"Monsters in Society": Developing Critical Sociohistorical Consciousness in the High School English Classroom

• In Event: Pedagogy and Curriculum for Developing Critical, Racial, and Gender Literacies

Abstract

This ethnographic study of English courses in a public, urban high school examines how three English teachers utilize particular texts, critical theories, and pedagogical tools to support their students’ development of critical sociohistorical consciousness through the study of classroom literature. Drawing from theories of critical pedagogy, critical memory, and sociocultural learning, the author analyzes classroom dialogue, student work, and student interviews to explore students’ developing understandings of the social and historical implications of race in society. This paper discusses how secondary English educators can teach for social justice in public school classrooms by supporting young people’s developing understandings of their sociocultural realities through the lens of historically situated literary texts.

Author

• Lauren Leigh Kelly, Rutgers University Graduate School of Education