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Navigating Challenging Conversations Todd W. McKinley Vice-President, Maine Council for English Language Arts Introduction Matt entered my classroom, clearly troubled by something as he scowled and slammed into his chair at the table. Apparently, conversation at lunch had focused on the recent controversy related to Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem and calls by officials in the White House for Kaepernick to resign. This moment would introduce me to Matt’s often animated reactions to issues involving football, Black Lives Matter, and national politics. For the past several years, teachers and communities have navigated a heightened awareness in their communities of potentially contentious topics for their curriculum. Realizing teachers in Maine need resources to frame civil discourse, the IDEA Collective of the Maine Council for English Language Arts (MCELA) identified one important goal: support Maine educators as they explore ways to develop materials and practices for inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. In particular, MCELA invites educators to think about, discuss, and take steps to address issues related to racism, income disparity, gender identity, environmental justice, equity, genocide, and indigenous sovereignty. At the time Matt was a student in my classroom, I taught in a predominantly White, rural, and politically conservative area of Maine. Among some families in this community, conversations related to Black Lives Matter and the Trump administration could easily become contentious. As a White, educated male, I teach from a privileged standpoint. I view the inclusion of topics related to issues of social justice as central to broadening students’ perspectives. I also recognize that students will voice opinions and ideas from a wide range of political and social stances. In writing this profile, I intend to share with readers how to frame student discourse around shared text to provide a context for centering discussions on common understandings. I will also reference a practice from professional literature: Reading Challenging Texts: Layering Literacies Through the Arts (2018) by James S. Chisholm and Kathryn F. Whitmore. Framing Discourse Through Literacy When Donald Glover as Childish Gambino released “This Is America,” students in our middle school were curious to know more; however, many of them lacked the background knowledge to understand these images and references used by Glover. My colleague, who also taught English Language Arts, wondered if we might use “This Is America” to prompt conversation around this video and Glover’s references. Initially, I was concerned about the portrayal of violence, but my colleague persuaded me that this text offered us an appropriate way of connecting our students’ awareness of pop culture and our curriculum focusing on social justice issues. Prior to showing the music video, my colleague and I reminded students that this video depicted scenes of violence. After watching the video, we asked students to read part of an article pointing out the symbolism used by Glover. As they read and discussed in pairs, they recalled scenes and images from the video. Guided by these explanations of the symbolism, students were able to consider more critically Glover’s choices - as a visual artist and a writer. We showed the video a second time, observing how students engaged with the article and their notes from their partner discussions to discover where these symbols and references emerged. As this classroom meeting closed, students clearly had moved from mere consumers of pop culture to critical viewers of a persuasive text. When students returned to class the next day, they discovered a space transformed by two strands of twine running from one end of the room to the other. Hanging from each strand were laminated sheets displaying excerpts from texts and images. Students settled into their seats, but they were clearly curious about this display, recognizing some images and lines from “This Is America.” I had created “string literature,” or Literatura de Cordel, to display texts and images related to the symbols and references students discussed in the previous class. Chisholm and Whitmore write, “[c]ordel affords classrooms different possibilities with which to encounter texts (collaboratively and personally), different perspectives from which to engage texts (standing, moving, returning to), and different types of text to juxtapose in meaningful ways” (27). Among the artifacts, I had selected photographs of Trayvon and Tracy Martin, scenes from protests in Ferguson, Missouri, Colin Kaepernick kneeling on the sidelines, and Beyonce posing on the roof of a police cruiser. I also included period depictions of minstrel shows, a photo of an enslaved Black man, and a painting of the horses of the Apocalypse. I also wanted students to engage with lines of text, such as lyrics from “This Is America,” excerpts from Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream,” Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again,” “White Privilege II” by Macklemore as well as excerpts from the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation. Chisholm and Whitmore suggest that the “[s]trategic juxtapositions of texts…provide and provoke storytelling opportunities for both teachers and students” (21). These texts also related to the essential questions created by our grade-level team, guided