Can critical questions and complicated conversations addressing issues of representation, difference, and witnessing be positioned at the centre of a TYA curriculum? This article examines contemporary, issue-based and culturally specific TYA scripts. In addition, a collection of aesthetic representations are offered as dynamic prompts to help…

Writer's workshop is a popular curriculum opportunity in most US schools. This case study of two Black boys engaging in a Kindergarten writer's workshop richly contextualizes their writing identities and practices. A critical childhood studies framework was used to show how Black boys and their White teachers improvised writing-related…

Standardization and accountability forces in education have created a landscape that prioritizes surveillance and treats teaching and learning as transactional. This article explores how a teacher educator and student teachers sought to navigate these constrained spaces by centralizing tensions and acting agentively. Student teachers reflect on…

As the face of education in Philadelphia's public schools changes in response to budget constraints and politics, current "Teach For America" (TFA) corps members' roles have also changed. These changes have resulted in the majority of second-year TFA corps members being relocated from school district to charter-managed schools, many of…

Unlike traditional Readers Theatre, which is typically limited to literature-based scripts, Curriculum-Based Readers Theatre (CBRT) allows teachers and students to create scripts based on any topic, any work of literature, any textbook, or almost any collection of facts. It can be easily incorporated into the existing curriculum, and because this…

This article explains how and why to involve teachers and students as playwrights "commissioned" to write, revise, read, rehearse, and perform Readers Theatre scripts that fulfill a dual purpose: inform (about curriculum topics) and entertain. Curriculum-Based Readers Theatre (CBRT) differs from traditional Readers Theatre in that its script…

Present two "readers theater" scripts of a small-town New England high school community's confrontation with changing values and curriculum. The scripts serve as vehicles for opening up dialog about what constitutes sound teaching and learning practices. The first script explores mental models of "good" practices held by…

Designed to promote informed decision making among Indian people whose children are currently attending a school operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), this script for a seven-part program is made up of filmstrips and recordings which both ask questions and provide information. Program 1 is an introduction/orientation program centered…