EXPLORING GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN HIGH SCHOOL

ENGLISH LITERATURE

by

CHERIE BORDEN

Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

The Degree of Master of Education (Counselling)

Acadia University Spring Convocation 2011

© by CHERIE BORDEN, 2011

This thesis by CHERIE BORDEN was defended successfully in an oral examination on April 19th, 2011 The examining committee for the thesis was: _____________________________ Dr. Christopher Killacky Chair _____________________________ Dr. Susan Church External Reader _____________________________ Dr. Deborah Day Internal Reader _____________________________ Dr. Ann Vibert Supervisor _____________________________ Dr. John Guiney Yallop Head/Director This thesis is accepted in its present form by the Division of Research and Graduate Studies as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree Master of Education (Counselling).

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This thesis by CHERIE BORDEN was defended successfully in an oral examination on April 19th, 2011 The examining committee for the thesis was: _____________________________ Dr. Christopher Killacky Chair _____________________________ Dr. Susan Church External Reader _____________________________ Dr. Deborah Day Internal Reader _____________________________ Dr. Ann Vibert Supervisor _____________________________ Dr. John Guiney Yallop Head/Director This thesis is accepted in its present form by the Division of Research and Graduate Studies as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree Master of Education (Counselling).

I, CHERIE BORDEN, grant permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to reproduce, loan or distribute copies of my thesis in microform, paper or electronic formats on a non-profit basis. I, however, retain copyright in my thesis.

____________________________ Cherie Borden

Author

____________________________ Dr. Ann Vibert

Supervisor

____________________________ Date

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction . . . . . . . . 1

Literature Review . . . . . . . . 7

Methodology . . . . . . . . . 13

Ethics . . . . . . . . . 17

CHAPTER TWO: THE TEACHER

Educators’ Understanding of Role and Responsibility . . . 19

Exploring Perspective and Experience . . . . . 20

Critical Literacy and Social Justice . . . . . 24

Youth Voice, Perspective and Understanding . . . . 29

Risk . . . . . . . . . . 37

Historical Context . . . . . . . . 43

Literacy Practices . . . . . . . . 47

Embedded Curriculum . . . . . . . 48

Book Share . . . . . . . . . 52

Connections . . . . . . . . . 55

Choice . . . . . . . . . 57

Whole Class and Small Group . . . . . . 61

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Support, Mentorship and Professional Development . . 63

Race Relations, Cross Cultural Understanding & Human Rights Policy 68

CHAPTER THREE: THE TEXT

The Text . . . . . . . . . 76

Searching for the Text . . . . . . . 77

Annotated Notes . . . . . . . . 84

Ordering Text from the ARL . . . . . . 94

Traditions of the Bookroom . . . . . . . 99

Protection . . . . . . . . . 104

Literacy Success . . . . . . . . 109

CHAPTER FOUR

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . 119

References . . . . . . . . . 125

Appendix . . . . . . . . . 130

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Abstract

This thesis employs a narrative research approach to examine how high school

English teachers engage and challenge issues of gender and sexuality using the

Nova Scotia Authorized Resource List. Research participants include high

school English teachers from rural and urban schools, librarians, school board

specialists and Department of Education employees. Themes that emerged and

are explored are divided into two broad categories: the teacher; the text.

Subthemes which emerged in the teacher include: educators’ understanding of

role and responsibility; exploring perspective and experience; critical literacy

and social justice; youth voice, perspective and understanding; risk; historical

context; literacy practices; embedded curriculum; book share; connections;

choice; whole class and small group; support, mentorship and professional

development; and, race relations, culture cultural understanding and human

rights. Subthemes that emerge in the text include: searching for the text;

annotated notes; ordering text from the ARL; traditions of the bookroom;

protection; and, literacy success.

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Acknowledgements and Dedication

This work is dedicated to the students whom I have had the privilege of working with over the past ten years. Their challenge to create a society in which all voices are heard and valued has inspired me to constantly examine my practice and beliefs. I would also like to thank each of the educators who openly shared their stories and experiences with me. These individuals seek to further social justice in their day-to-day lives and I am honoured to have spent time with each of them. I would like to thank Dr. Ann Vibert for her support, advice and encouragement throughout this process. Because of her knowledge and wisdom, I was challenged to embark on this journey. Because of her care I was able to complete this task. I also wished to acknowledge my beloved sister Charmaine and her partner Peter, and my colleague and friend Eva. You have provided endless support, feedback, edits and encouragement during this long process. Thank you for the clear examples of your love. Most importantly, to my partner Paul and daughter Stella. Thank you for always making space for us to talk and share what is in my heart.

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CHAPTER ONE

Chapter one outlines the research project and includes the introduction; literature

review; methodology; study participants; and ethics.

Introduction

This project investigates the experiences of educators who place social justice at the

center of their pedagogical framework in the English languages arts (ELA)

classroom grade 10, 11 & 12. Specifically, I examined the extent to which the ELA

curriculum materials enable and support English teachers to explore with students

representations of gender identity and gender presentation in the Authorized

Resource List. The research draws on the collective knowledge and experiences of

educators, library specialists, school board advisors and consultants. My intention

was to provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the pedagogical issues

regarding gender identity and gender presentation as demonstrated within the ELA

Authorized Resource List.

My interest in the study of gender and sexuality as connected to literacy practice

developed when I taught English in a Nova Scotia high school. While I no longer

teach English, my interest in social justice has continued as I currently offer support

to students as a high school guidance counselor. As I reviewed articles and

conducted interviews with a variety of educators to better understand literacy

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practices and social justice work, I held a position as guidance counselor at a large

urban public school. Throughout my first year counseling, numerous stories were

told by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning (LGBTQ) youth who

provided a constant reminder of why this area of research is vital. Throughout the

year, individuals have asked why I would conduct research in an area that has

already been ‘explored and figured out’ or in an area that ‘really isn’t all that

problematic?’ I respond to such statements by highlighting the stories of three

students:

Student Story A

The transitioning youth who struggles with coming to terms with an

emerging identity and questions where emotional supports could be found in

the public school. Questions emerged such as, ‘Which is the safe bathroom

to use?’ became part of our first conversation together.

Student Story B

The African Nova Scotian male who grapples with dominant presentations of

masculinity to which he feels pressure to conform. He struggles to come to

terms with telling his mother and close knit family that he is in love with his

best friend. He realizes at the beginning of his grade 12 year that he is gay.

3

Student Story C

The 17 year old forced to leave home for fear of physical and emotional

violence because of his sexuality from his brothers and father. He tells me

that he believes his teachers do not like him and for the third year, leaves

school without completing the semester.

As an educator, I believe we are responsible to acknowledge and support the

complex realities and varied experiences of students within our communities. To

assume this work is complete ignores the daily experiences of individuals who are

engaged in questions of identity, specifically, every learner within the public school

system.

My intention is to better understand the complex and diverse experiences of teachers

who believe issues of gender and sexuality are important in the high school English

classroom. As well, I wanted to explore the use of texts offered to these teachers by

the Department of Education and the school board in which they work, specifically,

the Authorized Resource List (ARL). As educators shared their stories, analysis of

actual text often gave way to conversations that centered on personal belief and its

implication for practice in the high school English classroom. As I conducted

interviews, it became increasingly clear that the stories told by classroom teachers,

literacy leaders, librarians, Department of Education and school board personal

reflected a collective story of a diverse community. The result is an interweaving of

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perspectives that explore the practice and experience of educators interested in

literacy and social justice work.

Documents provided by the Department of Education in Nova Scotia were

instrumental in shaping my classroom practice. The documents also provided a

framework from which many discussions with educators emerged. The foundation

document for the English language arts curriculum offers “a vision of what the

learning and teaching of English language arts can become when well supported by

the education system and community and when strengthened by collaboration

among students, teachers, administrators and community members”

(Atlantic Provinces Education Foundation, 1994, p.1). It is upon this foundation that

grade level curriculum guides are developed. The foundation document provides a

framework “on which educators and others in the learning community can base

decisions concerning learning experiences, instructional techniques and assessment

strategies, using curriculum outcomes as a reference point (Atlantic Provinces

Education Foundation, 1994, p. 1). Within the learning environment, challenge is

essential for students to “experiment with language and try out new ideas”

(Atlantic Provinces Education Foundation, 1994, p. 38). Inquiry supports

investigating of language learning, both individually and as a learning community:

“such critical and self-critical perspectives become accessible to students in

classrooms where they know their own words are heard and respected and where

teachers are critically aware of and reflective about their own language use”

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(Atlantic Provinces Education Foundation, 1994, p. 38). Equity and diversity are

also key areas in the foundation document. In a learning community characterized

by mutual trust, acceptance and respect, student diversity is both recognized and

valued. All students are entitled to “have their personal experiences and their racial

and ethnocultural heritage valued within an environment that upholds the rights of

each student and require[s] students to respect the rights of others”

(Atlantic Provinces Education Foundation, 1994, p. 42). Within this framework,

students need opportunities to “critically examine different experiences and

perspectives within social and cultural contexts; examine ways in which language

and images are able to create, reinforce and perpetuate gender, cultural and other

forms of stereotyping and biases; understand, imagine and appreciate realities other

than their own; challenge prejudice and discrimination which result in unequal

opportunities for some members of society” (Atlantic Provinces Education

Foundation, 1994, p. 42). Within this context, the ELA foundation states that

instructional and assessment practices should “be free of racial, ethnic, cultural,

gender and socio-economic bias; recognize and address materials, resources and

experiences which exhibit racial, ethnic, cultural, gender and socio-economic bias or

which students, parents or teachers perceive to exhibit those biases” (Atlantic

Provinces Education Foundation, 1994, p. 42). Responsibility for such an

educational framework becomes the responsibility of the community, education

system, parents/caregivers, principals, students and teachers. It was my aim to

explore and examine the experiences of educators in their attempts to provide an

equitable and inclusive classroom in regards to presentations of gender and sexuality

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through the application of the Authorized Resource List (ARL). To better

understand the experiences of teachers in the ELA classroom, I examined specific

resource areas:

►Selection and application of the ARL for ELA 10-12 in classroom practice

►Department of Education (DOE) ARL selection

►Department of Education (DOE) Literacy Success

►Foundation for the Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum

Through interviews with ELA teachers, I have come to better understand the extent

to which ELA teachers use the ARL to promote critical examination of issues of

gender and sexuality. The English language arts 10-12 curriculum is shaped in part

by the Authorized Resource List from the Nova Scotia Department of Education.