by the social justice standards from Learning for Justice. My teaching partner and I used the following questions to frame our book clubs: “How do people in a community deal with conflicts? How do other people form positive relationships? How do differences lead to conflict?” I explained to students that they would move from one artifact to the another, taking time to read the texts and to examine closely the images. As they moved around the room, mostly in silence, I asked them to write on sticky notes single words to describe an emotion - one captured by the artifact or what they felt as they viewed the text or image. Once they wrote their word, they would post the note on the artifact. Matt circulated the room with his classmates, viewing the various texts, silently processing and jotting words on sticky notes to display on various artifacts. In short, he interacted with the equivalent level of attention and engagement as any other student in the room. The next class meeting, I followed up this activity with an assessment created by Chisholm and Whitmore called the Visual Learning Analysis (VLA). In the previous class, I took several pictures of students as they viewed the string literature. I printed and made copies of these photos for students, asking them to spread them out at their tables. Working in these small groups, I asked each student to select a photograph that they thought showed the strongest evidence of empathy. I displayed a series of prompts for students to make notes on their selected photo about the eyes, hands, posture, positioning and proximity of people in their photo. Students shared their notes with their table group, and then each group reported a summary of their observations with the class. Developing Layers of Knowing I have written about this activity because, much like the subtitle of Chisholm and Whitmore’s book, I view my teaching of literacy as a multilayered approach. I use a variety of texts to engage students in thinking about and exploring topics. I engage students in meaningful, memorable experiences to access background knowledge and to elicit original responses to texts. I select challenging and relevant topics to integrate content for English language arts and social studies. I ask students to reflect on their learning - as individuals, as small groups, and as a whole class–because learning is a social activity. James Britton (1970) says, “Talk is the sea upon which all else floats.” In other words, students build more complex thinking, especially when reading challenging texts and learning about challenging topics, when they compose ideas together. String literature supports these layers of reading and talking about multiple texts and opens opportunities for students to discuss these ideas within a supportive space. At the end of this second class meeting, Matt slumped back in his chair and said aloud, “Now I understand what Black Lives Matter is all about!” Several of his classmates and I simply turned toward Matt and nodded, a silent acknowledgment of his sudden revelation. His initial resistance to Kaepernick’s form of protest left him unsettled, this cognitive dissonance resulting from his lack of background knowledge related to the complexity of an individual act within the larger context of the struggle for equal rights. Meanwhile… This example of engaging my students with challenging texts also reminds me of Monica Wood’s latest book, How to Read a Book. Wood writes about a retired teacher who runs a book club for a group of women incarcerated in a correctional facility. This teacher, Harriet, often talks to these women about the way books contain a story and a meanwhile; just as she is teaching this group of adult women how to read, these women are also learning how to accept each other, to support each other. Likewise, educators teach students how to access and reflect on challenging texts; meanwhile, students develop empathy and a broader awareness of the ways individuals seek ways to be seen and heard in this bigger project of democracy. And so, educators hone their craft at conferences, workshops, and webinars, bringing new practices to their classrooms. They learn how to become better teachers, engaging students in rich discussions about challenging texts and complex issues. Meanwhile, teachers guide our students to read the world, to connect with each other and their community, to navigate discomfort and uncertainty through civil discourse, art-based expression, and compassion.
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Educator Feature: Stories in Courage by Amanda West, ELA Educator at Penquis Valley Middle School10/21/2024 How It All Began A book introduction to one of my favorite group books Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate led to one of the most challenging conversations of my career. Rural Maine students are not strangers to trauma and poverty. Research shows that low- income students in Maine account for 10% of the total population (Statista, 2023). This number may be small, but when the total population is approximately 1.3 million, 130,000 students are not having their physiological needs met. The percentage of students living in poverty in Piscataquis County is 14% (U.S Census QuickFacts, 2022). 