Collaborative Redesigns of a Sociocultural Approach to Reading Instruction in a World of Cultural Flows

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Sociocultural Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This paper reports on a researcher-teacher project that represented a shift from researching a school; its curriculum and instructional approaches; and its students, teachers, and leaders; to practices of collaboration with these educational stakeholders to enhance students’ literacy experiences and learning in school. The paper reports on the design, implementation, and outcomes of a three-week independent reading unit undertaken with a group of adolescent learners at a Caribbean school. Thematic analysis of qualitative data revealed how potentially liberatory reading pedagogies can include elements that may be enacted by teachers and/or experienced by students as oppressive. Findings also include that collaborations among researchers-teachers, students, and school-leaders to redesign curriculum and instruction generated impactful knowledge and practices that helped redress these contradictions.

Authors

• Allison Skerrett, The University of Texas at Austin

• Saba Khan Vlach, The University of Iowa

• Lakeya Omogun, University of Washington - Seattle