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Social Justice Literacies in the English Classroom

Teaching Practice in Action

Ashley S. Boyd

Foreword by: Deborah Appleman

Publication Date: September 29, 2017

Pages: 160

Series: Language and Literacy Series

Available Formats
PAPERBACK
ISBN: 9780807758267
$34.95
HARDCOVER
ISBN: 9780807758632
$82.00
EBOOK
ISBN: 9780807776629
$34.95
Social Justice Literacies in the English Classroom 9780807758267
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  • Description
  • Author
  • Reviews
  • Contents

Description+

This timely book focuses on different social justice pedagogies and how they can work within standards and district mandates in a variety of English language arts classrooms. With detailed analysis and authentic classroom vignettes, the author explores how teachers cultivate relationships for equity, utilize transformative language practices, demonstrate critical caring, and develop students’ critical literacies with traditional and critical content. Boyd offers a comprehensive model for taking social action with youth that also considers the obstacles teachers are likely to encounter. Presenting the case for more equity-oriented teaching, this rich resource examines the benefits of engaging students with critical pedagogies and provides concrete methods for doing so. Written for both pre- and inservice teachers, the text includes adaptable teaching models and tested ideas for preparing to teach for social justice.

Book Features:

  • Conceptualizes social justice as a set of “literacies” that can be learned and cultivated.
  • Depicts social action projects being used to meet Common Core State Standards.
  • Illustrates how social justice happens in small moments, both those that are planned and those that arise spontaneously.
  • Shows teachers from rural and urban contexts adapting social justice to their teaching style and environment.

Author+

Ashley S. Boyd is an assistant professor of English education at Washington State University.

Reviews+

"...essential reading for those in the education field that want to transform their classrooms to spaces where inequity and oppression can be disrupted and where both teachers and students are agents for social change."

— Education Review / Reseñas Educativas

“Boyd's writing makes for a highly enjoyable read... an accessible resource to inform practices and being discussions. This text is a valuable read for those who are interested in implementing a critical lens with social justice literacies in their classroom”

—Journal of Language and Literacy Education (JOLLE)

"This brief, 119-page book...is packed with specific suggestions and examples immediately applicable to college–particularly community college–English instructors, too. . . with examples from middle and high schools, Social Justice Literacies offers timely applications to instructors of college English classes."

— RaiderCats Comp (blog)

"This is an appealing vision for the future, for it bears much promise—for our classrooms, and also for the future our students will both shape and inhabit."
—From the Foreword by Deborah Appleman, Carleton College

"Through the careful observation and analysis of three teachers with different approaches to teaching critical literacy, Ashley Boyd provides a repertoire of practices rich with detail. By taking seriously the institutional, policy, and parental obstacles that teachers may face, as well as the dangers of self-censorship, she is able to provide both theory and strategies for a way forward."
—Hilary Janks, Wits University, South Africa

“In this important book, Dr. Boyd shows English teachers how to be ‘literate’ in social justice ideas so they are able to enact these practices in their classrooms. This counters the belief of so many teacher educators who think that social justice asks too much of teachers. This book demonstrates that too many teacher educators underestimate the capabilities and intellect of today’s teachers.”
—George W. Noblit, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contents+

Foreword by Deborah Appleman

Preface

Acknowledgments

Overview of Book

PART I: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE TEACHER

Chapter 1. Social Justice and English
   Social Justice in English Language Arts
   Social Justice Literacies: A Theoretical Lens
   Social Justice: For Whom and by Whom?

Chapter 2. The Teacher as a Catalyst for Social Justice
   Coming to Know Ourselves
   Three Teachers’ Stories
   Individualizing Social Justice

PART II: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE CLASSROOM

Chapter 3. Social Justice and Pedagogy: Teaching with Purpose
   Building Relationships for Equity
   Embodying Transformative Language Practices
   Pedagogic Advice: Translating to Teaching Strategies

Chapter 4. Social Justice and Students: Embodying Critical Caring
   Understanding Students’ Backgrounds
   Responding to Student Behavior
   Maintaining High Expectations
   Pedagogic Advice: Translating to Teaching Strategies

Chapter 5. Social Justice and Curriculum: Content with Critique
   Text Selection: Choosing with Intention
   Traditional Content: The Practice of Critique
   Social Justice Content: Using Multimodality to Build Critical Consciousness
   Curriculum and Pedagogy: Inextricable Entities
   Pedagogic Advice: Translating to Teaching Strategies

PART III: SOCIAL JUSTICE BEYOND THE WALLS  OF THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM

Chapter 6. Cultivating Students as Agents of Change: Social Justice as a Verb
   Moving Beyond Critique and the Potentially Detrimental State of Helplessness
   Implementing Social Action Projects
   Considering the Obstacles to Social Action
   Navigating the Barriers

Chapter 7. Conclusion

References

Index

About the Author

$34.95

Professors: Request an Exam Copy

Print copies available for US orders only. For orders outside the US, see our international distributors.

Books In This Series
Educating Emergent Bilinguals
Educating Emergent Bilinguals
Teaching Beyond Spoken Words
Teaching Beyond Spoken Words
Amplifying the Curriculum
Amplifying the Curriculum
Reading, Writing, and Talk
Reading, Writing, and Talk
When Teaching Writing Gets Tough
When Teaching Writing Gets Tough
Reading and Relevance, Reimagined
Reading and Relevance, Reimagined
Equitable Literacy Instruction for Students in Poverty
Equitable Literacy Instruction for Students in Poverty
A Cyclical Model of Literacy Learning
A Cyclical Model of Literacy Learning
Teaching With Arts-Infused Writing Pedagogies
Teaching With Arts-Infused Writing Pedagogies
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