would take the teachers to hand out consent forms. I have to protect the students and the teachers.”

Protect? What an interesting word. What are they so scared of in drama that they feel students need protecting from it? But I didn’t say this. I merely thanked the director for taking the time to call me and hung up the phone, thinking, “Your decision confirms all the existing data about the decline of 181

Anderson, A. W., Branscombe, M., & Nkrumah, T. (2015) / Crossing Blocked Thresholds arts instruction in schools. The kids don’t need protecting from drama but from this myopic view of what constitutes ‘real research’ and ‘effective teaching methods.’”

identities ought to have changed instantly and permanently once we found the right combination.

But they hadn’t. We each continually struggle to find and to speak our voice against the din.

After the rejection from the second school district, I had to abandon my ideas of conducting research in a regular public school and begin pursuing alternative sites—mainly because I needed to graduate and move on. A local charter school was recommended to me as a school that welcomed innovative approaches to teaching and learning. I sent the principal an email, and within an hour I had heard back from her. She thought the project sounded wonderful and, yes, they would be very interested to have me work with a third grade class.

Additionally, we were challenged during the review process to rethink the role of labels both in terms of their presence and in terms of their absence. Tara had included racial and class labels in her story, while Anne and Margaret had not, leading one anonymous, outside reviewer (personal communication, April 10, 2015) to wonder how each of us saw our “identities . . . positioned within the dominant U.S. culture, how each may feel like an outsider.” We discussed the reviewer’s comments, asking whether these labels mattered in the context of what were trying to achieve, which was to show how labels, thoughtlessly applied, can deceive and destroy. On the one hand, labeling helps us manage the massive amounts of information we encounter each moment (Goffman, 1974), and each human being bears many culturally-constructed labels, none of which are independent of the others (Gee, 2000). On the other hand, once we began listing labels, where would we stop? Is race and class enough information, or should we list age, gender, marital status, religion, body type, and our favorite music? Can everything or anything about a person be explained in terms of particular labels?

That was it. No questions, no disapproval, no rejection—of me or of my methods. The playful giant—and I—were about to cross the threshold.

Constructing New Story Lines: Changing Narratives and Crossing Thresholds In writing our narratives, we were able to see more clearly that the construction of new story lines, as Bochner (2000) termed it, had taken place in our lives, but we still were not quite sure how. At first, we felt it was a matter of simply choosing to listen to one voice speaking a particular label rather than other voices speaking more negative labels. For Tara, for instance, the voices and the active determination of her grandmother, her father, and her high school teachers countered other voices and years of passive instructional neglect. For Anne, the vision/voice of what she could become, countering her preadolescent warped vision of herself, came through the pages of a novel. Margaret, encountering a system that identified itself as “protecting” students and teachers from new methods, held fast to her inner knowledge of a different way of teaching and of doing research. However, as we thought more about it, we wondered if it were actually so simple. Were we in danger of creating a fairy-tale version of identity reconstruction: Choose this voice/label over that, and poof! Look in this mirror rather than in that mirror, and abracadabra! Sing about lands over rainbows and end up in OZ, or talk about no place like home and wake up in Kansas. If so, then our

Additionally, the label with which Tara grappled was not a racist or classist label—even if it may have been applied because of racial and class bias. This label was a product of the education system, which discursively marginalizes students who fall outside of an artificially determined norm by labeling them gifted or struggling or remedial.

Another anonymous reviewer questioned whether Anne’s and Margaret’s not addressing race and social class was because people of a dominant race and more privileged class tend to be less likely to acknowledge the role race and class play in the formulation of identity. Perhaps. But we also felt that this information was not relevant to our stories.

Neither Anne nor Margaret encountered racial or class labels, but that didn’t make us immune to the effects of other labels. At the same time, we did not immediately recognize and acknowledge other 182

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 differences contributing to our stories. For example, Margaret did not include in her story that she had not grown up within the United States, as she did not initially feel that was important to her story.

tried to introduce new ways of thinking into a system, as Margaret did, have encountered rejection.

And surely people of all races and classes have been labeled wrongly, as was Tara, as incapable students for reasons other than race and class.

On reflection, however, she acknowledged that her story involved assumptions she made based on prior experiences in another country. Process drama is widely used as a curricular tool in the United Kingdom, and she had expected it would be practiced—or at least known about—here, too. Her affinity with practicing process drama, therefore, “othered” her from the moment she came to the United States, first as a teacher and later as a graduate student. Additionally, every time Margaret spoke, her accent immediately marked her as British.

Did this negatively affect how she was perceived as an educator by U.S. administrators? She likely will never know. What she came to realize, however, was that in feeling alienated by a very different education system, she was similarly othering the educational system of the United States and labeling it as dramadeficient. In other words, the othering was bidirectional!

To us, obstacles are obstacles. Regardless of one’s cultural positioning, none of us can escape labels nor can we escape the self-questioning and obstacles— imposed from without and from within—that accompany such labels. To label ourselves as belonging or not belonging to a dominant or nondominant culture when it wasn’t integral to the narrative seemed contrived, would negate the common human experience we sought to explore, and might deter one or more readers from identifying with the experience because he/she was, ironically, outside a particular, labeled group. We wanted readers to focus on the process of inner wrestling against some labels of doing and of the process of straining to hear, to voice, and to embody other labels of being.

We returned to Bakhtin’s (1981) social heteroglossia, his “Tower-of-Babel mixing of languages” (p. 278), and noted that, despite the connotations of confusion and disarray, social heteroglossia isn’t the villain in the story. Rather, Bakhtin (1981) claimed, “these voices create the background necessary for [the author’s] own voice, outside of which his artistic prose nuances cannot be perceived, and without which they ‘do not sound’” (p. 278). In other words, had all of these voices not existed, had they not clamored to be heard, and had we not struggled—or continue to struggle—against them, our own voices could not have emerged with any strength.

The reviewers’ comments, however, made us consider these questions more deeply, and we saw three things we had not seen before: First, we realized that each of our stories began with a physical move that was both geographic and cultural.

Second, we realized that the stories were as much about others being discomfited by us as we by them.

While we could only tell our stories and not theirs, we realized that the labels they applied, consciously or unconsciously, were a reaction to our not fitting within their frame of immediate reference. Third, we saw that our stories presented a spectrum of ways in which labels affect us. Tara’s story considered labels in interpersonal relationships, Anne’s story revealed the intrapersonal self-labeling we sometimes fall into, and Margaret’s story explored institutionally systemic labeling.

Similarly, Holland (1975) spoke of understanding “individuality by conceiving of the individual as living out variations on an identity theme much as a musician might play out an infinity of variations on a single melody. We discover that underlying theme by abstracting it from its variations” (p. 814). Play “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” for instance, in its original major key in any number of rhythms and it changes from a jaunty nursery rhyme to a somber march. Play it in a minor key and it becomes either a melancholy lullaby or a dirge. In a similar manner, we thought, the obstacles that we had encountered

Our thoughts boiled down to this: Surely people of all races and classes have struggled, as Anne did, with a sense of alienation and a lack of confidence and self-consciousness even within groups comprised of members of their own race and general class. Surely people of all races and classes who have 183

Anderson, A. W., Branscombe, M., & Nkrumah, T. (2015) / Crossing Blocked Thresholds had imposed various rhythms and keys upon the main theme of our identity—but the melody was still there. Were each of these variations necessary, as was the multitude of voices, for our own individual identities to develop, to be expressed, and to be heard fully?

Before discovering The Moon-Spinners (1962/1964), Anne had outgrown her affinity for the children’s books with which she previously had identified.

Physically and psychologically, she was in an awkward adolescence, one aggravated in the institutional setting of a junior high school where her own self-consciousness magnified verbal and nonverbal labels, further shredding her sense of self.

Ingesting, through repeated readings, the more adult novel helped her hold open hope for a meaningful adulthood. Additionally, the embodied act of handcopying the text unwittingly birthed an identity not voiced until decades later, and then in short stories for children that often explored the power of hope.

When we looked more closely at each of our narratives to discern common threads, we began to see that there wasn’t one point at which the new story line began to be constructed. Rather, it was in a continual holding ourselves open to receive what these voices and variations had to teach us, without being consumed or subsumed by them and combined with an embodied enactment of our voice, that the new story was constructed line by line and scene by scene.

Even today, we each agree that sounding our voices against the background of other sometimes harmonious, sometimes dissonant voices takes more than a little effort. We must continually be open and do something, however small. Being open and doing something changes the narrative we tell of our lives, thus changing the story lines of our lives, which as Bochner (2002) put it, “helps us exert control over possibilities and limitations” (p.73), in effect altering our identities. Finally, in reflecting on the narratives we wrote, we realized we each had positioned ourselves as the heroine or champion of our own stories.

For instance, Tara may have physically joined the basic reading group at the back of the room, but inwardly she held open—for the better part of the school year—the question of “why” raised by the grouping and by the word remedial on her report cards. Rather than closing herself off in anger from Mrs. Williams and the other children because of their behavior toward her, she held herself open to the thought that their behavior was not her fault but was their opting not to get to know her as a person.

Later, she held herself open to receiving remonstrance from her high school teachers, choosing to see their admonitions that she was not doing her best as a validation of her being able to do better. Physically, she rehearsed with her grandmother how to respond to questions and made herself begin raising her hand in class.

From another perspective, however, we, too, could be seen as part of the heteroglossia of others’ lives.

Bakhtin (1981) wrote, “As soon as a critical interanimation of languages began to occur . . . , the necessity of actively choosing one's orientation among them began” (p. 296). But as soon as we actively choose our orientation among those voices, we affect the way those other voices sound forth, as well. We not only speak our own voice against the cacophony of other voices, we also bend and shape those other voices—individual, societal, and systemic—in ways we may not realize. Such a choice is, as Taylor (1989) noted, a moral choice. It is only in refusing to speak ourselves into being that we silence our own stories and, perhaps, those of countless others.

Margaret experienced difficulty in attempting to intertwine her identity as a teacher using innovative methods with the shrunken and shriveled identity of an education system that views innovation with suspicion. Over the years, she has had to hold open her belief that if people just saw process drama at work, they would grasp its potential. In the instance related in this article, she spoke that strand of her identity by physically completing multiple applications, thereby also speaking process drama as a valid teaching method.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 References Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays (M. Holquist, Ed.; C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Trans.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

Bochner, A. (2002). Perspectives on inquiry III: The moral of stories. In M. Knapp & J. Daly (Eds.), The handbook of interpersonal communication (3rd ed.,pp. 73-102). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Ellis, C. (1991). Sociological introspection and emotional experience. Symbolic Interaction, 14(1), 23-50.

Ellis, C. (2004). The ethnographic I: A methodological novel about autoethnography. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

Gee, J. P. (2000). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Review of Research in Education, 25, 99125.

Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Holland, N. N. (1975). Unity identity text self. Publications of the Modern Language Association, 90(5), 813-822. label, n.1. (September 2015). OED Online. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/view/Entry/104691?rskey=e2MNQA&result=1&isAdvanced=fals e#eid Longfellow, H. W. (1904). There was a little girl. In B. Carman, J. V. Cheney, C. G. D. Roberts, C. F. Richardson, F. H. Stoddard, & J. R. Howard (Eds.). The world’s best poetry, (Vol. 1). Philadelphia, PA: John D. Morris & Co.; Retrieved from http://www.bartleby.com/360/1/120.html O’Toole, J., & O’Mara, J. (2007). Proteus, the giant at the door: Drama and theater in the curriculum. In L. Bresler (Ed.). International handbook of research in arts education. (Vol. 16, pp. 203-219). Dordrecht, NL: Springer.

Schwartz, M. (2005). Memoir? Fiction? Where’s the line? In R. L. Root, Jr., & M. Steinberg (Eds.), The fourth genre: Contemporary writers of/on creative nonfiction (3rd ed., pp. 399-404). New York, NY: Pearson.

Stewart, M. (1964). The moon-spinners. New York, NY: Crest Books, Fawcett. (Original work published 1962) Taylor, C. (1989). Sources of the self: The making of the modern identity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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Reading, Writing, and Designing: Getting Students on the Path to Thinking Like Designers Christine D. Kyser ABSTRACT: New technologies are rapidly expanding the communication opportunities for our students, allowing our students to compose in endless print and digital formats. After realizing that her instruction her writing workshop to a designing workshop. This article attempts to specifically describe several lessons supporting students in seeing themselves as designers. Using a workshop model and units of study as frameworks, the teacher approached all lessons from a design lens as students considered the audience, purpose and genre of various digital applications, an These lessons can be easily differentiated for different age levels. The lessons can also be used with various technology applications and can be implemented as stand-alone lessons or in conjunction with one another.

Keywords: digital literacy, design, technology, workshop

Christine Kyser is an assistant professor of educational technology at the University of Northern Colorado where she teachers graduate classes in Instructional Design and Visual Literacy. Her passion for teaching writing and integrating technology in the classroom is inspired her classroom teaching and academic/instructional coaching in Florida and Colorado. Her research focuses on transforming literacy instruction with technology, multigenre writing, and writer identity.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2

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hen it comes to writing, I often scribble on post-it notes and write the occasional shopping list, but the vast majority of my writing is done electronically. I text my husband throughout the day, send e-mails to communicate type flyers advertising events for my school. In creating these digital compositions, I can easily make simple changes like replacing a font color or adding some clipart, but I can also add a voice memo or digital image to make my message more explicit.

including the Internet, to produce and publish

Furthermore, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) College and Career Readiness ELA Anchor Standar

to is to bring together the resources the writer, the artist, the

(National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). With these understandings, I chose to attempt to modernize my writing assignments for my students. While teaching a group of third graders this year, I began my pursuit of making their literacy experiences in school more authentic and aligned with their literacy experiences outside of school. By transforming my traditional writing workshop to a designing workshop, my goal was to honor the textual and visual modes, equally honoring all modes Reflecting on my own and my students literacy of communication (Bezemer & Kress, 2008). I practices, I found inspiration for transforming my conducted a larger study own classroom pedagogy. When looking at teacher looking back, I loved writing as an Reflecting on my own and my pedagogy in the designing elementary and middle school students literacy practices, I student, but my interest in writing process as they designed decreased throughout high school found inspiration for informational texts using and drastically in college, as the transforming my own iBooks Author. In this writing I was required to submit no Voices from the Field, I longer seemed relevant to my life classroom pedagogy. describe several specific outside of school. It was during lessons where technology this time that I created my first was infused to help them read and write like Hotmail account and began chatting with friends designers.

Messenger. New technologies were opening the door What is a Designing Workshop? for new ways to read and write. It seemed like the world outside of education recognized that the Kress (2003) believes that we all designers as we are Internet was transforming communication, but my constantly using words, gestures, voices, pictures, high school teachers and college professors failed to actions, and more depending on what, where, how, notice. I once again fell in love with the art when I and with whom we are communicating. Design is the became a teacher and was energized as I prompted process of using all available modes of my students to see themselves as writers, but the communication, including those modes afforded by students and I were communicating outside of technology, to convey your message (Cope & school using new media like cell phones and Kalantzis, 2009; Bomer, Zoch, David, & Ok, 2010). I computers. chose to approach our workshop through a design lens because I wanted my students to consider all of In my classroom, I realized I was restricting my their communication options and determine how students to traditional print-bound books and they could best convey their message. I went so far as writing and illustrating on paper. The disparity between the communication that was occurring at school and the communication we were using students. outside of school became more and more apparent.

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would be most effective with specific audiences, purposes, and genres. Students also looked at design choices of published informational texts, including traditional print bound books and eBooks. They designed layouts and looked at the affordances and constraints offered by all modes and applications.

Below are specific lessons that supported student in their transition from writers to designers.

choreographer, the impresario, the musician, and the Designers begin by composing with all of these tools in mind, rather than using technology as an add-on or an afterthought, and in this case, allowed students to use the most modern of tools to make meaning, embracing recent technological advances. Designers begin by composing with all tools, such as video, images, words, voice, charts, and all other modes, in mind. Although the workshop model is a framework

Lessons in Becoming Designers The following lessons attempt to highlight some of the classroom activities in my designing workshop.

model can easily be adapted to encompass design (Hicks, 2009).

Analyzing Slide Show Themes Instruction in the genre studies of printed materials such as books, newspapers, magazine articles, and picture books.

This teaching focuses on traditional literacy, honoring the textual and visual modes. The designing workshop includes an exploration of the genres included in both traditional printed material and digital texts such as videos, slideshows, and eBooks. While the traditional printed material contains images, text, and text features, the electronic book offers all of the above and may include digital video, sound, interactive components, and links to other Internet pages and sites (see Figure 1 in Appendix A).

