Centering Critical Writing Pedagogies Through Case Studies: A Curated Online Gallery of Children's Writing in Context

• In Event: Understanding, Responding to, and Valuing Student Writers Through Reflective Tools and Practices

Abstract

In schools, writing is defined in increasingly narrow ways, marginalizing linguistically, culturally, and racially diverse students (Johnson & Sullivan, 2020). Language is interconnected with one’s identity (Smitherman, 1986), and the demands for linguistically diverse students to suppress the most effective and meaningful way they have of expressing themselves has implications for both students’ learning and their sense of self (Lippi-Green, 2012). Teacher education programs must critically prepare teachers to trouble these narrow definitions and foster positive and multifaceted writing identities for all students (Bomer et al., 2019). This project aims to illuminate the complexity of writing and disrupt (White and White Mainstream English) school traditions that center on text devoid of context. The presenters will introduce an evolving online gallery of children’s writing that is representative of racially, linguistically, and culturally diverse students. Contextual data accompany each writing artifact, including interviews with the writer about the text and their writing identities, classroom artifacts such as assignment guidelines, graphic organizers, and teacher feedback, and an analysis of the writing in terms of its theoretical orientation using a tool developed to assist educators in raising their theoretical awareness (Authors, 2022). In the long term, the online gallery will provide curated and searchable collections of diverse children’s writing, including Writing for Agency and Advocacy, Linguistic Diversity, Digital Writing, and Writers over Time. We offer opportunities for others to become involved in the project by using case study assignments in undergraduate or graduate classes or by following individual writers over time using shared research protocols. In addition, we invite feedback from session participants about how the online gallery might continue to evolve as a valuable resource for teacher education and research purposes.

Authors

• Sonia Melanie Kline, Illinois State University
  Presenting Author

• Grace Yun Kang, Illinois State University
  Presenting Author