Leadership for Excellence
IN THIS ISSUE
..........................................................
INSIDE
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
2
by Emily Payne and Judson Laughter
Judson Laughter, guest editor
I
n her 1995 article in Theory into
Practice, Gloria Ladson-Billings
makes the case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy by responding to the
claim, But that’s just good teaching.
Indeed, CRP is good pedagogy. So why
is it not prevalent in every English
classroom? Why do we still have to
have a special issue dedicated to CRP
instead of seeing it as the bedrock of
every ELQ? The imagining behind
those questions is the purpose behind
this issue. It is our hope that, in time,
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy will
come to be known, simply, as Pedagogy.
Over the last two decades, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy has become
a mainstay in educational research.
(According to Google Scholar, LadsonBillings’s 1995 article in AERJ has
been cited almost 1600 times.) CRP is
grounded in three tenets, three goals
for which teachers should strive:
“an ability to develop students academically, a willingness to nurture
and support cultural competence,
and the development of a sociopolitical consciousness” (p. 483). While
Ladson-Billings’s work emerged from
a context of Black feminist thought,
CRP has provided a powerful framework for examining teachers and
students in multiple and diverse
contexts. In this special issue, we’ve
developed a sampling of how English educators are applying CRP to a
broad spectrum of work and research.
By way of introduction, Emily
Payne and I offer a more complete
definition of CRP and a synthesis of
current research on the applications
of CRP in English Language Arts.
Next, Barbara Gilbert describes how
she uses children’s literature as a
medium for guiding her preservice
teachers into a deeper practice of
self-reflection around issues of racial
and ethnic diversity. In reporting on
her work with student teachers from
rural areas, she found how a deeper
awareness of culture’s impact on them
as teachers develops a foundation on
which they might build a more culturally relevant classroom.
Angela Hoffman builds on Gilbert’s
context by presenting her reflection
on student teaching in a rural high
school where students’ cultural identities were primarily defined by religion. Then, Jennifer Simpson brings
us the perspective of a literacy coach
responding to the new demands of the
National Council of Teachers of English
1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1010
ELQ-Feb-2013.indd 1
Why do we still have to
have a special issue dedicated to CRP instead of
seeing it as the bedrock of
every ELQ?
Children’s Literature as Medium
for Teacher Self-Reflection
by Barbara Gilbert
Redefining “Culturally Relevant”
from within a Culturally Dominant
School by Angela Hoffman
Common Core to Cultural Literacy:
Incorporating History and
Technology in Unit Frameworks by Jennifer Simpson
Call for Manuscripts
6
8
9
11
Losing and Gaining a Self: Affirming
the Body, Mind, and Spirit of
Transgender Youth
12
by sj Miller
Your Colleagues Weigh In
15
Common Core. Her two social studies units grounded in CC standards
seek to promote dialogue around
issues of diversity and highlight how
English educators at all levels are being pressed into action by these new
requirements.
Finally, we close with an excerpt
from sj Miller’s keynote at NCTE’s
2012 Annual Convention in Las Vegas
in which he examined how teachers
Vol. 35, No. 3 • February 2013 • Editor: Susan L. Groenke
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and coaches might be culturally relevant to students who embody identities beyond our society’s definitions of
mainstream sex and gender. Also, be
sure to read the invitation from
NCTE’s Gay/Straight Educators Alliance as you’re making plans for next
year’s convention in Boston.
We believe English educators at all
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levels, from the classroom to administration to teacher education, might
benefit from adopting CRP as a guiding framework. In seeing the necessity of academic achievement paired
with the goal of cultural competence
and driven by the actions of a sociopolitical consciousness, CRP describes a
classroom where students are suc-
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cessful, are valued for who they are,
and are about the work of making
their world a better place. That is just
good teaching. ●
Reference
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a
theory of culturally relevant pedagogy.
AERA, 32, 465–491.
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Emily Payne and Judson Laughter, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
A
s mentioned in the introduction to this issue, Culturally
Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) is
grounded in three tenets: “an ability
to develop students academically, a
willingness to nurture and support
cultural competence, and the development of a sociopolitical consciousness”
(Ladson-Billings, 1995b, p. 483). In
exploring these tenets in the context
of English language arts, the order in
The Conference on English Leadership
(CEL) of the National Council of Teachers of
English is an organization dedicated to bringing together English language arts leaders to
further their continuing efforts to study and
improve the teaching of English language arts.
The CEL reaches out to department chairs,
teachers, specialists, supervisors, coordinators,
and others who are responsible for shaping
effective English instruction. The CEL strives
to respond to the needs and interests germane
to effective English instruction from kindergarten through college, within the local school,
the central administration, the state, or the
national level.
It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and
other publications to provide a forum for the
open discussion of ideas concerning the content
and the teaching of English and the language
arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point
of view does not imply endorsement by the
Executive Committee, the Board of Directors,
or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy where such endorsement is
clearly specified.
English Leadership Quarterly (ISSN 10541578 [print]; 1943-3050 [online]) is published
four times a year in August, October, February,
and April for the Conference on English Leadership by the National Council of Teachers of
which Ladson-Billings presents them
offers a commentary on the current
state of ELA pedagogy:
• Academic achievement: We believe English educators at all levels
understand their jobs to be academic.
While there are myriad competing
definitions of what “academic success” entails, every teacher wants her
or his students to succeed.
English, 1111 W. Kenyon Rd., Urbana, Illinois
61801-1010.
Annual membership in NCTE is $50 for
individuals, and a subscription to English
Leadership Quarterly is $25 (membership is
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Institutions may subscribe for $75. Add $8 per
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Communications regarding orders, subscriptions, single copies, and change of address
should be addressed to English Leadership
Quarterly, NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon Road,
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regarding permission to reprint should be addressed to Permissions, NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon
Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1010. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to English
Leadership Quarterly, NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon
Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1010.
NCTE’s website: www.ncte.org
Editor: Susan L. Groenke. Editorial
Assistant: Ann Bennett. NCTE Editing and
Production: Carol E. Schanche. Designer: Pat
Mayer.
Copyright © 2013 by the National Council
of Teachers of English. Printed in the U.S.A.
• Cultural competence: We also believe
that English educators, in particular,
understand their jobs to be multicultural and do not require convincing that culture and diversity are
important. Thus, the key question is
How do we maintain both academic
achievement and cultural competence?
• Sociopolitical consciousness: The
willingness and ability to engage the
political does not come so readily,
particularly in a society that continues to confuse political with politics.
We believe many English educators
already embody a sociopolitical
consciousness but may benefit from
understanding how that embodiment
stems from a foundation of achievement and culture.
In these few pages, we unpack each
of these tenets and describe how they
are being developed in English language arts. Our goal is to promote the
academic achievement happening in
ELA, develop the multicultural happening in ELA, and drive the sociopolitical happening in ELA. (While we
organize this article around LadsonBillings’s theoretical framework, we
also acknowledge and draw from the
many other authors engaged in similar work, most notably Kathryn Au,
James Banks, Geneva Gay, Jacqueline Irvine, Cathie Jordon, and Sonia
Nieto.)