Early in the school year, my students sat in our school technology lab. In this one-week project students would design a slideshow about themselves (see Table 2 in Appendix A for the lesson sequence).

They ch While many teachers use slides shows, this lesson differs in that students approached the project as designers, analyzing each aspect and choice offered by the applications. On day one, I asked them to open the slideshow application Keynote. When students opened up the application, students were able to see miniature title slides of each theme.

Although

Workshop, teachers use mentor texts, conference with students, employ the writing process and focus on the audience, purpose, and situation. However,

Presentation Gallery. Prezi prompts uses to choose a However, any slide show application will work for this lesson. Each application offers designers various themes to create unique experiences for the user in color, font, and format.

audience, and how they receive feedback (Hicks, 2009). In transforming to a designing workshop with my third graders, I ultimately wanted my students to design interactive electronic books using iBooks Author (student examples of All About Space, Bats, and Cats, Cats, Cats available here). I spent the majority of the fall semester teaching them to make informed design decisions while simultaneously building their capacity for working with various technology applications (see Table 1 in Appendix A for lesson ideas).

We began by analyzing themes in the slideshow application Keynote, discussing how the themes

Although students were eager as ever to begin their next project, I told them to browse through the themes for a minute (click to view the themes available in Keynote). I next asked them what they noticed. These third-grade techies began by stating the obvious. Their answers alluded to the themes having different colors, different fonts. They noticed that some had pictures and others did not. Next, I asked them to choose their favorite. One student said his favorite was the Sedona. He liked it best because it was brighter than the others, had a red background his favorite color and the yellow streak across the middle reminded him of a lightning 187

Kyser, C. D. (2015) / Reading, Writing, and Designing continually asked them to justify their design choices, monitoring their thinking and understanding.

bolt. I celebrated this answer and encouraged students to try and best explain what they truly liked about their chosen theme and how it stood out to them in comparison to the others. The students got very excited and quickly wanted to convey why their favorite was the best, as if it were some sort of contest.

Investigating the Design of Informational Text

After a week of learning and celebrating their slideshows, I put my students in a circle on the floor and laid out a variety of mentor informational printI then gave them some scenarios. If you were bound books. I asked students to examine the pages designing a slideshow for kindergarten students in front of them and identify design decisions the about book characters, which of them would you authors and illustrators made in publishing the choose? Why? If you were designing a slideshow for books, just like the design decisions they had made a large company (such as a hospital) about their when designing their slideshows. Using chart paper, budget, what theme would you choose? Why? What I began making a list of theme would you not choose? The their observations (click conversation continued in this fashion for several scenarios until I here to see chart). Students asked them to hover their cursor began by pointing out the and ability to identify these over the theme obvious choices that intentional design choices authors make such as of bright orange, uses a whimsical headings and images. allowed them to think font, and has abstract stars in the When a student asked if

them to specifically consider their audience and their purpose, something we had been working on in our class. Mary responded that she would use the theme

critically about how they would communicate in their own when composing on paper and in digital formats, especially as they designed their own informational texts.

because the color would attract

designer made a conscious decision when choosing to end one paragraph and begin another, then, yes, it seconds, the room was abuzz with mentions of italics, subheadings, and

want kids to know the event would be really fun.

captions.

After this initial lesson, students were supported in identifying a theme that they felt represented them

The next school day, students sat in the same circle, the books from the day before lay off to the side while I presented an additional set of mentor

click here to view a student sample). While students could have easily put a slide show together in one or two class periods, I walked them through each step of the design process, modeling the explicit choices that are made each step of the way (see Table 2 in Appendix A for a sample lesson sequence). We

housed in the iBooks app spread in front of them. Once again, after giving students the opportunity to explore the books, I had them choose a digital interactive book that interested them and open to a page. Just like the day before, I wanted them to recognize the design decisions made, but I wanted students to consider the two very different containers of a traditional book and an electronic book. Students quickly recognized that the authors made many of the same choices in the traditional books and in the eBooks

in Photo Booth application and designed the placement and border of the image. Students continued designing the content and layout of their remaining 10 slides. As I conducted design

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to their readers. For example, one fact was about candy sales and how much is spent each year on certain types of candy. I wanted them to consider if this fact would be best communicated by writing out the fact, creating a graph, drawing an image, or by other modes afforded by the paper container, whether visually, textually, and spatially. Students also needed to consider the layout of the page such

like organizing the content in chapters and sections and using graphs and diagrams, headings, and subheadings. The eBooks offered more, such as links to websites for more information, movies that the viewer can watch, and multiple-choice quizzes. The hese intentional design choices allowed them to think critically about how they would communicate in their own when composing on paper and in digital formats, especially as they designed their own informational texts.

how to make the page interesting, and how to logically present the information. Before diving in, we reviewed several double page spreads from our mentor informational texts. The students pointed out the lack of white space, and the variety of text and images that intrigued the viewer. I gave them their workshop time to design their own double-page spread for our class Halloween book that we would publish for our school library.

Over the course of these two days, the students had created an extensive list of all the design decisions offered in both the printed and digital mentor texts. I typed their list that night and cut the words apart for students to sort. I split my class so that they were working in groups of four. Individual groups were instructed to split their designated butcher paper into thirds. I modeled sorting by distributing my bag of words into three categories: (a) Organizational Text Features, (b) Graphic Text Features, and (c) Formatting Text Features. During the sorting process, the students articulated why they felt that a glossary, index, and table of contents were organization; why tables, diagrams, and paintings were graphic; and why bullets, picture credits, and titles were formatting. In our lesson closing, students made this connection that every design choice an author makes has a specific purpose in terms of the three types of text features: organizational text features, graphic text features, and formatting text features (see Table 3 in Appendix A).

As one student was designing a section of his page on Trick-or-Treating, he chose to draw a Snickers bar and announced to the class that he could not believe how boring a Snickers wrapper is. This comment sparked an impromptu conversation among students and a celebratory moment for me as their teacher because I knew they were beginning to see themselves as designers. I continued to listen in as several students decided that the makers of Snickers and Milky Way could sell more of their candy bars if they made their wrappers more interesting. Several students held a strong belief that the wrappers were One student chimed in that you could not make a Snickers wrapper bright and colorful because it is mostly chocolate. The colorful wrappers are used for candies like Skittles and Nerds. In the end, the students decided that it was appropriate to use colors like browns and oranges for chocolate candies, and that the designers could work much harder to make the wrappers more fun with designs and a new font. As a teacher, I was most intrigued with my

Designing on Paper I knew my students were starting to grasp the concept of design by Halloween when I overheard two students debating the design of candy bar wrappers. Students had been having some great discussions on font such as type, color, and size.

After a discussion about content experts, I challenged my students this day to consider themselves content experts of design as I handed them a list of Halloween facts and information, and sheets of 11 by 16 inch graph paper (click here for student samples). Acting as the content expert of information, my goal was to give them the words to use and for them to consider how to best present it

their beliefs on the design of a candy icon. They were able to defend their opinions as they considered the audience, purpose, and genre of a food wrapper.

Recognizing the Design Options Afforded by Each Application

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Kyser, C. D. (2015) / Reading, Writing, and Designing Over the course of the semester, students composed using a variety of digital applications and containers such as Keynote, Pages, Comic Life, iMovie, and iBooks Author (see Appendix A for online resources for getting started with these applications). They also designed using web applications Weebly, Animoto, and Voki. For each of these design tools, we created an anchor chart in our classroom depicting the design options afforded by each.

These posters not only became colorful reminders of our work, but powerful teaching tools. As

seem obvious, he was correct in that video-editing software allows the designer to integrate video, image, text, and sound to explain specific directions.

To continue our reflection, students worked in small groups to think about their interpretations of the difference between writing and designing. They brainstormed on chart paper and I had them use the online video creator, Animoto, to demonstrate this understanding of the similarities and differences (click here to view student samples).

increased, they added to the posters during lesson closings. I first introduced Keynote toward the

Final Thoughts Before Thanksgiving, a student mentioned that image included far too many choices, and we needed to be more specific. The students spent over 10 minutes brainstorming the components of an image and the intentional decisions a designer makes when choosing an image, such as its size, content, and type (photograph, drawing, clipart, etc.), effects, such as sepia or thermal, whether the image has a frame or contains text, and so forth.

This exhaustive list covered an additional sheet of chart paper and demonstrated their grasp of design and the options expanded by technology. While they previously considered an image to simply be what image, they quickly realized the possibilities and options of manipulating the image to portray a more specific message.

In transforming my writing workshop to a designing workshop, I wanted my students to truly consider and honor all modes of communication available to them when composing text, whether traditional or digital. Just as I had coached students through a study of informational text in my previous writing workshop, the designing workshop situated our inquiry as students came to understand their choices of modes and media to best convey their message.

No longer readers and writers, students transitioned to consumers and composers of multimodal text, whether paper or digital. These conversations supported students in understanding the intentional choice designers, including themselves, have in every step of their composing. Just as students considered their slideshow templates and colors of a candy bar wrapper, there is great intention in every design decision. As technology influences our lives outside of school even more, we must continue to support students in school with how to consume and compose with evolving media. Whether designing movies, cartoons, electronic books, or slideshows, there are unlimited opportunities for 21st century teachers to expand the publishing opportunities in our classrooms.

Students came to understand that writers and designers are intentional in the modes they choose to convey information. Similarly, they are intentional in the digital applications and tools they choose based on their audience, purpose, and genre. As

When I asked him for clarification he

References Bennett, S. (2007). That workshop book: New systems and structures for classrooms that read, write, and think.

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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Bezemer, J., & Kress, G. (2008). Writing in multimodal texts: A social semiotic account of designs for learning.

Written Communication, 25(2), 166-195. doi:10.1177/0741088307313177 Bomer, R., Zoch, M. P., David, A. D., & Ok, H. (2010). New literacies in the material world. Language Arts, 88(1), 9-20.

Calkins, L. M. (1983). Lessons from a child: On the teaching and learning of writing. Exeter, NH: Heinemann Educational Books.

Pedagogies: An International Journal 4(3), 164-195. doi:10.1080/15544800903076044 Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. London, England: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203164754 Hicks, T. (2009). The digital writing workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010).

Common Core State Standards for English language arts and literacy in history/social studies, and science and technical subjects. Washington, DC: Authors.

Ray, K. W. (2006). Study driven: A framework for planning units of study in the writing workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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Kyser, C. D. (2015) / Reading, Writing, and Designing Appendix A

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Table 1: Designing Workshop Lesson Ideas

Computer Application

Lesson Idea

Lesson Details

Slideshows (Keynote (Mac), Power Point, Prezi)

10 Things About Me

Students use text and image to describe themselves

Desktop Publishing (Word, Pages (Mac))

Characterization

Students use text and image to create newsletters, business cards, obituaries, etc., of the characters they are reading about

Built in Webcam (Photobooth (Mac))

Reading Responses

Students use the webcam to record their reading responses

Video Editing Software (iMovie (Mac), Windows Movie Maker, Animoto, Powtoon) Weebly

Students use text, image, video, voice, and more to teach someone how to do something Digital Portfolio

Students create websites to house their digital projects and share with others

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Day

Lesson

Day 1

Introduce slide show templates; discuss themes for specific audiences, purposes and genres; Outline task and show teacher exemplar (mentor text) Support students in choosing theme that represents them Use webcam to take photographs Create title slide (font (type, color, size), background, image placement, image border, etc.

Day 2

Review mentor text Model adding slides; changing slide layout and appearance (change master slides) Model finding and uploading images Model formatting font, background, image, etc.

Day 3

Model inserting shapes Model integrating transitions

Day 4

Model animating text and objects Celebrate!

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Table 3: Organization, Graphic, and Formatting Text Features

Organizational Text Features Facts Glossary Table of Contents Appendix References Index

Graphic Text Features Charts and Tables Labels/Cutaway Diagrams Photographs Maps

Formatting Text Features Headings and Sub-headings Captions Timeline Bold Font Sidebars Italics Bulleted Lists

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Kyser, C. D. (2015) / Reading, Writing, and Designing Appendix B Online Support and Tutorials for Digital Tools

Digital Tool iBooks Author Keynote Prezi Photo Booth Pages Comic Life iMovie Weebly Animoto Voki

Online Support/Tutorials http://help.apple.com/ibooksauthor/mac/ https://help.apple.com/keynote/mac/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Yu_qp9FFo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA7rv4-7Dgg http://help.apple.com/pages/mac/ http://plasq.com/education/take-comic-life-toschool/http://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu50A7sZPCQ https://animoto.com/blog/news/creating-your-first-animoto-video/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FunBew6S4Bk

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Review of Information Literacy: Navigating & Evaluating Today’s Media

Reviewer: Megan Brock The University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Armstrong, S. (2011). Information literacy: Navigating & evaluating today’s media. (2nd ed.). Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Education.

ISBN: 978-1425805548 Pages: 232 Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Armstrong, S. (2011). / Information Literacy

This text is an engaging handbook, geared towards educators seeking better integration of information literacy activities in the classroom and understanding of how to appropriately access, critically evaluate, and effectively use information encountered. By providing the audience with thorough explanations, numerous sample activities after each chapter, Internet links to educational material, text references, and rubrics for critical evaluation of multiple media forms of information, this quick read serves as a rich resource for busy practitioners and simply interested readers for instructional strategies.

As an instructor in an afterschool literacy enrichment program seeking supplemental resources, my low expectations of the text were quickly refuted. The book is quite engaging, as each chapter is brief and provides basic information with many resources throughout the text, ending with additional material for further education on the topic with engaging experiences. Ideal for the overburdened teacher reading in the planning period, or the busy graduate teaching assistant seeking to make social studies literacy activities fun, audiences can quickly read a chapter for the basic objectives of an information literacy-focused lesson plan, and implement suggested activities. In addition, many of the accompanying activities are tailored to be developmentally appropriate for the target age level.

The book is sequenced in distinct parts, with Part One expounding on the vast availability of information, with particular chapters addressing specific types of media such television, advertisements, and websites. Part Two tackles using that information, with questioning, organizing, attributing sources, search strategies, and feedback from media specialist. Part Three provides chapters pertaining to securing information from various media outlets and development of one’s own media analysis projects.

Part Four closes the guide with a plethora of

resources for the reader to draw on to facilitate information literacy practices

The book begins with an introduction to the concept of information literacy. Although “information literacy” is never explicitly defined in this opening chapter, the author suggests students must become equipped with skills related to critical thinking, collaborating, technological tools, and producing high quality work, which all support Project-based learning, a support instructional strategy within the book. The author asserts that the data we take in daily, such as what we see, hear, and smell, become information, which then becomes knowledge as it is pieced back into what we already know. Therefore, teaching children, our future employees, to improve evaluation skills and think critically, among other expectations of employers cited in this chapter, are primary objectives of educators.

Chapter Two focuses on developing a critical lens when viewing images, television, print material, and websites. Visual information is highlighted due to the precarious amount of visual information ingested daily, the priming of our brains to process images quickly and usually before we’ve processed words, and the benefits of encountering multiple streams of media through multimedia outlets. A major focus of the text is to address the need to incite students to be skilled consumers of visual information for various biological reasons. The brain has an innate capacity to intake visual stimuli, even from multiple mediums simultaneously, and such information is processed more saliently than actual verbal information.

However, students must learn to be responsible consumers of the information imparted—as with television and the other forms of media mentioned.

The very brief portion dedicated to critical evaluation of websites provides basic criteria for judging the quality and integrity of the information found on websites, which although lacking in emphasis within the chapter, is sufficient for teaching a quick, evaluation tool. In addition, the 198

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justification of emphasis on visual information due to brain processes is a bit weak. Perhaps other reasoning, such as media coverage of the technology movement and/or literature suggesting benefits of integration of greater visual information in the classroom would strengthen the argument for such emphasis on visual information.

Part Two begins with Chapter Three, and is a section focused on strategies that scaffold thoughtful inquiry skills of children as means of comprehending information encounters. The author frames this approach as equipping students with power thus leading student to “engage in highly meaningful work” (Armstrong, 2011, p. 70).

An insert by Dr. Jamie McKenzie argues that unless we surf the Internet for “mere ‘edutainment’” (Armstrong, 2011, p.70) students must begin Internet exploration with “essential questions” in mind (Armstrong, 2011, p.70), a skill often neglected in school.