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Literature Review

Everyone has the right to education. …Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among ... racial or religious groups.

--Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26 Parties agree to the elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels and in all forms of education...

--Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Articles 10 and 14

Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to: ... the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; the development of respect for human rights...; the development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values.

--Convention on the Rights of the Child, Articles 28 and 29 Parties ... undertake ... to ... discontinue any ... practices which involve discrimination in education....; to formulate, develop and apply a national policy which ... will ...... promote equality of opportunity and of treatment in ... education

--Convention against Discrimination in Education, Articles 3, 4, and 5

Respect, equality and opportunity are the rights of every individual within Canada.

Within the public education system, many students, teachers, administrators, parents

and guardians work toward building a learning community where diversity is

celebrated and valued. Inclusive classrooms aim to ensure that students are

encouraged to discuss values and beliefs, educators challenge systems that are

oppressive, administrators take leadership roles on social justice issues and

parents/guardians participate in discussions and are acknowledged as essential

supports for their children. In such classrooms, social justice is central to the

curriculum, and the pedagogical practices of the teacher aim to be transparent and

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reflect the diversity of the community. The English language arts classroom is

central to “providing a multitude of perspectives through literature [and] is an

effective way to help facilitate [student] engagement in self and social understanding

(Landt, 2006, p. 691). In his research regarding the construction and implications of

masculinities in schools, Martino (1999) examines the power of text as a vehicle to

examine hegemonic masculinities. Martino also explores how constructions of

gender affect those who are excluded. Yet, despite the work of social justice minded

educators, educational settings have often silenced and oppressed LGBT youth.

Shelby (1998) questions: “How do we know that the educational system is failing

these youth? The dropout rate for GLBTQY students is twenty-eight percent,

compared to the national Canadian average of only nine percent” (as cited in Little,

2001, p. 105). High school can offer youth the opportunity to examine and explore

their emerging identity and the text used in the ELA classroom likewise has the

potential to support students during this time of reflection and growth. According to

Moje and Dillon (2000), when critically examined, text has the potential to offer

powerful implications for identity.

The challenge of providing students with opportunities and resources to

question dominant presentations of gender and sexuality remains unanswered.

Despite the fact that “many texts and topics traditionally studied in literacy and

social studies classrooms, already deal implicitly with themes of masculinity,

femininity, and sexuality” the power of the approved English language arts (ELA)

curriculum to examine issues of gender identity and sexuality is unrealized

(Ashcraft, 2006, p. 214). Little (2008) comments: “GLBTQ adults, when asked

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what would have made school a better experience for them, replied consistently:

‘any representation at all in school’ ” (p. 8). Curricular text can provide opportunity

to discuss gender borders of daily social experiences (Martino, 2007). Educators

who are dedicated to social justice speak explicitly to the constructions of gender

and sexuality and work to provide safe places for all learners to explore and examine

these issues. If educators remain silent, students who question gender presentations

and their implications do so independently and often without support from their

peers, teachers or curriculum materials and resources. The need for educators to

actively consider how students encounter texts is central to the development and

representation of young peoples’ sexual identities (Moje & MuQaribu, 2003). Bass

& Kaufman (1996) argue that all students can benefit from a richer and more

accurate presentation of society:

Students whose parent(s) or sibling(s) are gay or lesbian will be better

represented. In fact, everybody benefits, because “teaching tolerance

prepares students to interact more successfully in the world and helps

create a more enlightened society where diversity is embraced.”

(as cited in Little 2001, p. 107)

Along with texts that more accurately reflect gender and sexual realities, literacy

pedagogy calls for students to be participants in reading and writing activities that

draw from their own experiences (Atwell, 1987), and to engage in activities that

examine and critique these texts (Moje and MuQaribu, 2003). Educators must ask,

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“To what degree does the approved reading list reflect the diversity of students in

our classrooms?” “What is the underlying message regarding sexuality and gender

as demonstrated within the reading list?” According to Moje and MuQaribu (2003):

[Q]uestions of how to live as sexual beings are relevant to all youth

as they move into relationships in which they must make decisions

about everything from their position in a relationship to the level of

physical intimacy they want to pursue in it. (p. 206)

It is not enough to simply expose students to diverse ways of being; rather, exploring

sexuality through ELA curricular texts should also function as a way to engage

students in critiquing dominant discourses of masculinity, femininity, and sexual

orientation, thereby fostering critical multicultural curriculum (Ashcraft, 2006). A

wider view of the world as offered by literature can, according to Landt (2006):

Open doors to other cultures and introduce student to ideas and

insights they would otherwise not have encountered. Rather than

reading about cultures in a fact-filled textbook, students experience a

culture through the eyes of other adolescents. They get to see people

their own age meeting challenges and solving problems. Unfamiliar

aspects of other cultures-language, dress, beliefs- are less foreign

when viewed through the lens of familiar issues. (p. 691)

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For individuals who question presentations of gender and sexuality, schools have the

potential to be a powerful support in discovering voice and understanding

experience. Yet many LGBTQ youth state: “they often [feel] like outsiders in their

school, with 37% suggesting that they [hate] or [dislike] school” (Schrader & Wells,

2005, p. 2). Many LGBTQ students in ELA find themselves learning how to

recognize, value, and accumulate knowledge that locates them as outsiders and most

of their classmates as insiders (Van Leer, 1995). Under-representation in school

libraries and resources are felt by LGBTQ youth and is a major factor in their

constructed invisibility in schools (Schrader & Wells, 2005). It is important to note

issues of access specifically in regards to reference services, search terminologies

and collection holdings. Bias as represented in “cautions and warnings” as well as

“subject access and index terminology” plays a significant and determining role in

the accessibility of text (Schrader & Wells, 2005, p. 8).

LGBTQ students are not alone in their desire to understand and question

sexual identities and gender constructions. In Martino’s work, students clearly

articulate the need for critical examination of gender identities: “maybe they should

start teaching stuff that is related to us and that we need to know about” and “[t]here

has been stuff about don’t fall to peer pressure and stuff like that but that’s nothing

as deep as going into stuff about how you feel about being masculine to what is

masculinity. I’m not sure why we don’t have the opportunity” (Martino, 1999, p.

258). For students to have such opportunity to challenge and reshape their belief,

James (1999) describes an:

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environment of trust, openness and support in which one’s own

perceptions and feeling can be made properly conscious to oneself, in

which one can feel free to express and examine one’s fears and

aspirations, in which one can think through one’s experiences in

terms of a radically new vocabulary which expresses a fundamentally

different conception of the world. (p. 399)

Teachers who are committed to social justice attempt to provide a curriculum that

represents the classroom community and provide opportunities for caring supportive

classrooms to be developed and nurtured. We cannot be negligent in this regard, for

“if schools are to be safe, inclusive learning environments, then they ought to take

up issues of sexual orientation so (a) straight students learn about queer differences

and (b) queer students see themselves represented in the curriculum and instruction”

(Grace & Wells, 2001, p. 2). Cloninger (2008) offers a view of a classroom

community where students are challenge to cultivate a culture of care and love:

Because we had developed an environment that fostered loving

concern for all members of the class, the students were able to

comfort one another, support one another, and move from their self-

absorbed state to one of calm introspection. [W]e had entered into a

tacit agreement to respect one another, to listen to one another, to

show care for one another, and to leave room for one another.

(p. 207)

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Teachers need to construct ELA curricula that reveal the LGBTQ presence and

realize that heterosexuality is assumed, and homosexuality and bisexuality are often

made invisible in contemporary culture (Blackburn & Buckley, 2005). School

curriculum holds powerful potential for intervening in the production of oppressive

gender presentations. As Connett (1996) observes, schools “have a considerable

capacity to make and remake gender…[schools] are a key means of transmitting

culture between generations…and can make a real contribution to a future of more

civilized, and more just, gender relations” (as cited in Ashcraft, 2006, p. 2151).

Methodology

How do some English high school teachers engage with students in questions of

gender and sexuality? What are the challenges and rewards of this approach to

English literature? How are some teachers able to sustain social justice work while

teaching literature and what are their experiences with the Approved Resource List

in doing so? Such questions emerged as I reflected on my teaching approach over

the past ten years. It quickly became apparent that my own experience as a

classroom teacher was an active part of the research process itself. I desired a better

understanding of the experiences of educators who actively challenged dominant

presentations of gender and sexuality.

In the aim of honoring the voices of educators, this research employed an informal

narrative approach. Shank (2006) describes the informal narrative approach as

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“accounts, often oral, that describe certain events or circumstances or affairs without

trying to adhere to any of the structural components we might find in more formal

stories” (p. 174). As participants shared stories of their experience, I asked them for

specific and concrete examples of their approach. I recorded each interview and

following that meeting, transcribed each interview directly from the recording. I

also kept detailed notes during each interview. Using the transcribed interview, I

identified two major themes; the teacher and the text. Subthemes also emerged.

Using the transcribed interviews, I identified keywords, which illustrated the themes

and subthemes. Finally, I created thematic charts highlighting supporting data and

illustrating the connections between each participant.

Educators often shared very detailed accounts of their experiences that subsequently

provided colourful and rich examples throughout the research body. The semi-

structured interviews with participants provided tremendous insight to the supports

and limitations that impact their work in the area of inclusion and equity. A semi-

structured interview “allows the interviewer some latitude in how questions are

asked, and in what order, but it is still the case that all interviewees are asked the

same basic questions. By standardizing the interviews to some degree, the

researcher preserves a degree of comparability across interviews” (Shank, 2006, p.