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Academic Achievement
While Ladson-Billings (1995b) listed
several studies of the school failures
of African American students, she
also decried the dearth of research
examining success among those
same students. Every teacher in her
study “felt that helping the students
become academically successful was
one of their primary responsibilities”
(p. 475). Ladson-Billings (2006) later
clarified what she meant by academic
achievement, because the term had
become misapplied in the current era
of high-stakes standardized testing:
“What I envisioned is more accurately
described as ‘student learning’—what
it is that students actually know and
are able to do as a result of pedagogical interactions with skilled teachers”
(p. 34).
In short, CRP does not allow an either/or choice between a teacher connecting to the students in a classroom
and pushing the students to succeed
on relevant measures of academic
achievement; CRP requires both, with
the caveat that student learning must
not come at the expense of cultural
identity. CRP “requires that teachers
attend to students’ academic needs,
not merely make them ‘feel good.’ The
trick of culturally relevant teaching
is to get students to ‘choose’ academic
excellence” (Ladson-Billings, 1995a,
p. 160).
In examining how English educators have engaged CRP, academic
achievement tends toward three primary expectations: students learning
to read, write, and speak with fluency
and accuracy. As such, much of the
ELA literature employing CRP incorporates multicultural texts, provides
writing prompts expecting students
to learn about their own and others’
cultures, promotes an awareness of
the sociocultural context of authors,
and encourages students to be leaders
in discussing, debating, and reforming sociocultural issues.
For example, Callins (2006) explained the importance of creating
an environment and using literature
that facilitates academic achievement for students from linguistically
and culturally diverse backgrounds.
In order for students to achieve their
“full potential,” she explained how
“instruction should be provided in
ways that promote the acquisition of
increasingly complex knowledge and
skills in a social climate that fosters
collaboration and positive interactions among participants” (p. 62). She
also described ways in which teachers can promote academic achievement for their students from diverse
backgrounds. Some of these were
“Communicate high expectations,”
“Promote student-controlled classroom discourse,” and “Include small-
Cultural competence is
not about being culturally sensitive; instead it is
“helping students to recognize and honor their own
cultural beliefs and practices while acquiring access to the wider culture.”
group instruction and cooperative
learning” (p. 63).
Likewise, Young (2010) emphasized
the communication of high expectations in her analysis of the prevalence
of culturally responsive teaching in
her interactions at a culturally and
linguistically diverse elementary
school. She explained how, in the
school district’s stance on academic
achievement, “there were to be no
excuses for why all students could not
attain the same minimal academic
standards if high expectations were
the district’s norm and the same standards were maintained for all students” (p. 252). In this issue, Jennifer
Simpson takes these expectations a
step further, adapting Common Core
State Standards to a curriculum in
which dialogue and diversity are
honored. Throughout the literature,
it is clearly expressed that academic
achievement is not to be placed on the
back burner.
Cultural Competence
As described above, and as expected,
most English educators understand their jobs to be academic and
thus maintain a focus on academic
achievement. Likewise, we believe
many English educators understand
their jobs to be multicultural. CRP
is particular in describing how these
two tenets, academic achievement,
and cultural competence, are not competing ideals and that we must work
to eliminate their opposition: “Among
the scholarship that has examined
academically successful African
American students . . . , the students’
academic success came at the expense
of their cultural and psychological
well-being” (Ladson-Billings, 1995b,
p. 475).
In her later reflection, LadsonBillings (2006) admitted that cultural
competence is “the most difficult to
convey to teachers” (p. 35), because
some came to see it as “helping dominant group members become more
skillful in reading the cultural messages of their clients” (p. 35). Cultural
competence is not about being culturally sensitive; instead it is “helping
students to recognize and honor their
own cultural beliefs and practices
while acquiring access to the wider
culture” (p. 36). Two common ways by
which ELA teachers cultivate cultural
competence are through 1) the writing
and retelling of student autobiographies and 2) the use of multicultural
texts. Each of these can encourage
students to recognize and honor their
personal and collective cultures. Using multicultural texts and having
students create autobiographies can
help them see their cultural stake in
history.
For example, Kesler (2011) examined his own experiences with the use
of autobiographical pieces with three
groups of students. One of his experiences took place when he assigned a
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project that required students to draw
family trees. Because families take
many shapes and sizes, this project
became a source of frustration for
the family of one student. From this
experience and others, Kesler drew
two important conclusions, “First, as
teachers, we need to recognize the
inherent political, social, and cultural
undercurrents in all texts that constitute our curriculum. . . . Second, as
teachers, we need to accommodate all
the ways that these texts will inevitably marginalize and disempower
some students in our classes” (p. 426).
In other words, an important piece
An important piece of
recognizing and honoring student cultures is the
realization that unforeseen
dangers may arise whenever there is discussion
around identity.
of recognizing and honoring student
cultures is the realization that unforeseen dangers may arise whenever
there is discussion around identity
(Milner, 2007).
Similarly, Cook and Amatucci
(2006) analyzed the development of
Amatucci’s pedagogy over her first
years of teaching, including her
creation of units based around multicultural texts and the pairing of
multicultural texts with canonical
texts. As she developed as a teacher,
the way she approached these texts
also developed. In her fifth year of
teaching, Amatucci reflected on her
growing understanding of the use of
multicultural texts: “I needed time
and experience to understand that a
multicultural approach to an English
language arts curriculum involves
more than including selections by
multicultural authors. . . . [it] in-
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volves valuing the other, working for
social justice, and teaching tolerance
that goes beyond curricular decisions”
(p. 240).
Indeed, the inclusion of autobiographies and multicultural texts
can be helpful when encouraging the
development of cultural competency.
In this issue, Barbara Gilbert used
multicultural children’s literature to
facilitate autobiographical reflection
in her preservice teachers, and Angela
Hoffman wrestled through her own
autobiographical account of working with students who had a strong
religious identity. Such reflection
represents an important practice for
any ELA teacher wishing to develop
cultural competence.
As Callins (2006) explained, developing an atmosphere where students
have voice, where they are allowed
more responsibility and control in
the classroom, is important as these
practices allow “insight into the ways
that speech and negotiation are used
in the [students’] home and community” (p. 63). This insight provides a
valuable resource as teachers seek to
“appreciate and affirm” the “cultural
values and styles” of their students
(Ladson-Billings, 1995b, p. 476). This
is key to moving beyond the misunderstanding of cultural competence as
merely some level of cultural celebration (Sleeter, 2012).
Sociopolitical Consciousness
Accessing wider culture can lead
students to “improving their socioeconomic status . . . [to make] informed
decisions about the lives they wish
to lead” (Ladson-Billings, 2006, p.
36). Thus, the development of a sociopolitical consciousness takes CRP
beyond the classroom and develops
a student’s ability to “engage the
world and others critically” (LadsonBillings, 1995a, p. 162). This move
beyond individual academic achievement and cultural competence provides the so what? to CRP, but, as
Ladson-Billings (2006) admitted, it “is
a much harder sell [to teachers]” (p.
37). For one, sj Miller’s piece in this
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issue calls on coaches and teachers to
act as activists on behalf of all their
players and students.