A suggested educational strategy is that of Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) adjusted version of Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy, a questioning method familiar to teachers seeking to engage students in higher-order thinking. The author provides a thorough graphic of the levels of taxonomy, with various examples of questioning at each level, and additional activities and website references— making this section most fruitful for a reader who expects theoretical support for educational strategies and needs concrete visual examples for understanding. The chapter ends with evaluative criteria of what constitutes a “good” question.

Explicit usage of a theoretical framework to scaffold learning was refreshing, especially for one who is skeptical of instructional activities lacking empirical investigation. As an educator, I would be wary of suggested practices that were not associated with desirable outcomes.

Chapter Four returns to the assumption that images are powerful forms of information and proposes that graphics organizers are adequate tools for visual organization of information, like webs, charts, Venn diagrams, tree maps, sequence chains, and sketches/drawings of ideas. Dual coding theory, schema theory, and cognitive load

theory, are frameworks that support the usage of graphic organizers, thus appealing to one of the eight intelligences proposed by Howard Gardner (1983) used to increase opportunities for learning.

The following chapter approaches ethical considerations for attributing authorship of information we encounter by providing the basics of copyright related laws and subsequent fair use of materials. As aforementioned, this text not only is a resource of educational materials to use in the classroom, but as a resource for practitioners to educate themselves to become information literate—thus, knowing the basics of copyright laws as protection of fair use were additional needed bits of information for the consumer. Citations as a means for attributing authorship are included yet lack adequate examples, although websites were provided on occasion. Even though an activity to practice citing is provided in the end of the chapter, they would not have sufficient information to produce basic citations documenting streams of information other than books, magazines, websites, and email. Although much emphasis is placed on television and other visual mediums of information, these sources were not backed by citations. While some areas overflow with information, examples, and applied activities, the material regarding citations is comparatively bare.

Chapter Six provides techniques for investigative searching of websites by providing steps to Internet query. They suggest one first begins with a narrow topic, find exact wording to enter into a search engine, “trim the URL” (Armstrong, 2011, p. 142) if needed to get to the site main source of information, and finally search for pages with similar content. Following these steps would presumably lead the reader to a websites with requisite information.

However, in terms of academic search engines, a clear direction is lacking. At times, throughout the text, the author references scaling of activities for developmental appropriateness. Some activities are leveled to fit the needs of elementary school teachers versus those of teaching higher grades.

However, high school students who have access to search engines such as GALILEO, a database of 199

Armstrong, S. (2011). / Information Literacy academic material, would arguably follow a different schema for adequate searches due to the plethora of options provided in authoring search terms. If teaching students to be information literate is the aim, academic search engines and instructions on navigating them could have been better addressed with greater detail.

Chapter Seven’s emphasis on utilizing libraries is a perspective I share with the author. Libraries are storehouses of information, with media specialists, sometimes referred to as librarians, as rich resources that are underutilized. The three librarians interviewed provide much needed information regarding how teachers may assist students in becoming consumers of information, such as various evaluative tips, opinions of helping students develop critical thinking skills, activities to promote information literacy, and changes they have witnessed in libraries over the years.

I appreciate the voice of the media specialists that are often ignored being highlighted as a selfexplanatory justification for this chapter. This chapter itself speaks volumes in terms of a major, rich resource of not only books containing information, but of media literacy specialists who seem eager to assist in scaffolding the skills students need to develop. The chapter then shifts to a culmination of recommendations using various types of primary sources in the classroom from leading library organizations. This shift is perhaps disjointed as to the overall focus of the chapter, but is needed. The author changes from rich feedback from librarians to highlighting the use of objects, images, audio, statistics, text, and the community as primary sources when aforementioned primary sources were unsuitable or untenable.

Part Three begins with a chapter once again emphasizing navigating online arenas, a repeated theme. Understandably, the Internet is a major source of information that students navigate, thus facilitating “Netiquette” (Armstrong, 2011, p. 180) the proper behavior norms in online settings, and avoiding cyber bullying are valuable topics. There seems to be a shift to the future of information processing, to online exchanges. Each section

provides recent issues many teachers may desire to address with technologically inclined students.

Throughout the text, the reader learns various streams of information, how to conduct productive searches, and to critically evaluate the integrity of the information found. The audience shifts from not only a consumer but a producer utilizing the many mediums responsibly—more importantly the student is empowered as a producer of information if educators facilitate a shift of such.

The focus of producing information in blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other social-networking tools contributes to an empowering conversation.

Perhaps some further support, empirically, statistically, or otherwise, would actually reveal practical usage of such forms of producing knowledge. As an educator, I would look to encourage participation in the most beneficial online arenas which could engender the most engaging and productive activities. In addition, for those working in economically strained areas, I foresee challenges in how students would participate if they lacked technology in the home.

While online arenas are prosperous sectors for being empowered to produce information, how might economically disadvantaged students be empowered to produce knowledge in an equally “modern” way? Thus a critical perspective can be gleaned from this text as well.

Throughout the chapters, the reader learns various streams of information, how to conduct effective searches, and critically evaluate the integrity of the information found. The audience shifts from not only a consumer but a producer utilizing the many mediums responsibly—more importantly the student is empowered as a producer of information if educators facilitate a shift of such.

Project-based learning, a popular educational strategy, is highlighted in Chapter Nine as a powerful tool to “meet many needs, including the goal of educators to help students think critically about what they are learning, apply their thinking to the world outside school, and communicate clearly to an authentic audience” (Armstrong, 2011, p. 194). This theme of equipping students with 200

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valuable skills is consistent throughout the text, especially in this chapter as project-based learning provides an arena for equipping of such skills and their practice for ultimate learning gains. In addition, information on teaching students to meaningfully assess their own work completed in project-based learning trials via rubric creation is addressed as well in a cyclical process involving student engagement. Students learn sources of information, evaluate, produce, and assess their own production of data to develop information literacy skills. This entire text is means of encouraging such learning with several examples and resources peppered throughout these chapters, some of which culminate into Part Four of the text, the conclusion.

As one who believes in transformative educational experiences for students and preparing students to be competitive agents in the employment world, this book is a comfort. Metaphorically speaking,

this book is a series of tapas or flavorful bites of food that may satisfy one’s palate for curiosity.

After savoring such a meal, an active reader and practitioner may inquire the recipe to recreate that flavor profile. The plethora of materials provided are the recipes to reconstruct applied experiences in the classroom and provide the students with mediums for practicing skills facilitated by explicit teaching and activities. No doubt geared towards, though not limited to, educators, the book provides a plethora of material pertaining to forms of information, critical assessment of the integrity of sources of information students encounter, means of organizing such information, navigating an increasingly Internet-dependent world, and using instructional strategies such as project-based learning. The richness of the material provided in this well organized text overshadows the minute deficits discussed, leaving myself, an advocated for education, satisfied that another quality instrument for professional development is on the market.

References Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York, NY: Longman.

Armstrong, S. (2011). Information literacy: Navigating & evaluating today’s media. (2nd ed.). Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Education.

Bloom, B. S. (Ed.). (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals by a committee of college and university examiners. New York, NY: Longman.

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Review of The Silent Experiences of Young Bilingual Learners: A Sociocultural Study into the Silent Period

Reviewer: Lourdes Cardozo-Gaibisso The University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Bligh, C. (2014). The silent experiences of young bilingual learners: A sociocultural study into the silent period. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Springer.

ISBN: 978-94-6209-797-1 Pages: 152 Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Bligh, C. (2014). / The Silent Experiences of Young Bilingual Learners

What is the silent period? How can educators unveil the complex relationships between thought, language, and the spoken word? Is the silent period different than selective mutism? Which languagerelated behaviors are normal, and when do young bilingual learners really need intervention if they remain silent in their target language? These are some of the major questions that the author addresses throughout The silent experiences of young bilingual learners: A sociocultural study into the silent period.

This book is mostly geared towards educators and students, more specifically early childhood educators, and it is written in a non-standard, talesof- the-field style which might be viewed as appealing and useful for a wide audience, regardless of their linguistics background.

Theoretically, the book offers an ample, yet not very detailed overview, which sometimes fails to articulate different theories properly. Nevertheless, the book proposes a good first approach to the field of linguistics, especially for those not familiar with the subject.

Bligh offers an alternative view of the silent period and social meaning-making construction of bilingual children. Narrated in first person by the author, who uses her own personal experience as inspiration for writing this book, the author engages the reader through participatory research.

The writer, a former nurse and primary school teacher, offers accessible language for researchers and teachers equally. She additionally provides a recount of the most important concepts and scholars in each chapter, drawing particularly on sociocultural research in second language acquisition (SLA). Throughout the book, as narrowly defined for the sole purpose of her research, Bligh uses the term “silent bilingual learner” and “emergent bilingual learner” to “refer to a young child between the ages of three and six years of age who is in the first (non-verbal) stage of learning English as a new and additional spoken language within and beyond an early years educational setting in England” (p. 2).

Drawing from Stephen Krashen’s (1985) notion, the author defines the silent period as “the preproduction stage of SLA when a second language learner (SLL) is unable or unwilling to speak in her/his developing second language” (p. 3).

Nevertheless, it is essential to clarify that merely the fact that a child is going through a period of silence does not necessarily mean that language learning/acquisition is not occurring.

The book is divided into seven chapters following the Bligh’s doctoral thesis structure. Those chapters are linearly aligned with the research timeline designed and executed by the author. Chapter One provides the reader with an introductory view of the silent period and bilingualism. Told from the perspective of a monolingual, white teacher (the author herself) and the bilingual young children in her classroom, she tries to bring understanding into the children’s new linguistic experiences while addressing the silent period through the means of sociocultural theory, and giving the reader a linguistic overview of the silent period. In this chapter, the author begins introducing some of the focal subjects of her study.

The first, a 5-year old girl named Suki of Japanese heritage, was markedly silent, and was later diagnosed with selective mutism by the speech and language pathologist at her school. The therapist defined selective mutism as “an expressive language or communication disorder” (p. 8). The school phycologist, on the other hand, referred to it as a “psychiatric anxiety based condition” (p. 8).

Similarly, Adyjta, a Pinjabi-speaking boy, was trapped between two linguistic worlds: one, in the privacy of his home where his grandmother kept their home language alive, and the other, the school he attended where English was the dominant language. Bligh provides vignettes describing how these children, after being visited at home by the teacher/author/researcher, came “alive” when surrounded, and mediated, by their culturally significant and familiar environments.

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Bligh, C. (2014). / The Silent Experiences of Young Bilingual Learners Chapter Two offers an overview of the central concepts articulated by sociocultural theorists, making connections between language and culture, and emphasizing the impact of culturally mediated language learning. The author explores the notion of second language acquisition (SLA) and how it is influenced by the sociocultural standpoint (Duranti, 2001, 2004; Chomsky, 1977; Krashen, 1987; Conteh, et. al, 2007, Coyle & Vancarcel, 2002). In this sense, “early years pedagogy (…) has begun to acknowledge not only that social and cultural factors influence language learning, but also the sociocultural theorising of bilingual learning” (p.

28). In addition, Bligh also highlights the role of the mother tongue in shaping both identity and agency in young children.

Chapters Three and Four can be demarcated as the methods section of the book. In this section the author shares her struggles and challenges when crafting her conceptual and methodological design.

The author also justifies her choice for an ethnographic research and acknowledges the limitations she faced. The reader is also presented with the ample and varied instruments of data collection and subsequent means of coding and analysis.

Chapter Five offers an abundant recount of the data collected, analyzed from a sociocultural theory perspective, through the means of vignettes, and with the aim “to promote reflective thought and discussion of critical incidents and dilemmas” (p.

56). The data analysis presented in this chapter shows the intricate connection between language, thought and the spoken word.

Chapters Six and Seven explore additional cultural factors that affect emergent bilingual learners and how these issues can become boundaries to this study. The author also invites teachers to explore a wider range of perspectives in order to understand, help and respect the silent period of bilingual learners with not only a cognitive theory approach, but with a sociocultural one. The author also mentions the pedagogical implications of this kind of study which help view emergent bilingual learners as empowered researchers themselves.

Overall, one of the most outstanding characteristics of this book is that it sails away from the deficit model and instead explores how children live amidst their silent experiences. They experience them not as something that needs to be reverted or labelled (eg. selective mutism), but as a phenomena that needs to be studied and which is still significantly underexplored. The silent period can be better understood then, as a process and a natural progression on the path to bilingualism and biculturalism in linguistic and pedagogical research. It is crucial to recognize that in The Silent Experiences of Young Bilingual Learners, children are not mere subjects of research, or a problematic school population that needs remediation. Children are rather positioned as contributors in aiding the understanding of the dynamics of the process of second language acquisition. Despite being a book which brings a wide array of theoretical background to the table, it provides a fresh and unpretentious critical eye into the young bilingual mind, and therefore becomes an essential reading for parents, educators, and researchers.

As a bilingual doctoral student and bilingual/bicultural teacher myself, who struggles with the highs and lows of making meaning in two languages, I would expect this book to provide some specific suggestions or advice on how to address the silent period in young bilingual learners. Although the author claims she does not want to offer “top-down solutions” (p. 106), a section in which concrete strategies to assist students and inform the school community in general about second language acquisition in immigrant children would certainly be valued by teachers. In addition to this, Bligh tends to place all accountability for the experiences of young bilingual learners with educators, when she asks: “is it not a responsibility of early year teachers/practitioners to build upon this culturally situated knowledge-and not ignore it” (p. 37).

Bligh could strengthen her ideas about the silent period by addressing psychological aspects such as adjustment trauma. The author could mention and analyze transitioning into a new culture, context, community, rules, ways of life, and habits that young children go through when they start their 204

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new lives in a foreign country. By addressing these issues, the silent period becomes a component of adjustment trauma for which lack of speech is just one sign.

In short, The Silent Experiences of Bilingual Learners brings a wide array of theoretical background to the table, but sometimes navigates

linguistic theories slightly superficially. However, it undoubtedly provides a fresh and unpretentious critical eye into the young bilingual mind. For that reason, and in a world that is becoming more and more multilingual, The Silent Experiences of Bilingual Learners becomes a good starting point for teachers, pre-service teachers, and parents who want to learn and understand the silent period.

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Review of Race, Community, and Urban Schools: Partnering with African American Families

Reviewer: Benjamin D. Parker The University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Greene, S. (2013). Race, community, and urban schools: Partnering with African American families. New York, NY: Teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College Press.

ISBN: 978-0807754641

Pages: 168

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 There is a common misconception that the parents of children who attend struggling schools are to blame for the academic failings of their children.

The dominant discourse that surrounds urban schools emphasizes a collective disinvestment, yet typically points the finger at teachers and parents in particular. In Race, Community and Urban Schools, Stuart Greene uses a collection of counternarratives from students, parents, teachers, and administrators to address the onslaught of the dominant discourse. For those of us who spend time in urban schools, the daily contradictions to the persistent stereotypes to which we bear witness are captured in this book, and disseminated to those who might have never had the pleasure of truly experiencing life in a similar educational space.

Greene, a professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, is able to shift the blame away from a perceived cultural deficit to a structural model of societal disparity that is the result of decades of inequitable capital distribution and schooling practices levied upon minority communities (Anyon, 2005; Bourdieu, 1993; Rothstein, 2004).

Greene argues that the stereotype of disinterested, unwilling, and incapable minority parents living in deteriorating neighborhoods undermines the construction of necessary partnerships between parents and schools, and ignores the various ways parents support the academic development of their children.

Firmly situated in the traditions of Critical Race Theory (Bell, 1987; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995; Solﾃｳrzano & Yosso, 2002; Yosso, 2005) and Critical Geography (Harvey, 2007; Soja, 2010), Race, Community and Urban Schools, explores how race and space have been used to structurally disadvantage families of color. Examining the ecological context of urban schools, families, and communities, Greene builds a rich description of literacy development and agency formation.

Greene uses observations and interviews to illustrate how parents living in a Midwestern American city activate their agency in order to create fertile ground for their children to become engaged readers. Greene, focuses his gaze on how parents make education, and in particular literacy, a priority in the lives of their children. Greene

balances the expectations of the school with regard to parent involvement with the student and parent narratives, to deliver an authentic perspective of how parents engage their children and support literacy both inside and outside of school.

Race, Community and Urban Schools has five chapters in total. Chapters One through Three are structured around teacher, parent, and student narratives relating to parental engagement in literacy development. Chapters Four and Five are used to discuss the history of discriminatory educative practices levied against African Americans and to re-imagine schools and urban communities as hopeful spaces of opportunity. The data collected for Race, Community and Urban Schools, came from multiple sources, much of which originated from a collaborative participatory

action research project, that included faculty members, local principals, and a community center administrator who live and/or work in a Midwestern American city.