50). Interviews with school board and Department of Education consultants and

advisors provided a more complete picture of the resources and supports in place for

educators who engage in critical practices. Two Department of Education

employees proved to be invaluable with regards to information on literacy and social

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justice. The interviews with librarian specialists helped to identify issues related to

resource collections for the language arts classroom. Half of the librarians

interviewed had teaching experience as English language arts educators. Their

insights to text selection, collections and resources provided further insight

regarding supports and limitations for educators who engage in critical analysis of

gender and sexuality as presented in the ARL for the ELA 10-12 classroom. The

interviews provided a rich collection of stories and experiences from which I drew

key themes to examine. Themes are categorized into two broad areas: teacher and

text. These two areas emerged as participants examined their own role and

responsibility and how they viewed the text available to them. Sub-themes capture a

larger picture of educator experience. Full transcripts were provided to participants

to provide feedback in order to transform their stories into written text that they

approved and considered accurate.

Five high school English teachers were initially invited to participate in this project.

Each of these educators had demonstrated through their work that they are interested

in issues related to social justice and literacy. I used a snowball approach to locate

other participants and began by contacting educators who demonstrated through

their practice an interest and dedication to social justice in regards to critiques of

gender and sexuality presentations. I worked with four of the educators at a high

school level. The other four individuals I met while working on projects or

committees related to social justice or literacy. Those interviewed were willing to

discuss their practice and experience in regards to critiquing presentations of gender

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and sexuality within the ARL. I did post an advertisement for participants in the

local teacher magazine that is received by all schools in the study area. There was

no response from this advertisement. Those interviewed represented a variety of

experiences ranging from inner city to rural high schools.

Three library specialists were originally invited to participate. Two high school

librarians, one city based and one rural, were interviewed. I was not able to secure

an interview for a School Board library support specialist.

Four Department of Education employees were originally invited to participate.

Two of the original four resulted in interviews. Two additional interviewees were

located by the snowball effect, an English Programs Consultant 7-12 and a Literacy

Leader 7-12.

The methods that were undertaken to perform this research include: brief

preliminary interviews where the purpose of the research was clarified and the

participant informed of consent; in-depth open-ended interviews providing an

opportunity to complete interview questions; review of available documents that

relate to ARL and the ELA curriculum expectations and goals. Also, artifacts from

teacher classrooms such as lesson plans, assignments and materials proved essential

and were often explored during the interview. Interviews were digitally recorded

and transcribed by the researcher. Following the interviews, transcripts were

provided to each participant and opportunity was given for each person to make

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changes to the written text. From the interview transcripts, data were coded and

analyzed in order to locate themes and patterns regarding how gender and sexuality

is presented through the ARL in grade 10-12 and subsequently explored in the

classroom. In an effort to honour educators as they presented their own stories, this

text includes substantial quotations and sections of transcripts. As much as possible,

the participants’ words appear in the text as direct quotations. Following the

completion of the thesis and its requirements, all audiotapes will be destroyed. The

study will be made available to each participant. All names have been changed

including interview participants and students noted during the interview process to

ensure the privacy is respected.

Appendix 1: Interview Consent Form for Educators Appendix 2: Interview Consent Form for Consultants Appendix 3: Proposed Interview Questions for Educators Appendix 4: Proposed Interview Questions for Consultants

Ethics

Approval to complete this research project was granted by Acadia University. Prior

to interviews, all participants received informed consent. Debriefing was provided

when requested and manuscripts were sent to all participants. Participants were able

to edit their manuscript as they deemed necessary in order to provide further details

and information or to clarify their interview. There were no risk or safety concerns

for any participants. While no compensation was provided for any participants, a

18

number of participants noted the benefits they felt from discussing their educational

practice.

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CHAPTER TWO: THE TEACHER

Chapter two examines educators’ understanding of their role and responsibility;

perspective and experience; critical literacy and social justice; youth voice,

perspective and understanding; risk; and, historical context. Literacy practices such

as embedded curriculum, book share, connections, choice, and whole class and small

group are also examined. Finally, support, mentorship and professional

development; and, race, culture, human rights and policy are considered.

Educators’ Understanding of Role and Responsibility

Classroom educators who participated in the interview process hold a common

belief that supporting student understanding and developing greater awareness of

gender and sexual identity is part of their role and responsibility. As educators

shared their stories of classroom practice, they frequently expressed ideas that are

central to their personal understanding of their position as a classroom teacher and

responsibility to provide appropriate and meaningful educational experiences and

opportunities. Often educators expressed a sense of desire to actively engage in

practices that support students thinking about identity and self. Along with an

intentional focus on social justice, educators noted the importance of developing a

culture of care and well being in their classrooms in order to facilitate conversations

that would support students as they explore their ideas and became vulnerable to

20

challenge. James (1999) describes the environment needed to challenge and change

deeply held beliefs as:

an environment of trust, openness and support in which one’s own

perceptions and feeling can be made properly conscious to oneself, in

which one can feel free to express and examine one’s fears and

aspirations, in which one can think through one’s experiences in

terms of a radically new vocabulary which expresses a fundamentally

different conception of the world. (p. 399)

Interconnected with fostering an environment that encourages and supports learners

to examine their personal beliefs and ideas, five themes emerged: understanding

cultural diversity; critical thinking and meaningful response; youth voice; risk; and

historical context.

Exploring Perspective and Experience

Cultivating greater understanding of oneself and others is a central theme explored

in many English classrooms and can be investigated using a variety of texts. Landt

(2006) examines the use of multicultural literature as students explore unfamiliar

and new experiences as well as providing a more accurate reflection of students in

the classroom. Landt’s (2006) examination of multicultural resources is parallel to

providing students with literature that reflects the diversity of gender and sexuality:

21

Literature can open doors to other cultures and introduce students to

ideas and insights they would otherwise not have encountered. Rather

than reading about cultures in a fact-filled textbook, students

experience a culture through the eyes of other adolescents. They get

to see people their age meeting challenges and solving problems.

Unfamiliar aspects of other cultures—language, dress, beliefs—are

less foreign when viewed through the lens of familiar issues. Fine

fiction, according to Mazer (1993), has “the power to transform our

understanding [and] allows us to enter into another person’s

experience and to feel it as if it were our own” p. viii

(p. 691)

As they describe their classroom practices, educators share the importance of

supporting students’ developing awareness, respect of diversity and, understanding

of how gender and sexuality can be informed by culture. E explains how, using the

short story The Friday that Everything Changed by Ann Hart, her grade 10 English

class explores the topic of gender construction alongside the need to acknowledge

and understand cultural differences and perspective as demonstrated by characters in

the story. E describes the class conversation prior to reading the short story:

We talk about the idea that the construction of gender is malleable

and changing and it is fluid depending on the perspectives of people,

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and that some of the expectations of gender, male and female, vary

according to culture and experience. (Transcript E, ll. 13-16)

E further notes the diversity of student experiences with regards to their

understanding of gender and sexuality:

It’s very apparent that some students have some experience they have

previously discussed gender. It is also apparent that some students

have no experience and they have never heard the word and they

write it down and they are really unsure of what that is. And even as

we talk and someone is explaining it to them they are like, “Oh, the

sex of someone?” And so, then you are trying to clarify, “No it’s not

just the sex.” Ah then there are other students in the class, who have

experience with it and use the word sometimes before it is even

mentioned by me. (Transcript E, ll. 52-58)

As part of preparing to share a common reading text and to support students as they

consider their own beliefs and attitudes, E encourages students to exchange ideas

and support one another as they explore their diverse and varied understanding of

gender and sexuality. E uses Hart’s story The Friday that Everything Changed to

connect her students to a deeper understanding of gender and sexuality and at the

same time, make real the classroom conversation in which diversity is shown: “it

mentions or hints that this teacher had different opportunities because she was from

23

a different area and so that’s one of the things I try to bring up with students.”

(Transcript E, ll. 43-36). E is intentional as she shapes the classroom culture and

conversation to include recognizing invisible opportunity alongside the unique

experiences of the female character. She further describes how, after explicitly

modeling reading analysis to her class, students begin to select elements of the story

to deepen their understanding of diversity in experience:

They [students in E’s classroom] also parallel it with the boys and the

girls that play softball in the school. They [students in the text] don’t

really understand the game because they have a different perspective.

They haven’t really seen a baseball game. None of them have been to

one. They don’t have TV access so they can’t visually see it. They

haven’t read anything about baseball so they have really little

exposure. (Transcript E, ll. 41-45)

Through examining the experiences in the text, students in E’s class have the

opportunity to explore diversity. The entry point of the softball/baseball discussion

provides a safe space where students in E’s classroom have the opportunity to

consider what may be assume to be common knowledge or cultural practices (how

to play softball/baseball) may not be common after all. E also explains that the

story offers an opportunity to examine how individuals are valued at different

degrees as team members which is specifically shown in the school practice of

placing females in secondary roles as team members:

24

[A]nd so the teacher experiences, where she is from, females maybe

treated just a little different, she may have played or she did play

baseball at her old school. Where as at this school, the girls weren’t

included for main roles in baseball. They were asked to play outfield,

as a second rank position, not as a helpful position, not as a valued

central role. (Transcript E, ll. 41-45)

Supporting her class as they deepen their understanding of diversity, E connects

themes of gender and sexuality to the students’ discussion of culture, experience and

privilege. The students talk about baseball, cultural knowledge and individual value

while discussing the experiences of characters in the story. E is intentional as she

chooses Hart’s short story The Friday that Everything Changed and begins with

dialogue that shapes the focus of themes and sets the tone for respectful inquiry. She

is also aware that students need to see the analysis of text modeled by their teacher

and provides the class with clear direction, instruction and supportive techniques. E

noted that she examines this text early in the grade 10 year which helps shape the

culture of the classroom as one that holds an expectation of respect for diversity and

open discussion.