Teachers typically experience two
difficulties here: 1) they may not have
sociopolitical consciousness of their
own, and 2) it may seem overwhelming to incorporate sociopolitical issues
into the practice of teaching. This
becomes particularly important for
teachers wishing to develop classrooms grounded in CRP: they must
develop their own consciousness of
the larger social, economic, and political issues that impact their schools
and weave such consciousness into
the daily practice of teaching. CRP is
not just something that happens in a
classroom but is a political endeavor
(Sleeter, 2012). Young (2010) gave
voice to these frustrations when she
found that the teachers with whom
she was working were only willing to
promote academic achievement and
cultural competence; quoting Gay and
Howard (2000), Young agreed, “Unless European Americans seriously
analyze and change their cultural
biases and ethnic prejudices (toward
self and others), they are not likely to
be very diligent in helping students to
do likewise” (p. 257).
Schmidt (1999) discussed several
strategies that have been used to
help preservice teachers develop their
own sociopolitical consciousness so
that they might pass it on to their
students. One of the strategies came
from Willis and Meacham (1997), who
suggested that students discuss assigned readings that encourage them
to find their own beliefs:
Students began relating personal
experiences around racism or
discrimination and asking for
help from the class to understand
incidents and beliefs. This was
the point at which the class dialogue came together and students
recognized the power of racism
and its undeniable consequences.
They then realized the inequalities
that exist in schools and began to
discuss future problem-solving approaches. (Schmidt, 1999, p. 333).
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Another strategy Schmidt (1998)
discussed was her own “ABC’s of Cultural Understanding and Communication.” With this strategy, preservice
teachers write autobiographies, then
write biographies based on interviews
with a person who is culturally different. After this, students conduct a
cross-cultural analysis during which
they compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the
autobiographies and the biographies
they wrote.
Schmidt (1999) also described
how some of her students conducted
an adapted version of this strategy
in their K–6 classrooms. The autobiographies and biographies were
successful. Then the cross-cultural
analysis resulted in girls from diverse
backgrounds discussing their hair.
This initiated “conversations about
similarities and differences” (p. 338).
She explained that some teachers
also used their autobiographies as a
way of building relationships with the
families of their students in order to
strengthen communication and community.
What Now?
These examples provide models that
English educators at all levels must
follow. We get how English is academic, and most of us have at least
some inkling toward the multicultural, but how do we make an impact
outside the classroom? As Young
(2010) laid out, “The void in scholarly
research is not in the knowledge of
theories but in the knowledge of how
to implement them, particularly in
a way that has a wide-reaching and
sustainable impact” (p. 259). We must
W
e must facilitate conversations about moving
beyond academic achievement, through cultural
competence, and into sociopolitical consciousness.
facilitate conversations about moving beyond academic achievement,
through cultural competence, and into
sociopolitical consciousness. These are
dialogues to be had between students
and teachers, between teachers and
administrators, between preservice
teachers and teacher educators, and
everywhere across ELA. We each need
our own support and to support others in their needs. Making the ELA
classroom into a culturally relevant
place for all students is not the responsibility of one teacher, but the
responsibility of us all. ●
References
Callins, T. (2006). Culturally responsive
literacy instruction. TEACHING
Exceptional Children, 39(2), 62–65.
Cook, L. S., & Amatucci, K. B. (2006). A
high school English teacher’s developing multicultural pedagogy. English
Education, 38, 220–244.
Gay, G., & Howard, T. (2000). Multicultural teacher education for the 21st
century. Teacher Educator, 36, 1–16.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995a). But that’s
just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory into
Practice, 34, 159–165.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995b). Toward a
theory of culturally relevant pedagogy.
American Educational Research Journal, 32, 465–491.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). Yes, but how
do we do it? Practicing culturally
relevant pedagogy. In J. Landsman &
C. W. Lewis (Eds.), White teachers/
diverse classrooms: A guide to building inclusive schools, promoting high
expectations, and eliminating racism
(pp. 29–42). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Milner, H. R. (2007). Race, culture, and
researcher positionality: Working
through dangers seen, unseen, and
unforeseen. Educational Researcher,
36, 388–400.
Schmidt, P. R. (1998). The abc’s of cultural
understanding and communication.
Equity and Excellence, 31(2), 28–38.
Schmidt, P. R. (1999). Focus on research:
Know thyself and understand others.
Language Arts, 76, 332–340.
Sleeter, C. E. (2012). Confronting the
marginalization of culturally responsive pedagogy. Urban Education, 47,
562–584.
Willis, A. I., & Meacham, S. J. (1997).
Break point: The challenges of teaching multicultural education courses.
Journal of the Assembly for Expanded
Perspectives on Learning, 2, 40–49.
Young, E. (2010). Challenges to conceptualizing and actualizing culturally
relevant pedagogy: How viable is the
theory in classroom practice? Journal
of Teacher Education, 61, 248–260.
Kesler, T. (2011). Teachers’ texts in culturally responsive teaching. Language
Arts, 88, 419–428.
NCTE Literacy Education Advocacy Day 2013: April 18
Join NCTE members from across the nation for NCTE’s Literacy Education Advocacy Day on Thursday, April 18, 2013.
NCTE members attending Advocacy Day will learn the latest about literacy education issues at the federal level and have a chance to
interact with people highly involved with those issues. See http://www.ncte.org/action/advocacyday for details.
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Children’s Literature as Medium for Teacher SelfReflection
Barbara Gilbert, Lander University, Greenwood, South Carolina
A
s a teacher educator who
taught in public schools for
over 30 years, I find preparing preservice teachers a daunting
task. Each preservice teacher has the
potential to touch the lives of thousands of young students during his or
her career, so one of the most pressing issues faced by teacher educators
is to prepare preservice teachers to
teach in today’s diverse classrooms.
Sleeter and Milner (2011) addressed
this issue as a call to better prepare
preservice teachers to meet the needs
of racially and ethnically diverse
learners.
This year, I focused on teaching
preservice teachers about culturally
relevant pedagogy within the context
of my Children’s Literature and Reading Pedagogy classes. Using Reed’s
(2010) definition of culture, which includes “patterns of thought, behavior,
language, customs, institutions, and
material objects unique to a group”
(p. 17), I thought it was important
for my students to understand their
own identity as members of cultural
groups as well as culture in a broader
sense. Most of my students were
born and raised in the rural areas
surrounding the university where
I teach; all of them hope to remain
there after graduation. However,
there are few openings for teachers locally, so many may need to relocate to
find employment. It’s important that
they are prepared to teach children
different from themselves.
When I asked a previous group
of students what was meant by culture, they said that it was where
your ancestors came from—a foreign
country. One student, a White female,
said, “I know I should know this, but
I don’t know where my ancestors
came from.” Sadly, many heads nod-
ded in agreement. I want my students
to understand that they, too, are
members of multiple cultural groups.
Additionally, I want them to appreciate how an understanding of their
own cultural group can equip them
with the knowledge and skills to meet
the needs of diverse learners in their
classrooms.
Because I believe that understanding your own cultural background(s)
is important, I modeled this through
read-aloud experiences in the classroom. For example, one day I read
The Relatives Came by Cynthia
Rylant (1993b) and brought in the
suitcase that I use when I go back
to the area where I grew up in rural
I thought it was impor-
tant for my students to
understand their own identity as members of cultural
groups as well as culture
in a broader sense.
Maryland. After the read-aloud, I
shared how the suitcase reminded me
of the stories I had about my childhood: swimming in the stream, catching crawfish and lightning bugs, and
walking a half mile to the general
store to catch the bus to school. Another day, I read Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden by Edith Pattou (2001) to show
how I was also a member of a cultural
group based on my occupation. My
artifacts included all the paraphernalia that teachers use in the classroom.