This community-based coalition helped design and implement research initiatives within an economically disadvantaged neighborhood.

Proceeding from the work of the community coalition, interviews were conducted with a range of educational stakeholders and participants. In total, in-depth interviews were conducted with two school administrators, 11 teachers, 17 parents, and 26 students (Grades Four, Five, and Six). These semi-structured interviews ranged in length from 45 minutes to one hour and included followup questions and prompts for elaboration.

Additionally, parents participated in focus groups and were also engaged in occasional informal conversations with researchers over a two-year period of data collection. Appendices A-E provide a thorough description of the research methodologies used in Chapters One through Three.

Fully aware of his own power and privilege, Greene provides a thoughtful subjectivity statement that shows his understanding of researcher positionality and influence. Though his consistent presence in the lives of the participating families has at times placed him in the role of advocate, he is comfortable fulfilling the associated duties as he

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Greene, S. (2013). / Race, Community, and Urban Schools sees himself as an intricate part of the research, and more importantly, a part of the community. Built on the foundation of trusting and respectful relationships, the author is able to simultaneously answer his research questions about parent involvement, as well as open up lines of communication between various educational stakeholders who can collectively enact positive change for students. The collective investment of researchers, parents, and teachers allows for racial and class boundaries to be transcended and the goal of thriving students to be realized.

A grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was taken in the interpretation and analysis of the interview data. Greene (2013) states, “I read all of the transcripts, wrote narratives that captured the individual differences among the parents’ life histories and approaches to parent involvement, and then merged my analyses to develop categories” (p. 133). A similar approach was also taken with the teacher interviews, as the author constructed narratives from the interview data, coded the data thematically, and selected illustrative examples for inclusion in the final text.

In Chapter Three, where the prominent voices are those of children, Greene used four cases as exemplars of the larger sample (n=26). However, the author wrote individual narratives for all 26 student participants, compared the data collectively, and established a larger constructed meta-narrative that was drawn from consistent themes found throughout both parent and student responses. This collective depiction of parental involvement then served as the common voice running throughout the book.

Chapter 4 stood out in particular as it included not only parents’ voices but more importantly, their educational legacies. It was this chapter that galvanized the entirety of the book by illustrating how parents were committed to the process of educating their children despite their own negative experiences in school. It is apparent that “(p)arents’ biographies provide insight into their own experiences in school; the value they place on their children’s education, particularly the purposes that literacy and learning serve; and the roles they construct for themselves” (Greene, 2013, p. 94).

The narratives drew on the sad history of minority education in the United States and alluded to the “education debt,” or the result of structural inequalities present in urban areas that contribute to a cumulative disadvantage for students of color, that scholars like Ladson-Billings address within the theoretical framework of Critical Race Theory (2006). As one parent characterized so deftly in Chapter Four while discussing the conversations she has had with her child, “What we talk about mostly is breaking the cycle” (p. 89). To that end, Greene uses the remainder of the book to conceptualize what he refers to as “spaces of hope” (p. 126), or collaborative efforts to bring about progress in urban communities, taking a critical look at the power connected to space (Soja, 2010).

The diverse narratives interwoven throughout Race, Community and Urban Schools, create a solid foundation for reconceptualizing parental involvement within and beyond the walls of struggling urban schools. This book establishes a model for change and a substantial counternarrative to the dominant discourse that undervalues the contributions parents make to literacy development in minority populated urban neighborhoods. This book stands as an excellent resource for parents, community activists, preservice and in-service teachers, educational administrators, and researchers who care about school and family partnerships. Race, Community and Urban Schools, serves as an interdisciplinary text that makes a substantial contribution to multiple fields of inquiry. The subject matter of Race, Community and Urban Schools is timely yet unfortunately familiar, as the perpetuation of negative stereotypes aimed at minorities, along with subversive educational practices, have existed for decades.

One area that is lacking in this book is a thorough discussion of how these negative stereotypes gained traction and became part of the fabric of the dominant narrative relating to urban schools. It is somewhat implied that the miscommunication or lack of communication between various educational stakeholders was partially responsible, but there seems to be room for further

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 investigation and discussion of the dissemination of misrepresentative notions regarding parental involvement and engagement. Though the subject matter of this book is not entirely new, Greene contributes fresh perspectives and valuable insights worthy of being included as oppositional evidence against ignorant and inaccurate perceptions of urban schools and neighborhoods.

Greene’s work provides an outlet for the voices of those who have too often been muted, spoken for, or shouted down. The layered narratives from parents, students, teachers, and administrators

construct a model for change that establishes open and equal lines of communication pursuant to the common goals of student literacy, hope, and success. Greene emphasizes that these goals are not, and should not be, racially or economically exclusive. This book stands to bridge the gap between home and school educative practices by unveiling the contributions made both professionally and personally by all those committed to the teaching of children. The lesson this book provides is one that I will continue to draw on as I seek to create safe educational spaces with my fellow educational stakeholders.

References

Anyon, J. (2005). Radical possibilities: Public policy, urban education, and a new social movement. London: Routledge.

Bell, D. (1987). And we are not saved: The elusive quest for racial justice. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Bourdieu, P. (1993). The field of cultural production: Essays on art and literature. J. Randal (Ed.). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago, IL: Aldine Press.

Greene, S. (2013). Race, community, and urban schools: Partnering with African American families. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Harvey, D. (2007). A brief history of neoliberalism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in U.S. schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3-12.

Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, (97)1, 47–68.

Rothstein, R. (2004). Class and schools: Using social, economic, and educational reform to close the Black-White achievement gap. New York, NY: Economic Policy Institute and Teachers College Press.

Soja, E.W. (2010). Seeking spatial justice. (Vol. 16). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

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Greene, S. (2013). / Race, Community, and Urban Schools Sol贸rzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23-44.

Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth.

Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 8(1), 69-91.

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Review of New Directions in Teaching English: Reimagining Teaching, Teacher Education, and Research.

Reviewer: Mandie B. Dunn Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

Morrell, E. & Scherff, L. (2015). New directions in teaching English: Reimagining teaching, teacher education, and research. New York: Roman & Littlefield.

ISBN: 978-1610486767

Pages: 220

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Morrell, E., & Scherff, L. (2015). / New Directions in Teaching English

In New Directions in Teaching English, Morrell and Scherff (2015) tackle the question, “What does it mean to be an English educator in the 21st century?” (p. 52).

As an English teacher educator, I hoped the book would offer a vision for English teaching at the intersection of my three worlds: my world as a former high school English teacher, my role as a teacher of undergraduate pre-service teachers, and my work as a doctoral student and researcher of language and literacy in education. This edited collection, which includes scholarship from the viewpoint of teachers, teachereducators, and scholars, certainly did not disappoint. The authors offer an energizing purpose for English education—“critical literacy in which young people gain a set of skills that allow them to become more able, discerning, and empowered consumers of text” (p. xiii)—but they bring forth this purpose by weaving together voices from various vantage points in English Education.

Thus the book’s greatest strength is a vision of English Education that includes many stakeholders.

The book is organized into three major sections—the perspectives of classroom teachers, teacher-educators, and language and literacy researchers—with each section comprised of individually authored chapters.

Collectively, these chapters explore culturally relevant teaching for diverse student populations, the teaching of English for multilingual students, and the teaching of language and literacy skills in the digital media age, all of which important and necessary issues the 21st century educator must address. Despite this incredible range, the book maintains cohesion because all authors featured envision youth and teachers who shape and sustain their communities through various and diverse literacies, and the constant connection to real world purposes makes this an energizing read.

In the first and most developed section, teachers offer an account of what is working in their specific classroom contexts and point out challenges that lie ahead. As a teacher researcher, I often read research that focuses on aspects of education that need to be improved or that offers hypothetical solutions, so I found these chapters especially refreshing for their focus on concrete, real examples of things that are going right in classroom teaching already.

Furthermore, the strategies described could be modified to fit the needs of any teacher reading it who wishes to enact the same kind of strategy in his or her own classroom, making this section both practical and a wonderful reminder of teachers who do amazing work every day.

For example, in Chapter One, Coffey describes her classroom unit in which students analyzed and explored multiple texts in order to arrive at their own definitions of what it means to be a warriorscholar. Her unit highlights ways in which teachers can engage and motivate students with relevant material that is linked to realworld purposes, in this case helping students to find agency through literacy for the purpose of transforming their communities.

Fiallos (Chapter Two) offers another example of how culturally relevant teaching motivates and engages students, connecting their outof-school literacies to the classroom by asking students to design their own musical soundtracks and engage in a range of writing and production activities from narrative to more traditional thematic analysis to multimodal construction of picture, sound, and description. In both Coffey’s and Fiallos’ chapters, the unit ideas can be used or modified by teachers. More importantly, both highlight a shared purpose of literacy and teaching English: language and literacy skills for liberation and community activism.

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In Chapter Three, Garcia focuses specifically on mobile media such as texting, QR codes, email, and other mobile media apps. This chapter is especially important for a teacher like me, who can sometimes be apprehensive about incorporating media that my students know more about than me. Garcia encourages teachers to work to incorporate mobile media in spite of this challenge because the advantages—student engagement through the connection to immediate and real audiences—are too good to pass up. His chapter also illustrates how new directions in the teaching of English require a shift in mindset about the role of teacher authority; moving English teaching forward requires not only a reimagining of content but also a reimagining of the role teachers play in helping students develop literacies that they already use in their everyday lives. At the end of this chapter, I have more questions about how teachers might navigate a new role that asks them to flatten some of their authority and allow students to drive knowledge and inquiry in the classroom. In what ways can teachers help students to know that their expertise, especially around mobile media, is just as valued at the teacher’s? How will teachers negotiate the tension between a traditional expected role of authority and the new pedagogical role as co-constructor of knowledge with students? A classroom where student and teacher are both involved in learning toward shared goals excites me, but also marks a new direction for teacher roles, thus the need for new understandings of how teachers navigate those roles.

While Chapters Four and Five offer less concrete strategies that teachers might use or modify in their own classrooms, Johnson and Winn, along with Martinez, contribute important counternarratives about the literacy practices of young black and Latino/a men and women. Johnson and Winn give us the voices of three young black men as they describe classroom experiences

that were meaningful for them as well as experiences that failed to engage them. The narratives of Jeremy, Donovan, and Caesar reiterate the themes of the three previous chapters by emphasizing that engagement and purpose are key factors in whether or not students find schoolwork meaningful.

This chapter also adds the voices of students themselves into the discussion of teaching English, a necessary contribution given that teachers, teacher educators, and teacher researchers are all already included.

In the same vein, Martinez also provides a narrative about black and Latino/a youth that runs counter to the ubiquitous deficit perspective narratives in literacy education.

His close discourse analysis of classroom interactions reveals how youth exhibit considerable language dexterity, switching among Englishes depending on context.

Martinez’s chapter argues not just for a broadening of what counts as literacy in English education classes, but also of what counts as language. Such an expansion of what counts as language allows for students to bring in the knowledge they possess and grow that knowledge to reach more audiences and make a greater impact on the communities that matter to them.

Taken together, these five chapters highlight a vision for teachers and students engaging with literacy and literacy learning in the twenty-first century in which literacy is linked to student interest and purposes. I appreciated these five chapters for their portrayal of what is working, especially because in my own teaching career I sometimes felt overwhelmed by the demands of my work to the point where I made excuses for why I did not have the time or resources to be the kind of teacher I imagined I could be. Such resignation was the primary reason I was likely to sometimes slip into teaching in ways I had been taught instead of pursuing the collaborative 213

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approach to literacy that I felt was more beneficial to student learning. The portrayal of teachers in these five chapters indicates that we as teachers have no excuses for not embarking on meaningful literacy pedagogy with students. These teachers are doing it, and they are offering examples from which we as readers can build.

Appropriately, at the end of this section the book shifts from its focus on successful classrooms and the teachers and students in them to how English educators might begin to help pre-service teachers to develop pedagogy and become teachers like the ones sketched in the preceding section. While this section only contains three chapters, and is perhaps less comprehensive than the previous section, at least Morrell and Scherff (2015) try to take what they know about what works in classrooms and include voices of scholars who can offer up strategies for helping teacher educators to share this vision of classroom teaching with future teachers. I think this area of English Education needs even more attention, and craved a few more chapters in this section, but was nonetheless relieved that the book did not simply provide a vision for teaching without offering possibilities for how teacher educators might help a new generation to get there.

In Chapter Six, Scherff opens the section by describing a third space service learning environment in which pre-service teachers get a chance to engage with students in a less formal space than the typical classroom.

Scherff emphasizes how third-space experiences can help pre-service teachers adjust their deficit thinking and better recognize the literacies students use in their everyday lives. This example of how thirdspaces influence pre-service teachers’ conceptions of students and literacies was a good reminder that I should not limit my pre-service teacher’s opportunities to classrooms and made me thinking about

opportunities for my students to engage with youth at local libraries or in community groups. Scherff’s experiences with the preservice teachers in this third space also highlights how context shapes learning for those who are learning to teach.

Rush (Chapter Seven) extends the discussion of the importance of context as she describes her role as the only English Teacher Educator in the state of Wyoming. The rural context of the schools in the state influence the way she approaches teaching pre-service teachers. Rush emphasizes the importance of pre-service teachers understanding the community of the students they will teach, something I need to help my own students do so that they may work with student to sustain the culture of those communities.

In the final chapter of the section on preservice teachers, Miller (Chapter Eight) details his approach to helping preservice teachers consider their own histories and communities as well as the histories and communities of their students with hopes of raising pre-service teachers awareness of social justice issues in education. Miller provides an example of an “equity audit” assignment (p. 112) in which pre-service teachers conduct in-depth research of a school in order to unpack a geo-history of the place. I like the assignment so much that I’m having my preservice teachers enact it in hopes that they will learn more about the history and community of their specific teaching contexts, specifically in regards to how equity has or has not been present.

While this middle section from English Educators is shorter than the previous section from teachers, it begins to offer ideas of how new ways for teaching English can be part of teacher preparation programs, something that’s particularly important to me right now as an instructor for pre-service teachers who will enter the profession in the 214

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

next year. It also touches on a major challenge I face as an English educator: I must prepare pre-service teachers to teach literacy for and in a wide range of contexts.

Furthermore, since literacy that empowers students connects them to their personal purposes and community, I must prepare pre-service teachers to teach in ways that help students sustain and transform communities without knowing fully which communities these teachers will be working with and in. While these three authors offer some starting points, I think ultimately the difference in the two sections shows that in general the field knows more about what is going right in classrooms than about helping preservice teachers get there.

The third section of the book explores the role of research in achieving the vision for English teaching and English teacher education set forth in the first two sections.

Once again, this section is less developed than the first, indicating that perhaps one new direction for English teaching would be to increase what English educators and researchers know about how to connect research on literacy to the practice of it.

Nonetheless, it’s refreshing that Morrell and Scherff did not shy away from the challenge of showing how research is and should be connected to the teaching of English.

In Chapter Nine, Lewis and Causey continue to address the importance of connecting literacy to students’ lives, specifically their “sociopolitical contexts” (p. 124). They describe their own research of how students are able to use technology as a form of critical engagement through DigMe, a program that focus on interdisciplinary study and critical literacy.

In Chapter Eleven, Groenke and Laughter imagine the English classroom as a place where students can “unmask how power relations work” (p. 157). The chapter

explores both the benefits of pre-service teachers doing action research in classrooms and what happens when one of those teachers gets his or her own classroom and has to work to combat homophobia. In my own teaching, I often experienced conflict between the way I imagined lessons surrounding controversial issues and the reality of how students responded in the actual moment. Groenke and Laughter’s chapter highlights a practical way to help teachers focus on these tense moments and respond to them in meaningful ways.

Finally, Patricia Stock (in Chapter Twelve) explains the positive impact practitioner research can have on practice by detailing a teacher inquiry workshop she held on multimedia in the literacy classroom.

Through their experience in the workshop, teachers were able to explore what books and activities engaged students in reading and consider how the information would impact their pedagogy. This and the other three chapters from researchers are just a start in exploring how research can help inform practice in both English and preservice teacher classroom, but it is certainly a start in the right direction, toward classrooms that look like the five detailed in the opening chapters of the book.

