Power and Autonomy: When Co-Conspirators Collaborate to Reform Literacy Curriculum

• In Event: Pedagogical Practices in Urban Settings

Abstract

This paper examines scripted curriculum for K-12 literacy within the context of the neoliberal educational milieu in the United States, (i.e., heightened standardization, narrowing the curriculum, and disconnection from critical pedagogical practices, ala Paulo Freire). We advocate for societal change toward educational and economic equity. Such equity pedagogies include the re-centering of race and racial justice, racial literacy, and culturally sustaining practices. This paper highlights literacy practices for resistance within urban classrooms and talks back to policies that disempower teachers. This preliminary study explores an urban mid-western middle school/district where the largest percentage of the student population is African American.

Authors

• Jennifer L. Martin, University of Illinois at Springfield

• Julie Hoffman, Springfield Public Schools