77% of my students are considered economically disadvantaged and 8% are homeless. Many more are raised by single parents or by legal (hopefully) guardians. Many face food insecurity. They frequently do not have access to running water or electricity. However, they could not get past their one difference in a 92% white school, race. The Conversation “Ms. West, I get what you’re trying to say but why are we supposed to care?” uttered John. “Why don’t you care?” I responded in shock. “He isn’t like us,” another responded. “Yes, he is. Kek is in 6th grade. He’s trying to manage the chaos known as middle school. He is dealing with circumstances that are beyond his control.” “But, he’s black!” I was stunned speechless. I had never been challenged like this before. After a very long sip of coffee, I composed myself. This conversation was going to happen whether I liked it or not. “Readers, we need to have a very serious conversation. Please put your books down and meet me at the rocking chair. A person’s race is immaterial in this book and in life. When it comes to making connections and building relationships, a person’s race is immaterial. People are people and MUST be treated with respect. Once you analyze him as a person not a color, you will realize you have more in common than you think. Find your reading buddy and finish part one. After that, we will meet again and find you similarities.” Students quickly found their buddy and started reading. I walked the room listening to them read and asking myself if I did the right thing. I’m glad coffee creates clarity. The looks on their faces further solidified the need for our conversation. After 15 minutes of feverish reading, the class began to migrate back to the rocking chair. “Readers, what connections were you able to make?” “My mom is in jail. I don’t know when she will get out. Kek doesn’t know if he will see his mother again,” Mae added. Sara put her hand up but wouldn’t look at me. “My dad died when I was in third grade. I was in the hospital with him that day. Kek had to watch his dad die too.” She put her head on my knee and cried. I was having a hard time holding back tears myself. Leave it to my class clown to add the moment of levity we all needed. Jason shared the hilarious story of when he was carrying groceries with his mom and slipped on the ice and all the eggs landed on his face. He could picture Kek slipping on the ice, minus the egg yolks of course. Closing I assumed my students would easily empathize with the protagonist Kek. It was an emotional class for sure but one of my most memorable. It’s hard to face abject racism while being white in a white community in an all white classroom. It may not be one of the standards, but it is a lesson that I will continue to teach. Acceptance and tolerance cannot be taught soon enough in a community that lacks diversity. Maybe their newfound tolerance will spread throughout the community.  This year the IDEA Collective will share stories of practice that highlight the way educators in Maine are creating inclusive, accessible spaces that welcome the breadth of diversities in our classrooms, as we work towards equity.
We are starting the year off with stories of practice from our Executive Board. Our first piece is by Dr. Sarah Norsworthy. It begins with an origin story and ends with a practice. This story was originally written in 2020, just before the COVID pandemic shuttered schools. The practice continues. We had been reading, I Survived Hurricane Katrina, (Tarshis) over the preceding days. I was reading aloud, 4th grade learners were on the rug. They could see the cover as I read, and when illustrations appeared, I shared them with the class. About midway through the book, I showed the class an upclose illustration of our protagonist. “What are you noticing, thinking, wondering?” I asked. From the edge of the group, a boy I’ll call Brian looked up and his eyes grew wide. His mouth began to open in an expression of surprise. His eyes caught mine. I inclined my head. “What are you thinking, Brian?” “Ummmm….Nothing.” Another student spoke, shared their thinking–and another and then I returned to reading. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brian’s mouth start to open, and then close. His eyes were alight. I inclined my head, and looked quizzically, invitingly, at him. “ Tell us? We are so curious about what captured your attention.” “Well, it’s just that…. Is that…. Is he… Is that a Black kid? Is the main character Black?” “Yup.” “Like, is Harriet Tubman in this book? Martin Luther King? “Nope.” “Is there slavery?” “No.” “So, wait–this is a story about a regular Black kid? They make those?” I scanned our rich classroom library that held a few stories of other regular Black kids. “They do...” “Wow… I thought the only books with Black people in them were about slavery, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King.” “Those are stories that you’ve probably seen a lot of in school.” ‘Yup.” “Here, let me show you a few others.” I put, I Survived, down–walked over to the library and pulled a few books about “regular Black kids” out of buckets–most of the texts were non-fiction, but there were others. Jabari Jumps comes to mind, Max Found Two Sticks, Peter’s Chair, Come On, Rain… It was a small stack. I sat back down in the group. “There really aren’t many are there? Do you want to know why?” When I think about debates on whether conversations on race have a place in K-12 schools, Brian always comes to mind. Here was a Black boy, five years into formal schooling–a brilliant, inquisitive, kind, not-yet-voraciously-reading Black child. In the conversation which followed, we spoke about “old writers,” publishing, money, and power. Students then