The Disruptive Potential of Critical Writing Pedagogies in Elementary Literacy Methods Courses

Abstract

This chapter shares three portraits of practice from the authors' implementation of a critical writing pedagogy in an elementary ELA methods course. Critical writing pedagogies that acknowledge writing as a sociopolitical act, consider power relations and broad social forces, and position youth as social agents are uncommon in both k-12 and teacher education contexts. In sharing rich descriptions of a theoretically-driven literacy methods courses, the chapter explores how pre-service teachers engaged with and responded to three specific aspects of the course: the course launch, the use of critical reading to support writing, and a critical writing workshop. The authors discuss the tensions they experienced in their attempts towards multiple kinds of disruption and conclude with recommendations for future research.

“Rise Up, Hand in Hand”: Early Childhood Teachers Writing a Liberatory Literacy Pedagogy

“…A smaller body of literature documents how reading and writing practices themselves have served as tools for teacher inquiry (e.g., Ritchie & Wilson, 2000;Woodard & Schutz, 2020). In the context of teacher inquiry groups, Early Childhood Teachers Writing a Liberatory Literacy Pedagogy educators have collectively read to understand sociopolitical issues and wrestle with what it means to teach for justice.…”