"In Normal School, You Don't Talk About It": Student Perceptions of Social Justice Literacy Workshop

• In Event: Student Literacy Practices and Perspectives: A Critical Look at the Literacy Experiences of Nondominant K–12 Students

Abstract

Perspective and Purpose
Students are usually not “invited to weigh in” (Dumas, 2014, p. 2) on how they experience literacy in various spaces. Research on student perceptions of school reveals that students want meaningful, challenging, and engaging curriculum that invites dialogue (e.g. Nieto, 1994). Using culturally diverse literature (Boyd, Causey, & Galda, 2015), social justice literacy workshop (SJLW) critically analyzes power dynamics and social constructions for the purpose of acting to radically transform realities (e.g. Christensen, 2000, 2009). This study investigates the perceptions of students of color from an out-of-school SJLW as compared to their in-school English Language Arts (ELA) experiences.

Methods and Data Sources
My colleague and I conducted this SJLW during a three-week summer camp in the Advancing Academics Program’s (AAP). AAP (pseudonym) is a year-round, state-funded program that partners with schools to support students “at-risk” of dropping out of high school. Eleven students between the ages of ten and twelve participated. We met four times a week to read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Each session lasting approximately two hours. Employing simultaneous coding (Saldaña, 2013), I analyzed student interview transcripts with their dialogue journals and engagement in small group/whole group discussions to unearth students’ perceptions of SJLW.

Findings
Findings suggest that students typically did not have opportunities to read culturally diverse literature during their ELA classes. While Rodney - a focal student - independently read these types of books, he shared that he did not bring them to school. Moreover, Rodney believed his teachers were unaware of his reading preferences. Another student - Max - reported Esperanza Rising as the only book he read in school dealing with racism and social class. Additionally, students were engaged in co-constructing knowledge and deepening their understanding of text via dialogue during SJLW. Across interviews, students compared these experiences to their in-school experiences reporting that they did not typically engage in classroom dialogue. According to Max, SJLW was not boring, “Because we actually talked about it, and [in] normal school you don’t talk about it, you just do it” (Interview). Finally, students felt challenged through the critical thinking activities of SJLW. Students compared the critical ways in which they wrote about reading during SJLW (e.g. dialogue journals) to how they wrote about readings from school (e.g. answering questions). For example, Angelo stated in school, “we read like a chapter a day, and then we’ll have to do a packet” (Interview). While students valued the academic challenges they confronted in SJLW which were often not experienced in their ELA classes, they appreciated the ways in which their learning was supported.

Significance
Unfortunately, empowering pedagogy is often more prevalent in out-of-school spaces then in school (e.g. Kinloch, 2009). Findings from this paper reveals students’ perceptions of SJLW and have important implications on the need to transform students’ in-school literacy experiences to spaces of critical literacy engagement.

Author

• Tiffany M Nyachae, Buffalo State - SUNY