Contradictions in Teaching: A Collective Case Study of Teachers' Social Justice Literacies in Middle and Secondary English Classrooms

In recent years, discourse in education related to issues of equity has broadened to include an emphasis on social justice. This phrase refers to both a critical stance and a propensity to act for social change. As part of this movement, teacher educators strive to facilitate the development of teachers who are cognizant of their own backgrounds and those of their students, are critical consumers of knowledge, and are committed to culturally relevant pedagogies. Yet, the literature on social justice in discipline-specific areas, notably English Education, offers few models of effective social justice educators. This study uses a collective case design to investigate the social justice literacies of three individual teachers. Deductive coding is used to determine teachers' strengths in practice, including their conceptions of students and use of multicultural and sociopolitical content. Findings in each case present the contradictions that emerge within teachers' attempts to implement social justice in their classrooms, and these serve to complicate the image of how social justice appears in context. Findings across cases highlight the importance of teacher biography, particularly identity and experience, the struggle for authentic and critical collaboration in schools, and the challenges of cultivating students as change agents. Implications of the study suggest that teacher educators must find ways to uncover the myriad biographical experiences of preservice candidates and to incorporate reflection on them in meaningful ways. Additionally, we must work to provide field experiences in varied cultural contexts so that preservice teachers can better work with students, especially those from non-dominant populations. Furthermore, we need to offer opportunities for critical collaboration both within field experiences and in the university context. Finally, for English preservice teachers specifically, we must model for both deconstructive and reconstructive pedagogies with classroom texts for preservice candidates, so that they can begin to discern ways to cultivate students as change agents. Ultimately, the findings from the study suggest that embodying social justice literacies is dependent on context, teacher, and student, yet the conclusions across cases also suggest vital spaces where English teacher educators can impact future practice in the field.Doctor of Philosoph

Moving from Self to System: A Framework for Social Justice Centered on Issues and Action

In this article, authors propose a framework for social justice in preservice teacher education that differs from traditional approaches to diversity related courses. Rather than a sole focus on the ‘isms’, such as racism or classism, five distinct yet simultaneously occurring components are offered for the paradigm. First, this approach to social justice must continuously examine students’ autobiographical experiences. Learners interpret new information through their personal, socially constructed lenses, and it is thus crucial to help them identify and unpack their complex experiences. Second, we call for an organization by topics of concern for dismantling inequity, such as understanding systemic injustices within schools and outside of schools; the social construction of identity; and examining both how and what we teach. Third, we incorporate the critical analysis of media in order to better understand the ways issues are constructed and upheld in the dominant hegemonic culture. Fourth, our model encourages students to conceptualize social justice not only in pedagogical ways, but also as it relates to the content so as to address students’ struggles in connecting social justice to their discipline or grade level. Finally, this method includes the creation and implementation of social action projects. Too often we teach students ‘about’—about theories, about people, about schools without involving our students in the act of social justice.  For each component, we provide a description and justification as well as tangible examples of its implementation from our own practice.  We include further considerations for using the paradigm in discipline-specific ways and end with a call to action for continuing social justice education. 

Batteries, big red, and busses: Using critical theory to read for social class in Eleanor & Park

In this article, the authors posit the avenue of young adult literature as an untapped resource for cultivating students’ knowledge of social theories and their recognition of societal inequities. Combining specific perspectives of social justice education and young adult literature can be a rich and engaging experience for students, as these contemporary texts afford for multiple layers of analysis