ELA (English Language Arts) Teacher Educators and Activism: Embodying and Fostering Teacher-Activist Identities in English Education

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Socially Just Education (Table 26)

Abstract

Scholars continue to call for educators to engage in activist work, yet additional research is necessary to better understand the ways English language arts (ELA) educators take up activism and use their teaching to invite students to develop as activists. This paper shares findings from a national study examining ways ELA teacher educators understand and integrate activism in their instruction of future teachers. Data analysis revealed that the ways ELA teacher educators define activism is multifaceted and complex and that the line between their classroom and community activism is blurred and often overlapping. In this presentation, we provide snapshots of activism in ELA education and highlight the work done in the field to celebrate the relationship(s) between ELA and activism.

Authors

• Mike P. Cook, Auburn University

• Brandon L. Sams, Iowa State University