I then relayed some of my teaching
experiences and how many of the
children I taught were much like the
ones in Mrs. Spitzer’s classroom.
My preservice teachers were then
charged with finding a book that
represented them culturally and to
bring an artifact representative of
that cultural group. These were then
shared with the rest of the class.
Many of the students said they lived
in rural areas and this was an important aspect of their life because of the
closeness of family members. In at
least two cases, my preservice teachers were living in the farmhouses
originally owned by their grandparents and subsequently passed down
to their parents.
One of the students shared an old
rusty watering bucket that her grandmother used to draw water from the
well, along with an old plowshare
that had been discarded when her
grandparents ran the farm. Her
father found this when he cleared a
patch of ground to plant crops. She
described the book Flossie and the
Fox by Patricia McKissack (1986) because the woods and the countryside
in the book reminded her of the land
around her home and how she hunts
with her brother. Another student
brought a poster showing pictures of
places around her family’s farm that
were important to her. These included
hay bales, tractors, and the porch
swing where her grandfather told
her stories. Night in the Country by
Cynthia Rylant (1991) reminded her
of being at home and listening to the
night sounds.
One of two African American
female students in the class is the
mother of a four-year-old girl who
wants to be a princess. Her daughter
has entered several pageants, so her
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cultural group is that of a “pageant
mom.” She brought her daughter’s
latest tiara and crown. At this stage
in her life, she felt that Pocahontas
(Disney, 1995) was representative of
her current cultural group because
Pocahontas was a princess like her
daughter dreams of being.
One of the two male students in
the class brought a T-shirt with the
name of the small-town fire department where he is a volunteer. He said
the shirt reminded him of his family
because his grandfather was one of
the founding charter members of that
fire department and his father-inlaw is currently the fire chief there.
He referenced the book When I Was
Young in the Mountains by Cynthia
Rylant (1993a) because it reminded
him of his grandparents. He said that
his grandfather, who worked in one of
the mills that is now closed, used to
come home looking like the grandfather in Rylant’s book and would kiss
his wife just like the grandfather in
the story. He also said that the book
reminded him of the home cooking,
snakes, and stories that were told in
his home.
Other cultural artifacts included
family pictures taken at Thanksgiving to represent the closeness of
family and family traditions, boots to
represent “Southern Chick” culture, a
stuffed horse to show a love of horses,
a leash representing a dog-loving cultural group, a softball glove because
it was the only brand ever used by
any member of the family when they
played softball, and a baseball used
when the 18 guys in the neighborhood
got together to play.
The important part of this engagement was the reflective process students engaged in to think about how
this might help them to understand
the diversity they may find in their
future classrooms. In my students’
words, highlights of this experience
included the following:
I loved this project because it helps
students open up a little bit more
about themselves. It is really neat
to be able to relate the text to your
S
tudents often shun
those who may be different.
This could be a great way
to open students’ eyes to the
importance of these differences and to show they are
not bad.
culture because there are different
options of books that can help better explain situations. In the classroom, I would use this, especially
in history and English. It’s a good
way to tie in real-life experiences
and reading a text.
I would try to bring in something
that reflects on students’ interests.
If you can bring in something that
reflects everyone’s environment
and can relate it, then it brings
everyone closer.
It will give me a chance to get to
know each student and use some
of what they said in lessons. After
this, I can pull a book to connect
everyone. This activity will help
me to get to know each student.
I would use culturally related
books in my class to motivate
students to learn about different
cultures. I think it would be good
for students to know where their
peers have come from and get to
know more about them. I would
also use books that students will
have an interest in.
I would want to have my students
do this activity and bring in artifacts that represent them so I can
get an idea of who they are.
I think using books from various
cultures within the classroom can
be very beneficial. Students often
shun those who may be different.
This could be a great way to open
students’ eyes to the importance of
these differences and to show they
are not bad. It can provide great
learning experiences. It could also
bridge any language barriers by
explaining cultures in a common
language. Using culturally relevant books will also more likely
draw the interest of the students.
When they can relate, they are
more invested.
In my classes, I want to have some
culturally relevant books. I also
want to use real-life examples
relating to different cultures. This
shows my class that I do value the
people that they are.
Since most schools around here
are dominantly filled with Caucasian people, I would introduce
a variety of different cultures so
students learn how various people
live. Maybe each month, focus on a
certain culture: read a book, have a
meal, crafts.
I would use this to get to know my
students. I would also take the
time to read each of the books so
that the students can get a glimpse
of what other students’ cultures
are.
I like the idea of bringing in
cultural artifacts to present to
the class. I would read a different
book from different cultures every
day, making sure to cover each
student’s culture. I would probably
have discussions with my students
about the different books and
cultures. I could then have them
bring in different artifacts and talk
about them and where they’re from
to the class.
By helping my preservice teachers
experience how their culture impacts
their learning experiences, I believe
they became more aware of the
many contexts in which their future
students will learn at home and the
impact this has on their learning
and success in school. In the broader
scheme of teaching reading, one
student noticed a few days later how
the discussion about semantics was
tied to culturally relevant pedagogy.
He said, “Semantics is connected to
culture. Students’ home experiences
and prior knowledge impact what
they understand. So we have to know
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the kids and what is important to
them.” Or, as Banks and colleagues
(2005) noted, teachers “need to know
how to inquire into the backgrounds
of their students so they can connect
what they learn to their instructional
decision making, in a sense becoming
anthropologists who explicitly seek to
understand their students’ cultural
practices” (p. 243).
In conclusion, it has only been
three weeks, or six class sessions,
that I have learned alongside these
students, but I am hopeful that my
focus on culturally relevant pedagogy
will help my preservice teachers feel
better prepared to teach students
who are different from themselves,
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not only culturally but also racially,
ethnically, and socioeconomically. ●
References
Banks, J., Cochran-Smith, M., Moll, L.,
Richert, A., Zeichner, K., LePage, P.,
. . . McDonald, M. (2005). Teaching
diverse learners. In L. Darling-Hammond & J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world (pp.
232–274). San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass.
Disney, W. (1995). Pocahontas. New York,
NY: Grolier Press.
McKissack, P. (1986). Flossie and the fox.
New York, NY: Dial Books.
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Reed, K. (2010). Multicultural education
for rural schools: Creating relevancy
for rural America. The Rural Educator,
31(2), 15–20.
Rylant, C. (1991). Night in the country.
New York, NY: Antheneum Books.
Rylant, C. (1993a). When I was young in the
mountains. New York, NY: Puffin Books.
Rylant, C. (1993b). The relatives came.
New York, NY: Antheneum Books.
Sleeter, C., & Milner, H. R., IV. (2011). Researching successful efforts in teacher
education to diversify teachers. In A.
Ball & C. Tyson (Eds.), Studying diversity in teacher education (pp. 81–103).
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Pattou, E. (2001). Mrs. Spitzer’s garden.
Orlando, FL: Harcourt.
Redefining “Culturally Relevant” from within a Culturally
Dominant School
Angela Hoffman, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
W
alking through the halls
of my school a few weeks
ago as a guest judge of the
homecoming displays, I neared the
terminus of the sophomore hallway
and the end of their decorations.
There, at the far end of their festive
adornments, amid balloons, streamers, and signs exhorting our football
players to “roast” the opposing team,
hung a sheet-sized banner painted
with a verse from the Book of Isaiah.
