From Fast Food to Deep Inquiry: A Curricular Case Study With Secondary Literacy Teaching and Learning

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Education in Literacy and the Arts

Abstract

The paper describes the efforts of a higher education researcher and two classroom teachers, one in Social Studies, and one in English, who work together annually on a new curricular theme that resonates with local young people. In a community where many adolescents work in the fast food economy, these teachers and the research made a sub-topic of sustainability -- how we get our fast food, what it is, and what it does to us – a curriculum for high school students labeled “struggling,” or disengaged from high school. Findings include a theme of academic resilience, the opportunities and challenges in navigating the discourses of food economies, and the pedagogical challenges involved in addressing mental health challenges for adolescents.

Author

• Christopher William Johnson, University of Minnesota - Duluth