Balancing the Weight of the World

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.

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