Assimilationist Writing Instruction: Teachers' Negotiations of Literacy Practices at a New Graduate School of Education

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  In Poster Session: Critical Educators for Social Justice Poster Session

Abstract

This paper considers the resources that teachers drew upon in their learning to teach writing process, including resources from their respective charter school sites, their experiences as students and teachers, and their Relay masters degree coursework. Data sources from this qualitative multi-case study included semi-structured interviews with teachers and document review of curricular materials. The author argues that teachers were socialized into an understanding of literacy as assimilation in that the curriculum promised college readiness, and thus mobility and access, while simultaneously restricting students’ literate practices. Ultimately, this paper examines the intersections of teacher pedagogical practices and a common-sense rationale for college readiness delivered in and through writing instruction.

Author

• Kathryn Nagrotsky, Sacred Heart University