Pose, Wobble, Flow

Pose, Wobble, Flow presents an exciting, liberatory framework for disrupting the pervasive myth that there is one set of surefire, culturally neutral best practices. In this new edition, the authors update and expand their pedagogical model to support lifelong success for teachers of all subject areas and grade levels. Providing six different teaching stances or “poses” that teachers can use to meet the needs of all students, this popular resource offers guidance for teaching and learning in today’s challenging sociopolitical climate. The authors describe how teachers can expect to “wobble” as they adapt instruction to the needs of their students, while also incorporating new insights about their own positionality and preconceptions of teaching. Readers are encouraged to recognize this flexibility as a positive process or “flow” that can be used to address challenges and adopt ambitious teaching strategies like those depicted in this book. Each chapter highlights a particular pose, describes how to work through common wobbles, incorporates teacher voices, and provides discussion activities for collective teacher inquiry.

Book Features:

• A structure for career-long growth for K–12 teachers of all subject areas, including ways to adapt pedagogy from one year to the next.
• A perspective on teaching that questions existing inequities in schooling and society and frames teaching around a commitment to changing them.
• Six poses that are standards-aligned, critical, and expand the possibilities of what takes place in school.
• Guidelines for creating original poses beyond the scope of the book, discussion questions for courses, and resources for classroom teachers.

Antero Garcia is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University and coeditor of Speculative Pedagogies: Designing Equitable Educational Futures. Cindy O’Donnell-Allen is a professor in the English Department at Colorado State University, where she directs the CSU Writing Project and the Colorado State Sustainable Teaching and Learning Collaborative.

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION—

"In Pose, Wobble, Flow, Garcia and O'Donnell-Allen remind all of us that teaching is not about following directions: it’s about listening to our students and paying attention to the social forces that shape their lives; about learning how to navigate department, school, district, and federal rules to benefit our students so we can keep a job while we continue to honor our core beliefs about education."

—Linda Christensen, director, Oregon Writing Project, Lewis & Clark College

"Antero Garcia and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen have written a book about teaching that I’ve been hoping someone would write. They deftly provide a clear and insightful framework from which any thoughtful teacher can build a vital practice, while also inserting a wealth of examples to ground the framework in working classrooms. It’s a must-have for preservice and inservice teachers who care about their teaching."

—Bob Fecho, professor and department head, University of Georgia

"It may be a funny name for a book on literacy, but Pose, Wobble, Flow is serious when it comes to supporting teachers to become more aware, culturally proactive, and powerful in their practice. As someone who struggles with yoga—wobbling in the midst of poses, finding flow when I’m really lucky—I love the metaphor, as well as the wise advice, solid theory, and grounded practical examples from their own and others’ classrooms described by authors Antero Garcia and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen. This beautiful book will educate, challenge, and inspire educators determined to improve their teaching."

—Sonia Nieto, professor emerita, Language, Literacy, and Culture, College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

“As teachers, our education does not end after we receive our degrees; we need to create communities of conscience to keep our curriculum aligned with our ideals. Pose, Wobble, Flow should be part of that community—a book we study and return to.”
—From the Foreword by Linda Christensen, editor of Rethinking Schools

“Pose, Wobble, Flow is a must-read for teachers committed to generating more equitable schooling experiences for all students. Garcia and O’Donnell-Allen provide contemporary examples of curriculum and teaching grounded in the critical theories needed to challenge persistent educational disparities encountered by today’s teachers and students. The text poses generative questions for educators across content areas, offering multiple entry-points for individual educators and whole school communities to engage in the reflection and action needed to challenge educational disparities and enact more just educational futures.”
—Joanne E. Marciano, assistant professor of English education, Michigan State University

“Teachers cannot be replaced by pre-packaged curricula. Nor should they be forced to comply to narrow conceptualizations of best practices to be mechanistically executed. Antero Garcia and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen are sage guides to the real work of teaching and learning in ELA classrooms. They provide an illuminating conceptual vocabulary with rich examples to illustrate the improvisational nature of pedagogy for a genuine multiracial democracy. Pose, Wobble, Flow is a must-read for all educators.”
—Gerald Campano, professor, University of Pennsylvania

