Connecting Equity, Literacy, and Language

This book shows literacy professionals how to develop the dispositions and actions associated with advocacy-focused teaching. While portraits of culturally conscious literacy teachers are now readily available, becoming such a teacher continues to be a challenge. Drawing from 60+ years of experience working with teacher candidates and teachers in the city of Philadelphia, the authors argue that becoming an advocacy-focused literacy teacher requires making moral commitments to students and developing professional competencies that fuse literacy, language, and equity studies. Recognizing that educators can be overwhelmed trying to match the realities they face daily with the theory behind good practice, Connecting Equity, Literacy, and Language packs a lot of big ideas into one readable, concise book that is perfect for use in literacy methods courses. The text includes definitions and examples of equity concepts, relatable teacher vignettes, and “Pause and Reflect” boxes to encourage reflection and classroom conversation.

Book Features:

• Examines the central problems of students’ disconnection with school, spirit murdering, and the teacher education gap.
• Looks at inequities that have become normalized in classrooms and schools through standardized testing, literacy teaching routines and structures, and deficit-laced language about students and families.
• Discusses literacies and languages as cultural practices and the need to be vigilant about the linguistic violence that occurs when students’ languages are delegitimized.
• Describes critically and culturally centered teaching frameworks.
• Provides vivid examples of advocacy-focused teaching.

Althier M. Lazar is a professor of education at Saint Joseph’s University. Her books include Culturally Sustaining Literacy Pedagogies, Schools of Promise for Multilingual Students, Bridging Literacy and Equity, and Practicing What We Teach. Kaitlin K. Moran is an assistant professor of teacher education at Saint Joseph's University. Shoshanna Edwards-Alexander is a clinical assistant professor of social work for the School of Education and Human Development at Saint Joseph's University.

“The authors call on us to engage in the difficult and vital work necessary to dismantle systems that fail Black and Brown children.”
—From the Foreword by Delicia Tiera Greene, assistant professor, University at Albany, SUNY

“The authors understand that becoming an advocacy-focused educator requires more than pedagogical knowledge. To create the schools our children deserve, we need the advocacy-focused educators that this book highlights—educators who are brave, thoughtful, curious, humble, bold, and always in a state of becoming. With examples pulled from the equity-oriented journeys of teachers and with numerous invitations to pause and reflect, this book will help you discover and grow your own ‘why’ as an advocacy-focused educator. This is essential reading for educators at all stages of their careers.”
—Kelly Wissman, associate professor, University at Albany, SUNY

“Connecting Equity, Literacy, and Language: Pathways Toward Advocacy-Focused Teaching is a book that I wish I had read as a novice teacher. While many texts argue for equity in schools, few provide clear paths forward. This book focuses on the journey, exploring not only how literacy and language are related to equity, but also how educators can prepare themselves for working with children and families. Across the text we meet a stunning group of educators who are moving forward in creating equitable classrooms and becoming advocates for all children. Teachers will learn much from their stories.”
—Catherine Compton-Lilly, John C. Hungerpiller Professor, University of South Carolina