Disrupting Racial Injustice Through Fostering Student Voice: Personal Narrative as a Means to Empowering Teachers and Students of Color

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 4:20 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Diasporas of Justice: Rethinking Knowledge Systems to Challenge Power (Table 24)

Abstract

We conducted a professional development retreat for a group of teachers from one of the largest districts in California, to implement a personal narrative project in their classrooms with 1600 students in grades 9-11 over eight weeks. Data shows a statistically significant positive growth in ELA scores for low performing students. Our collaboration with the school administrators and the teachers, the impact on their approach to the curriculum, and the positive growth among teachers and students is a resource for improvement and learning. We share some of our findings and hope to aid in dismantling the oppression at play in traditional methods of teaching and learning and advocate for ways of learning that honor student identity and voice.

Authors

• Jyothi Bathina, Literate Voices

• Brian Wulf, Fresno Unified School District

• Agustin Ramirez, Fresno Unified School District

• Byanca Leyva, Fresno Unified School District

• Javier Yanez, Fresno Unified School District

• Karina Jaquet, WestEd