How Religious Faith Complicates Literacy Education for Cosmopolitanism in U.S. Schools: A Case Study of a Fundamentalist Christian Student in a Secondary English Classroom

• In Event: Literacies, Identities, and Religious Faith Commitments and Communities in Dialogue

Abstract

Rationale & Objective
Scholars in adolescent literacy have begun to invoke cosmopolitanism as a framework for understanding literate practices in a globalized, multicultural world (e.g., Campano & Ghiso, 2011; Harper, Bean, & Dunkerly, 2010), but to our knowledge, none have framed the study of literacy classroom discourse and religiosity within the broader framework of cosmopolitanism. If, however, religion is a central force shaping value-laden talk and writing in literacy classrooms (Kunzman, 2006), then there is a critical need to interrogate cosmopolitan education in light of students’ and teachers’ religious lives. Our project responds to this need by exploring the enactment of education for cosmopolitanism in literacy classroom discourse where some students hold fundamentalist Christian religious beliefs.

Theoretical Framework
While some imagine that a cosmopolitan outlook requires one to eschew communal obligations for the good of humanity (Appiah, 2006), others uphold a moderate version that seeks to fuse one’s obligations to humanity with loyalty to one’s community (Hansen et al., 2009). One way to engender this moderate version is to foster dialogue about values. Because all people share a commitment to the act of valuing, such dialogue has the potential to create solidarity without compromising individual and communal integrity. Because dialogue, including spoken and written discourse, is integral to English classrooms, these spaces have the potential to support a moderate cosmopolitan outlook.

Method
Focusing on the literacy practices of a fundamentalist Christian youth during a personal belief essay unit in a Midwestern US public high school English course, this case study (Dyson & Genishi, 2005) interprets student essay writing, semi-structured interviews with students and teacher, and classroom talk and activity in light of Hansen et al.’s (2009) vision of education for cosmopolitanism.

Results & Significance
Our case study data suggest that the reading, writing, listening, and speaking practices of some fundamentalist Christian students are incommensurate with reflective consideration of the shared act of valuing. Situating this finding in light of the history of tolerance for religious diversity in the United States enshrined in the US constitution, we argue that certain fundamentalist religious (and possibly other) outlooks held or enacted by students raise critical questions for even moderate visions of education for cosmopolitanism in a pluralistic society.


References
Appiah, K.A. (2006). Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a world of strangers. New
York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Campano, G. & Ghiso, M. P. (2011). Immigrant students as cosmopolitan intellectuals. In S. Wolf, K. Coats, P. Enciso, & C. Jenkins, Handbook of research on children’s literature (164-178). New York: Routledge.

Dyson, A. H. & Genishi, C. (2005) On the Case: Approaches to language and literacy research. New York: Teachers College Press.

Hansen, D. T., Burdick-Shepherd, S. Cammarano, C. & Obelleiro, G. (2009).
Education, values, and valuing in cosmopolitan perspective. Curriculum Inquiry, 39(5), 587-612.

Harper, H., Bean, T. W.; Dunkerly, J. (2010) Cosmopolitanism, globalization and the field of adolescent literacy," Canadian and International Education, 39(3).

Kunzman, R. (2006). Grappling with the good: Talking about religion and
morality in public schools. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Authors

• Mary M. Juzwik, Michigan State University

• Cori McKenzie, Michigan State University