Storytelling in the Policy Arena: Analyzing Narratives in Literacy Policy Debates

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium examines the role of narrative in education policy negotiation and construction. Each paper draws on a unique data set to discursively analyze how teachers, parent activists, and state legislators used narratives to both make sense of policy and to further their policy agendas. Given recent legislative attempts to constrain literacy teaching and learning, this symposium will allow attendees to explore the forms and functions of narrative in the literacy policy arena.

Content Area

• AREA 4. Public Engagement and Policy in Literacy

Chair

• Breanya Hogue, Purdue University

Discussant

• Rachael Gabriel, University of Connecticut

Individual Presentations

• Positioning and storylines of responsibility within the structure-agency dialectic of third-grade reading retention policy - Amber Warren, Vanderbilt University; Natalia Ward, ETSU; Renee Moran, East Tennessee State University

• (Hi)stories of Parents’ Rights: Divisive Concepts Legislation, Book Banning, and Ruby Bridges - Christy Wessel-Powell, Purdue University; Breanya Hogue, Purdue University

• Constructing Children: How Discursive Constructions of Children are Mobilized in Literacy Policy Debate - Laura A Taylor, Rhodes College