Connecting Equity, Literacy, and Language: Pathways Toward Advocacy-Focused Teaching

This book provides literacy professionals with the dispositions and actions needed to become advocacy-focused teachers, drawing from 60+ years of experience in Philadelphia. It emphasizes the importance of making moral commitments to students and developing professional competencies in literacy, language, and equity studies. The text includes definitions and examples of equity concepts, relatable teacher vignettes, and Pause and Reflect boxes to encourage reflection and classroom conversation.

Format: Hardback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 22 December 2023
Publisher: Teachers' College Press

This comprehensive book is a valuable resource for literacy professionals seeking to develop the dispositions and actions associated with advocacy-focused teaching. While there is a growing availability of portraits of culturally conscious literacy teachers, becoming one remains a challenge. Drawing from over 60 years of experience working with teacher candidates and teachers in Philadelphia, the authors argue that becoming an advocacy-focused literacy teacher necessitates making moral commitments to students and acquiring professional competencies that blend literacy, language, and equity studies. Recognizing that educators often face the challenge of aligning their daily realities with the theoretical foundations of good practice, Connecting Equity, Literacy, and Language offers a concise and readable approach that is ideal for use in literacy methods courses.

The text provides comprehensive definitions and examples of equity concepts, relatable teacher vignettes, and Pause and Reflect boxes to foster reflection and classroom conversation. It examines the central problems of students' disconnection with school, spirit murdering, and the teacher education gap. It also explores the inequities that have become normalized in classrooms and schools through standardized testing, literacy teaching routines, and deficit-laced language about students and families. The book emphasizes the importance of recognizing literacies and languages as cultural practices and the need to be vigilant about the linguistic violence that occurs when students' languages are delegitimized. It presents critically and culturally centered teaching frameworks and provides vivid examples of advocacy-focused teaching.

By incorporating the insights and strategies outlined in this book, literacy professionals can enhance their ability to promote equity, engage students in meaningful learning experiences, and create inclusive and supportive learning environments. It serves as a valuable tool for educators, teacher educators, and policymakers who are committed to addressing the educational disparities and promoting social justice in their communities.

Dimension: 235 x 162 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780807768754