I think this book provides meaningful engagement with what it means to work toward a possible future of what English teaching could be: it offers a look at real classrooms and what is going right inside them, which gives teachers who are looking to reinvigorate their pedagogy a good place to start; it offers ideas for teacher educators who are hoping to help tomorrow’s teachers imagine and reimagine a pedagogy that will better serve America’s youth; and finally, the book speaks to the role of research in realizing the purpose and vision of English Education that the book promotes throughout. The common denominator in all 215

Morrell, E., & Scherff, L. (2015). / New Directions in Teaching English

of these positive literacy experiences remains that the literacy students use in school does not exist in a vacuumâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;teachers, pre-services teachers, teacher educators, and education researchers can indeed link literacy teaching to real-world purposes for the use of those same literacies, helping students to become agents of change in their own lives. I finished the book excited to get up the next day and step into my classroom with preservice teachers. I would certainly put this book on my syllabus.

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Review of Teaching Transnational Youth: Literacy Education in a Changing World.

Reviewer: Joelle Pedersen Lynch School of Education at Boston College, Boston, MA

Skerrett, A. (2015). Teaching transnational youth: Literacy and education in a changing world. New York, NY: Teacher’s College Press.

ISBN: 978-0807756584 Pages: 144 Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Skerrett, A. (2015). / Teaching Transnational Youth It is a scenario that has become increasingly familiar to educators in urban schools. A student suddenly disappears for weeks, perhaps months.

Rumors circulate that she is “back home” in Ecuador, or Mexico, or Haiti. Teachers have all but forgotten, when, just as suddenly, the student returns. She appears anxious, overwhelmed, lost in unfamiliar content. Teachers wonder what kind of learning experiences she had while she was away.

They worry about her English skills. Testing season is right around the corner. Major assessments are due. They must re-integrate the student back into school as quickly as possible. But how? In today’s global classroom, how are we to understand the experiences of students who traverse nations and cultures? What challenges do they face? What resources do they bring? How can we better support our transnational students as they negotiate the boundaries of language and identity?

Educators reading Alison Skerrett’s Teaching Transnational Youth: Literacy Education in a Changing World will experience a moment of relief as they begin the book and realize her insight and timeliness in finally giving name to this phenomenon. Though researchers estimate that one in four children in the world lead transnational lives, a lack of attention to these experiences in U.S. education research and policy has rendered the plight of transnational students largely invisible.

Skerrett defines transnationalism as “embarking on a mobile international lifestyle through a mix of necessity and choice to take advantage of economic, social, educational, and other opportunities across two or more nations” (p. 11). In this description, and throughout her book, Skerrett highlights the variability inherent in the transnational experience and the many different motivations for living transnationally, as well as the academic and social challenges unique to transnational students.

The book, Skerrett’s first, builds from her experiences as a secondary ELA teacher and her work in the Language and Literacy, and Cultural Studies in Education programs at the University of Texas at Austin. She has devoted much of her early career to understanding the contours and borderzones of adolescent literacy. The fact that

she received the Literacy Research Association’s Early Career Award attests to the relevance and accessibility of her research. I discovered her work in my first years as a high-school ELA teacher, and it is her voice as a practitioner, even more than as a scholar, that still resonates with me. Her research sparked my own commitment to making my classroom a space where diverse literacy practices are recognized and valued. Now at Boston College, where Skerrett completed her doctorate, my colleagues speak of her fondly and with great respect for her groundedness in the challenges of practice.

Skerrett’s research advocates a pedagogy of multiliteracies: the kinds of inclusive reading and writing practices that will prepare diverse students to think critically and share ideas in the twentyfirst century. Her commitment to culturallyresponsive teaching, multicultural curricula, and diversity in education policy are all at play in the book’s socio-cultural exploration of transnational literacy. She ties her interest in transnationalism back to her own childhood experiences as the daughter of a seaman who spent much of his time away from home transporting goods across the Caribbean. Ironically, Skerrett says that it was not until doing research for this book that she came to the startling discovery that, for her entire life, she and her family had been living transnationally.

Skerrett’s work is in this sense a very personal journey, and the power of her research lies in its subjectivity; it is impossible to separate her commitment to transnational students from her own transnational identity.

The importance of Skerrett’s book is partly semantic. She makes a strong case for understanding transnationalism and the immigrant experience to be fundamentally different phenomena. Unlike immigrant students, who must grapple with their outsider status from a fixed geographic position, transnational students’ national identities are always in flux. Skerrett (2015) suggests that the constant movement across countries and cultures makes transnational students, in the words of Hamann, Zúñiga, and Sánchez García, “more likely to see themselves as students between two nations rather than of two 218

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 nations” (p. 27). In addition to the stress and strife experienced by all adolescents, transnational students may struggle to develop a sense of belongingness in either of their home countries.

The tendency to miscategorize transnational students as immigrant students ignores the challenges of identity formation without a stable sense of home and origin, as well as the difficulty of learning when school experiences are regularly interrupted. For teachers and school leaders, this misidentification also limits the potential for transnational students’ global educational experiences to be built on as resources in the classroom and in the larger school community.

Although Skerrett draws from three university research projects investigating student diversity and literacy education in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, perhaps the book’s greatest strength is its accessibility and attentiveness to issues of practice. She addresses the gap in literature on transnational education from inside the classroom.

The book is framed by anecdotes from three transnational students and their teachers, and Skerrett skillfully weaves her own research in with these narratives. The book is less ivory tower and more teacher’s lounge, complete with detailed instructional strategies for what Skerret terms “transnationally-aware” literacy education.

As one example, Skerrett describes a “selfportraiture” activity, in which students address the prompt: “What do you want your classmates and me to know about who you are?” Using multiple media, students create pictures of themselves, their community, and their cultures to “display the whole terrain of who they are” (p. 52). The portraiture activity provides useful information for the teacher about students’ backgrounds and literacy practices, cultivating a sense of belongingness within the classroom while affirming aspects of student identity. At the same time, students are encouraged to critically reflect on cultural diversity and empowered in the telling of their own stories. Throughout the book, strategies like this one are explicitly laid out and illustrated with vignettes of exemplary teaching. This makes the book extremely useful for the teachers as well as school leaders struggling to re-integrate transnational students into their schools.

After beginning by setting the groundwork for what it means to be transnationally literate, each chapter of the book addresses different dimensions of the transnational experience, the knowledge and skills that transnational youth bring to the classroom, and how these can be tapped into to make literacy instruction more dynamic and more effective.

Rather than focusing on the difficulties of teaching transnational students, Skerrett asks us to question our narrow definitions of literacy and our one-sizefits-all education policy around reading and writing, rethinking transnational experiences as resources for learning in the classroom that can benefit transnational and mono-national students alike. The book also suggests the importance of teaching with attention to students’ unique linguistic repertories and their identities as multilingual learners.

Skerrett argues that literacy instruction for transnational students must be informed by a deep understanding of students’ particular life experiences, requiring that educators take the time to cultivate meaningful relationships with students and their families. This agenda builds on an understanding of transnational teaching as equitydriven, and is more radical than it might first appear. It is clear that Skerrett hopes to empower both students and teachers with her research, and her project hinges on respect for teachers’ professional expertise. Skerrett’s work reminds educators and policymakers alike about the gains that all students can achieve from an inclusive literacy curriculum and a more global perspective in the classroom.

The limits of Skerrett’s work relate, unavoidably, to variations in the transnational experience. The book tends to dichotomize transnational and mono-national students in a way that can be reductive. By definition, the transnational experience is not a homogenous one. Transnational students are at least as dissimilar from one another as they are alike, and it is difficult to generalize about effective instruction across a continuum of transnational experiences. Skerrett herself recognizes this from the outset. She does not presume to offer a universal formula for transnationally-aware literacy education, and any 219

Skerrett, A. (2015). / Teaching Transnational Youth reader looking for such a prescription will be left disappointed. Nonetheless, educators may struggle to envision what Skerrett’s ideas would look like in their own local contexts. The three case studies that Skerrett focuses on are illuminating, but still just a small piece of the transnational continuum.

ESOL teachers and those working with non-native English speakers may also be left wondering about transnational students at different stages of language learning. Multilingualism is part and parcel of transnational life, but language learning occurs differently for every student. Long periods without use of a non-native language may mean that students require additional support in comprehension and self-expression as they reintegrate into the classroom. Many of the activities Skerrett describes are heavy on writing, and place high demands on students’ literacy skills. What might these lessons look like for students at different levels of language proficiency? How can teachers create space for students to develop the translanguaging skills they will need to access curriculum across nations and cultures?

If Skerrett’s intent is to uplift readers, she succeeds at this expertly. However, the wearied classroom teacher may still feel that the author does not adequately address the difficulty of what practical steps to take. While the book makes clear that a more inclusive model of literacy education is beneficial for all students, given the many demands placed on teachers in urban public schools including minimal support from administrators and the pressures of accountability and high stakes testing, some readers may find that Skerrett is simply asking too much. Is it reasonable to expect a teacher to be so fully present for a transnational student when there are 32 others to attend to, five periods a day? With limited time and resources, and little knowledge of students’ varied language backgrounds, teachers may struggle to differentiate instruction in a way that is both effective and affirmative of diversity.

Another challenge for teachers of transnational students is minimal time to cultivate trusting relationships across the school community.

Skerrett’s vision for the classroom is a microcosm

of globalization, a place where students feel safe to share their diverse experiences and ideas, where difference is valued. But can students be expected to disclose private aspects of their lives to teachers and peers they hardly know? Even the best teachers may have difficulty connecting with students whose attendance at school is unpredictable.

Skerrett’s book would be well-served by more attention to issues like these, perhaps with some framework for professional development of transnational teachers. Is there a model for how teachers might collaborate productively to support their transnational students? How might teachers share in this responsibility together? What is the school leader’s role in supporting this process?

How can teacher education programs work to prepare future teachers to recognize and meet the needs of the transnational students in their classrooms?

Although Skerrett’s book does not specifically address school leadership for transnational students, it is founded on a vision of boundaryspanning and border-crossing in education that is shared by social justice leadership initiatives.

Administrators at urban schools are well aware of the many divides of language, race, and culture that students and their families cross over and between in their daily lives. As the demographics of schools in the U.S. become increasingly diverse, and globalization becomes the new norm for twentyfirst century life, school leaders need to develop networks of support that extend far beyond their own district. Educators must come to see their students not as bodies in a building, but as citizens of the world.

Particularly relevant to these challenges is Skerrett’s discussion of how schools and families, along with educators across borders, can plan together to minimize the interruption of formal schooling for transnational students. She implies that there is much school leaders can do to ease students’ transitions in and out of school. Building transnational relationships with international educational partners and facilitating the sharing of instructional materials and student records across borders is integral to this task. School leaders must 220

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Fall 2015 also support teachers in developing a consciousness about global education policy and school structures, as well as international issues of curriculum and instruction. In our conversations, Skerrett has suggested that the biggest challenge for school leaders is knowing how to start the dialogue about transnationalism. It is her sense that simply by identifying the issue, school leaders can help teachers to see the possibilities in studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; educational experiences in different school settings and explore what this means in terms of the supports in and across which students need to be successful.

In public schools today, adeptness in multicultural teaching is no longer a luxury. To these ends, Skerrettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s framework for teaching to diversity is an important contribution to the larger research base on culturally-relevant teaching and leadership. She makes a compelling argument for understanding the transnational experience as a resource that teachers and school leaders may draw upon in the service of expanding literacy teaching and preparing all students to be active participants in an increasingly transnational society.

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Review of Shoptalk: Lessons in Teaching from an African American Hair Salon Reviewer: Peter Smagorinsky, Distinguished Research Professor The University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Majors, Y. J. (2015). Shoptalk: Lessons in teaching from an African American hair salon. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

ISBN 978-0-8077-5661-4 (paperback) ISBN 978-0-8077-5662-1 (hardcover) ISBN 978-0-8077-7383-3 (ebook) Pages: 192

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 In Shoptalk: Lessons in Teaching from an African American Hair Salon, Yolanda J. Majors synthesizes research, teaching, a lot of hard thinking, and reflection following six years of research she conducted in four hair salons in the Midwestern and the Southern U.S. Based on what she learned about how argumentative discourse is constructed during informal conversations among African American women as they gathered in the social setting of the salon, she developed a shoptalk pedagogy for teaching literary analysis and argumentation in the Chicago neighborhood in which she had grown up, the West side area known as North Lawndale. This book thus both seeks to document the discourse practices found in a key site for gathering among African American women, and to apply that knowledge to instruction of urban African American students.

great detail the literate lives of those presumed by society at large to lack intelligence and social value.

Carol D. Lee’s Foreword to the book locates this study in the tradition of Heath’s (1983) community ethnography, Goodwin’s (1990) study of children’s street games, and Rose’s (2004) study of workplace cognition. I would add Moll’s (e.g., González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) studies of Tucson-area Latin@ immigrant community literacy and its disjuncture with school-based learning assessments, and Cushman’s (1998) ethnography of indigent Black Cherokee families’ navigation of the public housing bureaucracy to the body of work to which Majors’ research is related. In all of these studies, the researchers begin with the cultural practices of people considered to be disenfranchised, and in so doing, detail the sophisticated uses of speech, performance, collaborative argumentation, and other facets of local literacy practices through which individuals and collectives make sense of their worlds, construct empowered identities, and talk back to their oppressors.

In contrast, community ethnographies provide detailed documentation of social, emotional, and cognitive processes through which self-chosen literacy goals are pursued over time by small subsets of people with the assistance of feedback, affirmation, critique, and other forms of response and encouragement. Such ethnographic studies of Black students’ literacy activities focus on authentic, meaningful processes and products— e.g., their participation in spoken word performances—and find that literacy achievement is high, sustained, and of great social value. These literacy practices are characterized by social, performative dimensions and the collaborative construction of meaning.

Kirkland (2014) has convincingly demonstrated how using invalid research methods tends to pathologize Black youth, finding that two very different paradigms—standardized school assessments of literacy, and community-based ethnographies—come to polar opposite conclusions about their achievement and potential.

School achievement gets measured in single-sitting examinations based on problems posed by testmakers, with scores computed for statistical manipulation and students measured against either criteria (often based on middle-class assumptions) or norms derived from the whole testing population, which is skewed in favor of the middle class.

School assessment, in contrast, requires a solitary, detached approach to answering a battery of questions with correct answers as determined by the psychometrician who designed them, under the assumption that such factors as poverty are irrelevant. In shoptalk, however, the issue of poverty is often foregrounded as a problem to be understood and solved, not assumed to be irrelevant. As Kirkland’s (2014) review of ethnographic studies that take context into account demonstrate, literacy practices and tasks are situated and constructed and not amenable to standardized treatment. Majors’s work falls within this ethnographic tradition, seeking to understand the discourse practices in which Black women

What these studies share is an ethnographic approach to understanding how minoritized community members engage in both speech and other social practices in traversing the complexities of their challenging worlds—challenging, I say, because the minoritized people are often constructed from without as abject, impoverished, pathologized, and in deficit to the norms of middle class society as defined by affluent Whites. This field of ethnographic studies has documented in

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Majors, Y. J. (2015). / Shoptalk engage as a way to consider pedagogies that might engage students who share their backgrounds.

The African American Hair Ethnographic Research Site

Salon

3). Shoptalk thus has a sharply political edge, drawing on immediate life challenges for material and, as detailed next, relying on conventions of African American English (AAE) for force and emphasis.

as

The hair salon is one site of gathering in which resistance to bias is asserted. The film Barbershop (Story, 2002) and its sequel, televised spinoff, and planned third film have helped the broader public to see the manner in which the African American hair cutting and styling shop provides the forum in which politics, culture, romance, racial matters, and other issues are discussed in urban neighborhoods. The spinoff film Beauty Shop (Woodruff, 2005) further situates Black discourse in the setting of the women’s salon. As one who herself had accompanied her mother on her trips to the salon during childhood, Majors had become acculturated early in life to the role that salon shoptalk plays in the lives of both stylists and customers in their social construction of their lives.

