From Where Do You Read the World?

Abstract

This article argues for the expansion of critical literacies in teacher education to include literacies offered by the material turn in social theory. A graphic memoir is used as an example of scholarship produced to engage with critical literacies as well as literacies required for a material‐discursive analysis of the social. The piece is illustrative of the deconstructive and multimodal literacies that are important to cultivate with adolescents and adults in teacher education broadly speaking and literacy teacher education more specifically. From where do you read the world, and why? Is a rich provocation for preservice and inservice teachers to contemplate forces that existed prior to their birth and continue throughout life? Supporting the acquisition of these literacies cannot only enhance one's understanding of lived experiences but can also serve as a repertoire of ways of thinking/speaking/being in more just ways in the world, in the classroom, and as a teacher.

Reflect, Analyze, Act, Repeat: Creating Critical Consciousness through Critical Service-Learning at a Professional Development School

“…The network of systems represents both the interests of the privileged and the oppression of those who are not privileged. The course themes also emphasized that our perceptions and our decisions are, by definition, grounded in our cultural and historical locations [25] and inextricably intertwined with that network of systems. Questioning who benefits from the network of systems orients our focus in the course toward equity, in line with the distinction that Mitchell [8] draws between traditional service-learning, which typically ignores questions of equity, and critical service-learning, which centers on equity.…”

Digital role-play in a secondary English language arts classroom

“…As I describe in Chapter 2, scholars and educators are interested in students' social identities and argue that constructions of identity are inextricably linked with literacy practices (Hull & Katz, 2006;Lam, 2000;McCarthey & Moje, 2002). As students read, compose, and discuss printed texts, there surface moments that contribute to ways they recognize and gain access to social identities (Alvermann, 2001;Appleman, 2009;Jones & Woglom, 2016;Lewis, Enciso, & Moje, 2007). This process accordingly applies to digital texts and digital participation (Alvermann 2008;Gee, 2003;Jenkins & Kelley, 2013).…”

“…Studies of adolescents' online discourse illustrate ways that language use can be a literal reflection of social identities and serve as a metaphor for adolescents' notions of who they might wish to become (Black, 2009;Davies, 2014;Haynes-Moore, 2013;Subrahmanyam, Greenfield, & Tynes, 2004). Examinations of adolescents' digital experiences matter as they illuminate processes of recognizing, exploring, and assuming identities in participation with others (Ajayi, 2015;Alvermann, 2001;Jones & Woglom, 2016;Lewis et al, 2007).…”

“…Absent in reform efforts are serious considerations of the ways that students' personal contexts and their academic mindsets contribute to experiences of school success (Blazar & Kraft, 2015;Egalite, 2016;Jones & Woglom, 2016).…”

“…Further, in the midst of literacy reforms, educators' teaching innovations are not necessarily encouraged within some schools' stricter implementations of Common Core standards (Hobbs, 2013). Scholars Van Cleave and Bridges-Rhoads 2014 Numerous scholars encourage teachers to move beyond the framework of the CCSS; they advocate for creative classroom pedagogy that honors diversity, facilitates collaborative work, and confronts students with multiple perspectives (Beach, Haertling Thein, & Webb, 2013;Bridges-Rhoads & Van Cleave, 2016;Harste, 2014;Jones & Woglom, 2016;National Council Teachers of English, 2015;Smith, Appleman, & Wilhelm, 2014).…”