"The Students Are Hungry for It": Advocating for Culturally Relevant Literature Through Project Lit

• In Event: Daring to Disrupt the Status Quo: Teacher Advocacy in Practice and Policy

Abstract

Project Lit is a national grassroots literacy movement aiming to increase access to diverse literature in schools. This mixed-method study investigated how Project Lit Chapter Leaders enacted multicultural, diversity, and social justice aims through culturally relevant book selection and discussions in their local contexts through Project Lit. Conducting survey and follow-up interviews, we found that the Chapter Leaders viewed that teachers can not only select culturally relevant texts, but also navigate roadblocks and obstacles in doing so in schools, as well as facilitate meaningful discussions and activities centered around these stories that affirm their students’ lives and experiences. However, the existing gap in knowledge and skills of multiculturally competent educators of color and white educators needs to be further addressed.

Authors

• Michelle Falter, North Carolina State University
  Presenting Author

• Devan MacKenzie, North Carolina State University
  Presenting Author

• Jackie Eunjung Relyea, North Carolina State University
  Presenting Author