Though the presence of something so
overtly religious on the wall caught
both my attention and my discomfort,
the only comment I heard from fellow
teachers was concern over whether
the students had spelled “Isaiah”
correctly. Now, three months into a
teaching internship at a school where
evangelical or Protestant Christianity
is the expected and overtly expressed
religious norm among students and
most staff, I suppose I shouldn’t have
been surprised.
This Christian-normative perspective runs deeply among students and
even appears in the curriculum. In an
honors class I observed, one student
declared that a snake is a Christian
symbol of evil because of its presence
in the Garden of Eden (altogether bypassing the Jewish roots of the story).
In another class, a student organized
his “about me” speech at the begin-
The only comment I
heard from fellow teachers
was concern over whether
the students had spelled
“Isaiah” correctly.
ning of the year around his Christian
faith and how students were “stupid”
if they didn’t “talk to God [Jesus]
every day.” The students who made
the homecoming banner with the
quotation from Isaiah may have been
pulling from the Hebrew Bible, but it
seems more likely that it was sourced
from the Christian Old Testament.
The school even offers a course in
Bible History, one in which the syllabus states that students may use any
translation of the core text they wish.
There are no classes in world religions or any other specific religious or
philosophical traditions.
As someone who was raised in a
Christian family between a lapsed
Roman Catholic father and a dedicated Presbyterian mother, I am
familiar with the traditions and core
beliefs of this faith system; I know
and respect the great and meaningful
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My personal belief in the
inherent value of all belief
systems (including the lack
thereof) far supersedes any
bias I could have toward
the tradition in which I
was raised.
role they can play in the lives of individuals and communities. But I was
also raised amid ACLU newsletters
strewn across the dining room table
and a mother whose greatest trait, according to my father, is her tolerance.
My personal belief in the inherent
value of all belief systems (including
the lack thereof) far supersedes any
bias I could have toward the tradition
in which I was raised. Even before
returning to school to pursue a degree
in teaching, my personal and professional life has always been informed
by a social justice approach that recognizes the value of various cultural,
ethnic, and religious backgrounds.
So now, during my first year inside
the classroom, I find myself conflicted.
On one hand, I feel limited and at
times suffocated by the religious
schema in which my students live and
operate. On the other, I know that
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy expects
and demands that I help “students
to recognize and honor their own
cultural beliefs and practices while
acquiring access to the wider culture”
(Ladson-Billings, 2006, p. 36). But
what does one do when the students’
culture is a dominant culture? These
students do not need to learn about
the “wider culture” in order “to have
a chance of improving their socioeconomic status” (p. 36); they are the
wider culture to which others seek
access. Despite my wish to continually push them toward a greater
understanding of the world outside
themselves and their own traditions,
I know that I must allow them the
freedom to continue to take pride in
their own specifically Christian faith.
I struggle, however, with finding a
way to do this that does not reinforce
the dominant culture and diminish
the religious beliefs or non-beliefs of
others, particularly in a society where
adherents of some other religions are
branded as terrorists.
In the months and years of my
teaching career to come, I will undoubtedly have many more opportunities to confront this dilemma
and hone my pedagogy in ways that
promote culturally relevant practice
for both groups: the religious majority and the religious minority. Until
those revelations clarify how best to
do that, I will continue to add the
words “synagogue” and “mosque”
after “church” when I reference places
of worship; I will draw attention to
Biblical allusions with which many
students can identify when they appear in texts; I will take any other
small steps that help me open minds
to the understanding and value of the
Other. ●
Reference
Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). Yes, but how
do we do it? Practicing culturally
relevant pedagogy. In J. Landsman &
C. W. Lewis (Eds.), White teachers/
diverse classrooms: A guide to building inclusive schools, promoting high
expectations, and eliminating racism
(pp. 29–42). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Common Core to Cultural Literacy: Incorporating History
and Technology in Unit Frameworks
Jennifer Simpson, University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, Kentucky
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s a literacy coach at a rural
Kentucky high school of 800
students, implementing the
Common Core was a high priority,
as were teaching these adolescents
about history and diversity and
keeping them interested in literacy
by examining tough issues. The purposes of the two unit outlines presented here are to engage students
in literacy, make them think, and
sprinkle in some historical perspective. These units were the result of
collaboration with English teachers,
history teachers, and special education teachers. The Common Core
references are listed here as 10th
grade, but may be adapted to meet
the needs of students at any level.
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Civil Rights Unit
A unit that focuses on the civil rights
movement is a great way to get students thinking about equality and
to engage them in critical thinking.
This unit is designed to incorporate
history and to have students think
about teenagers who experienced the
civil rights movement. The writing
component of the unit might serve as
the culminating assessment, and the
other literacy strands can be implemented in a sequence that suits the
English teacher’s preference. The
activities for this unit include reading nonfiction passages, listening to a
speech, and writing an argument. The
suggested time for the unit is dependent on the level of learner, but the
activities could be completed in one to
two weeks.
Standards for the Unit
• Standard RI.9-10.2: Determine
a central idea of a text and
analyze its development over
the course of the text, including
how it emerges and is shaped
and refined by specific detail;
provide an objective summary of
the text.
• Standard RI.9-10.9: Analyze
seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance:
King’s “Letter from Birmingham
Jail.”
• Standard W.9-10.1: Students
will write an argument to support claims in an analysis (of
the role of teenagers in the Civil
Rights Movement) using valid
reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• Standard SL.9-10.5: Make
strategic use of digital media in
presentations to enhance understandings of findings, reasoning,
and evidence and to add interest.
• Standard L.9-10.3: Apply knowledge of language to understand
how language functions in
different contexts, to make ef-
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fective choices for meaning or
style, and to comprehend more
fully when reading or listening.
• Standard L.9-10.4a: Use context
as a clue to the meaning of a
word or phrase.
• Standard L.9-10.1: Demonstrate
command of the conventions of
Standard English grammar and
usage when writing or speaking.
Materials
• Martin’s Big Words: The Life of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by
Doreen Rappaport.
• Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I
Have a Dream” speech is available in video format on YouTube.
However, if your proxy blocks
this site, you can access the
audio from American Rhetoric:
http://www.americanrhetoric
.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream
.htm.
• “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
by Martin Luther King Jr.
• Freedom's Children: Young Civil
Rights Activists Tell Their Own
Stories by Ellen Levine.
• “Kids on the Bus” by Jeff Zaslow
is a reading passage with a
similar theme: http://www.sites.
si.edu/press/Montgomery%20
Bus%20Boycott_Wall%20
Street%20Journal.pdf.
Sequence
1. Introduce the unit with the picturebook, Martin’s Big Words.
2. Incorporate Dr. King’s speech
and letter with class discussion
about the civil rights movement.
3. Facilitate reading and discussion on book and/or article.
4. Direct students to craft an argument—based on their reading,
speaking, and listening activities—that analyzes the impact
of teenagers in the civil rights
movement.
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World War II Unit
A unit that focuses on the human
aspects of World War II can help
students understand the historical
events from a perspective outside of
their history classes. History teachers
in your school will appreciate your
efforts to help students understand
historical events. This unit includes
a look at concentration camps and
Japanese American intern camps.