Critical Literacy and Social Justice

Throughout the interviews, educators explored intersections and connections

between critical literacy and social justice practices. Educators described critical

25

literacy as a practice that enables students to acknowledge multiple meaning from

texts and as a practice that supports learners as they develop skills to see how that

text has been shaped by societal factors and in turn is shaping the reader. Social

justice practices involve supporting students as they develop an awareness of

individuals and issues that may or may not have space (physical, intellectual,

emotional, social, and financial) in the classroom, school and greater community.

As we discuss the English language arts curriculum, C explains how she perceives

the disconnect between the practice and theory of critical literacy:

[T]he whole notion of critical thinking, is just, although it is stated in

the document (English Language Arts Curriculum Guide), we are just

really getting a push on it in the last couple for years. That whole

thing around research, thinking critically about what you are reading

and researching and those sorts of things, that is now just taking a

forefront. (Transcript C, ll. 205-209)

As practices around critical literacy emerge, C notes that social justice awareness

must be applied to the analysis of vast cultural and historical experiences:

Within the notion of critiquing things is that whole thing around

examining your culture and your traditions, examining your society.

And it is an examination not just of the issues of genderism and those

26

things but of everything that has in the past been marginalized and

what we do as a society to keep marginalized populations in place.

(Transcript E, ll. 209-212)

Movement to tie critical research skills with questions of power and control help

shape a classroom in which learners are asked to challenge cultural practices and

belief systems. In her research, Jones (2006) presents a framework for powerful

critical literacy: deconstruction, reconstruction and social action. In their analysis of

Jones’s work, Clarke and Whitney (2009) describe the first stage, deconstruction, of

critical literacy practice:

The first layer of interpretative work involves deconstructing issues

of power, perspective, and positioning in a text. While literally

deconstruction means to take things apart, what the students are doing

at this stage is to pull back layers of meaning. (p. 532)

MI demonstrates deconstruction as she describes a classroom assignment she calls

‘Democratic Citizen’ which combines literacy skill development alongside a critical

exploration of the world:

Every Monday I had this assignment called Democratic Citizen,

where students had to bring in a current world event that they would

discuss in class. It resulted in a great deal of debate and discussion.

27

They would bring in issues around the environment, politics and

world crisis. (Transcript MI, ll. 52-55)

MI fosters an environment that promotes discussion and debate by using current

world events in her English class. The second step in Jones’s (2006) critical literacy

framework involves reconstruction: “It is not enough just to deconstruct a text, but

we also have to give the students an opportunity to use this knowledge to create new

ways of thinking” (Clarke & Whitney 2009, p. 533). In MI’s classroom, students are

encouraged to rethink their ideas and assumptions and explore new ways of viewing

the world. MI extends the practice of viewing the world through a critical lens by

challenging students to question school practice and purpose. This challenge of

school practice reflects the third step in Jones’s (2006) critical literacy framework

that involves social action:

It is important that students see themselves in a larger world beyond

the walls of the classroom. It is for this reason that the final step in a

critical literacy exploration needs to be one that builds upon

deconstruction and reconstruction to connect to larger social issues.

(Clarke & Whitney 2009, p. 534)

While remaining within the school context, MI describes how she supports students

as they struggle to make real and significant the assignments and activities in which

28

they are asked to engage. Her encouragement to critically examine the purpose of

assigned tasks demonstrates the widening of critical investigation:

Find meaning in their learning, that’s what it is, find meaning in their

learning. And I talk to the kids the very first day of the semester

about this. And I said “You know how it’s like probably when you

get assignments from teachers and you do them but you don’t really

feel connected to them but you do them anyway and you do a good

job and you get your marks and you do well and you move on well

for me, I’m trying to figure why that disconnect is happening and I’m

going to try to give you things where that doesn’t happen so you end

up doing things that are, you know, meaningful to you.” (Transcript

MI, ll. 216-224)

Both C and MI support students as they make meaning of text and combine critical

and social justice practices. MI supports explicit discussion with her students

regarding educational purpose and encourages them to consider the implications for

their own learning. MI’s belief in critical and social justice does not end with

examination of text, rather, she applies the principles to classroom learning

opportunities and actively supports students as they question the role education plays

in their lives.

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Youth Voice, Perspective and Understanding

Central to the values held by educators, the power and importance of student voice

was discussed by many interviewed. Educators shared stories of students’ voice and

perspective and provided detailed examples of how student voice is a central

element within their learning community. For these educators, student voice and

perspective is a powerful guiding force that shapes and directs classroom activities

and learning opportunities. While sharing her experience as a classroom teacher, N

demonstrates how she encourages students as they develop understanding of their

own voice in her classroom. While N is describing a situation with elementary

students, N is currently working with elementary, junior, senior high students and

educators. This story was included as it helps demonstrate N’s practice:

So, with just my classroom and my students challenging me, that’s

how powerful it can be with students and an individual teacher. This

was elementary 8 and 9 year olds, asking me about the curriculum

asking me why we are not, you know, talking about any famous

people of African descent. Now they’re challenging me, a person of

African descent, and they were 8 years old. And so it was up to me

as a teacher to go out and try to find pictures to try to find all of that.

(Transcript N, ll. 274-280)

30

N invites the challenge to locate materials that reflects a more diverse community

and encourages students’ questions and perspectives to shape the classroom practice.

Ingrid Johnston (2000) explores the creation of space in the classroom for students

to share their ideas regarding texts:

Making transformative curriculum changes in our classrooms entails

moving away from seeing literature teaching as a scene of possession

in which we, as classroom teachers, are the final arbiters of meaning.

It means opening up debates and dialogues with our students about

the international texts we bring into the classroom and about the

culture they reflect. (p. 145)

N is open to the diverse perspectives that learners bring to the classroom.

Acknowledging its importance and power, she begins to reshape classroom materials

to more accurately reflect how her students view the world, and at the same time, N

supports their challenge of the limited presentations of culture and people. Their

questions of where images of people of African descent are and why they were

absent led N to locate materials that offered depictions of people of African descent

and to discuss this as a whole class. N does not reject the student perspective;

rather, she shares power with her students as together they examine who is missing

from the presentations in the literature and who is taking up the space in these same

presentations. N did not end this examination with simply providing the missing

images; rather, she encouraged her students to ask why such presentations may

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occur. During the interview, C shared an experience she had as part of a diversity

day. As a school wide event, numerous teachers wore different t-shirts identifying

different sexual orientations. C took a t-shirt that identified that she was bi-sexual:

It was really good, I was close to my class, they said, “Miss you’re

too much of a priss to be a bisexual”, ha, ha, ha, I said, “Are you

saying I have to be less of a priss to be bisexual?” Aha, ha, ha, it was

really funny. So I said “Well why can’t prissy people be bisexual?”

So we started the conversation. So, well, then we all moved into the

circle and we talked about all these other things, they thought

bestiality was a sexual orientation, this was an English class right, so

we sat and talk about how that was not a sexual orientation.

(Transcript C, ll. 619-625)

Like N, C encourages openness with her class and supports students as they risk

sharing their ideas with their teacher and classmates. In this case, the t-shirt and the

school activity provided the framework of exploration and discussion for students.

Blackburn and Buckley (2005) explore the importance of discussions that focus on

gender and sexuality with students in addition to inclusion through literature:

Reading and writing are vehicles for thinking and feeling (Athanases,

1996), and discussions, both small and large group, can facilitate

thinking and feeling. Teachers must actively, honestly, and

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intellectually facilitate these discussions (Epstein, 2000). Students,

in other words, should have opportunities to play active roles in

discussions, and teachers should listen intently to what their students

have to say (Hamilton, 1998). In terms of queer-inclusive ELA

curricula, discussions of same-sex desire need to be incorporated into

larger discussions of diversity. Discussions of family, relationships,

community, and discrimination can promote such incorporation.

Schall & Kaufmann, 2003 (p. 210)

 

In  C’s   classroom,   students  have   the  opportunity   to  explore  and  examine   their  

worldview.     Through   such   examination,   individuals   face   new   concepts   of   and  

ways  of  being   in  relationships  with  others.    Such  conversations  offer  students  

the  possibility  to  explore  different  perspectives  in  a  safe  and  welcoming  space.    

The positive and supportive relationships that C cultivates in her classroom enable

students to feel that this topic and their questions are valuable to learning. With the

support of their teacher, students have the opportunity to voice their assumptions and

share their perspectives in an environment where ideas can be openly examined and

clarified. Like C, E recognizes the power and importance of supporting students as

they share their experiences:

I have had a person one year in grade 10 who seem rather mature for

a grade 10 student. And she considered herself to be openly bisexual

and she talked about gender to the class. And she talked about it very

33

knowingly and with a sense of authority on it. And so ah, being an

open student in a class, ah she discussed those concepts really clearly

and brought them to a language level that was what most grade 10

students understood. (Transcript E, ll. 86-91)

Creating a supportive learning community for students as they examine ideas related

to gender and sexuality means that students are in a position to learn from one

another. As E notes, the information reaches students in new ways providing a

different voice and another opportunity for students to understand. Similar to E, MI

provides space in her classroom for students to share their understanding and

perspective. MI describes the importance of supporting students to write their life

experiences. She strongly advocates that youth have tremendous and powerful life

experiences that should be integral to classroom learning:

Allowing kids to tap into their own experiences, because if they care

about what they are writing about and tell their own stories because

they all have stories they all have voices, obviously and, they will

become better writers in the process but that is secondary to being

just able to tell your story and get credit for it, what a gift.

