Social Justice Pedagogy and Academic Language in an Urban High School English Class

• In Event: Equity and Diversity in Literacy Learning and Teaching

Abstract

This is a year-long teacher-research study of students’ enactments and descriptions of academic language learning within a pedagogical framework of teaching for social justice in an urban high school English class. The theoretical framework views literacy as social practice, closely coupled with identity, and immersed in fields of unequal power. Findings suggest that students’ enact distinct discourse topographies that the researcher termed reproduced discourse, employed discourse, and transformative discourse. This paper argues that transformative discourse holds promise as a way to work toward the goals of social justice education.

Author

• Scott Storm, Harvest Collegiate High School