The suggested culminating activity
for this unit is a technology project
that students will publish for school
and community; it includes designing
a webpage or video to demonstrate
the impact of World War II on Americans. This project could be published
to the school webpage or presented at
a parent/community event. The timeframe for this unit is approximately
two weeks.
Standards for Unit
• Standard RL.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in the
text, including figurative and
connotative meanings.
• Standard RI.9-10.3: Analyze
how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events,
including the order in which the
points are made, how they are
introduced and developed, and
the connections that are drawn
between them.
• Standard W.9-10.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to
produce, publish, and update
individual or shared writing
products, taking advantage of
technology’s capacity to link
other information and to display
information flexibly and dynamically.
• Standard SL.9-10.5: Make
strategic use of digital media in
presentation to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning,
and evidence and to add interest.
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• Standard L.9-10.1: Demonstrate
command of the conventions of
Standard English grammar and
usage when writing or speaking.
3. Incorporate text about Japanese
American Internment camps,
with pictures, video, and Internet research.
Materials
4. Students will publish shared
writing projects relating to
the impact of World War II on
Americans.
• Terrible Things: An Allegory for
the Holocaust, by Eve Bunting
• Night, by Elie Wiesel
• “The Perils of Indifference,” a
speech by Elie Wiesel available
from American Rhetoric: (www.
americanrhetoric.com/speeches/
ewieselperilsofindifference.html)
• Baseball Saved Us, by Ken Mochizuki
• Photos and video segments
related to concentration camps
and the Holocaust from the
History Channel website: (www.
history.com/topics/the-holocaust)
• Computer lab, access to media
resources for presentations
Suggested Sequence
1. Introduce the unit with the
picturebook Terrible Things.
2. Incorporate the novel Night, resources from the History Channel, and speech by Elie Wiesel.
Ideas for Further
Implementation
These two unit frameworks are just
a sampling of what English teachers
can create while implementing the
Common Core Standards. Additionally, the mix of picturebooks, speeches, video, nonfiction, and novels will
hopefully help you begin to plan ways
to creatively implement the Common
Core. These units can be improved
upon and expanded depending on
a school’s resources and time allotments.
Additionally, remember that as
an educator, you are not an island.
Collaborate with teachers from other
departments to broaden your perspective, share your resources, and
coordinate themes/units. Also, take
the opportunity as often as you can to
publish and showcase your students’
Y
ou are not an island.
Collaborate with teachers
from other departments to
broaden your perspective,
share your resources, and
coordinate themes/units.
work. Working with others and sharing your students’ work will positively impact your classroom and your
school. ●
References
Bunting, E. (1989). Terrible things: An allegory for the Holocaust. Philadelphia,
PA: The Jewish Publication Society.
Levine, E. (1993). Freedom’s children:
Young civil rights activists tell their
own stories. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
Mochizuki, K. (1993). Baseball saved us.
New York, NY: Lee & Low.
Rappaport, D. (2001). Martin’s big words:
The life of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for
Children.
Wiesel, E. (2006). Night (M. Wiesel,
Trans.). New York, NY: Hill & Wang.
(Original work published 1972)
October 2013 ELQ Call for Manuscripts
Leadership continues to be our October theme. October’s a good month to consider leadership. Every year, school leaders
have gotten the opening of school under their belts and are already considering what to do (and not to do) the following
school year. And disillusionment hasn’t set in yet for teachers. More important, we think an annual leadership theme
is only fitting for a journal that serves as the voice of and for English/language arts leaders in K–13 settings. Definitions of leadership—good leadership—are always changing. In her keynote speech at the CEL 2008 convention, Louann
Reid, CEL’s 2008 Exemplary Leadership Award winner, suggested that effective 21st-century leadership is defined by
collaboration, multitasking, and technological savvy—a change from leadership a generation ago, marked by hierarchy,
intrinsic motivation, and a lack of diversity. English department head and CEL member David Padilla says, “There’s
a difference between change that a department and/or person resists, versus change a department and/or person can’t
do.” We think knowing the difference marks a good leader. For this leadership-inspired issue, we hope to hear from you
about what it means to lead in the 21st century. Has your department experienced some growing pains? Changes in
leadership? How do you set examples and raise expectations as a leader in your building? How do you prepare for a successful school year? How do you mentor beginning teachers? How do you meet the challenges of leadership in the 21st
century? Let us hear from you! Deadline: June 15, 2013.
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Losing and Gaining a Self: Affirming the Body, Mind, and
Spirit of Transgender Youth
sj Miller, University of Missouri, Kansas City
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t the 2012 Annual Convention
in Las Vegas, sj Miller presented a multimedia keynote
address analyzing his own experiences as a transgender youth. Once an
avid and accomplished soccer player
who competed at the Olympic level,
the sport now represents the repeated
failures of coaches or teachers to offer
needed support and safety.
As an associate professor of Urban
Teacher Education and Secondary
English at the University of Missouri,
Kansas City, sj prepares teachers to
be culturally competent and sociopolitically conscious about the needs of
marginalized youth. In this excerpt
from his speech, sj talks directly to
teachers and coaches who are particularly located to be powerful allies to
all their students and players.
(A video that accompanied the keynote, with the original title Losing
and Gaining a Self: How Soccer
Taught Me the Discipline of Self-Love
When Everyone Else Faded into Darkness, can be found at http://youtu
.be/_XNSUFecaUI.)
I began to look inside and scrutinize
myself. What did they see that I didn’t
and how was I to know? Was I that
much a Hester Prynne wearing the
Scarlet FTM?
I do believe that people experience
themselves as moral, good, decent,
well-intentioned human beings, who
may not be conscious of their hidden
biases, prejudices, and discriminatory behavior. I also believe that these
same people are guilty of enacting
microaggressions and should be held
accountable for unlearning and for
reflecting on how to self-monitor the
enactment of microaggressions.
Microaggressions are everyday
verbal, nonverbal, and environmental
slights, snubs, or insults, whether
intentional or unintentional, that are
enacted by well-meaning people and
communicate hostile, derogatory, or
negative messages to target persons
based solely on their marginalized
group membership. These microaggressions eat away at the psyche,
make a person question his/her/per
[athletic] play, add voices and noise in
an otherwise stabilized flow of play,
and destabilize the person both on
and off the field. A team after all, is
only as strong as the individuals who
comprise it.
These messages may invalidate the
group identity or experiential reality
of target persons, demean them on a
personal or group level, communicate
that they are lesser human beings,
suggest they do not belong with the
majority group, threaten and intimidate, or relegate them to inferior
status and treatment. Typically such
microaggressions . . .
• are repetitive and ongoing;
• create discomfort, stress,
trauma;
• reflect the active manifestation
of oppressive world views that
create, foster, and enforce marginalization;
• can occur through imposition or
deprivation;
• manifest on a continuum from
direct/concrete to symbolic/psychological, often unintentional,
indirect, and subtle;
• find power in their invisibility to
the perpetrators and oftentimes
the recipients.
The following microaggressions
are not figments of anyone’s imagina-
tion; they are specifically experienced
by transgender and gender-variant
youth. Your student-athletes are
likely to experience some of these:
• being stared at or moved away
from;
• being asked intrusive questions;
• being called inappropriate pronouns or names;
I began to look inside
and scrutinize myself.
What did they see that I
didn’t and how was I to
know? Was I that much a
Hester Prynne wearing the
Scarlet FTM?
