Teaching & Learning

Literacy and Life: Serendipity, Generosity, and Goodwill in the Academic Study of Literacy as Social Practices is a retrospective account of a serendipitous academic life that unfolded over 40 years as an organic interplay of fortunate happenstance, regular acts of collegial kindness, and a personal disposition to spontaneously follow ideas, events, and arguments wherever they led. Early chapters explore how a chance encounter with Space Invaders players inspired an initial interest in literacy as a phenomenon, and how the work of Paulo Freire led to considering functional literacy and critical literacy as a social praxis. Middle chapters describe how experiences of literacy and everyday life in a rural Nicaraguan village, and exploring literacy in the context of the "new capitalism" of the 1990s, led to multiple rethinkings of critical literacy. Later chapters trace work done over more than 20 years with Michele Knobel around their shared interests in “new literacies” and pedagogical approaches to enhancing teacher research literacy. Literacy and Life celebrates rich experiences of collegiality and goodwill throughout an entire trajectory of thinking, researching, writing, and teaching about literacy as social practices. Each chapter describes how the author’s activity and endeavor were mediated and powerfully enabled by generosity, collaborative support, sharing, and trust on the part of many people, from many different walks of life in many different countries. Literacy and Life bears witness to a life blessed with everyday experiences where beneficence was very much an enabling and personally liberating norm.Perfect for courses such as: Literacy in Society; Literacy as Social Practice; Literacy Education: Research, Practice, Policy and Politics; Contemporary Literacies; Literature/Composition courses on Memoir; Approaches to Teaching and Learning in a Complex World; Thinking, Learning and Reflective Practice (Philosophy)

Being a transgender* or gender creative (T*GC) child in the United States today means being the subject of a national debate about whether you are entitled to exist, live a full life, or control your body. T*GC students have suffered outside of and within schools, experiencing among the highest rates of academic exclusion, vulnerability to bullying and violence, poor mental health, and troubling life outcomes due to bias, stigma, and discrimination. At the time this manuscript was completed, the Human Rights Campaign had officially declared a “State of Emergency'' for LGBTQ+ Americans. Of the over 600 anti-LGBTQ+ bills recently introduced across the nation, nearly a third directly target trans* and gender-creative people, particularly children, violating both civil and human rights. Fortunately, not all bills will pass, and activists are moving liberation work forward everywhere every day. T* Is for Thriving offers collected wisdom from educators and community members about meeting T*GC students’ needs in schools in order to light a path toward their thriving. In it, the editors, Kia Darling-Hammond and Bre Evans-Santiago, have curated lesson plans that offer models for inclusive instruction, along with stories that amplify community guidance about how to be responsive, affirming, and celebratory of T*GC needs, histories, and contributions in schools. These stories and lessons are an immediate resource for advancing a pedagogy of hope and possibility, both in the present and the future. T* Is for Thriving is essential reading for anyone involved in developing and defending the rights of educators and students. It is the perfect text for courses in teacher education, as well as those focused on social justice, LGBTQ+ topics, and critical pedagogy.Perfect for courses such as: Multicultural Education; Gender Studies; Teaching Methods (Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Math); Curriculum Design; Diversity in Education; Social Foundations of Education; Inclusive Methods of Teaching; Practicum/Clinical Practice; Literacy Methods; and History, Policy and Social Changes

In Justice for Black Students: Black Principals Matter, Kofi Lomotey begins with a two-pronged premise: (1) Black students do not receive a quality education in US public (or private) schools, and (2) Black principals, like Black teachers, can make a positive impact on the academic and overall success of Black students. Through the chronicling of his own work over 50 years—as a practitioner and an academic—Lomotey puts forth this argument with a focus on Black principals. In this book, he positions his 1993 coining of the term ethno-humanism—a role identity which he attributes to successful Black principals—as a fundamental/critical component of the leadership of these principals. In reprinting three of his earlier articles and sharing new information (including a review of the literature on Black male principals), he provides a broad-based description of this role identity and then links it to the more recent concepts of culturally responsive/culturally relevant teaching/pedagogy and culturally responsive/culturally relevant school leadership, before describing the implications for Black students of his own work and of other research that has been conducted on Black principals. This volume is essential reading for all educators interested in seeing a significant improvement in the academic and overall success of Black students. Preservice teachers, practitioners, and administrators will find enormous value in the book’s message.Perfect for courses such as:  Introduction to Education │ Leadership for Equity and Social Justice in Education │ Black Education │ Multicultural Education │ School Leadership │ Culturally Responsive Leadership