(Transcript MI, ll. 311-315)

34

Both E and MI comment that, when supported by the learning community, learners

are willing to openly share their stores. MI describes her classroom and the open

conversations students participate in:

Students are openly talking in my class about their same sex

boyfriend or girlfriend and they tell other students about their life

openly. They bring it up in classroom discussions and they talk about

it with other students. Students need to see their lives reflected in the

literature that we use and right now that is not happening. I think

students need to have this available to them that is why I have looked

and searched for that representation. (Transcript MI, ll. 105-110)

Providing materials and writing opportunities that accurately reflect students is a

central practice of social justice. Students in MI’s classroom help to cultivate a

climate of respect for diversity by engaging in conversations that support all

learners. MI acknowledges that commonly used literature in high school does not

reflect the experiences of all learners in the community. To provide learners with

meaningful and appropriate materials, both MI and B search for resources that

reflect diverse student experiences and realities. Their practice of making available

multiple worldviews and offering learners the opportunity to examine and reexamine

their understanding is reflective of Landt (2006):

 

35

A kaleidoscope does not offer one true picture; it morphs and changes

at every move, proffering a multifaceted, prismatic perspective. That

is what I propose we offer to the developing minds of our students:

not a static, narrow vision, but a spectrum of perceptions and

possibilities. (p. 691)

As part of his work, B collects resources to add to the Literacy Success materials for

classroom use. The collection adds a variety of resources to English classrooms and

individual text are selected for their ability to appeal to students’ interests and

reading abilities. Educators have been invited from across Nova Scotia to examine

and select materials that they feel would offer new and unique reading opportunities.

B has also invited students from across Nova Scotia to review texts and make

suggestions on materials they would like to see in their classroom library. B

believes the connection to student experiences and knowledge is central to

promoting meaningful and empowering reading opportunities for students:

If students receive the resources [Literacy Success] and have the

opportunity to read them, they will say things like, “This is the kind

of resource that we need in the classroom because it is real, it talks

about real problems. I can identify with this because this is what is

happening to me.” (Transcript B, ll. 58-61)

36

To understand what he meant by ‘real’, B extended an invitation to attend a review

session with the XYZ team. The texts that were examined that day included fiction

and nonfiction as well as a number of magazine and image based text. Topics drew

from a variety of Aboriginal, ‘how to’ text, stories of animals and animal care, and a

large collection that explore youth experiences including divorce, self-harm and

relationships. B concludes: “Again, I just have to go back to knowing your kids,

and you would have to be able to look at each kid with a different lens and realize

where he or she is coming from.” (Transcript B, ll. 200-201). B values the

experiences students bring to the classroom and acknowledges it as an important tool

to which educators can connect. Becoming more aware of unique student

experiences can promote deeper sensitivity and in turn, help cultivate classroom

practices that promote personal connectedness and understanding of diversity.

These educators believe there is power in students’ voice, perspective and

understanding. They are interested in learning from their students and in turn

actively support students as they challenge community systems as well as

educational practices.

37

Risk

For educators and learners who participate in conversations of social justice, risk is

an important and significant factor and informs decisions that impact classroom

practice. Johnston (2000) notes:

Taking risks in text selection also means taking risks in now we

teach. By introducing students to contrasting literature that includes

non-western and previously marginalized texts, we allow them to

explore conflicts of identity and cultural representation in the

literature they read. We create opportunities for students to offer a

“resistant” reading of a canonized text and to explore dissonances and

ambiguities evident in contrasting texts. We allow for debates over

the aesthetic and sociopolitical aspects of literature that are unlikely

to emerge in classrooms where the focus resides on identification of

themes, characterizations, and figurative language in literary texts.

(p. 144)

Risk, as explored by the educators interviewed, can suggest both negative and

positive results and at times, these results can occur simultaneously and present a

conflict that educators must address. Many educators noted the difficulty in

balancing the results of risk as well as the challenge to support students as they are

faced with ideas that may be in conflict with family beliefs and values. C shares her

38

experience of supporting students as they examine their understanding of sexuality

and the challenges she faces with colleagues who express discomfort with her

practice:

So, so one girl actually came out in the class and we were talking to

her about it. Well, after, I had a meeting with the department head

who said, “You were putting those children, those kids at risk with

that conversation.” And I said, “Well why?” “Well especially with

that one that came out, you know, will maybe go off on an emotional

cliff and you know.” Just like something might trigger someone to

emotionally go off on the edge or something, “Maybe you could go

down and talk to the youth health nurse about it.” But that was

attitude, you know, you shouldn’t be talking about those things

because they trigger things, there might just be someone in the closet

that might just push them over the edge. (Transcript C, ll. 630-639)

C seeks the support of her department head after an emotional and powerful class

experience. She is seen as putting students at risk, in this case, life danger, by

supporting conversations of gender and sexuality in her English classroom. C’s

ability to support her students is seen by the department head as inadequate and

suggests the health nurse is better suited to such issues. C has cultivated a culture of

support and care for her students, and yet it is argued that the activity presented an

inappropriate risk for the class. Her intention as well as her ability to continue to

39

support students as they explore is questioned and deemed inappropriate by the

department head. In seeking the support of her department head, C experiences how

risk is determined to be unsuitable for students and educators when it involves issues

of gender and sexuality. While suggesting this discussion is dangerous for students,

it is C’s department head that enacts danger by framing the conversation in hetero-

sexist and homophobic expectations and beliefs. C’s department head perpetuates

fear and ignorance as students examine sexuality. Ultimately, it is hatred that would

rather students stay ‘in the closet’ then find support to come out. Although C’s

department head does not offer support, C is not discouraged. C describes how her

students respond to one another:

The kids were very respectful of one another, there were no pointing

fingers. I find when you start having those conversations with kids

they start actually showing quite a bit of respect for one another.

(Transcript C, ll. 639-642)

C’s belief that students are capable of respectful dialogue is reflected in Schall and

Kauffmann’s (2003) research: “children are capable of reading about and discussing

sensitive social issues such as homosexuality when the children are a part of a

classroom community that values dialogue and critical thinking”

(as cited in Blackburn & Buckley, p. 209).    Risk is present both for the educator and

students in the classroom when making decisions on what information is private and

who is a safe and appropriate person to share with regarding one’s challenges and

40

emerging understanding of self. C describes the tension that she felt when she tried

to address student questions regarding gender and sexuality while feeling at the same

time less knowledgeable in the areas that students wanted to discuss. C explains

how students were not prepared to risk engaging on a personal level with the health

nurse with whom they had not built a relationship of trust and care:

I didn’t feel that I was knowledgeable enough anymore to talk about

it so I had the youth health center nurse come in and that was actually

a mistake, yeah, cause they shut down, yeah, you know. They were

really looking forward to coming in [and talking] and I wish I had the

knowledge myself cause I saw they wouldn’t talk, cause of someone

else coming in and you know kids at that age are very protective.

(Transcript C, ll. 659-663)

Students trust that C would engage with them and ‘shut down’ when another

educator enters their classroom. C had practiced open conversations and modeled

to her students that they were able to share their own lives and ask questions they

felt could not be asked in another space. The silence that resulted as the health nurse

attempted to step into C’s role demonstrates the amount of trust that C had instilled

in her students, which at this time without a relationship of trust, could not extend to

the health nurse. While invited by the classroom teacher, the presence of a nurse

may also suggest to students that sexuality is foremost a health issue. While C felt

she could not answer student questions, the students were disappointed that the

41

classroom dynamic had changed. The students were not prepared to share personal

and sensitive ideas with an individual they had not built a relationship with. Trust

between students and teacher is significant as it demonstrates the incredible bond

that occurs in learning spaces. Like C, E experiences the complexity of sharing and

risk in her classroom. She acknowledges the challenge that diversity of experience

and understanding in the classroom presents but concludes that respecting student

voice and making space for students to share with one another is vital:

There are experiences for students who, ah, may, may not have

discussed these issues and it brings emotion, for some students it’s

easy to discuss, it’s easy to agree or disagree, they are open to

discussion. And other students it may not be as safe because they

may have conflicting home values or religious values that you don’t

want to go against. You maybe want to suggest that, you may want

to suggest that there is room in the classroom for all voices, and that

in that voice we need to empower, or to maintain respect.

(Transcript E, ll. 110-116)

Risk in E’s class is experienced as a diverse group of students engage in

conversations that some find accessible while others feel challenged to participate in.

The challenge to participate may occur due to cultural, religious or personal reasons

or because they have not had the experience or opportunity in the past to explore

new issues. Johnston (2000) notes:

42

Another uncomfortable question that emerged was the effect that

consciousness-raising might have on particular students’ relationships

with their families who might not share their new awareness of

intolerance. Even when we attempt to create safe spaces in our

classroom to deal with questions of race and power, we may leave

students, [such as Andrea] vulnerable in their dealings with life

outside school. (p. 143)

E is sensitive to the degree to which student are asked to risk sharing of their ideas

of self and suggests that they need to be supported in their understanding and

learning:

Although they are mature and they are young adults, this is a time in

their life when these experiences are important. However, some of

them have very little practice or they have, they have very little

guidance in being responsible for their ideas and their language and

for how they express themselves sensitivity aware of others and the

other experience. And so that leaves the teacher, with what, I think,

is an opportunity to develop this respect through language and

discussion and public forum. (Transcript E, ll. 117-122)

E models responsibility for language and ideas and provides guidance when students

risk sharing. She is sensitive to the diversity of understanding in her classroom and

43

supports students as they learn to engage in critical and respectful conversations. As

students are encouraged to share their perspective and understanding of gender and

sexuality, the complexity of risk presents a tension that educators need to

acknowledge and address. How a classroom teacher promotes risk and what results

when the dynamics of the classroom are changed are seen in C’s experience with the

health nurse. While risk can foster tension among colleagues, students and their

families, for educators who choose to engage in social justice education, it is

necessary for personal and professional growth. In Boyd & Bailey (2009) a

newspaper editorial notes that: “[T]his is the active ingredient in all education: To

experience the collision-often violent-between one’s own view of the world and the

worlds view.” (p. 657).