Shoptalk as African American Discourse Genre Early on in the volume, Majors characterizes shoptalk as “a specific genre of conversational discourse through which teaching and learning are mediated in the context of the hair salon” (p. 24; emphasis in original). She then lists the major features of shoptalk, which may also emerge in other public spaces populated by African Americans. Shoptalk involves Publicly performed, private conversations occurring in culturally shared situated sites of labor A sharing of personal experience often in narrative form Speakers evoking a certain image and assuming roles before an audience Talk functioning as a prescriptive tool, allowing the stylists to treat their clients’ psychological and aesthetic needs Engaging forms of talk being communicated through AAE discourse norms (call and response, signifying, narrative argumentation) [links added] Oral narratives of personal experience and storytelling produced and interpreted through “acting” participants, generally for the purpose of providing resources, problem solving, and/or building knowledge Participants holding participation status as speakers and hearers within the participation framework (p. 24)

In Shoptalk, Majors returns to a variety of hair salons to study in detail how the women engage with one another in considering the issues they face and their response to a world that approaches them warily and with misunderstanding. As Majors frames her project, This book, in part, is about how people . . . talk to one another in the African American hair salon. It documents the encounters they share, the identities they resist and create, the literate skills they display in doing so, and the lessons learned from their collective and complex social readings of the world. It is about talk as performative discourse, where clients, beauticians, and other community members act out skillful, culturally scripted roles for their and others’ benefit. (pp. 2-3)

Shoptalk is thus “the process by which speakers engage with one another in problem-solving tasks and transform in/through their participation” (p.

24). This critical approach involves the production of improvised, socially-reconstructed oral texts that offer participants “alternative, sometimescompeting mechanisms for a kind of cultural

She continues, referring to the salon as an intellectual arena in which problem-posing and problem-solving are undertaken as the participants produce “an interpretive narrative critical of the world and the group” that provides the text through which further action becomes available (p.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 consciousness, resiliency, and task-based problem solving” (p. 88). These processes often serve as a means of resistance to the constructions of African Americans in White society.

which the preacher continually implores the congregation to participate with greater energy with appeals such as “I can’t hear y’all!” should the pews become too quiet at any point. In many White churches (with some exceptions), the congregation only speaks when a formal opening appears in the script; the call-and-response character of Black churches would be inappropriate and a violation of form, even as it is woven throughout many forms of African American artistic expression. Shoptalk thus might appear loud, rambunctious, and confrontational to outsiders accustomed to more muted approaches to public demeanor. For those whose lives have acculturated them to shoptalk as an established form of interaction, however, it provides the medium through which their reality is constructed, contested, and imagined in light of their vision of a satisfying social future.

Majors identifies two goals for her volume: “(1) to illustrate, through empirical data, a kind of talk that occurs in the culturally shared spaces that African Americans occupy, and (2) to detail how, within such talk, teaching, learning, and identity work occur and the strategies that are involved in doing so” (p. 5). This shoptalk involves (1) A participatory role within that discourse that includes collaboration, cultural norms, and values; (2) a process of reasoning through goal-oriented tasks that involve collaboration and an examination of multiple and often divergent perspectives; and (3) an interactive form of reasoned argumentation and problem solving that is both socially and cognitively beneficial. (p.

5)

Shoptalk therefore is not so much a unique, locally situated genre as an instance of African American discourse genres that are in practice across a range of settings. As such, it represents a form of racial socialization that includes “divine, affectivesymbolic, and phenomenological strategies that protect youth from discriminatory and psychological antagonistic environments; that mediate racism stress; and that are related to closer and more protective family relationships” (p. 29), both within families and in centers of the local community. Majors emphasizes that for shoptalk to occur, participants “transform space for the purpose of enacting a role and constructing and or suspending an identity and conveying a message” (p. 32; emphasis in original). This notion of the importance of identity, in the unique setting of the hair salon, involves gaining an understanding of a client’s personality and internal profiles in order to construct an appropriate appearance, perhaps even shaping the hairstyle to project an identity not yet developed.

Shoptalk is thus not simply gabbing away while hair gets treated, shaped, and shorn. Rather, it involves a form of argumentation in a genre that is quite distinctive in form and participation practices. As Majors documents, argumentation about social issues occurs in a performative, interactional way in which the audience participates freely and actively, contributing to the lines of argumentation undertaken by the principal speaker. Bazerman and Paradis’s (1991) collection of essays on the ways in which argument is locally shaped is relevant to the unique ways in which different communities adapt Toulmin's (1958) basic argumentative form to foreground particular aspects of how points are made and substantiated, and to infuse them with specific forms of emphasis.

Just as literary critics and lawyers argue in distinctive ways, so do women in African American hair salons.

Within shoptalk the narrative takes on specific cultural traits. It is not a story told to a quiet audience. Rather, it is part of a dialogic group dynamic, one that, when undertaking resistance to discrimination, fosters self-affirmation and performs a contested identity.

Audience participation grows in relation to cues provided by

As Majors demonstrates, shoptalk’s argumentative processes do not resemble those found in the essayist tradition (Farr, 1993) upon which academic argumentation is founded. Rather, it derives from interactional styles commonly found among African Americans. Think of the Black church, in

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Majors, Y. J. (2015). / Shoptalk the speaker, which may be verbal or signaled through body language, and resembles the calland-response exchanges of the Black church service. In this fashion, a shoptalk narrative requires sophisticated intersubjectivity between individuals, and thus is a profoundly relational form of storytelling. It is collaboratively produced and relies on a sense of kinship that provides the means of affiliation for people who identify as African American. Furthermore, the narrative involves verbal playfulness and inventiveness, often relying on ironic poses and speech to convey a message.

From sociolinguistics, she sees speech as a contributing factor in one’s cultural identity kit (Gee, 1992), with identities being both performed and constructed through engagement in situated discourse genres. From critical race theory (e.g., Ladson-Billings, 1998), she adopts a perspective oriented to challenging inequitable power structures of the sort often contested by women in the salons she studied, particularly the institutional structures so deeply embedded in a culture’s consciousness that they appear natural and inevitable.

Together, these approaches allow her to view shoptalk as more than just conversation occurring in a benign setting while hair is styled. Rather, through their discussions, the women deconstruct their experiences, often with racism, and position themselves as having agency in breaking down the institutions and those who populate them as a means of asserting their own societal authority.

This transformative-equity-based framework, as Majors calls it, provides shoptalk with a substance and urgency that transcend idle conversation and move the discourse to a level of political power. As such, it represents a hybrid form of discourse that the salon setting provides a medium for eliciting.

One such form is signifying, the verbal repartee that in some contexts may be viewed as inappropriate and even as a form of bullying (Rivers & Espelage, 2013). In the context of African American hair salons—and signifying’s impact on others is a function of context and relationships rather than a static effect—this form of interaction is neither bullying nor passing time (the options offered by Rivers & Espelage). Rather, it serves as a means of making critical points about society at large by those who in many ways have been disenfranchised within its confines. This form of narrative thus requires not just listening, but understanding how to read cues from the speaker and when and how to participate appropriately in the construction of the story. It also requires a fluid orientation to narration and the ability to shift in and out of roles as the circumstances suggest. As Majors phrases it, participation in this form of narrative requires cultural knowledge about “the receptive dimensions of engagement in literate practice: how people observe, listen, read, and take up social texts. Such readings shape acts of authorship: the close link between reading and writing, both the world and the world” (p. 80). This value on sophisticated uses of performative speech is a hallmark of shoptalk and reflects the intense, well-rehearsed cognitive demands it places on its participants.

Shoptalk in one Urban Classroom Setting Majors hopes to understand “how the classroom can be transformed into a robust space where students may apply such [shoptalk] practices to their academic and lived lives” by drawing on home and community discourse conventions (p. 102).

Doing so involves accepting risk and disruption as valuable aspects of social learning, and maximizing the experiences and knowledge from home and community. This emphasis stands in contrast with the tendency to wash out personal, lived understandings of the world in school and to treat students’ first-order means of worldly engagement as deficits to be overcome. Shoptalk thus works in opposition to the values of the Common Core State Standards and their emphasis on reading “within the four corners of the text” and treating texts as autonomous and magisterial. Rather, it values thinking that is collaborative, historical, contextual,

Theoretical Sources Majors synthesizes a set of interrelated frameworks through which to pose her notion of shoptalk.

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 emergent, exploratory, performative, ironic, witty, and participatory.

Eurocentric values require that any non-European racial heritage will spoil a White identity and lead one to be assigned to a racial group of lower status, prestige, and opportunity. The notion of an African American discourse, thus, may be seen as that which is developed among those whose primary kinship group is the African American community, often as a consequence of having some percentage of African blood in one’s family lineage. Although this affiliation may be treated as a choice, it is a choice that is shaped by powerful forces from those in the environment for whom it matters what color a person should be treated as.

In the classroom, the student role tends to be more that of the spectator than the participant, and the Black child who participates out of turn is constructed as boisterous and disobedient. For shoptalk to be practiced within the formal confines of the school classroom, border crossing becomes necessary. In particular, a shoptalk pedagogy would encourage cultural border crossing such that multiple students could participate in the coconstruction of ideas rather than having one speaker formally recognized to occupy the floor at one time, with classmates quiet and attentive (or, at least, quiet). Majors emphasizes border crossing of many sorts in this study, with the introduction of a form of speech typically considered to lack propriety in school to be introduced as a primary vehicle of speech for urban students who understand its dimensions. Majors discusses teachers’ (and others’) tendency to refer to their vision of people as “color blind,” as if they see all people as the same, regardless of skin color.

Although this stance may be admirable from the standpoint of equity, it has the pernicious effect of being blind to the ways in which the kinship group of the African American community affiliates around a set of cultural practices.

Shoptalk, therefore, embodies the cultural practices and perspective of those whose primary kinship group is composed of those who identify as African American, and who embrace its conventions as valid and of great practical value. One benefit of drawing on the qualities of shoptalk in urban classrooms is that it may reduce the number of adaptations that African American youth must make in order to cross the cultural border from neighborhood to school and its conception of academic success. Learning a whole new academic vocabulary and speech genre may require a great adaptive effort that may inhibit rather than promote engagement with the curriculum. As Lee (1993, 2000, 2007) has found in her series of studies of African American speech genres and their appropriateness in school, grounding instruction in students’ home languages may give them quicker access to academic material than requiring them to learn an academic social language as prerequisite to engagement. As a former student and ongoing collaborator with Lee, Majors endorses this principle as a fundamental reason for promoting shoptalk in the urban classroom.

On this matter I am informed by another recent study, Hobbs’s (2015) research on racially ambiguous people of partial African heritage who engage in the practice of “passing” as White, often leaving behind their families in the process, with the consequence of great feelings of loss and regret.

In considering the complex issue of race, Hobbs attends to the problem of race as a social construction, with racially ambiguous people often required to declare their belonging to one group or another, but not both. Even those like poet and novelist Jean Toomer, whose White appearance belied the presence of Black blood, and who resisted racial categorization, was ultimately forced to be classified as Black by a society driven by the belief that such a determination matters above all.

Shifting from the salon to the school, Majors sees this framework serving as a means of liberating students from the roles available to them in their everyday lives. That is, rather than seeing themselves as pathologized urban youth destined for the prison cell and welfare line, they have the opportunity to assert for themselves a more powerful role in constructing positive social futures for themselves. Here, according to Majors, “Shoptalk may provide an alternative space that structures opportunities for students to sort

Hobbs, in considering the problem of racial classification, concludes that people affiliate around feelings of kinship, often racial in basis.

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Majors, Y. J. (2015). / Shoptalk through the real-life dilemmas that they are expected to take up, as well as work through academic tasks, like identifying and solving problems in literature” (p. 26).

generation of coping strategies that are hybrid in nature” (p. 41).

The shoptalk pedagogy that Majors outlines is based on a scaffolding process that involves apprenticeship, guided participation, and participatory appropriation. In the tradition of Gates (1989) and Lee (1993), Majors finds that the qualities of shoptalk—its ironic, interpretive, indirect, imaginative, performative manner of conveying meaning—provide it with a logical bridge to the literacy classroom. She identifies Lee and Lee’s doctoral studies mentor, Hillocks (e.g., 1995), as particularly influential in her adaptation of shoptalk to classroom literacy instruction.

At the risk of hijacking Majors’ work for my own purposes, I suggest that these hybrid classroom spaces allow for the availability of a positive social updraft (Cook & Smagorinsky, 2014; Smagorinsky, in press), a process through which people— particularly those who are disenfranchised or disadvantaged—may be swept “upward” through participation in legitimate cultural practice. I have used this phrase primarily in relation to mental health and how productive lives may become possible when those with diagnoses and classifications suggesting their deficient status in the world are viewed in light of their assets rather than their points of difference. Being treated as able, intelligent, resourceful people with strengths and social value, and being viewed as knowledgeable people with legitimate perspectives and ideas, gives youth from backgrounds in which incarceration is common a way to challenge this fate and, perhaps more importantly, challenge the system in which their skin color paints them as hostile and criminal in the eyes of social institutions and their representatives, from communities and their police forces to classrooms and their teachers.

Lee’s (2007) Cultural Modeling framework includes a set of design principles that are indebted to Hillocks’s pedagogy for teaching writing and literature. A teacher in this tradition first conducts a task analysis that identifies the key skills that a task involves and suggests activities through which they might be taught. Although the ultimate goal is for students to work toward learning processes that experienced readers and writers have developed, the pedagogy begins with students’ immediate, familiar knowledge as they engage with accessible materials known in this approach as data sets, and known in teacher education as the material representing students’ prior knowledge. The process is thus inductive; rather than having the teacher explain the procedures, the students generate them through an activity designed to involve them in a specific form of inquiry and problem-solving. For example, I’ve developed an activity to demonstrate how such instruction works for teachers with whom I’ve encouraged this approach: Organize students in groups of 3-4 and have them take out their cellphones, which seemingly everyone owns these days regardless of circumstances. Most people love their phones and love their gadgets and affordances. The task is simple: Who has the coolest cellphone?

To Majors, the notion of narrative argumentation is a key aspect of shoptalk that is of particularly value in the salon, but tends to be prohibited in school and its essayist tradition. In particular, she emphasizes the role of cultural counter-narratives that “invoke narrative knowledge and storytelling to challenge the social construction of identity, race, and power, eschewing the experiences of White, European Americans as the normative standard, and grounding its conceptual framework, instead, in the distinctive contextual experiences of people of color” (p. 40). Shifted from the salon, this value “invites the design of instructional conversations that enables individuals to enact their roles as problem-solvers from a critical standpoint and draws on community-based norms for talk and problem solving as the medium for the

In most cases, each group member would argue on behalf of his, her, or zir own beloved phone. In doing so, they are engaging in processes central to a variety of tasks: argumentation (making claims, providing and warranting evidence, addressing

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 counter-arguments), extended definition (elaborating criteria for phone coolness and illustrating them with examples and contrasting examples), comparing and contrasting (comparing and contrasting features and affordances of different phones), narration (illustrating quality with stories of the phone’s amazing role in a personal experience). From this introductory or gateway activity, tasks of the given sort may be undertaken with more advanced, complex, and distant materials, such as the canonical texts of the school literature curriculum.

positions) William Bennett’s infamous public statement that “If you wanted to reduce crime, you could—if that were your sole purpose—you could abort every Black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossibly ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.”

Of course, you could also reduce the crime rate by aborting every White baby, but as phrased by Bennett, the problem of crime is one largely confined to the African American population.

Bennett also elides attention to his conservative party’s rejection of abortion as a solution to social problems, but I digress. Within this broad context of prejudicial stereotype and oppression, minoritized Americans work discursively to construct more reality-grounded, generous, and appreciative self-constructions that build on assets and resources and regard aberrations as anomalous and unrepresentative of the whole.

Lee’s (2007) application of this approach to racialized learning involves drawing on African American discourse conventions during the process of argumentation, and using data sets that are immediately familiar to African American youth.

These social texts ought to provoke students to engage with problems from their environments that are similar to the issues aired out in African American hair salons, often concerning discrimination, misunderstanding, and conflict due to racial bias. Through their analysis as cultural data sets, they should promote inquiry that deconstructs social institutions and their representatives and draws on their emotional and intellectual response to generate counterarguments that involve the qualities of shoptalk in construction and presentation. For the most part, the cultural data set would appear to include texts that the students can talk back to, make inferences about the assumptions of, and argue against: texts that presume that the students’ own status in life is blighted and deficient. Through the inductive process of challenging these texts, students engage in what Lee (2007) calls metacognitive instructional conversations that provide them with tools for undertaking social critique in relation to other texts.

William Bennett’s serious statement about reducing crime by aborting Black babies— horrifically reminiscent of Swift’s satirical A Modest Proposal in which he suggested that wealthy people eat the babies of the poor to address poverty and eliminate food shortages—provided Majors with such a text. Majors reports on how her use of this text in her North Lawndale classroom worked, offering this summary of how her students engaged with the text: For this student, this complex construction of self, with the interrelated identities of capable student, member of society, and engager of Bennett, is to the student’s benefit as she moves across similar texts.

