Critical literacy/critical teaching : tools for preparing responsive teachers / Cheryl Dozier, Peter Johnston, Rebecca Rogers ; foreword by JoBeth Allen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dozier, Cheryl.

Contributor:

Johnston, Peter H.

Rogers, Rebecca.

Series:

Language and literacy series (New York, N.Y.)

Language and literacy series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reading teachers--Training of.

Reading teachers.

Reflective teaching.

Critical pedagogy.

Physical Description:

xiv, 210 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Teachers College Press, [2006]

Summary:

This book describes and documents an exciting new approach to educating literacy teachers. The authors show how to help teachers develop their own critical literacy, while also preparing them to accelerate the literacy learning of struggling readers. The text takes readers inside a literacy lab in a high-poverty urban elementary school, reveals the instructional approach in action, and provides many excellent examples of critically responsive teaching. Featuring a synthesis of several fields of theory and research, this book: Illustrates teacher preparation and development as personal and social transformation-demonstrating that this process requires changing the ways teachers think about students, language, culture, literacy, learning, and themselves as educators, Provides pedagogical tools-including the history of the innovative literacy lab, the context of the instructional interactions, and the transition from a university-based to a school-based project, Combines critical and accelerative literacy instruction-showing how teachers can accelerate the slowest developing readers in their classrooms and also build a sense of engagement for students with the social world.

Contents:

Part I The Foundations of Our Teaching and Inquiry

1 Researching and Teaching with Literacy Teachers 3

Calls for This Research 3

Research/Teaching Agenda 4

Aligning Our Research and Teaching 5

Insider-Outsider Research 5

Audience for This Book 7

2 Critical Literacy, Accelerating Literacy 9

The Hurdles of Histories 9

Changing Histories 11

Agency 12

Acceleration 13

Teaching for Agency and Acceleration 14

Critical Literacy 17

Teachers and Critical Literacy 18

Critical Literacy and Social Action 19

Critical Literacy and Acceleration 19

3 The Centrality of Language 21

Literacy Difficulties 23

Valuing Case Knowledge 24

Goals and Parallels 26

Our Learning 26

Our Agenda 28

Part II Teaching Tools and Processes

4 Disrupting and Extending Learning Histories 33

Tool 1 Teaching Contexts: Locating the Literacy Lab 36

Tool 2 Home Communication: Learning From Families 37

Tool 3 Matching Teachers and Students: Disrupting Automatic Practices 41

Tool 4 Critical Literacy Emphasis: Considering Textual and Social Analysis 41

5 Rethinking Power: Learners as Teachers and Teachers as Learners / Kimberly Prettyman 46

The Lab Experience 46

Transfer to the Classroom 47

Writing 48

Critical Literacy 48

Transfer of Power 50

Family Connection 51

Confidence and Professional Development 52

6 Teachers Teaching: Language and Power / Karen M. Amundsen 54

Power and Language 54

Language with Parents 56

Transferring the Tools 57

The Power of Debriefing 59

Talking with Colleagues 60

7 Assessing and Representing Learning 61

Tool 5 Roaming in the Known: Following the Learner's Lead 62

Tool 6 Documenting Learning: Observing Learning 64

Tool 7 Writing Reports and Updates: Informing Stakeholders 66

8 Beyond Print: Roaming in the Known / Lisa Strolin-Smith 70

Hello Tekwan! 70

Roaming in the Known 72

Integrating Family Stories in the Literacy Curriculum 73

Reflections 76

9 Teaching Children to Be Literate, Not Teaching Literacy / Cheri Collisson 78

Collaborating as a Reading Specialist 81

The Structure of My Reading Program 82

Home/School Connections 83

Future Goals 84

10 Building Learning Communities 86

Tool 8 Instructional Conversations: Developing a Community of Learners 86

Tool 9 Responding to Books and Articles: Connecting Theory and Practice 90

Tool 10 Celebrating Learning: Connecting Teachers, Students, and Families 95

Tool 11 Reflective Essay: Synthesizing Learning 97

11 Learning Is Continuous / Jennifer Grand Steil 100

The Lab Experience 100

Transferring Learning Beyond the Lab 106

My Self-Extending System 110

12 Following the Lead: Connecting with Families Through Journals / Susan Garnett 112

Connecting with Families-A Starting Point 112

Extending the Journals from the Literacy Lab to the Classroom 115

The Second Year-Journals Across Grade Levels 117

The Third Year-Complicating the Conversation 118

Continuing the Conversation 119

13 Developing Reflective Teaching 120

Tool 12 Documenting Teaching: Learning to Notice and Name 120

Tool 13 Reflective Journals: Writing to Understand Teaching 129

Tool 14 Observation Conferences: Extending Practice 131

Tool 15 Videotaped Lessons: Conferring with Colleagues 132

Tool 16 Analyzing Transcripts: Rethinking the Language of Interactions 136

Layers of Reflective Practice 137

14 "You Brought Easy Books to Read Today. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!" / Vanessa la Rae 139

Meeting LaShandra 139

Student Participation in the Book Selection Process 140

Easy Books and Leveling Texts 142

Reading Preferences and Genres 143

Representing Who We Are 146

A Few Final Words 149

Part III Teacher Change and Program Change

15 Dimensions and Markers of Teacher Change 153

Evidence for Change 154

Thoughtful Conversations and Active Listening 154

Following the Student's Lead 158

Imagining the Student's Logic 160

Using Language as a Tool for Building Agency 161

Evidence of Deeper Change 163

16 Evolution and Direction: Surprises, Dilemmas, and Unanswered Questions 165

Generalizable Tools for Transformation 165

A Constantly Evolving Program 166

Finding Each Teacher's ZPD 167

Critical Literacy/Critical Teaching 168

Group Versus Individual Instruction 169

Institutional Nudges 170

Multimodal Literacies 170

Community Involvement 171

Leadership 171

Afterword: Two Perspectives 175

"It's a Win-Win"-Robert White, Principal 175

"Grandma, You Got Time? Papa, You Got Time? I Want to Read to You"-Retha Brown, Grandmother 176

Appendix Evolutionary Context 179

Curricular Context 179

Structure of the Course 180

Teachers 180

Students 181

Ourselves 181

Relationships, Feedback, and Grades 181

Institutional Organization and Cooperation 183

Children's Literature Cited in the Text 195.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-196) and index.

ISBN:

0807746460

0807746452

OCLC:

61169878

Publisher Number:

9780807746462

9780807746455