Social studies education over its hundred-year history has often focused on predominantly white and male narratives. This has not only been detrimental to the increasingly diverse population of the U.S., but it has also meant that social studies as a field of scholarship has systematically excluded and marginalized the voices, teaching, and research of women, scholars of color, queer scholars, and scholars whose politics challenge the dominant traditions of history, geography, economics, and civics education. Insurgent Social Studies intervenes in the field of social studies education by highlighting those whose work has often been deemed “too radical.” Insurgent Social Studies is essential reading to all researchers and practitioners in social studies, and is perfect as an adopted text in the social studies curriculum at Colleges of Education.Perfect for courses such as:  Foundations of Education │ Social Studies Methods │ Multicultural Education │ Critical Studies of Education │ Culturally Relevant Pedagogy │ Social Education

How do Paulo Freire's ideas echo across time and contexts? What does the dialogical nature of text mean for critical pedagogy today? Inspired by Paulo Freire, this text utilizes a dialogical framework, inviting the reader into a deeper conceptual and contextual consciousness through the use of many voices. The core of this book has been stored away for several years waiting for loving students of Freire to bring it to life. The original group of lectures is a collection of speeches from keynote panelists given at a Critical Pedagogy conference in 2015 hosted by the Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies at Chapman University in Orange, California. Over 200 people attended the conference coming from all parts of the world. Special guest speakers included Dr. Nita Anamaria Freire from Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (Paulo Freire’s wife), Dr. Antonia Darder from Loyola Marymount University, Dr. Donaldo Macedo from University of Massachusetts, Dr. Peter McLaren and Dr. Tom Wilson from Chapman University. A highlight of the event was the rededication of the Paulo Freire Critical Pedagogy Archives housed in the university’s Leatherby Libraries. These archives hold Paulo’s personal notebook of study, his spectacles, instructional activity cards, and love notes to Nita. The collection also comprises original curriculum developed by Joe Kincheloe, protest posters from all over the world from Peter McLaren, paper mache puppets and curriculum developed by Alma Flor Ada and newspaper clippings and correspondences of Henry Giroux. Freirean Echoes acts as both an archive housing the writings of these and other scholars and activists for posterity. and as a living collection, allowing for the author voices to be in dialogue with each other and with the reader. This collective “talking text” echoes, reverberates, and amplifies critical Freirean ideas, thereby inviting the reader to extend Freirean thought into their lived experiences.Perfect for courses such as: Special Topics on Emerging Issues in Sociology of Education | Introduction to Educational Theory | Politics and Education and Special Topics in Comparative Education | Pedagogies of Social Change | Foundations: The Dialectics of the Global and the Local | Social Construction of Difference | Voice, Diversity, Equity and Social Justice | Introduction to Critical Pedagogy