went into the library and noticed how many books about animals existed–how many white authors, male and female–and mostly about how few authors were Black. We talked about why that might be. They asked perceptive questions. I answered what I could, and we dug in more. The next day, students started to notice how Black characters showed up in some stories, but that they aren’t often the main characters. They noticed Black characters in white spaces–as I recall, nowhere did they find white characters in Black spaces. At the time, I didn’t realize I was teaching about the impact of race and power, or more accurately drawing from my lay knowledge of racial literacy and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy. I was teaching responsively, addressing a child’s emotional response to a text that we were sharing. My teaching changed that day. I never again took for granted that students would find themselves in the texts on our shelves, even if the characters in our books were like them; I ensured that they did. Brian may not have left 4th grade a completely-voracious-reader, but as I intentionally matched him with texts that matched his regular Black boy self, you can be sure that his reading volume, comprehension, and JOY increased. Identity matters. Actively affirming the humanity of our diverse identities matters too. ~Dr. Sarah Norsworthy The Practice: ● Share and display–HIGHLIGHT–every day, day-in-the-life, stories of currently and historically marginalized peoples. ○ When we center the stories of trauma, oppression, and resilience that real and fictional characters with currently and historically marginalized peoples we deny their full humanity. People are more than their present and generational traumas. Representing people living their everyday lives is an anti-oppressive practice. Context: ● In 2005 the CCBS reviewed 2800 children’s and YA books, 75 (2.7%) were written by Black/African creators, 149 (5.3%) of the books reviewed contained Black/African characters. ● In 2023 the CCBS reviewed 3491 children’s and YA books, 468 (13.4%) were written by Black/African creators, 524 (15%) of the books reviewed contained Black/African characters. For more information on Books by and/or about Black, Indigenous and People of Color, visit the CCBC website.  Genius & Joy
In the latest edition of NCTE’s Council Chronicle, Gholdy Muhammad discusses the importance of cultivating genius and joy in our schools. Muhammad writes: “We can see a lot of progress between writing the right standards and pursuits and goals for learning, selecting the right topics and texts, and then really reflecting on what kind of child we hope for our schools to nurture and cultivate.” NCTE members have free online access to the article “How To Find - and Teach - Joy in Our Classrooms.” However, NCTE provides free access to Muhammad’s piece “Cultivating Genius and Joy in Education through Historically Responsive Literacy” in the January edition of Language Arts. To learn more about Muhammad’s work related to equity in curriculum design, check out her first book Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. Also, you might be interested in her forthcoming book, Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning. Learning for Justice - Resisting Dominant Narratives In this hostile learning environment created by censorship and book bans, these LFJ book reviews encourage us all to keep reading—and writing—to counter the narratives that have historically excluded diverse perspectives. Navigating Challenging Discussions When teachers want to engage students in discussions about contentious topics, they are often confronted with how to manage civil discourse. NCTE recently published a new guide, Reading, Writing, & Raising Voices: The Centrality of Literacy to Civic Education. This guide highlights the connection between literacy and civic discourse. If you seek some concrete tools for yourself or your colleagues, Learning for Justice offers their guide Civil Discourse in the Classroom to provide teachers and students with tools of argumentation and discussion. Looking for a deeper dive into handling challenging topics? Learning for Justice provides this online course “Youth in Front: Understanding & Supporting Student-Led Activism.” In one session, participants learn effective strategies for asking students to support their stance on an issue. Teachers value these “in-the-moment” approaches to handle potentially controversial and divisive topics. Looking for more? Check out the NCTE Position Statement on “Resolution on the Need for Diverse Children’s and Young Adult Books.” Also, visit NCTE’s Intellectual Freedom Center for ways to address censorship in your school and community.
Get Involved: In response to the efforts to censor books, NCTE has launched This Story Matters. YOU can help by writing a rationale for a specific book. These rationales help your colleagues and your students access stories that matter!
Read: PEN America recently shared their key findings of a report about legislative efforts to enforce education gag orders. The authors write, “Educational gag orders are state legislative efforts to restrict teaching about topics such as race, gender, American history, and LGBTQ+ identities in K–12 and higher education.” Consider reviewing aspects of this report with your colleagues and discuss how you can take steps to protect yourself, your colleagues, and your community against these insidious attempts to silence important voices.