Historical Context

Connecting text to contemporary life and current events is a practice noted by many

of the educators interviewed. Contextualizing literature widens student

understanding of who they are in the world and how this particular text has informed

and may still inform their world. Willinsky (2000) notes that teaching English and

holding an interest in the political and social context is interwoven:

But having an interest in that history is something of what it means to

be a teacher of English, something of what it means to participate in

44

both the traditions and the future of this passion for the language and

its literature. (p. 2)

To further develop the idea of context, Wendy Morgan (1997) writes of developing

geography of English. Kelly (2000) explains:

[T]his geography metaphor is useful because it provides a sense in

which position-where one does, and where one chooses to stand,

shapes perspective that is what one is able to see, to acknowledge,

and to envision. (p. 82)

C describes the experience of educators who are able to teach both what she terms

the concrete literacy analysis of a text together with a critical social perspective,

specifically a historical understanding:

Some of the younger teachers seem to have really been able to make

some very good connections with kids and they are able to draw real

life to whatever novel they are doing in the classroom. So it is not a

novel they are doing, it’s not about covering the novel. It’s about

going deep within the novel and understanding the social issues. And

some of the most powerful teachers, I think I mentioned this last

time, are those with a history background right, so they are able to

bring that whole notion of historical context to a population or how

this novel fits within an era and talk about the social implications of

45

that time to right now, so even comparing what’s going on today.

(Transcript C, ll. 242-250)

Drawing real life into a text is central to the practice of making meaning with

students and, for C, is just as important to the literary analysis of the reading.

English teachers can offer their students the practice of placing the reading in

context of other text, world events and people. C believes English teachers who

extend student learning to include analysis of history and culture will support

students as they place themselves within a historical framework and can work to

promote greater awareness of diversity and experience. She describes a teacher who

she believes is highly skilled at connecting literature to social and historical context:

I think of teachers in XYZ like JF, he was a master at it, you know.

He was a master at pulling out the social aspect of things. He also

had the history background and the kids loved him and he knew how

to connect it to their lives. (Transcript C, ll. 323-326)

Educators need support as they develop skills in connecting to historical context and

provincial conferences as well as professional development opportunities can offer

this support. C describes conferences that would support her quest for historical and

social understanding:

46

You could take your knowledge back and apply it to your novels.

What it was doing was creating background. So I can remember

coming back and having a lot of background knowledge that I didn’t

have before. There was another instance, I find a lot of the time the

October conferences for social studies teachers and English teachers

tend to go more about the social justice issues.

(Transcript C, ll. 386-390)

Connecting students to historical context to supporting learners examination of their

own assumptions and beliefs and offers the opportunity to place oneself within a

larger context. Promoting classroom practices that challenge students to become

more critically aware, sensitive to cultural diversity, and, further develop critical

literacy skills offers students the opportunity to become more reflective and engaged

in meaningful and thoughtful ways in the world. Cherland (2000) notes that the

inclusion of cultural analysis helps students understand that making meaning from

literature can be a fluid experience:

Meanings created in language, in these cultural discourses even the

meanings embodied in literature, are constantly changing, constantly

being negotiated and renegotiated. They are constantly in flux. They

can always be deconstructed, subverted, or taken apart. (p. 106)

47

Recognizing the power of youth voice and risk taking demonstrates the complexity

that educators must negotiate as they support student exploration of their own lives

in relation to literature. Supporting students as they contextualize literature helps to

foster an environment where students can re-envision who they are in relation to a

text as well as the text itself. Educators who promote social justice literacy practices

present a challenge to the learning community as they open new avenues of reading

and analysis.

Literacy Practices

During the interviews, educators shared a variety of literacy practices they believe

support the work of social justice in their classrooms. Embedded curriculum

provides students with materials that are available in the classroom yet are not in the

forefront of the materials used. Such materials help to cultivate a classroom culture

that draws attention to social justice issues in a subtle or implicit way. The practice

of book share supports students as they bring their own materials into the classroom.

The sharing of texts provides learning opportunities and promotes dialogue for

unique ideas and connections as well as demonstrates the value of individual reading

and exploration of text. Reading multiple perspectives offers a wider variety of

choice and demonstrates to learners that there are many ways of being and

interacting in the world. By incorporating student-centered practices into the

classroom, these educators demonstrate they value the personal contributions of all

members of the learning community.

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Embedded Curriculum

Visuals such as posters or pictures in classrooms present messages that are unique

from direct teacher or text messages. Visuals support independent conversation and

reflection that can engage and challenge the viewer/reader with new ideas. After

posting the visual, the teacher is no longer vital for interaction to occur but can, if

invited, participate in a conversation with students regarding the visual and its varied

and unique meanings to the viewer. One example of powerful visuals in high school

English classroom is the Youth Project posters. E describes the conversations she

overhears when students see and discuss the Youth Project poster for the first time:

What I will tell you does bring awareness in my class and I always

hear students comment, is having, there is a poster by the Youth

Project in downtown XYZ. And there is several, several pictures and

posters that they put out but I have one in my classroom. And I just

have a new semester of students in my class and kids always look at

that representation the kids point that poster out to other kids and

some do it and just say “Did you see that poster, did you see it?” And

some kids are giggling or laughing but I will tell you that probably

within a week to four weeks, most or all students seem to know the

poster is up and I think that speaks volumes too.

(Transcript E, ll. 169-176)

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The poster offers students the opportunity to consider diversity with regards to

gender and sexuality without explicit teacher direction or instruction. While some

students respond with laughter, E does not focus on this reaction. E believes that the

reading of the poster by the entire class within a short time is significant and

demonstrates student interest and desire to develop a greater understanding of

sexuality. E believes that the message of support for LGBTQ youth is presented

through the poster and its placement in the classroom. She comments on the duality

of implicit and explicit teaching in her practice:

I think it says that students will be supported who may or may not

identity with questioning their sexuality or exploring, or identifies as

gay or lesbian or bisexual and I think it says a lot without saying it as

the teacher. (Transcript E, ll. 180-182)

For this teacher, not ‘saying it as the teacher’ is essential when supporting

discussions of gender and sexuality in the classroom. Many educators describe a

connection between the development of literacy skills and social justice text that

support developing understanding in both areas. The Youth Project poster in E’s

classroom provides students with the opportunity to interpret the visuals and read the

text. They are challenged by the content and on occasion students engage in

conversations with one another and their teacher to better understand the message.

C explains the connection between literacy and social justice:

50

And what I notice about these teachers is that they take the literacy

techniques and they present them embedded within the context of the

novel or the context of the discussion rather then ok, this is

symbolism, pick out examples of symbolism in the text and

separating it out. And you see kids so engaged and at that age, as you

know, kids are so into justice right, they become completely engaged.

But it takes somebody who has a deep understanding of society who

has a natural interest in what happened in the world to bring those

aspects out. (Transcript C, ll. 258-264)

Fusing the development of literacy skills with growing social justice sensitivity

means that students deepen their ability to engage with text in more critical and

complex ways. E, discussing Hart’s short story, The Friday that Everything

Changed, illustrates that the text itself does not offer explicit themes or focus on

sexuality:

What’s interesting is that in that story, that story actually does not

discuss a lot about gender but it’s the opportunity in the past for

females and males in a small rural school. So although it may not be

considered a story that in depth explores the idea of gender and

sexuality because it doesn’t really explore sexuality at all, I think that

gender roles is a major, a major thematic issue and an opportunity to

51

explore without having gender construction placed on you.

(Transcript E, ll. 16-22)

E’s use of materials that offer students opportunities to examine themes and topics

connected to gender and sexuality is reflected in Farr (2000):

Especially effective, in my view, are works in which sexual

orientation is the background to a different theme. In Jana Rule’s

(1981) story “Middle Children,” for example, she treats the lovers not

primarily as lesbian but as “middle children” who learned early to be

caretakers of their siblings so that in middle age they buy a much too

large house and lovingly “adopt” the young men who rent their

rooms, bring their girlfriends over, and pour out their tales of woe to

sympathetic ears. (p. 210)

The fusion of social justice and literacy is a practice that these educators believe can

offer a complex and engaging experience for learners in a safe classroom

environment. The potential is great to develop social justice understanding and

sensitivity during explicit teaching moments, in the themes of a text or topic of

conversation, as well as during subtle teaching opportunities as demonstrated in the

Youth Project poster. The Youth Project poster offers student focused reading that

places the student and their individual response or engagement with the poster at the

center of learning.

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Book Share

As we reflected on classroom practices, educators commented on the sharing of text

among students and why this practice is an essential element in promoting social

justice. The practice of book share supports students as they bring their own

materials into the classroom. The sharing of texts provides learning opportunities

and promotes dialogue for unique ideas and connections as well as demonstrates the

value of individual reading and exploration of text. As students were encouraged to

read for interest and specific learning goals, educators noticed how students engaged

in sharing the text. This observation prompted some classroom teachers to make

space for student text sharing in more formalized practices called book shares or

book talks. M explains:

Because if they are sharing a book they are reading with each other,

that opens a lot of doors with the rest of the class to see something

they would be interested in reading to see something even if it is just

a snippet of, “Well my book is about the Holocaust” and ok so then it

just broadens out. Even if they decide not to read the book I think it’s

just, making them aware of all the different things that are out there.

(Transcript M, ll. 341-345)

Broadening of the class experience occurs as the teacher and students support one

another reading different text and connecting the text to their lived experiences. Yet,

53

many students are not prepared to participate in discussions related to gender and

sexuality. Farr (2000) describes an educator’s experience as she challenged her

students to discuss sex in Alice Walker’s (1982) The Color Purple:

[S]he devised the strategy of asking the students to talk about why

they found it so difficult to discuss sex. What she found was that

they had been taught it was both an inappropriate topic for school and

an embarrassing one because it was so personal. And she soon

realized that they lacked a level of language that was neither clinical

nor moral. (p. 205-206)

Providing students with the opportunity to share and discuss ideas of gender and

sexuality in high school creates awareness and education. Students can examine and

explore new concepts and build vocabulary as they work in small groups to create

meaning and connections. Student interest determines if they select a text to read

after a classmate shares it. As learners select texts, they become empowered

decision makers in their education and build a community of learners who share

reading and life experiences through literature. Sumara, Davis & Iftody (2006)

notes:

Although   engagements   with   literary   texts   are   considered   to   be  

private  activities,  many  readers  value  opportunities  to  share  their  

responses   to   novels   they   have   read  with   others  who   have   read  

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the   same  book   (Beach, 1993; Iser, 1993; Sumara, 1996). It is this

act of sharing responses that creates opportunities for collective

learning systems to be developed. Within such systems, multiple

readers of the same text have opportunities to represent a diversity of

perspectives within contexts that allow these responses to interact

with one another. It is not surprising that, for many readers, deep

personal insight arises in the conversation about readings of a

common text (Lewis, 2000; Sumara, 2002). (p. 58-59)

 

Sharing of a common text does provide learners with the opportunity to exchange

ideas and insights. For, N and M, diversity becomes more present and vivid in the

classroom when students are encouraged and supported to read a wide variety of text

rather then a common text:

When we are reading a lot of variety, that when, so even if you just talk for 5

minutes about your book, that might, even though we might not have read

your book, the conversation about the ideas in general occurs, whereas if we

are all reading Catcher in the Rye, there are certain things are going to come

from that and that is great to discuss to but if we have 25 different things that

opens 25 different reasons to talk. (Transcript M, ll. 723-728)

Diversity in text selection stems from the belief that students need to have the

opportunity to choose reading materials for personal reasons and that choosing text

55

is a valued and central part of the classroom experience. It is a practice that

educators who value individual choice and freedom believe is central as they support

students connect individual experiences to the world. These educators are faced

with the challenge of supporting multiple texts and reading experiences in the

classroom and see this challenge as an opportunity for discussion and learning that

supports diversity.