• being avoided or sitting alone on
bus rides;
• being housed with other LGB
athletes on road trips;
• lacking gender-neutral or gender-non-conforming bathrooms
or locker rooms;
• being medicalized or pathologized;
• being sexually objectified by
peers;
• other students/athletes acting
distant or awkward;
• other students/athletes commenting on bodies or body parts;
• other students and even teachers/coaches diverting eyes;
• exclusion of transgender people
from classroom curriculum;
failure to discuss transgender
people in a positive way;
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• absence of posters, texts, or
information available about
transgender people/athletes;
abundance of these same materials/knowledge about cisgendered
people;
• teachers/coaches consider themselves allies but have dated information, misuse pronouns, or
disseminate inaccurate information about transgender people;
• being self-advocates;
• other students/athletes saying
they don’t know what to call the
transgender or gender-non-conforming student to the individual’s face;
• student is asked in class or on
the team to speak on behalf
of all transgender students or
people;
• meta-school discourse lacks
inclusivity for all students;
• lack of transgender normalization in the school climate or on
a team (policies, discourse, attitudes, and dominant messages).
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
questioning, and gender variant (LGBTQGV) students struggle emotionally or placate themselves to create
a response that is socially acceptable
simply in order to survive a school
day; such work is exhausting and
difficult. The emotional labor, or the
macro-toil, experienced by LGBTQGV
students as an aggregate over time—
as learned or detached tolerance to
buffer the self against the dozens
of microaggressions experienced
throughout a typical school day—imprints students with emotional and
sometimes physical scars that can last
a lifetime. A school climate or sports
team that supports and privileges the
normalization of heterosexist and cisgendered beliefs—even unconsciously—forces students who fall outside
of those dominant identifiers to find
ways to survive rather than to attend
and thrive or play sports in school.
Not speaking up or out on behalf of
someone’s being or identity sustains a
Not speaking up or out
on behalf of someone’s
being or identity sustains
a culture of silence that
makes a person complicit
in marginalizing players
or students.
culture of silence that makes a person
complicit in marginalizing players or
students—and it also sends a message that you are not a safe person. I
want to offer you coaches and teachers gentle reminders about how to
support your current students and
players. Identities need to be supported, not invalidated; after all, it is
connected to one’s sense of play and
passion for a sport:
• Educate yourselves about gender nonconformity and transgender people.
• Use inclusive language (e.g., be
mindful of prejudicial comments
or microaggressions).
• Exclusion of any type is a form
of bullying.
• Do not assume someone is heterosexual or homosexual.
• Educate yourselves about the
differences between sex and
gender.
• Put your team/students through
some type of anti-bullying program and set a zero-tolerance
policy for bullying.
• Be an ally for all of your players
and students.
• Check in with your students and
athletes—have one-to-one conferences, don’t assume someone
is happy or isn’t struggling, and
let them know you care.
• Suspend judgment—things may
not always be as they seem.
• Get involved in the local and
school communities and try to
change policy so it supports
LGBTGV students.
• Reach out to the campus gay–
straight alliance and if there
isn’t one, help start it.
• Normalize LGBTGV discourse
and topics.
• Last, remember that all of us,
students and athletes included,
are each on his/her/per own journey, as I mentioned earlier; as
the moral custodians of youth,
ask yourselves Do you want to
help youth be and feel part of the
team, or be part of the causality
of an untimely bullycide?
As Gandhi says, “Be the change you
want to see in the world.” You cannot
be an advocate for anti-bullying on
one issue. It must be inclusive around
all subjectivities: gender, ethnicity,
age, social class, ability, disability, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression, color, height,
weight, size, accent, and appearance.
People are complex and full of layers and hidden vulnerabilities. Compound that with being a teen, and
remember the struggles and battles
they face as foot soldiers every day.
Suspending judgment and encouraging them on their journeys of identity
expression are the greatest gifts we
can offer—that is how we can help
them feel a stabilized and secure
sense of self and happiness about
who they are becoming. Though we’ve
come a long, far way, there is still
much work to be done! While I did defer my earlier dreams and succumb to
bouts of depression and self-loathing
in my earlier years, I look back now
with no regrets.
I know my place now, and it is as
teacher. I am happy when I am smiling and cheering and being an ally
who will always stand up and face a
perpetrator of bullying so that no girl/
boy/or gender non-conforming youth
will ever suffer in silence again or
think her/him/perself unworthy of
playing soccer (or any sport) because
she/he/per was lesbian/bi/gay/gender
non-conforming/gender fluid, or transgender. ●
February 2013
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Members
of CEL Encouraged
Gay/Straight
Proposal
Call forto Join
thethe2012
CEL Educators
AnnualAlliance
Program
The Gay/Straight Educators Alliance invites all members of CEL to attend its annual business meeting at NCTE’s
2013 Annual Convention in Boston. On a large scale, this forum encourages
discussion among all who share a profes●
sional commitment to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) students, teachers, issues, and academic materials as
they pertain to the teaching of English at all levels of instruction.
This is why as
members
of CEL are especially
encouraged
to join us.of
Our
membership
includes
Writing
Leadership:
Fostering
a Culture
Writing
and
Reflteachers,
ectiveadministraPractice
tors, and professors of English education eager to affirm the right of every student to a highly skilled teacher. Under
the same philosophy upheld by CEL—that “teaching is a complex process requiring tremendous knowledge and signifin this fast-paced
worldare
of short
tweetsto
and
brief postAre you
challengedthey
by these
Have
you wrestled
cant ongoing
learning”—we
committed
providing
leaders with
the resources
needissues?
to include
LGBT
issues
ings,
how
can
we
help
students
to
write
deeply
and
with
them
in
your
own
classroom
or
school
setting?
and texts in English studies and English language arts classrooms, foster research and scholarship, address
hetero-At
about in
what
matters
toschool
them?settings,
How cansupport
CEL,
we take
up these
inand
slow,
deliberate
ways,
sexismpassionately
and homophobia
academic
and
LGBT
students
andmatters
teachers,
broaden
cultural
we
introduce
students
to
the
magic
and
power
of
writing
and
your
insights
could
be
vital
to
our
conference.
diversity through more inclusive understandings of difference.
as
weinformation
help them to
process
academic learning?
And
how chair, John Pruitt, at [email protected]. We hope to see
For
about
the Assembly,
contact the
current
can
we
incorporate
technology,
not
to
short
circuit
deep
By the May 1st deadline, send your proposal that adyou there!
thinking, but to tap into it?
dresses the conference theme, Writing as Leadership:
Fostering a Culture of Writing and Reective Practice to:
How can we build communities of teachers and teacherleaders, giving teachers voice in the development of curJim Mahoney
riculum and assessment? How do we motivate teachers to
14 Austin Road
reshape
curriculum
and
instruction
for
today’s
students?
PA 19067
Conference on English Leadership AnnualYardley,
Convention
How can we design evaluation processes and professional
growth experiences
in ways
that encourage
teachers
to be
or email as a Word attachment
November
24–26,
2013
• Boston,
Massachusetts
creative and more responsive to students while aligning
to [email protected].
“Transformative
Literacy Leadership andThe
Learning”
with the Common Core Standards?
proposal form is available
online
at
www.ncte.org/cel.