How do ideas change practices and people? In Ideas That Changed Literacy Practices, 32 influential scholars in literacy education get personal about how they have worked on ideas and how those ideas have worked on them. Together, the essays offer never-before revealed personal histories of the authors’ published writing about ideas that have shaped the field of literacy education. As a collection, the essays highlight some of the major themes that have guided and changed literacy practices over the last few decades. They also offer a rare glimpse into the complex ways histories of research emerge alongside personal and political influences on policy and practice. The volume includes an introductory chapter by Sumara and Alvermann in which they detail the processes they used in creating a context for the significance of this work. They begin with the premise that most literacy scholars rarely, if ever, reveal their personal and intellectual investments in ideas that have animated their research and other scholarly endeavors. That this observation rang true for all of the contributors was evidenced in their responses to the invitation. For example, some replied by saying this was the most exciting project they had engaged in because it required reflection on what motivated them to write the requested 3,500-word essay; others mentioned they were looking forward to reading what their peers would share. Ideas That Changed Literacy Practices is a unique collection of autobiographical essays that situates literacy learning and teaching in a rich context of personal and professional knowledge that highlights and celebrates the vibrant complexities of the field of literacy education. It is a unique and valuable resource for researchers and educators, whether in K-12 or higher education. Perfect for courses such as: Introduction to Literacy Research ӏ Literacy Research and Methods ӏ Language, Literacy and Culture ӏ Literacy Policy and Practice ӏ Narrative Research ӏ Interpretive Inquiry ӏ Research Methods in Education ӏ Foundations of Literacy Education ӏ Research Methods in Language and Literacy ӏ Popular Culture in Literacy Classrooms ӏ New and Digital Literacies ӏ History of Literacy Practices ӏ Educational Philosophy ӏ Reading and Language Arts ӏ Critical Theory ӏ Poststructuralism ӏ Digital Media Education ӏ Creative Writing ӏ Politics of Literacy

Navigating Media Literacy: A Pedagogical Tour of Disneyland is an education playbook applied to the vast mediated universe of Disney. Readers of all ages can critically apply media literacy principles while still conscientiously participating as consumer-citizens, media creators, and agents of change. Media literacy is defined throughout this book as an instructional method rather than a political movement. The book counterbalances the frequently myopic critiques of cultural scholars and the critical exemption granted by those across the world who find Disney to be a source of great pleasure. Integrated theory and practical examples allow readers to investigate of themselves and draw their own conclusions based on real inquisitive, observatory, and creative experiences that constitute media literacy (access, analyze, evaluate, create, reflect and act). Each chapter is ideologically mapped to an actual physical realm of Disneyland (e.g., Main Street, USA; Adventureland; Tomorrowland; Frontierland; Fantasyland). Each site provides a pedagogical playground for experimenting with each media literacy concept (e.g., context, audience, language, ownership, representation). The reader will come away with a deeper pedagogical understanding of how to cultivate media literacy using any context or subject—not just Disney. Each chapter includes discursive excerpts from students, along with assignments, discussion prompts, and classroom exercises, making it a valuable resource as a classroom textbook.Perfect for courses such as: Media Literacy | Communication and Media Arts | Film Studies | Media History | Transmedia Studies | Business | Marketing

For the past 35 years, Scott Mandel has been teaching students in an urban Los Angeles school district. In addition, he instructs teachers in professional development courses. In those classes, he’s known for telling stories—stories gleaned from his time spent in the classroom. Classrooms in the Real World is a collection of many of those stories, presented as a set of teachable moments—a practical how-to book for new teachers, one based on interacting with kids on a daily basis. Rather than providing educational theories about what should be, Mandel shares real-life stories of how to relate to your students, administrators and parents, along with his thoughts on how to deal with the multiple curricular and classroom challenges that all teachers face in the real world. Chapters such as "Kids Don't Care How Much You Know As Long As They Know You Care," "Take Curricular Chances," "Administrators Want You To Succeed," "Keeping My Sanity All These Years," and “What Have I Learned” will give you the reader practical ideas, philosophies and encouragement from a long-time classroom teacher, someone still in the classroom sharing the lived experience of teaching in today’s school environment.Perfect for courses such as: Introduction to Teaching | Classroom Management | Student Teaching

This new release of the classic text Pragmatism is absolutely timely. James' seminal statement of pragmatism's underpinnings and its treatment of essential philosophical questions (the nature of truth; the one and the many; free will; etc.) could not come at a more appropriate time. In a “post-truth” era of fake news, alternative facts, and a belief that "truth isn't truth," James' presentation of pragmatism as a method of adjudicating truth-claims is a must-read.Perfect for courses in: Philosophy of Education (Graduate Level), American Philosophy (Graduate and Upper-Level Undergraduate), American Studies, Special topics class on William James or Pragmatism, Sociology of Education (Graduate Level), Religious Studies.