Connections

Educators who support multiple texts for classroom reading also provide supports

for their students to make connections to new ideas and ways of being. B notes that

novels that are issue-based offer a beginning place from which conversations can

emerge. He believes that classroom supports need to be extended to include a

greater diversity of voices to aid students as they engage with resources:

Teachers certainly should be providing students with accessible text,

accessible texts that are issues based. It depends on what you, what

concept you are discussing in the classroom. If you have a concept

that you are discussing, this book or these books address this unifying

concept, but these articles, these essays, this, these people can help

you with those kinds of things. So to support the kinds of concepts

you are developing in the classroom through experts and other voices,

voices other than in the novel. (Transcript B, ll. 156-162)

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Educators noted that in some classrooms, the novel and teacher are depicted as

expert. B suggests that educators need to recognize their role as being one part of

the learning experience and that other voices on similar topics and themes need to be

invited into the classroom. The decentralization of the novel and teacher reflects

social justice practices as power is shared to include many voices and experiences.

B explains that when offering multiple texts it is important to support students with a

variety of learning opportunities:

We are hoping that when kids have the opportunity to read these

kinds of resources they are following up with some kind of discussion

around it with other kinds of, with professional groups, with other

voices so that at least they hear more then one side of an issue. So

that they hear several sides of an issue and then they can make up,

kids can make up their own minds about an issue.

(Transcript B, ll. 238-242)

Like B, E believes texts that support discussions of gender and sexuality are not

limited to the novel: “books come in various ways and various forms and so I would

suggest teachers are not limited to that.” (Transcript E, ll. 253-254). E specifically

notes “to include poetry or short stories or songs lyrics or you know, letting other

student explore these issues and develop the respect around those issues.”

(Transcript E, ll. 427-429). To teach in this way is demanding and requires

according to Johnston (2000):

57

an openness to different reading experiences and new literary

traditions. It often requires us to make selections of literature outside

our own reading comfort zone. It means willingness on the part of

the English language arts teachers to move away from teaching only

the canonized texts we ourselves read in school and to see ourselves

as experienced readers introducing unfamiliar texts to our students.

(p. 145)

Educators like B and E welcome a diversity of text for classroom use and do not feel

limited to the novel. Rather, multiple and diverse materials are used as students

examine ideas and perspectives. These educators face the challenge of moving

beyond literature and practices that are familiar and comfortable. Through this

experience, educators are able to share in the risk taking and vulnerability that they

asked of students in the classroom.

Choice

Providing multiple perspectives and choice in reading means that educators

experience resistance from some learners who are unable or unwilling to discuss

their reading choice or are not prepared or able to examine topics that other students

may raise. M notes that students have choice in which text they read in her

classroom and that students’ comfort and readiness is critical:

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I think it is a choice, students have a choice. We wouldn’t say that

anyone has to read anything. It is allowing you to have a variety of

different topics you know and topics that are controversial or topics

that are you know, graphic in nature, I guess in some ways, and you

can certainly choose to do what you like with that book do what you

feel comfortable with. (Transcript M, ll. 551-555)

While providing choice in text selection is central to supporting a diverse classroom,

Cherland (2000) notes that asking students to reconsider their initial response to a

piece of literature offers support and challenge as they develop a broader

understanding of themselves and the world:

English teachers who are aware of these ideas will want to go beyond

their students’ initial responses to the literature they read. They will

want to engage young people in reconsidering and deconstructing

texts, so that multiple meanings for them emerge. Unable to pretend

that there is one right meaning for a text, and that a young reader’s

responses are natural and inevitable, teachers will want to provide

young people with literature that represents and includes a variety of

contemporary cultural discourses, and that will lead them into broader

readings of the world. (p. 106)

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Like M, E practices student choice in text selection and often engages students with

questions regarding why a selection has been made and what ideas and assumptions

that text may raise. When supporting students as they select text for reading

enjoyment, E experiences resistance as some students are not prepared to be

challenged by the issues raised during discussion of the text:

I saw a novel, a series of novels, unfortunately I don’t remember the

series name, but what I do remember is the picture, the illustrations

on the cover, the very highly sexualized images. It was an

independent novel chosen by a grade 12 student and previously

another student had another text from that series. Two different

covers for the same series and highly sexualized picture, ah picture of

ah, women depicted with very little on and focusing on areas like

breasts and legs. And the student is bringing it up to me as an

independent novel and so it is a highly sexualized cover of a woman

considered probably attractive. (Transcript E, ll. 534-541)

In this situation, E is faced with repercussions of supporting students as they make

independent reading selections. E engages them in individual book chats to clarify

why the student has made a selection. She offers students the opportunity to

examine with her the presentation of identity and image:

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So when students bring this into me as a novel to read in class, I turn

it over to read the back, and I ask them how they choose the novel

and if they know the author and what interested them about the novel.

Both of my grade 12 students talked about the series, talked about

having the books recommended, talked about the author. And so

those are all thing I talked to my students about around choosing

novels. (Transcript E, ll. 543-547)

E is interested in how her students engage with the cover image and uses her private

conversation with the students to models how to question this representation of

female sexuality. E invites the students to participate in the questioning with her:

I asked them questions about what they thought of the image on the

front. And the first student said, “What do you mean?” And I said,

“It is sexualized”, and they said, “Yeah the book has a lot of drama”

and the other student, “What do you think of the cover?” And she

smiled again and really didn’t take up the comment.

(Transcript E, ll. 548-553)

While choice in selection of reading materials is important, E acknowledges the

difficulty in supporting choice of text with her students. She acknowledges that

students may or may not be prepared to have discussions regarding their choice of

text. To support students in their choice, E provides safe, private conversations

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where students can consider critical questions regarding their text selection.

Students are invited to engage in questioning of the cover image, for example, and

while they may or may not be ready at that time, the dialogue to examine the

representation has still occurred and can be re-visited by the student.

Whole Class and Small Group

All educators raised questions surrounding the practice of whole class novel and

literature circles. Educators voiced concerns with the limitations of the whole class

novel approach as well as the limits that whole class novel studies present. While

many educators use class novel studies, often literature circles or Socratic circles

were the preferred practice of the educators interviewed. M believes that movement

away from a prescribed novel study towards multiple texts provides a sense of

freedom and empowerment for both student and teacher:

But I would say as we move away, not every school is, but as we

move away from feeling like we have to do 5 novels and everyone

reads the same one I think that is going to allow us to have that

freedom to have a lot of different kinds of text and do the same kind

of skill building and critical analysis. (Transcript M, ll. 146-149)

Many educators echo M’s comments regarding the pressure to conform to the

practice of using whole class novels. Tension occurs for the classroom teacher as

62

they work to expand their curriculum and practice within a school system that has

promoted whole class reading as an expectation and norm. M also notes the

freedom for discussion and examination that smaller group studies provide. Like M,

E supports literature circles as a practice for novel studies and connects this practice

to student voice:

I think literature circles is a good format, it is a middle ground

between having the class novel and having the independent novel. I

think that maybe when you have literature novel and an independent

novel you will have more success with students being able to discuss

and sit in groups together and bring up issues of concern by them and

generated by them and maybe what they want to bring attention to.

(Transcript E, ll. 488-492)

Providing students with the opportunity to encounter small group and independent

reading provides diversity in the experience and supports students as they share with

one another. E further comments that using whole class reading fails to take into

account the diversity of student experience:

Personally, I feel like I haven’t found a short story that deals with

explicit discussions around students identifying as GLBTQ. I haven’t

come across a text or I haven’t used a text with a whole class

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considering that the whole class isn’t in the same area of learning.

(Transcript E, ll. 403-406)

E’s practice of small group reading supports students as they examine their own

experiences and belief systems in relation with the text. For these educators, large

group readings do not provide the same opportunity for engagement that is available

in small group settings. These educators look to provide a safe space for their

students to experience challenge and growth which they feel can be better achieved

in small group structures.

Support, Mentorship and Professional Development

Educators who engage in social justice work need both professional and personal

support to continue to be effective in their practice. Often feeling uncertain and at

times isolated in their experience, educators describe how they cultivate a supportive

and caring professional and personal community that enables them to continue their

work. Support of this nature is challenging to locate but, as some of these educators

explain, it can be found within a school community. Peer support and mentorship

are vital to educators who desire to live and practice in reflective and critical ways.

E questions where to locate support when difficulties related to social justice work

arise in her classroom. She notes the complexity of student learning and reflects on

the pressure she feels regarding conversations that are difficult and challenging:

64

And at times I think some teachers may feel like I have in the past,

that you are not sure where you go with that. Like do you take those

issues to your vice principal? Some of them yes I do. Do you take

the emotional experience to a guidance counselor in a school to help

talk and build strategies on how to build these experiences and how to

acknowledge what is happening and how to, how to led the students

in gaining more experiences and more opportunity to improve? Or

like some teachers may feel, do you shut it all down?

