This article explores the ways in which females who identify with hip-hop often develop and construct their identities in relation to media representations of blackness and femininity in hip-hop music and culture. In order for educators to support female students in constructing identities of empowerment and agency, they should be willing and able…

This study examines how an English language learner (ELL) educator negotiated conversations about the intersectional nature of race in an elementary ELL classroom using a critical literacy framework. Few studies examine the ways in which teachers of young children negotiate conversations about the complexities of race with their students. Even…

W.S. 21-18-202 (h)(iii) mandates that the Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC) develop performance benchmarks, outcome measures, and other performance indicators which serve as the basis for annual reporting to the legislature and the governor. The annual reporting must include, but is not limited to, the following measures: (1) student…

W.S. 21-18-202 (h)(iii) mandates that the Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC) develop performance benchmarks, outcome measures, and other performance indicators which serve as the basis for annual reporting to the legislature and the governor. The annual reporting must include, but is not limited to, the following measures: (1) student…

Three teacher-researchers engage in self-study of a college writing program delivered on an urban high school campus. Through examination of their practices, from their particular standpoints bridging secondary and post-secondary education, the teachers find that the writing program repairs opportunity gaps related to the accountability regime,…

Investigating student voice in the classroom, the author suggests methods for integrating digital texts, both for student research and student writing. He recommends a variety of platforms that support digital storytelling and offers examples of student products and students' reflection on those products.

This article presents discourse analyses of two lesson plans designed for secondary school history classes. Although the plans focus on the same topic, they rely on different models of content area literacy: disciplinary literacy, or reading and writing like experts in a given domain, and critical literacy, or reading and writing to address…

Family literacy initiatives are historically rooted in positivism. In relationship to family literacy, the positivist paradigm is dangerous, as it strips the participants of power and removes their opportunities for voice. In response, a socially just approach to family literacy intervention is offered here. This approach embraces the context of…

Inherent in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document are inferences of transmission and reproduction that run counter to the emancipatory imperatives of core educational policy documents enacted after democracy in 1994. Some structural inadequacies in implementation of the first curricular changes to outcomes-based education…

Several scholars have noted the prevalence of the discourse of upward class mobility in the United States, particularly within K-12 education settings. "Rags-to-riches" stories, an extreme form of upward mobility discourse, have been embedded in American culture for generations. However, the prevalence of upward mobility discourse in…

In this volume we apply a personal narrative methodology to understanding what we have learned about visionary leadership. Authors in this volume developed their reflections of life-long learning as they investigated existing leadership theories and theories about future leadership. Graduate program faculty and authors read and critically reviewed…

I theorize teaching and researching as practices of "blurred translating" that center antioppressive education (Kumashiro, 2002) and storytelling (e.g., Frank, 2010; Zipes, 1995, 2004). Based in listening, research and teaching as blurred translating are relational, contextual, and ongoing processes oriented toward transformation and…

In this article, the author explains how teachers can use Yusef Komunyakaa's "Slam, Dunk, & Hook," Frank X. Walker's "Death by Basketball," and two poems by Sherman Alexie, "Penance" and "Defending Walt Whitman," to engage students, meet standards, and develop critical perspectives. First, the article…

This qualitative case study examines how fifth graders and their teachers participated in critical literacy instruction grounded in systems thinking on the topic of slavery. Systems thinking seeks to discover relationships and patterns in diverse underlying systems; critical literacy examines everyday texts, focuses on social justice and change,…

Purpose: Critical appraisal skills are necessary to navigate the numerous contradictory and pseudo-scientific claims in the popular media. Health and science education in schools is essential for promoting these skills in students. The purpose of this paper is to explore lower secondary school science teachers' perceptions and reported practices…