Alfonsi, C. (2008). Hey teacher! Get off that stage: Assessing student thinking with socratic seminars. Ohio Journal of English Language Arts, 48(1), 65-71.
In this article, the author, a high school teacher, discusses how she uses socratic seminars in her classroom to help students process ideas and learn collaboratively. She outlines how to set up guidelines, structure and sequence questions, and guide students to work together to make meaning of texts. She also reflects on the importance of debriefing and reflecting for students during the socratic seminar cycle.
Dorman, E. H. (2012). Cultivating critical, sociopolitical awareness in urban secondary schools: Tensions and possibilities. Penn GSE Perspectives on Urban Education, 9(2), n2.
The article focused on a study that followed three new teachers who had recently graduated from educator preparation programs that focused on equity-oriented teaching and had begun working in schools with diverse student populations. The researchers observed these teachers to understand how well they were able to “express and cultivate critical/ sociopolitical consciousness” and “craft relevance and authenticity” in their classrooms. It discussed the various tensions that arise for white educators trying to teach social justice and engage in equity-oriented teaching.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). It’s not the culture of poverty, it’s the poverty of culture: The problem with teacher education. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Vol. 37, No. 2. 104-109
In this article, Ladson-Billings discusses her perceived shortcomings of teacher education programs in preparing new teachers to understand the role of culture in explaining students’ behavior and ideas. She calls for a balance between erasure and overdetermination of culture in the classroom. She argues that in general we tend to reduce student failure to an individual problem, and disregard the complex interaction between the family, community, school and larger society in determining educational outcomes for students.
Muhammad, G. E., & Haddix, M. (2016). Centering black girls' literacies: A review of literature on the multiple ways of knowing of Black girls. English Education, 48(4), 299-336.
This literature review presents a “comprehensive overview of the research landscape (through empirical and theoretical literatures) of Black girls’ literacies,” (p. 307) in an effort to influence policy, practices and research and ultimately address how to best teach black girls. The author claims that the particular intersectionality of black girls and women has historically meant that they have experienced a distinct oppressive history of double enslavement. Furthermore, the article offers advice for how educators can provide opportunities to develop multiple literacies, examine their positionality, learn about themselves, and increase their criticality.
Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic Teaching Resources.
The first chapter of this book focuses on historical Black literary societies within the United States and what contemporary educators can learn from them. Specifically the chapter discusses how black literary societies were designed at their core to promote social justice and empowerment within black communities and that modern literacy education often fails in these regards. Furthermore, the author argues that there was an authenticity inherent in the literary societies since there was always a larger goal that the members were striving to achieve. The chapter offers some prescriptive ways that these ideas can be applied in today’s classrooms. Lastly, the chapter discusses how modern and historical narratives about black Americans have revolved around their victimization rather than their agency and this depiction works to rob young black people of their power.
Summers, C. (2020, September 21) Personal Interview.
This interview was with Christine Summers, a veteran teacher of 31 years, currently teaching and helping develop the Ethnic Studies program at San Diego High School School (SDHS), a racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse high school. We discussed activities and methods that can be employed to help students develop socio-political consciousness. During the interview, she talked about motivating reluctant learners, the use of shared inquiry in the classroom, the difficulty of developing great discussion questions, and the pitfalls of teacher bias.
Toshalis, E., & Nakkula, M. (2012). Motivation, engagement and student voice. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, 78(1), 1-20. https://studentsatthecenterhub.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Motivation-Engagement-Student-Voice-Students-at-the-Center-1.pdf
This article centers around three research questions: “How might I understand the variety of my students' motivations to learn and how might I address each of their different ways of engaging in class?” “Conversely, how should I understand my students occasional lack of motivation and academic engagement?” Finally, “Given the diversity of students in my classroom and the unique ways each one learns, how can I provide a range of growth opportunities that motivate and engage my students both collectively and individually.”
This article goes on to discuss how students' home contexts can determine whether they arrive at school as pre-motivated or reluctant learners and that there is no single fix to solve the problems of disengagement and lack of motivation. The researchers lay out three and discuss the main factors that contribute to student motivation: competence, autonomy and relatedness. Furthermore, they also discuss how societal stereotypes related to a student’s identity markers (race, gender, immigration status, etc.) can impact their performance in academic settings.