Researchers and educators support the idea of providing authentic literacy experiences to students. However, a critical misconception of the locus of authenticity exists; the focus has generally been on making tasks authentic to college, careers, or researcher-determined notions of authenticity rather than making tasks authentic to students and…

This case study report uses the conceptual framework of Bakhtinian notions of dialogism to explore how a highly motivated 10th grade English student, Aaliyah, developed strategies for combating her disengagement in academic writing. Aaliyah?s anxiety and boredom stemmed from multiple factors relating to the distance between her home and school…

This study draws on in-depth interviews in which Jared, a queer trans man and high school arts teacher, grappled with what it means to him to be an activist to explore how his conceptualizations of queer activism have been supported and limited by LGBT-inclusive and queering discourses and to consider other discourses that might better represent…

Students need more opportunities to learn how to respond to and counter forms of everyday racism. This qualitative study addresses that need by investigating how one peer-led group engaged in dialogue about issues of race in regards to an eleventh-grade Language Arts assignment. A racial literacy perspective framed our analysis of three small…

The purpose of this study was to better understand the process of engaging in critical literacy practices with kindergarteners. The researcher spent six months in a kindergarten classroom taking extensive field notes on the ways in which the teacher and students explored issues of social justice through literacy activities. Data analysis using a…

Educational policies and initiatives significantly influence instruction in classrooms across the nation. This article presents data from a larger critical ethnographic study in an urban school in the United States during the school's first year implementing the Common Core State Standards. In this article, the author shares data from three…

This article presents a case study on two fourth grade students with learning disabilities in two different writing situations: writing for test preparation and writing for digital stories. The students' writing behaviors, processes, and products in these two settings are contrasted. The differences in the students' writing experiences…

With conceptions of literacy growing beyond the traditional print medium, new understandings of multiliteracy practices and pedagogies are needed to better inform the preparation of secondary English teachers. This article presents the findings of a study examining five first year teachers' understandings of and experiences with…

In this study, we sought to determine preservice teachers' perceptions about participating in an experiential learning literacy program. A total of 86 preservice teachers participated in two hours of training and then tutored elementary students for a total of eight hours. The preservice teachers engaged in 10 hours of experiential learning…

Using a form of analysis that sees talk as social interaction, this study examines how a teacher-librarian-researcher and a parent of elementary-aged children construct reading, readers and social in/equality in the context of a research interview. The analysis suggests that the participants produced equal and unequal social relations and values…

Drawing on semi-structured interview data, this paper examines one man's multimodal engagement with the emotionally difficult aspects of his Chilean heritage. It builds on recent work (e.g., Marshall & Toohey, 2010) that has begun to unearth the intersection between funds of knowledge (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005), difficult…

Drawing data from an action-oriented research project for integrating digital video cameras into the reading process in pre-college courses, this study proposes using digital video cameras in reading summaries and responses to promote critical thinking and to teach social justice concepts. The digital video research project is founded on…

In this work, the author analyzes how Mari, an undergraduate student labeled with a reading disability, describes her reading opportunities and texts throughout her K-16 schooling. Using a disability studies in education lens, the researcher investigated the role that experiences with texts played in Mari's identity development as a reader.…

Drawing on Vygostky's zone of proximal development this study explores the ways preservice teachers engage with The Human Bean Activity that was designed to make visible the abstract idea of identity and community. This qualitative narrative analysis explores the talk produced by 47 predominantly White, straight, and female preservice…

Considering the digital landscape of the 21st century classroom, it is paramount that teacher education programs prepare preservice teachers to incorporate technology into their classrooms to engage in communicative and collaborative acts as readers and writers. This collective case study was conducted to explore what happened when nine preservice…