“Speaking Up” and “Speaking Out”: Examining “Voice” in a Reading/Writing Program with Adolescent African Caribbean Girls

Reading the World: Reconceptualizing Reading Multicultural Literature in the English Language Arts Classroom in a Global World

“…Most studies focus on race and ethnicity, with some studies on gender (Henry 1998;Sutherland 2005) or social class (Beach, Thein and Parks 2008;Thein, Beach and Parks 2007). While some studies on multicultural literature included international literature from beyond the United States (Boyd 2002;Dressel 2005), no qualitative distinctions are made between diverse literature from within and beyond the United States in the studies.…”

“…In another study in a urban district, Henry (1998) facilitated an out-of-class transitional English as a Second Language programme for four African-Caribbean girls using a variety of multicultural texts which they could relate to, including The Diary of Loyota Hunter at Junior High (Hunter 1992), a biography of a Jamaican girl living in New York. Through their engagement with the texts, these students were able to give voice to their concerns, addressing issues that they faced in daily lives such as growing up and adapting to a new place.…”

“…In the abovementioned study, where students read Red Scarf Girl (Jiang 1997), conversations about self as American, and nation (America) in relation to world (in this case, China), occurred as a result of the use of a text that was culturally distant from this particular group of students. Just as conversations about race, ethnicity and gender (Brooks 2006;Henry 1998;Sutherland 2005) are raised through the use of particular literary texts in the classroom, so conversations about self in relation to the world at large are encouraged through literary selections that may be culturally distant from the students reading them.…”

The Politics of Unpredictability in a Reading/Writing/Discussion Group With Girls From the Caribbean

“…My research findings (Henry, 1998a(Henry, , 1998b, showed that these girls went through their school days unable to "read" themselves in the school curriculum and name issues relevant to their lives. They did not come to the United States "tabula rasa," but "already reading"; that is, as readers and writers with a particular set of sociocultural understandings about the world.…”

Black Adolescent Girls' Use of Literacy Practices to Negotiate Boundaries of Ascribed Identity

“…construction and literacy practices such as reading, writing, and speaking to be interconnected (e.g., Athanases, 1998;Fecho, 1998;Gee & Crawford, 1998;Henry, 1998;McCarthey, 2001;McCarthey & Moje, 2002;McGinley & Kamberelis, 1996;Möller & Allen, 2000;Neilsen, 1998;Obidah, 1998, Sumara, 2000Yon, 2000). That is, as people read, write, and talk about text, those practices shape (and are shaped by) how those people think about themselves and their place in the world.…”