Co-edited by Dr. Doris Walker-Dalhouse, professor of literacy in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership
“Culturally Sustaining Literacy Pedagogies: Honoring Students’ Heritages, Literacies, and Languages” will help literacy teachers operationalize research on culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) to reach all students. The authors guide pre- and in-service educators in creating classroom environments and learning experiences that foster students’ literacy and language development, engagement with school, and critical consciousness. Chapter authors explore questions about how CSP is enacted in classrooms and how it impacts students, especially in schools that are heavily influenced by standardized testing and curricula. Readers will find concrete examples of how CSP is being used to shape students’ identities and their literacy abilities. The text is organized into three sections: Part I offers models in elementary classrooms; Part II presents models in classrooms for adolescents and youth; and Part III illustrates considerations for implementing CSP across K–12 contexts.
Learn more or purchase this book on Teachers College Press
Dr. Walker-Dalhouse answered some questions about her new book, including where the idea for the book came from, her favorite part of the writing process and what she hopes the book can accomplish.
The text guides pre- and in-service educators in creating classroom environments and learning experiences that foster students’ literacy and language development, engagement with school, and critical consciousness.
Is this your first book? What is your publishing history?The current text is not my first book. I have one co-authored book with Dr. Victoria J. Risko (Vanderbilt University), “Be That Teacher! Breaking the Cycle for Struggling Readers,” which was published by Teachers College Press in 2012. The textbook provides teachers with authentic examples and case studies to enable them to design and implement the type of differentiated instruction that struggling readers need. This type of instruction draws upon students’ individual and cultural backgrounds, as well as the results of classroom-based diagnostic and progress-monitoring assessment measures.
However, the current book is my first co-edited book.
The book emanated from the work of literacy researchers and teacher educators who are members of a Literacy Research Association (LRA) study group of which I am one of the organizers and co-chairs. Participants in the Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies study group meet at the annual LRA conference to discuss ways to help educators create more anti-racist and socially just classrooms by sharing their experiences, knowledge and research in implementing culturally sustaining literacy pedagogies.
The co-editors and I hope to provide teachers with models for enacting CSP in elementary and middle school classrooms in multiple school settings. We also want to issue a call to educators to explore ways to advocate for anti-racist and culturally sustaining pedagogies.
My research is focused on sociocultural factors that affect students’ literacy learning in elementary and middle school classrooms. Promoting greater knowledge about how to advance the literacy development of children and youth across multiple forms of diversity is central to my research and my role as a teacher educator.
Collaborating with educators across different geographical and university/school settings was both interesting and enlightening to me.
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Book Details
- Publisher: Teachers College Press (July 22, 2022)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 208 pages
- ISBN-10: 0807767026
- ISBN-13: 978-0807767023
