Enacting Change: How Critical Literacy Became Part of the English Curriculum

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Literacies Enacted and Embodied

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore how critical literacy informed teaching and learning in 9th grade English I classes at an urban high school under state review. This paper reports on a critical literacy unit which Authors co-taught over the course of four years, taking it from an idea to formal adaptation as the last unit across 9th grade. The goal of that co-teaching partnership was to design, implement, and sustain critical literacy pedagogies in the required 9th grade curriculum. Central research questions focused on what it would take to implement and sustain critical literacy in a general ELA curriculum. Findings indicate researcher-teacher collaboration takes time and authentic engagement for curricular innovation to take hold.

Authors

• Joanne C. Larson, University of Rochester

• Christopher Bethmann, East High School

• Shana Pies, East High School