Transformative Curricula, Progressive Pedagogy: Teaching Canonical and Young Adult Literature for a Socially Just Future

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Explorations of Equity and Identity in Humanities Classrooms

Abstract

Often, canonical literature and Young Adult Literature (YAL) are positioned as curricular dichotomies: while the former is presented as a “traditional” body of knowledge, the latter is often treated as a culturally inclusive tool for social transformation and student engagement. This ideological oversimplification fails to capture the multiple identities curricula can take and often ignores entirely the pedagogies used to teach texts. To nuance the realities, challenges, and possibilities for delivering canonical and YAL in socially just ways, this case study examines data collected from over six months spent in the classrooms of two secondary English Language Arts (ELA) teachers as they taught these seemingly dichotomous literary bodies of knowledge. Implications for both in-service and pre-service teacher preparation are discussed.

Authors

• Jeanne Dyches, Iowa State University

• Brandon Lee Sams, Iowa State University