A Critical Inquiry Framework for K–12 Teachers

This dynamic book provides powerful ideas to guide pedagogy and a curriculum model for helping students connect with issues in their lives while meeting standards. Vivid portraits of K–12 classrooms illustrate how teachers used a human rights framework to engage students in critical inquiry of relevant social issues, such as immigration rights, religious tolerance, racial equality, countering the effects of poverty, and respect for people with disabilities. The book shows how a group of teachers worked together to develop a critical content framework using the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Chapters highlight lively classroom and community action projects.

JoBeth Allen is a professor of language and literacy education at the University of Georgia and co-director of the Red Clay Writing Project. Her books include Creating Welcoming Schools and Literacy in the Welcoming Classroom. Lois Alexander is a high school English teacher and directed Project Outreach: Literacy and Social Class for the Red Clay Writing Project.

“This is a timely resource for all who want to teach in hopeful and transformative ways.”
—Mariana Souto-Manning, Teachers College, Columbia University

“Critical literacy, innovative teaching, and children’s rights take center-stage in this beautiful new book. Let us learn from these stories as we move toward socially just teaching practices, equitable educational structures, and the promise of The Rights of the Child in our schools and communities.”
—Valerie Kinloch, associate professor, literacy studies, The Ohio State University