Scholars from various disciplines have theorized a relationship between reading fiction and empathy. Research in cognitive studies suggests that understanding fiction requires Theory of Mind, or the cognitive ability to understand the feelings and motivations of others. Some studies build on this research to suggest reading fiction helps to…

In this article, the authors work to illustrate how "Miles Morales Suspended" by Jason Reynolds, an author whose work has been targeted by book ban efforts (Knight, 2022), can be positioned in English classrooms to teach about contemporary attacks on Black literature through book bans. The teaching outlined in this article is part of a…

In this article, I discuss how I pair the close reading of choice, high-interest, young adult literature (YAL) with the creative writing of young adult stories in a preservice English teacher preparation programme. This paired reading and writing is used to have preservice teachers (PSTs) engage with identities, communities, and stories of their…

Recent political excursions into classroom text selections by local and national politicians and pundits have made teaching canonical texts more appealing to many school districts and teachers. In this study, we used conceptions of Derridean hospitality alongside monster theory to examine what common canonical texts teach students about who is…

This critical content analysis draws on a dataset of contemporary young adult texts receiving awards between 2012 and 2023 to examine opportunities for religiously informed alterity for readers, which we argue can be a productive experience for building critical religious literacy in young adult readers. We argue that young adult literature can…

This three-article dissertation examines the role of comics as a medium for developing anti-oppressive pedagogies with teacher educators and teacher candidates in English language Arts (ELA) and literacy education. Using methods of critical content analysis (Johnson et al, 2016), descriptive qualitative research (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), and…

This three-year, living inquiry into how preservice English Education students composed and analyzed visual-verbal journals (VVJs) in relation to Anne Frank's "Diary" is grounded in Ahmed's concepts of happy objects, bad encounters, and good encounters. After theorizing and complicating Ahmed's concepts, we explore the way that the…

Previous research has established relationships between reading fiction and increased empathy levels, an effect amplified by reading young adult fiction and by feeling transported by, or wholly immersed within, one's reading. Given the established correlation between increased empathy and decreased intolerance levels, reading fiction may decrease…

Providing spaces for adolescents to make sense of the world around them is often the work of educators, specifically those in Language Arts classrooms. In the current historical moment, adolescents often must make sense of the ways socio-political conflict impacts their world. Displacement, often an effect of socio-political conflict, is…

This article explores the benefits and problems of teaching with challenged books in the English language arts classroom. Challenged books initiate important discussions and provide opportunities for students to explore diverse perspectives. Methods for helping teachers and schools prepare for potential challenges are also discussed. The authors…

In this practitioner article, we detail how American English language arts and social studies teachers can select and teach young adult literature using LaGarrett King's Black historical consciousness framework. We provide supplemental, related research along with teaching suggestions and titles for each of the Black historical consciousness…

In this discussion, we argue for those who are literacy educators to reframe gossip as a dialogic, feminist act in their teaching and interpretation of gossip as framed in the literature they teach in secondary English language arts (ELA) classrooms. Reframing gossip as a feminist act invites meaning-makers to view those conversations and…

Learn how to disrupt the reproduction of White supremacy in curriculum and instruction. This volume directly confronts persistent iterations of whiteness in English education through advancing antiracist dispositions and practices. Readers will find a variety of practical implementations of teaching and learning in English Language Arts, English…

As Catholic schools serve an increasingly racially diverse population of students, they must grapple with the critical requirement to address these students' unique needs while heeding the call from modern Catholic Church leaders to engage in explicit antiracist action. Using the Historically Responsive Literacy Framework (HRL), this article…

This paper examines how the rural identity of teachers shapes their teaching practices. It found that rural out-migrant teachers' re-storying of their (non)rural identity influenced their beliefs surrounding the inclusion of rural stories in their reading instruction. They faced challenges in recognizing rural stories as worthy of teaching, in…