Teaching Something That's Real: Practicing ELA Teachers Grapple With Literacy Instruction and Critical Pedagogy

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 5:10 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Inclusive Teacher Education: Transforming Minds, Engaging Hearts, and Centering Queer Lives, Local Communities, and Transcultural Narratives (Table 4)

Abstract

Our study focuses on the Critical ELA Educators Collaborative (CEEC), a third space developed to support practicing teachers as they negotiate the practical needs and demands of their classrooms while implementing the pedagogical theories they learned in their teacher education program. In this analysis of a transcript of early career ELA teachers discussing applications of critical pedagogy in their classrooms, we find three themes: tension between focusing on writing products versus process, the struggle around teaching reading as a secondary ELA teacher, and the worries around engaging with critical pedagogy in today’s sociocultural context. We use our findings to suggest curricular needs in teacher education programs, as well as opportunities for advocacy and continued support of early career educators.

Authors

• Lucy Arnold, Wingate University

• Heather M. Coffey, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Meghan E. Barnes, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Tara Gabriel, Lake Norman Charter