The tools she draws upon include ways of speaking, performing, and reasons, and constitute transformations within the classroom—not just of talk, but also of self.

In other words, as she participates in the activity within the classroom through the use of such tools and resources, she transforms, taking on roles, identities, and participant statuses within the participation framework of the classroom and Bennett’s argument. (p. 145)

North Lawndale, the site of Majors’s teaching, is a Chicago neighborhood in which 70% of men aged 18-45 had criminal records as of 2001 (Street, 2002), a problem that may follow as much from assumptions made by police about who constitutes the criminal class as it does about the conduct of men in the area. The key text that Majors used when teaching in North Lawndale was former U.S. Secretary of Education (among many key policy

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Majors, Y. J. (2015). / Shoptalk As teacher research, her report of her instruction cannot possibly attend to the experiences of each student in the classroom, and so we must accept her description of this student as perhaps the ideal outcome of her instruction. Her point, however, is to offer an exemplar to demonstrate the potential of this pedagogy and give other teachers an opportunity to see how, in one distinctive setting, it worked under her own implementation. That limitation does not provide the sort of “taken to scale” research that infatuates policymakers, but that’s not her goal. Rather, it’s to illustrate one dedicated teacher’s application of what she learned through the extended study of informal discussions taking place in the hair salon, a site of gathering for African American women, and demonstrate how it might work as a pedagogical innovation. That illustration is of considerable value to the teaching profession, if not the policy world in which ethnographies are considered too narrow, local, and idiosyncratic a data set on which to base national standards and practices.

were to pay attention to the lessons available in this book.

Challenges in Classrooms

Implementing

Shoptalk

in

Perhaps the greatest challenge of extrapolating from Majors’ work to classrooms concerns the difficulty that many White teachers may have with drawing respectfully and fruitfully on AAE and shoptalk to ground students’ schoolwork. Among the key hair salon events she reports is a story told by a woman who, as a teacher, attended a meeting at which a White teacher confessed that, because her family heritage included slave ownership, she was uncomfortable teaching about slavery in class.

Majors also reports a White hair stylist in a Black salon who struggled to maintain a client base because of her difficulties establishing intersubjectivity with many patrons of the salon.

Intersubjectivity refers to the degree to which different people share a construction of the setting and understanding of the basis for how the setting is interpreted by others. The notion of intersubjectivity is particularly important in understanding cross-cultural communication of the sort analyzed by Majors, in which different interpretations of the same material and ideas are potentially at work when urban students enter school classrooms.

Ethnography, however, is never meant to be taken to scale. Its great achievement is to show, in contrast, why nothing can be taken to scale in a large, culturally diverse national population such as that in the U.S. Indeed, the claims offered by Majors are a form of counterargument against national policies that elide difference. Furthermore, by claiming to be color-blind and culture-blind, national policies become blind to human diversity, assuming that one curriculum and assessment vehicle is fair and equally accessible to all, that the same test item is identical to each test-taker regardless of how their background prepares them for the content and phrasing of the questions (Newman, Griffin, & Cole, 1989; Smagorinsky, 2011).

That assumption takes quite a beating throughout this book as Majors explains the socially situated nature of shoptalk and in turn argues against standardization based on White middle class values. Although I would not expect policymakers to be impressed by a volume that details in such clarity and lays out so abundantly why their approach is wrongminded and pernicious in consequence to the population that serves as the focus of Majors’s research, our educational system would be more sensitive to cultural variation if they

Given that White women make up by far the largest demographic in the teaching profession, with White teachers comprising 83.5 percent of the teaching force (National Center of Education Statistics, 2007-2008) and women comprising 84% of the profession (Feistritzer, 2011), questions of intersubjectivity and one’s comfort levels of teaching students from other cultures become of paramount importance (see Delpit, 1995). As Majors demonstrates extensively in this book, African American students must cross multiple borders to fit in with the discourse expectations of school, while teachers are required to make few.

Majors’ proposal that shoptalk may serve as a key bridge between urban students and school discourse conventions is primarily illustrated by her own return to her community of origin to undertake a pedagogy in which shoptalk plays a key

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Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 instructional and academic role. However, her own high levels of intersubjectivity with these students undoubtedly gives her a greater chance to succeed than would the undoubtedly awkward and likely inappropriate efforts of a White teacher consumed by guilt over her ancestors’ ownership of her students’ ancestors. Majors describes “the teacher who reads her students and attempts to teach them based on her interpretations, which are shaped by local and distal factors” (p. 67)—in Freire’s (1985) phrase, the teacher who reads the world in the word. And yet it’s a daily occurrence for White people to “read” Black people wrong, as the examples that Majors provide from salon shoptalk exchanges demonstrate.

Louis Clark, the former principal of Eastside High School in Paterson, NJ, an urban school where he instituted draconian disciplinary policies, a career brought to public attention in the film Lean on Me (Avildsen, 1989) in which he was played by an imperious Morgan Freeman. More recently, Keegan Michael Key has played this authoritarian role to comic effect in his portrayal of urban teacher Mr. Garvey, laying down the law while substituting in a class of suburban White students.

Harriet Ball, the Texas teacher who became the model for the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) charter school network and its no-nonsense approach to education, perhaps represents a medium between the authoritarian and the culturally relevant teacher. Ball drew on AAE conventions for her methods, particularly the use of rhythm and meter in devising chants through which to teach her students material, yet did so in a closed-ended manner in which reciting the chants verbatim demonstrated learning. In contrast, shoptalk’s adaptation to the classroom would produce an open-ended, collaborative, spontaneous means of narrative argumentation through which multiple identities are negotiated, as opposed to all students following the teacher’s lead faithfully.

KIPP’s use of Ball as a model appears to draw on her authoritarian stance more than her remarkable charisma, intelligence, inventiveness, and understanding of African American speech genres, as evidenced by the anomalously high KIPP expulsion rates that suggest that conformity and obedience, more than culturally relevant teaching, have served as their model for schooling.

Majors outlines a set of skills that one must have in order to adapt shoptalk to classroom settings.

These include An understanding of the rules of Black modes [of] discourse and the roles of the participants within it An understanding of the positioning of the speaker as it shapes authorial intent Ability to identify implied audience The underlying meaning or intent of a text An understanding of coherence within inference generation Ability to generate response to claim within a narrative Ability to take on roles (and to step in and out of them within the discourse) through the appropriation of contextualized terms in order to construct an expert knowledge and enact an epistemic stance. (p. 86)

It thus appears that shoptalk’s application to the classroom should be undertaken with care. I can imagine many White teachers finding it difficult to pull off, and many authoritarian Black teachers finding it counterproductive to their value on law and order. Yet in the hands of teachers acculturated to the practices of shoptalk, it could indeed serve as a compelling pedagogy that engages African American youth both with schoolwork and the broader project of asserting a legitimate role in society without sacrificing the potential available through the expression of African American speech genres. And for other teachers, it is a call to action to begin seeking ways of learning to understand the

Adapting shoptalk to school instruction might provide quite a challenge for the sort of person who most typically enters the teaching profession.

Traditionally, schools have expected students to undertake the majority of adaptations; the relatively recent field of culturally appropriate instruction represents a fraction of what has been proposed, and has tended to be the province of minoritized teachers, researchers, and theorists who are challenging the status quo. Yet among Black teachers, there is also a tradition of the strict teacher who takes a fairly militaristic approach to participation and discipline, as personified by Joe

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Majors, Y. J. (2015). / Shoptalk nature of shoptalk so as to better serve their students and their profession.

As part of a relatively new line of inquiry undertaken by minoritized scholars who study their communities’ interactional patterns, this study makes a strong contribution to work that demonstrates the legitimacy and opportunities for the adaptation of speech genres from their sites of origin across borders to new settings in which they may have new application. The value of such work is immense, and the value of this study within that field is great. I highly recommend this volume to classroom teachers who seek to draw on the speech conventions of shoptalk and other aspects of AAE to provide more culturally relevant learning opportunities, and to anyone interested in rhetoric, argumentation, narration, cultural practice, cultural psychology, education, and anywhere else where it matters how ideas are generated and extended within the parameters of genres of discourse.

Conclusion In this last section I have raised some concerns about the broad applicability of shoptalk as a classroom pedagogy. Those caveats should not be taken as anything more than the sort of limitation that characterizes all research. Even without the pedagogical extension, this book achieves much in documenting the role of shoptalk in the lives of those for whom it serves as a principal means of narrative argumentation. Majors documents the ways in which shoptalk serves its speakers admirably, just as other situated forms of argumentation—conducted among biologists, theologians, sports commentators, and virtually any other community of practice with its own vocabulary and terms of engagement—allow their participants to achieve their ends.

References Avildsen, J. G. (Dir.) (1989). Lean on me. Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers.

Bazerman, C., & Paradis, J. G. (Eds.) (1991). Textual dynamics of the professions: Historical and contemporary studies of writing in professional communities. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. Retrieved October 15, 2015 from http://wac.colostate.edu/books/textual_dynamics/ Cook, L. S., & Smagorinsky, P. (2014). Constructing positive social updrafts for extranormative personalities. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 3(4), 296–308. Available at http://www.petersmagorinsky.net/About/PDF/LCSI/LCSI_2014.pdf Cushman, E. (1998). The struggle and the tools: Oral and literate strategies in an inner city community. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Delpit, L. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York, NY: New Press.

Farr, M. (1993). Essayist literacy and other verbal performances. Written Communication, 10(1), 4-38.

Feistritzer, C. E. (2011). Profile of teachers in the U. S. 2011. Washington, D. C.: National Center for Education Information. Retrieved October 22, 2015 from http://www.edweek.org/media/pot2011final-blog.pdf Freire, P. (1985). Reading the world and reading the word: An interview with Paulo Freire. Language Arts, 62(1), 15-21.

Gee, J. P. (1992). Sociolinguistics and literacies. New York, NY: Falmer.

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González, N., Moll, L. C., & Amanti, C. (Eds.). (2005). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Goodwin, M. (1990). He-said-she-said: Talk as social organization. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Hillocks, G. (1995). Teaching writing as reflective practice. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Hobbs, A. (2015). A chosen exile: A history of racial passing in American life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Kirkland, D. E. (2014, November). The lies “big data” tell: Rethinking the literate performances of black males through a modified meta-analysis of qualitative “little” data. Paper presented at the annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, National Harbor, MD. Ladson-Billings, G. (1998). Just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a nice field like education?

Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 7-24. Retrieved October 16, 2015 from http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/275549/15093020/1321113869873/Ladson.

Lee, C. D. (1993). Signifying as a scaffold for literary interpretation: The pedagogical implications of an African American discourse genre (NCTE Research Report No. 26). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Lee, C. D. (2000). Signifying in the zone of proximal development. In C. D. Lee & P. Smagorinsky (Eds.), Vygotskian perspectives on literacy development: Constructing meaning through collaborative inquiry (pp. 191–225). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Lee, C. D. (2007). The role of culture in academic literacies: Conducting our blooming in the midst of the whirlwind. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2007-2008). Table 2. Percentage distribution of school teachers, by race/ethnicity, school type, and selected school characteristics: 2007–08. Washington, D.C.: Author.

Retrieved October 15, 2015 from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009324/tables/sass0708_2009324_t12n_02.asp.

Newman, D., Griffin, P., & Cole, M. (1989). The construction zone: Working for cognitive change in school. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Rivers, T., & Espelage, D. (2013). Black ritual insults: Causing harm or passing time? In s.j. miller, L. D. Burns, & T. S. Johnson (Eds.), Generation BULLIED 2.0: Prevention and intervention strategies for our most vulnerable students (pp. 75-84). New York, NY: Peter Lang.

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Smagorinsky, P. (2011). Vygotsky and literacy research: A methodological framework. Boston, MA: Sense.

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Majors, Y. J. (2015). / Shoptalk Smagorinsky, P. (Editor). (in press). Creativity and community among autism-spectrum youth: Creating positive social updrafts through play and performance. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Story, T. (Dir.) (2002). Barbershop. Los Angeles, CA: State Street Pictures.

Street, P. (2002). The vicious circle: Race, prison, jobs, and community in Chicago, Illinois, and the nation.

Chicago, IL: Chicago Urban League. Retrieved October 14, 2015 from http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/theviciouscircle.pdf.

Toulmin, S. (1958). The uses of argument. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved October 15, 2015 from http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam034/2003043502.pdf.

Woodruff, B. (Dir.) (2005). Beauty shop. Los Angeles, CA: State Street Pictures.

About the Reviewer Peter Smagorinsky grew up in segregated Virginia in the 1950s and 1960s, only attending school with Black students when integration became law when he was in 7th grade, when one Black male was enrolled in his junior high school. To save money for a family of 5 kids on a government scientistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s salary, his mother cut his hair until he was out of college; and in college, he got his hair cut about once a year. At this point in life, he gets his hair cut at Supercuts and simply asks the stylist to use the #2 blade and shear him like a sheep.

1974 2014 He is thus not Black, not a Woman, and not a frequenter of hair salons. And yet, he was delighted to have the opportunity to read and review this terrific book.

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Children and Young Adult Book Review High School Out of Darkness

Educator Reviewer: Margaret A. Robbins Student Reviewer: Ryland Poole

Perez, A. H. (2015). Out of darkness. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group.

ISBN: 978-1467742023 Pages: 408

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Perez, A. H. (2015) / Out of Darkness

Educator Review:

Naomi and her younger twin siblings Beto and Cari move from San Antonio to East Texas in 1936 to live with Henry Smith, Beto and Cari’s father and Naomi’s stepfather. Naomi adopts the last name Smith, and Beto is called “Robbie” at their European American school in New London. The children miss their San Antonio home and the presence of their loving grandparents, as Henry proves to be an unreliable and sometimes very cruel father figure. Then, an African-American teenager named James Washington “Wash” Fuller comes into their lives and makes their East Texas world much brighter. Naomi and Wash form a forbidden romance, as the racial lines in their area are pronounced. The two make plans for their future, but then, a disastrous school explosion changes everything. This is a moving, dark, and beautifully written novel about the importance of every life decision and the ability of love to transform.

Ashley Hope Perez skillfully takes the factual school explosion in The novel tackles New London, Texas, in 1937 and weaves together a narrative with important issues of fictional characters that shows the essence of life in East Texas during that time period. The novel tackles important issues of both both race and race and gender that high school students need to discuss. All of the characters are complex, interesting, and complicated. The plot is gender that high engaging and fast-paced, and the book is hard to put down. High school students school students will appreciate the novel and the importance of the story it tells. It touches on narratives and perspectives that might not need to discuss. otherwise receive sufficient attention.

Educators should consider the maturity level of the students before recommending this novel to students younger than high school age. It includes harsh language and a couple of sexually explicit scenes. The story is important to tell for reasons of history and social justice, and I hope many high school and college librarians will include it on their shelves.

Margaret A. Robbins The University of Georgia, Athens, GA Ph.D. Student

Student Review:

Out of Darkness is about love in a dark and hateful time. It allows the reader to see the dark past of American history. With the viewpoint switching between the main characters, the reader sees both sides of racism and what it can cause. It will leave the reader guessing whether the darkness inside us will ever be conquered.

Readers who like dark secrets, forbidden love and an unrelenting hatred for stepparents will not put this book down until the explosive final, a final that will not be forgotten.

Ryland Poole Travelers Rest High School, Travelers Rest, SC 11th Grade

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Children and Young Adult Book Review Middle to High School Anatomy of Curiosity

Educator Reviewer: Melissa Merritt Student Reviewer: Kayla Banks

Stiefvater, M., Gratton, T., & Yovanoff, B. (2015). Anatomy of curiosity.

Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group.

ISBN: 978-1467723985 Pages: 296

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Stiefvater, M., Gratton, T., & Yovanoff, B. (2015). / Anatomy of Curiosity

Educator Review:

The book features three different stories, which are tied together with the writers' insights, comments, introductions, and observations about their writing choices. The first story, "Ladylike" by Maggie Stiefvater, is about Petra growing and learning as a result of spending time being a companion for an elderly lady, Geraldine.

Geraldine becomes a mentor and tutor but is revealed to be an extremely unusual person. The second story is "Desert Canticle" by Tessa Gratton, where a young soldier has a connection with the desert and an impossible love while he is stationed there to disarm bombs. The last story, "Drowning Variations" by Brenna Yovanoff, tells about the strength of water even in a land of drought.