The Conference on English Leadership (CEL) fosters an intimate professional
community dedicated to building the
leadership capacity of literacy educators. A constituent group of the National Council of Teachers of English, CEL
crafts an Annual Convention that features nationally renowned keynote speakers and engaging breakout sessions.
These informative sessions are presented by literacy leaders who are department chairs, curriculum coordinators,
building administrators, college professors, and early career and veteran teachers.
CEL’s 2013 Annual Convention theme is “Transformative Literacy Leadership and Learning.” Throughout the three-day
convention, sessions will focus on ways educators adapt their leadership and their instruction to meet the changing needs
of students, teachers, and communities. CEL invites literacy educators at the elementary, secondary, and higher education levels to submit a proposal for consideration for its 2013 Annual Convention. Below are possible focus strands around
which sessions may be designed:
• Transformative Leadership Approaches
Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov. 20–22
I
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
• Fair and Balanced Teacher Evaluations
• Teacher Leaders and Literacy Coaches as Change Agents
• Designing Extraordinary Curriculum with the Common Core
• Innovative Instructional Technology
• Differentiated Instruction in Dynamic ELA Classrooms
• Rethinking Reading Instruction & Writing Experiences
• Culturally Relevant Literacy Instruction
• Advocating for Dynamic, Purposeful Education
• Balancing Authentic Assessments and Standardized Tests
• Professional Partnerships and Collaborations
• English Leadership in an Independent School Setting
Proposals on these and related issues are welcomed and encouraged.
As a nonprofit organization of educators, we are not able to give a stipend or expenses for this appearance. For more
information on Conference on English Leadership, please visit our website at www.ncte.org/cel; for questions about
submitting a proposal, email Heather Rocco at [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter @CELeadership.
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Your Colleagues Weigh In
The following question was circulated via listserv and email: How are you using/researching/linking
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy to the ELA classroom? Here is a sampling of the responses:
Perhaps the most important aspect of CRP (and other
similar pedagogical approaches) is that it requires the local
collection of data about students’ identities. Then, using
that data, the teacher creates, tailors, and aligns curriculum based upon the actual relevant needs and everyday
applications the students require for success in their
school/lives.
In fact, this sort of data-based curriculum and instruction is crucial in order for other pedagogical approaches—
such as standards-based teaching and assessment—to
succeed at optimal levels. Without the sociocultural data
that results from CRP approaches, no standards set can
ever be sufficiently contextualized to be responsive to all
students; it can only be useful as a (very) broad guide.
Further, in the absence of CRP’s sociocultural contextualization, students in all classrooms are forced to respond to
the curriculum and the teacher rather than the other way
around.
In short, without the data teachers systematically
gather via implementing responsive teaching methods,
standards-based curricula are practically meaningless
and deeply flawed in their capacities to increase student
achievement, teacher performance, and school quality.
—Les Burns, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
My preservice and inservice teachers do the following:
•They learn to evaluate the cultural relevance of books
for their students using criteria developed by Ann
Ebe, and apply this to their text selections for instruction.
•They learn about the concepts of cultural capital and
funds of knowledge; then they create interview questions and activities to elicit information about their
students’ cultural capital and funds of knowledge.
Ultimately, they apply this information to planning
for instruction.
It is critical for students to see how what we are learning
on a daily basis is relevant to their needs and cultures.
I attempt to link the learning for the day into what they
might be doing in the future. This knowledge must come
from a deep understanding of the students in the classroom.
I once had a teacher who talked about not alienating
students with the term English teacher, and that has made
a great difference in the way I address my students. I want
their cultures to blend with the culture in the classroom to
create a melting-pot of learning. —Jared Huisingh, Carter Middle School, Knoxville, TN
I teach a course called Reading, Writing, and Literacy,
which is required for K-12 teacher candidates across all
content areas. The core of the course is a study of students’ language variations and literacies across racial,
socioeconomic, and first-language backgrounds. Teacher
candidates read research and theory to support their exploration of language differences and their implications for
classrooms. Among the authors they read are Gee, Delpit,
Jimenez, Finn, Ladson-Billings, and C. D. Lee.
For 12–15 hours, students participate in service-learning at the Oneonta Job Corps. The students there, aged
16–21, spend their mornings in “school” working toward
a high school diploma or GED and their afternoons training in their chosen trade (automotive, electrical, nursing,
construction, etc.). Teacher candidates tutor Job Corps
students in all subjects while getting to know their tutees’
backgrounds, understanding their learning needs and
challenges, and designing lessons that are responsive to
individuals’ life experiences.
—Blake Tenore, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY
—Tanya Christ, Oakland University, Rochester, MI
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U.S. Postage
PAID
National Council of
Teachers of English
Conference on English Leadership
National Council of Teachers of English
1111 W. Kenyon Road
Urbana, IL 61801-1010
Call for Manuscripts/
Future Issues
CEL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The English Leadership Quarterly, a publication of the
NCTE Conference on English Leadership (CEL), seeks
articles of 500–5,000 words on topics of interest to those
in positions of leadership in departments (elementary,
secondary, or college) where English is taught. Informal,
first-hand accounts of successful research, teaching, and
learning activities related to themes of upcoming issues,
are encouraged. Themes of upcoming issues include:
Associate Chair
Rebecca Sipe
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI
August 2013 (deadline April 15, 2013)
What Did You Read This Summer?
October 2013 (deadline June 15, 2013)
Leadership
(see call, p. 11)
Submission Guidelines: 1) Manuscripts should
address the theme listed in the call for manuscripts for
that issue. 2) Manuscripts should be double-spaced with
1-inch margins in 12-point font. 3) Manuscripts should
follow the current edition of the Publication Manual of
the American Psychological Association. 4) Manuscripts
should be accompanied by a cover letter, which includes
the theme the article addresses, a bulleted list of key
points the article addresses, author name(s), affiliation,
work address, work phone number, fax number, and
email address. Manuscripts will not be reviewed without the cover letter. Email a copy of your manuscript
and a cover letter to Susan Groenke at sgroenke@utk
.edu. Make sure that when sending your electronic
submission, you indicate in the subject line of the email
the issue date for which you are submitting (e.g., August
2013 ELQ). ●
Chair
Wanda Porter
Kailua, HI
Past Chair
Patrick Monahan
Downers Grove, IL
Secretary to the Executive
Committee
Bil Chinn
Edmonton Public Schools,
Centre for Education
Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada
Nominations Chair
Ken Spurlock
Villa Hills, KY
Assistant Nominations Chair
Elizabeth Truesdell
Kamehameha Schools
Hawai’i High School
Kea’au, HI
2012 Program Chair
Jim Mahoney
Yardley, PA
2013 Program Chair
Heather Rocco
Chatham High School
Chatham, NJ
Members-at-Large
Maydie Bombart
Consolidated School District of
New Britain
New Britain, CT
Karen Delbridge
Johnson Junior High School
Cheyenne, WY
Janelle Oxford
Robinson High School
Robinson, IL
R. Joseph Rodriguez
Center for Teaching and Learning
University of Texas at Austin
Janice Schwarze
Downers Grove South High
School
Downers Grove, IL
Liz Spencer
Brookfield High School
Brookfield, CT
Liaison to NCTE Secondary
Section Committee
Anna J. Small Roseboro, NBCT
Grand Rapids, MI
Administrative Liaison
Felisa Mann
NCTE
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