Resources for Native American Heritage Month:
✬ The Abbe Museum, celebrating the Wabanaki people of Maine, provides tours of the museum, classroom programs, and lesson plans in their Educator Hub. ✬ Listen to the WERU Community Radio archives of their radio programs Wabanaki Windows, Indigenous Voices, and Dawnland Signals. ✬ Read about Theresa Secord, traditional Penobscot basket maker, her art form, and her advocacy work in her essay for the "What Maine Craft Means to Me" series from the Maine Crafts Association. ✬ The University of Maine's Resource page on Native American Programs includes Native American information, Wabanaki studies, and a few other resources. ✬ The Maine DOE has a rich collection of resources on their Maine Native Studies Resources page. ✬ The National Museum of the American Indian provides student webinars, virtual field trips, lessons, and resources through its Native Knowledge 360◦ Education Initiative. ✬ The Wisdom of the Elders website hosts multimedia resources, curriculum, events, and environmental and other projects to promote Native American cultural sustainability. ✬ The First People website has a collection of nearly 1400 Native American Legends. ✬ NCTE's Read Write Think resource provides a database of searchable lessons for teachers, such as Making Connections to Myth and Folktale: The Many Ways to Rainy Mountain. ✬ PBS Learning Media has a vast amount of videos on the topic of Native Americans. ✬ Annenberg Learner provides free resources for K-12 educators, including the Native Voices section of the American Passages series. To celebrate National Poetry Month, we offer resources to encourage engagement with diverse voices through poetry. We also offer a range of resources allowing you and your students to access these materials: digital, print, audio, and video! Check out these diverse ways to include all learners in celebrating poetry.
Read, Write & Listen: In celebration of 25 years on National Poetry Month, The Telling Room has created an anthology of poetry by Maine students. A New Land celebrates life in Maine while offering diverse perspectives of youth from a variety of countries. Last year, every Maine high school library received a free copy of this anthology, and the Telling Room has created a toolkit for teachers to bring these poems and writers into the classroom. The Telling Room site provides a PDF of the poems and links to Check out these resources and let MCELA and let colleagues know how you used this anthology and the resources. Write: Wondering how to bring the writing of poetry into your classroom? Try this resource - Poetry in Schools. This guide for teachers allows you to create your own unit of poetry and to learn about new ways to inspire students to hone their craft. Check it out! View & Listen: Check out this spoken word performance from Abdul Ali, where he reads his piece “System is a ‘Chess Game’”. From Maine Kids VOICE: “Abdulkadir Ali is an Ethiopian-American social activist, who brings his voice and experience to advocate for racial and criminal justice here in Maine. From human rights to community leadership, Ali is working to address issues that continuously occur in silenced communities caused by systematic oppression.” View & Listen: ICYMI - Check out the Maine Poetry Out Loud Finals from April of 2021. Watch and listen to Maine students bring alive familiar and newer poetry. If you are a high school teacher, consider how you might participate in future POL competitions. Of course, any teacher can host their own celebration of the spoken word! Looking for more? Check out the NCTE Position Statement on “Resolution on the Need for Diverse Children’s and Young Adult Books.” And NCTE Verse. The IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) Collective focuses on an important goal: Support Maine educators as they explore ways to develop materials and practices for inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. In particular, MCELA invites educators to think about, discuss, and take steps to address issues related to racism, income disparity, gender identity, environmental justice, equity, genocide, and indigenous sovereignty.Each month, the IDEA Collective of MCELA will share a resource for educators to explore and consider using in their practice and with their students.
In honor of Women’s History Month, IDEA offers a link to the National Women’s History Alliance, where you can find more information about the 2022 Women’s History Month theme “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope” as well as classroom resources. We also offer the poem “Responsibility” by Grace Paley, a poem that asks us to consider the value of looking at the world through the eyes of women, and we invite you to share this with your students and let us know what happens. Responsibility by Grace Paley It is the responsibility of society to let the poet be a poet It is the responsibility of the poet to be a woman It is the responsibility of the poet to stand on street corners giving out poems and beautifully written leaflets also leaflets you can hardly bear to look at because of the screaming rhetoric ….more here Looking for more? Check out the NCTE Guidelines for Affirming Gender Diversity through ELA Curriculum and Pedagogy |
The IDEA CollectiveMembers of the MCELA Executive Board created this working group to focus on an important goal: Support Maine educators as they explore ways to develop materials and practices for inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. In particular, MCELA invites educators to think about, discuss, and take steps to address issues related to racism, income disparity, gender identity, environmental justice, equity, genocide, and indigenous sovereignty. Archives
December 2024
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