This book is a wonderful tool and resource for writers of all ages and levels. It focuses on characterization, world building, and writing different variations of one story. The commentaries throughout the stories give insight about the writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; choices and teach the reader how to read as a writer. It creates a conscious examination of the text and a conversation about the writing itself instead of focusing on the story and plot. It teaches a skill that is otherwise hard to explain, show, and practice. It gives the reader an inside perspective about the authors' intentions and ideas.

The second story does feature some minor sexual tension in a vague, general way. It is not detailed or explicit but should be taken into account. The last story also has the potential to lead to a discussion about sensitive topics including drug abuse, underage drinking, depression, and suicide.

Melissa Merritt The University of Georgia, Athens, GA Teacher Candidate Throughout the stories

each author writes

commentary in the

Student Review: margins offering

advice on how they got In this collaboration by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff, the question of how an idea becomes a novel is trying to be to this point and why answered. Throughout the stories each author writes commentary in the they condensed and margins offering advice on how they got to this point and why they condensed and edited their stories. Though each writer tries to answer the edited their stories. same question, they all go about it in a different way. Stiefvater focuses on character and why it is important that the character be substantial. She writes about the young Petra, an uncoordinated youth who is hired to read to an elegant old woman. Gratton depicts how she builds the world where her stay will take place. This story is about a young soldier who defuses bombs in a place that has been destroyed by war. Yovanoff talks about her focus on ideas and how they can be refined and combined to form a story. She writes about the death of a drowning victim in a place that is struggling through a harsh drought.

Over the course of reading this book, I found that it became less about the fictional tales that I was reading and focused more on the path that was taken by each author to bring their novels to completion. This book is a good read for any writer because it serves as a guide in a world with infinite possibilities. Whether someone is writing for personal pleasure, a career, or academic achievement, they stand to learn many invaluable lessons from this glimpse inside the creative process of three exceptional writers.

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Kayla Banks Travelers Rest High School, Travelers Rest, SC 12th Grade

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Children and Young Adult Book Review Middle School Migrant

Educator Reviewer: Jason Dylan Mizell Student Reviewer: Dylan Mizell

Mateo, J. M. (2014). Migrant. New York, NY: Abrams Publishing.

ISBN: 978-1419709579 Pages: 22

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 1 -- Spring 2015

Educator Review:

This story speaks to the heart-wrenching saga that many undocumented migrant children have lived through.

The author artfully centers the young protagonist in such a way that he is simply telling his story, not preaching. His innocence is shown though how he talks about his life in rural Mexico living with his family in a small pueblo (town) and how bit by bit it becomes obvious that he will have to leave with his mother in order to migrate to the United States if they want to be with his father. The author includes what could have been very disturbing images of the protagonist running through fields, jumping on moving trains, and escaping border guards. Although these scenes could have been unsettling, they were presented from a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspective and thus took on an air of wonder and adventure, not one of danger.

As I read this book, the terms culturally relevant pedagogy and culturally relevant teaching kept coming to mind. This story speaks This story speaks to to what many of our students or someone that they know have lived what many of our through. Using this book would be the perfect way to help young readers and older readers to sympathize with children who have students or lived through this experience without unnecessarily sharing with them the stark horrors that this type of adventure would entail. someone that they

know have lived Students in upper elementary would be able to read this book by themselves, but I would also recommend this book be shared with through. younger readers under the guidance of a parent or teacher.

Jason Dylan Mizell The University of Georgia, Athens, GA Ph.D. Student

Student Review:

I recommend this book because it is talking about a boy, his mom, and sister moving to Los Angeles, but the boy wants to find his father. At the beginning of the story the boy is in his hometown in Mexico playing. The next thing he knows everyone is leaving and going to the United States. They decide to leave and have to hop on a train and then hide from the police because they are putting lots of people inside of the big yellow truck and sending them straight to jail. My dad told me that sometimes this really happens to people. Their fathers leave and then they have to find him living in another country.

My friends will like this book because some of them are from Mexico and they moved here when we were in kindergarten. I also liked this book because it is in English and Spanish and I speak both of them.

Dylan Mizell The World Language Academy, Flowery Branch, GA 6th Grade

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Children and Young Adult Book Review Elementary to Middle School The Terrible Two

Educator Reviewer: Marianne Snow Student Reviewer: Noah Kilpatrick

John, J. & Barnett, M. (2015). The terrible two. New York, NY: Abrams Publishing.

ISBN: 978-1419714917 Pages: 224

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 1 -- Spring 2015

Educator Review:

I can’t remember the last time a book made me guffaw—that loud burst of laughter that only dry, smart, almost absurdist humor can bring out of me. Well, The Terrible Two (John & Barnett, 2015) certainly made me laugh. This book puts a fresh spin on the new-kid-in-town trope with a wry, subtly wacky humor reminiscent of Louis Sachar’s Wayside School series. Our story’s hero, Miles Murphy, has just moved to boring cow town Yawnee Valley, leaving behind his friends, his carefree life, and his status as his school’s best prankster. As he adjusts to his new school, Miles must contend with several interesting characters, such as the tyrannical Principal Barkin; Niles, the goody-goody “school-helper”; Josh, class president/dictator and Mr. Barkin’s bully of a son; and Holly, who’s trying to bring Josh’s reign to an end. To make things even more complicated, the school already has a mysterious master prankster who gives Miles a run for his money. But who is it?

While The Terrible Two might not be the ideal choice to incorporate into a formal late elementary/ early middle school English Language Arts curriculum, its humor, mystery, suspense, and rich vocabulary make it a useful book to keep in the classroom. Many students will enjoy reading about Miles’s hijinks during sustained reading times and teachers might consider recommending it to “reluctant” readers over summer break. Moreover, Kevin Cornell’s I can’t remember the cheeky black-and-white illustrations are a great visual aid to the written text. last time a book made

me guffaw...

However, I do have a concern with the ending of the book stirred

by my interest in social justice (spoiler alert!). Mile’s goal is to bring down Principal Barkin and Josh, who reigns as class president due to nepotism and corruption, the best way he knows how: pranks. Meanwhile, his classmate Holly has consistently been running against Josh in presidential elections as a “protest candidate” whose “very presence in the race exposes the injustice of the system” (p. 40). In the end, Miles’s pranks succeed, and Holly and her quest for justice are never mentioned again. While I understand that this book revolves around the humor of pranking, I have to wonder why John and Barnett include Holly’s character and her statements about political protest, only to ultimately dismiss her.

This concern doesn’t make me want to toss The Terrible Two into the trash, however. Asking young readers to question Holly’s role in the book can help them develop their critical thinking and analysis skills, making it an even more worthwhile, valuable text.

Marianne Snow The University of Georgia, Athens, GA Ph.D. Student

Student Review:

I would recommend this book. I liked this book because the characters where funny in some parts. I also liked that in the middle of a chapter there would be random facts about cows. For example, the fact where it said, “cows do not rob banks” made me laugh. Another thing I liked was the pranking war. For these reasons I would recommend this book. I think this book is good for super advanced 2nd graders and also 3rd and 4th graders.

Noah Kilpatrick Chase Street Elementary School, Athens, GA 2nd Grade

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Children and Young Adult Book Review Elementary School Hiawatha and the Peacemaker

Educator Reviewer: Courtney Shimek Student Reviewer: Foxie Nuruddin

Roberson, R., & Shannon, D. (2015). Hiawatha and the peacemaker. New York, NY: Abrams Publishing.

ISBN: 978-1419712203 Pages: 48

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015

Educator Review:

Hiawatha, a fierce warrior, is lamenting the death of his family after a battle begun by the evil Chief Tadodaho, when he is visited by the Great Peacemaker and asked to help spread the Peacemaker’s message. Together, the two travel to several tribes in the area and work to create peace, understanding, and unity between the tribes. This pact is no easy feat, as they must work against hundreds of years of violence between the tribes. But by sharing their personal stories and performing super-human feats, Hiawatha and the Peacemaker are able to convince 5 tribes, including Tadodaho’s tribe, to form an alliance and work together for the good of their people. Hiawatha and the …a reminder of the Peacemaker is a heart-warming tale about forgiveness, trust, and perseverance for the greater good. importance of

forgiveness, peace, Robertson, born Mohawk and Cayuga, heard the tale of Hiawatha and the Peacemaker while visiting with family in and harmony Ontario, Canada when he was 9. Hiawatha and the Peacemaker, officially named Deganawida, are said to have lived in the 14th amongst us all. century and worked to create one of the world’s first democracies among 5 nations of Iroquois people. These nations are said to have influenced many of the creators of the U.S. Constitution including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, and continue to meet in the name of peace to this day. David Shannon’s textured, elaborate, and vibrant illustrations display the strong emotions and passion behind this story, as well as the skillful and delicate sensitivity Hiawatha and Deganawida must have required to unite such opposing tribes. Hiawatha and the Peacemaker is not only a beautiful depiction of Native American history, but also a reminder of the importance of forgiveness, peace, and harmony amongst us all. Thus, it appeals to readers of all ages and adds a unique perspective to the body of literature about Native American culture.

Although no pictures display overt violence in the book, battles among the tribes are mentioned throughout the text and it becomes known to the reader quickly that Hiawatha’s wife and three daughters are dead as a result of this fighting.

Courtney Shimek The University of Georgia, Athens, GA Ph.D. Student

Student Review:

Hiawatha and the Peacemaker is a good book because it teaches about Native American tribes, they way they battled, and the way they joined together. The book is important because I learned about Native Americans in school. It helped me learn about more tribes and how they lived. In this book, Mr. Robertson tells the true story of Hiawatha, not the story that is usually taught in schools.

I would recommend this book to other kids because it talks about spreading peace. Also, the pictures are AMAZING! The first thing I did was take a picture walk. The pictures help tell what you are going to be reading. My teacher would like this book because she teaches social studies and during the lessons, we learn about Native Americans.

What I liked best about the book was when an evil man joined the Five Nations and stopped his wicked ways. He reminded me of the character of Medusa, because his hair was full of snakes, but no one turns

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Roberson, R., & Shannon, D. (2015). / Hiawatha and the Peacemaker

into stone. Also, the book comes with a CD. I liked the song, and I liked Mr. Robertsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s voice. This book made me want to learn more about the Peacemaker.

Foxie Nuruddin Annistown Elementary School, Snellville, GA 4th Grade

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Civilized Residue Jerome Harste

Jerome C. Harste is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education at Indiana University. He can be reached by email at haste@indiana.edu.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2窶認all 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Sensation

Régine Randall

There’s a name for words that make their sound, Onomatopoeia, but it’s too hard to say to be much use, and too narrow a strait for the meaning we want.

-Better to think of the touch of words, like calloused hands hoeing that long row or gentling a dog prone to bite.

-Better to think of the look of words, like the palest green shoots in spring pressing up through still cold earth while their whiter roots slip deeper down.

-Better to think of the taste of words, like a swallow of wine, red in the way of Felix Vallotton, or the salt in a wave that made you gasp and disappear if only for a moment.

-Better to think of the smell of words, like lilac in a New England May, but, perhaps, also remember that its flowers may be too sweet for all but the wasps.

Régine Randall, Ph.D. is the coordinator of graduate reading at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. Dr. Randall has just been notified that her short article, written with a colleague, "Arguing against the Overuse of Argument in the Writing Classroom" was accepted by Kappa Delta Pi Record. She feels it is a great pleasure to have a poem published in JoLLE. Régine can be contacted at randallr1@southernct.edu.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Poems While Proctoring- “You Have Five Minutes Remaining in This Section” Raymond Pape

When you leave here, by the way, Assuming this is your last exam, You’ll never hear anyone tell you Such a thing again.

No waitress, for example, will harangue You to chew more quickly because Your dinner hour is almost through.

No spouse of yours will stand above you while You fold laundry to remind you how long it’s been or How long this task should take.

No child of yours will announce this to you When he or she is leaving grade school, High school, college, or home, or getting married, But strangely, you’ll always know just how much Time you have left for each of these occasions.

Perhaps sometime, hopefully much later, A grim faced doctor may give you Bad news that might remind you of my Telling you this so many times today.

And like now, you’ll react in kind: a redoubled effort, where you’ll crazily click your calculator (are your figures all in order?), Where you’ll read as fast as you can (letters, books, pamphlets).

You’ll go at life as best you can ‘til time is called, or else, Calmly stare ahead, eyes closed, waiting, Because you’ve long been finished with this section.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Pape, R. (2015) / Poems While Proctoring

Raymond Pape is an English teacher at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School in Hamilton, MA, and is a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell where he is examining voice in student writing. He can be reached at r.pape@hwschools.net

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Tips for Visiting China Kuo Zhang

绿 帽 子 (lv mao zi): Never ever wear a green cap in China unless you want to broadcast: my beloved is having an affair.

吃 豆 腐 (chi dou fu): There’s nothing wrong with eating tofu.

But DO NOT say: I love eating YOUR tofu.

(I’d like to make sexual advances to you.)

送 钟 (song zhong): If you want to see apprehension and anger, give someone a clock as a present.

(I’ll see you die and attend upon your funeral.)

寿 衣 (shou yi): You know why I must mention this?

An American lady wears a traditional shroud to attend a Chinese party.

Kuo Zhang is a PhD student in the World Language Education program at the University of Georgia.

Her research interests are cross-cultural communication, second language poetry writing, teaching Chinese as a foreign language, and arts-based inquiries in language teaching and learning. She also serves as one of the judges for the 2015 SHA Ethnographic Poetry Competition. She can be reached at kuoz0901@uga.edu.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

first spring (Baltimore is burning) PL Thomas

The National thunderstorms blossom on the radar green yellow red maroon like animated flower bouquets created by . cummings because springtime is rising again hail taps my office window rattled by wind gusts in shared rhythm this season demands i pay attention this building storm lifts my eyes / precious child of my child this is your first spring your first angry sky your first thunder&lightning we will hold&comfort you but only you can understand Mother Nature we can tell you stories in soothing tones but we cannot guarantee anything except our hearts are filled with you etched forever into the bones of us / this is the story they are telling my daughter Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu

Fall 2015

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2 snakes can smell when you are nursing slithering into your house for the milk snakes will strangle nursing babies sleeping&dreaming in their cribs alone my child who is a mother tells me this

what is a mother to do what is a mother to do if even Nature conspires against her baby / the news tells me this story in the last days of April Baltimore is burning thugs rioting&looting flames blossom on the TV screen yellow black yellow black (if you look close enough you can recognize the strings&make-up but not the puppeteers performing this 21st-century minstrel show masquerading as fair&balanced reality TV) / Baltimore cries Baltimore witnesses like the first thunderstorm of spring tossing hail&wind against your window Baltimore shouts Baltimore explodes if the fires are large enough if the fires burn long enough if the soot covers over everything painting every single face black will you listen will you look will you recognize will you act Baltimore is burning 253

Fall 2015

Thomas, P.L. (2015) / first spring (Baltimore is burning) Phoenix rising we can tell you stories in soothing tones but we cannot guarantee anything

P.L. Thomas, Professor of Education and Faculty Director, First Year Seminars at Furman University, taught high school English for 18 years before moving to teacher education. His newest book is Beware the Roadbuilders: Literature as Resistance (Garn Press, 2015). He currently serves as Council Historian for the National Council of Teachers of English, which awarded him their 2013 Orwell Award. He blogs regularly at the becoming radical (radicalscholarship.wordpress.com) and can be followed on Twitter @plthomasEdD. He can be reached at Paul.Thomas@furman.edu.

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Teaching Sheryl Lain

No pre-set lesson can contain the joy seeping around the edges of Jason’s couplet or Sammi’s haiku that careens out of control chasing her butterfly of thought.

No test explains Luann’s tears or Eric’s burst of laughter as their eyes trace the lines of thought on the open page.

No grammar worksheet makes plain the why for Weldon whose eyes drift to the south-facing window seeing answers in March’s bare tree limbs etched on blue sky.

Before participating in the Wyoming Writing Project, Sheryl was a closet poet, never dreaming of sharing her little snippets about her students with them. But when she did give the poems to students, they wrote her back. Tom Romano’s lines of trust crisscrossed the classroom. Besides teaching, Sheryl is a national presenter and has published poems, essays and monographs. Sheryl loves kids and the teachers who teach them. She can be contacted at sheryllain@aol.com.

Journal of Language and Literacy Education Vol. 11 Issue 2—Fall 2015 http://jolle.coe.uga.edu