This is the story of a white high school English teacher, Bob Fecho, and his students of color who mutually engage issues of literacy, language, learning, and culture. Through his journey, Fecho presents a method of “critical inquiry” that allows students and teachers to take intellectual and social risks in the classroom to make meaning together and, ultimately, to transform literacy education. Features the voices, beliefs, and struggles of urban adolescents and their teachers.“Th...

“In this age of unparalleled accountability, our students seem to get lost in the shuffle of standards-driven curricula and other external factors. . . . Have we forgotten what authentic teaching and learning look and sound like? Have we forgotten that students must always be at the center of our teaching? Bob Fecho hasn’t, and this beautiful and thought-provoking book is proof.” —From the Foreword by Deborah Appleman, Hollis L. Caswell Professo...

A critical resource for pre-service and practicing teachers, this book addresses what happens when new teachers try to enact inquiry-based and dialogical pedagogy within standardized schools. Exploring the narratives from beginning ELA and humanities teachers when they encounter challenges and obstructions, this book explores moments of wobble—key events that called attention to practice in the context of inflexible schooling systems—that the teachers shared with their peers via an oral in...

In its Fifth Edition, this popular textbook introduces prospective and practicing English teachers to current methods of teaching literature in middle and high school classrooms.This new edition features updated chapters that incorporate critical race theory; perspectives on teaching fiction, nonfiction, and drama; the integration of digital literacy; working with English Language Learners; and teacher research for ongoing learning and professional development.It highlights...

This book invites readers to explore the complexity of becoming a teacher through the stories of two novice ELA teachers, Emelio and Rachel, over the course of their first two years. The authors’ detailed, empathetic, and ethnographic approach allows space for the teachers to reveal little-seen and often overlooked "wobble moments." These moments illuminate the complexity and nuances that confront, confound, and compel teachers to remain in dialogue with practice. Documenting the journeys ...

Drawing on Dialogical Self Theory, this book presents a new framework for social and cultural identity construction in the literacy classroom, offering possibilities for how teachers might adjust their pedagogy to better support the range of cultural stances present in all classrooms.In the complex multicultural/multiethnic/multilingual contexts of learning in and out of school spaces today, students and teachers are constantly dialoguing across cultures, both internally and extern...

Now in its fourth edition, this popular textbook introduces prospective and practicing English teachers to current methods of teaching literature in middle and high school classrooms. This new edition broadens its focus to cover important topics such as critical race theory; perspectives on teaching fiction, nonfiction, and drama; the integration of digital literacy; and teacher research for ongoing learning and professional development. It underscores the value of providing students with ...

Many educators feel caught between mandates to meet literacy standards and the desire to respond to individual students’ interests, skills, and challenges. This book illustrates how a dialogical approach to practice will enable teachers to meet the needs of today’s diverse student population within a standardized curriculum. Chapters highlight the efforts of four high school teachers to create dialogical classroom space, documenting both the possibilities of and impediments to such a...