Contents

Foreword Linda Christensen  ix

Introduction: What It Means to Pose, Wobble, and Flow  1
The Pose, Wobble, Flow Framework: What It Is and How to Use It  4
What Does It Mean to Pose?  7
What Does It Mean to Wobble?  8
What Is Flow?  9
Moving From Pose to Wobble to Flow: Two Examples of a P/W/F Cycle  11
Working Within the System  12
Working the System  14
Looking Ahead  15
Provocations  17
Connections  18

1.  Leaning Toward Praxis: What It Means to Embrace a Liberatory Pedagogy  19
Teaching for Liberation  20
What Do We Mean When We Call for Liberation?  20
Why Teaching for Liberation Is Non-Negotiable in Today’s World  24
What Does It Look Like to Pose, Wobble, Flow Around Liberatory Pedagogy? An Example From Our Own Practice  26
What Does It Look Like to Pose, Wobble, Flow Around Liberatory Pedagogy Within Your Classroom?  29
What Does It Look Like to Pose, Wobble, Flow Around Liberatory Pedagogy Beyond the Classroom?  31
Conclusion  34
Provocations  34
Connections  35

2.  In Praise of “Not-Knowing”: What It Means to Be a Vulnerable Learner  36
The Payoff of Being a Vulnerable Learner  37
Vulnerable Learning, Vulnerable Teaching  40
Embracing the Practice of “Bypassing”: Challenging Limiting Constraints Through Innovative Curriculum Design  47
Wobbling With Well-Being: Building Stamina Through Sustainable Teaching and Teaching for Trauma Resiliency  52
An Alternative to the “Oxygen Mask”: Using the Framework of Sustainable Teaching to Breathe Life Into Your Practice  52
The Mindset and Methods of Sustainable Teaching  53
Connecting the Dots: Sustainable Teaching, Trauma Wobble, and Teaching for Trauma Resiliency  55
What Do We Mean by “Trauma”?  57
The Problem With Definitions (or Lack Thereof) of Trauma-Informed Care and Trauma-Informed Teaching  60
The Promise of Teaching for Trauma Resiliency: Connecting the Dots  62
Concluding Thoughts  64
Provocations  64
Connections  65

3.  Literacy as Civic Action: What It Means to Teach for Social Change  67
Rethinking Civics  70
Understanding the Why and How of Civics in Every Content Area  75
Developing Activities and Assignments to Cultivate Students’ Critical Consciousness  81
Establishing a Participatory Culture of Civic Writing  84
Doing Civics  87
Addressing Power and Positionality  89
Tackling Controversy When You Don’t Have Tenure  91
Conclusion  93
Provocations  94
Connections  95

4.  Embracing Your Inner Writer: What It Means to Teach as a Writer  97
Assuming the Pose of Teacher as Writer  100
Establishing a Practice of Writing  101
Why Assuming a Writer Pose Matters for Educational Equity  105
Power in Numbers  109
Conclusion: So, You’re a Writer. Now What?  112
Provocations  113
Connections  114

5.  Rethinking Reading: What It Means to Curate the Curriculum  115
Defining Text and the Act of Reading Today  118
What’s in Your Bookroom? Teaching Beyond a Fixed Canon  121
Helping Students Become Curators of Texts Themselves: The Role of Student Choice in Reading  127
Accessing Critical Texts: Anxiety and Frustration  131
Reading Passionately  133
Conclusion  136
Provocations  137
Connections  138

6.  Classroom Spaces, Cultures, and Possibilities: What It Means to Be a Designer of Learning  139
Excavating a Space That Is Meaningful for All  144
Designing for Delight  146
Technology Mediates Space  147
Space, Morale, and Morality  149
Spilling Over Democratic Possibilities: Culture Beyond the Classroom  156
Conclusion: Space Is Not the Final Frontier  160
Provocations  161
Connections  162

Conclusion: What Does It Look Like?  163
Pose, Wobble, Flow as Politics  165
Striving for the Unattainable  167

References  171

Appendix A. Pose, Wobble, Flow Template and Assignment  187
The Pose, Wobble, Flow Assignment  187

Appendix B: Summary of Poses  191

Appendix C: Pose, Wobble, Flow Template  195

Index  197

About the Authors  205

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