(Transcript E, ll. 137-143)

E’s struggle to identify where to locate support is a common experience for

educators who engage in social justice work. She describes her experience when

support for her classroom practice is needed:

I think it depends on the, the relationship you have with the guidance

counselor. If it is a guidance counselor that you have previous

relationships with and it’s professional, the guidance counselor may

take you up very seriously and engage you. Sometimes, the guidance

counselor is very busy and has appointments and so the window of

opportunity is small or limited and they might not have that moment

when you are available to explore what you want. I think sometimes

they can write your name down and come back to you but you think

and feel you need the support more immediately and maybe

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sometimes you don’t. But I personally felt that in the past that I want

to talk about this now or I don’t want to leave the day without

debriefing this with someone. (Transcript E, ll. 150-159)

The realities of a busy high school often result in disconnection between staff. E

recognizes the pressure placed on her colleagues and feels that she must balance this

pressure with her own needs and those of her students. The practice of debriefing

for classroom teachers can be helpful in working through difficult situations and

challenges. Mentorship provides educators the opportunity to work with a more

seasoned or experienced individual. Similar to the immediacy that E noted, C

believes that for mentorship to be effective “it has to be happening right in the

moment, embedded in the moment in the culture of the school” (Transcript C, ll.

456). Daily workload expectations mean that educators have little time or

opportunity to reflect on classroom experiences independently or with a supportive

colleague. As she seeks support in her department, E describes how educators have

opportunity to gain insight into their own practice regarding social justice:

When one of the other grade 12 teachers was using The Color Purple,

she wanted to know how the department head dealt with issues of

sexuality in the novel. The department head said she does let

students know there are issues of a sexual nature in it and if the

students aren’t comfortable with it then it’s a choice. And so this

grade 12 teacher did that and said that in her class and a student spoke

66

up and said, “Well, what are the issues we could have around it?’

(Transcript E, ll. 493-499)

Sharing with colleagues provides educators the opportunity to examine their own

assumptions and beliefs. In this case, the educator assumed students might have a

particular response to the text. Through discussions with colleagues, these educators

begin to realize their own assumptions regarding learners and sexuality in text. For

educators to reflect with one another on strategies and best practices, issues of time

and opportunity must be addressed. M explains:

What will really change practice is collaboration and talking together

and coaching and having a coach be a part of the process to really

make change. So one of the things we need to really start to focus on

for wider scale pd [professional development] is that ability to build

in conversation and teaming when you go back [to your own school].

(Transcript M, ll. 79-82)

According to the educators interviewed, large-scale professional development does

not often provide time for reflection or meaningful conversation. Educators are left

with the responsibility to apply new theory and to consider the implications for their

practice in isolation. M continues:

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We can all watch or even participate to some degree in pd sessions,

but very few people even though they have good intentions, actually

go back and make large school changes to their practice. So that is

almost disheartening in a way. But at the same time we need to start

putting in the ability for those people to make it easier for them to go

back and have those conversations that they might normally not have

or sort of push forward a little bit to the people who might not have

them naturally. (Transcript M, ll. 82-88)

B describes the professional development that is provided to classroom teachers who

receive the Literacy Success resources as a beginning point from which educators

can create new links and resources for use in the classroom. While support is

offered during the professional development session, time constrains may limit

educators in their search for connectedness. On a daily basis, educators need

opportunity and support to integrate new learning and practices into the culture of

their school and classroom. B notes:

In our pd we include a discussion of the kinds of resources we are

providing to the schools so that teachers know what is within. So that

they can prepare to decide how to deal with it when they get it in the

classroom and if there are links to make links to someone who is

authority or an expert we will certainly make that connection. And

through the Internet and through other means of communications and

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media, teachers know there are all kinds of supports available.

(Transcript B, ll. 226-231)

For the educators interviewed, holding discussions on texts and materials is a first

step to the professional and personal support required. E’s practice of network

building with supportive colleagues provides professional and personal support as

she explores issues of gender and sexuality in her English classroom. M believes

more time for reflection and exploration to apply new practice is needed for

educators. To support teachers like E and M, B offers links to secondary resources

and encourages and challenges educators or explore and expand on their use of

materials.

Race Relations, Cross Cultural Understanding & Human Rights Policy

As educators discussed their experiences many commented that more support in the

area of professional development is needed. In my own experience as a classroom

teacher and guidance counselor, N has provided me with professional development

in the area of race, culture and human rights (RCH). In her efforts to support

educators who value race, culture and human rights work in schools, N offers

professional support that educators may use in their classroom as well as a number

of professional resources and guides. N describes her work in the last two years:

69

Each year what I tried to do is have a theme. So, my first year it was

on African Heritage ‘cause that is what people wanted. Last year it

was on sexual orientation and we had, I had speakers in and people to

talk about, you know, incorporating it into the curriculum.

(Transcript N, ll. 28-30)

N explains that while professional development is offered to educators, more

education and opportunity to understand the RCH policy and meaningful

connections to curriculum documents is needed:

I have met with all principals in the board to talk about, that their

teacher and staff should be incorporating this from P-12 in everything

that they do and that is really just starting. But I think people are

making it more high profile. We have always had an RCH policy for

about 14 years, so it is really about building on the expectations, so it

is an expectation for the outcomes. But also within our board, so

teachers should be doing more, but we have to provide more training

for them to really, to be, be comfortable and also to have knowledge.

(Transcript N, ll. 36-42)

Building of expectations and skills to connect RCH policy with curriculum practices

is occurring for some educators. As stated by the classroom teachers earlier, N

points to the need for more training and opportunity for critical reflection. Without

70

further training and awareness, a lack of integrated, reflective and meaningful

dialogue will occur surrounding the complex issues of diversity. N further notes that

the RCH policy offers a sense of credibility when resistance occurs:

There may be some resistance, and also we have schools where

administration may not be [supportive] as well and that is why

sometimes I receive calls and have to go back over the policy which

is really our framework. Sometimes it is community or parents or

guardians that do not have those beliefs and wonder why and ask

questions “why are you doing that?” And again the credibility that

they [educators] do have again is to go back to the document of the

RCH policy within the board and also the Racial and Equity policy

from the DOE, which is in the outcomes, and we do have to teach to

the outcomes and diversity is there on every level.

(Transcript N, ll. 198-205)

By developing greater awareness of the RCH document, N believes that educators

will gain strength in their practice and ability to appropriately and confidently

respond to those who are resistant to social justice work. N further explains that

educators face many new initiatives that put extra pressure and demands for their

attention:

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There are a lot of demands now put on. We have assessment, we

have a lot of other issues you know, safe schools, we have so many

things that you know, impact on the schools day to day that now this

(RCH) is coming to the forefront of, you know, we have to look at

what we are doing. (Transcript N, ll. 364-368)

N acknowledges that educators experience many demands regarding RCH policy

and practice. As she works to support educators in the area of RCH, she reflects on

her efforts to connect this policy to curriculum and draw these areas of interest

together:

Working with program facilitators has been a real asset. I’m no

longer working in isolation in the sense of working and that was just

so wonderful especially when we did the workshop because there was

literacy, a math facilitator and literacy coordinator, that did it with me

and we did it for that reason to show what we are all in this together

that we are program. What happens sometimes when your dealing

with social justice or RCH or whatever, it’s all about me, but it’s not

all about me, I can’t do it on my own, they see it, “Oh that’s N over

here and that’s literacy over there”, but we have to bring it together.

(Transcript N, ll. 549-556)

72

Unifying social justice together with curriculum policy mirrors the classroom

teachers who bring together social justice with literacy development. C notes the

difficulty for educators to connect RCH to curriculum professional development:

It’s fragmented in that we are trying to, we’re trying to create those

inferences for teachers, but it’s how to do it so that it’s embedded in

other things. What do I mean by that? Ok, right now for instance

literacy is the big pull at the senior high level, we also want to know

that we are dealing with issues of diversity but you can’t have pd

dealing with issues of diversity and the literary piece over here it’s

just to overwhelming for teachers, so how do you bring the two

together? (Transcript N, ll. 338-344)

C further describes the fragmentation between RCH and curriculum policies:

It’s at that place right now, that very beginning level right now and of

course, we have done a lot around our policies, our anti-racism

policies and our harassment policies and human rights policy. It’s a

discussion around there but it is not really linked to subject matter.

It’s a sensitization, culturally competent I guess is the new term for it

but it doesn’t really come together as a whole yet.

(Transcript C, ll. 370-374)

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The fragmentation that both N and C note occurs as educators attempt to remove

social justice from curriculum. According to many of the classroom teachers,

making real connections and drawing on students lived experiences means a fusing

of social justice and curriculum.

Educators who were interviewed demonstrate a deep commitment to student growth

and development. They are dedicated to the belief that each student is the key figure

in their learning experience and work diligently to foster learning spaces that

promote respect, care and critical reflection. Educators who value social justice

beliefs incorporate a wide variety of practices including multicultural and historical

awareness. Intentional practices and methods support students with clear and direct

messages regarding equity and diversity. As they explore learning, youth voice is

central and powerful in the classroom. As such, risk exists in the learning

environment for those who choose to engage in challenging and often difficult

conversations. For many educators interviewed, professional support from

administration as they engaged in social justice work is limited or absent. Educators

must ask why tension exits when seeking support from administration. How are

educators able to engage in challenging oppressive educational practices when in

some cases, those in leadership positions do not offer support or direction? As they

create meaningful learning experiences, educators tie literacy and social justice

issues together. In connecting literacy to social justice, educators and learners can

examine issues in a context that has value in a personal and significant way. When

literacy is separated from the larger social, historical and political context, students

are challenged to connect learning to their own lives. Members of the learning

74

community seek wider collections of reading choices and work in a collaborative

style to share materials, ideas and encourage one another. In doing so, all members

of the learning community are valued contributors of knowledge demonstrating a

respectful team approach to classroom practice. Diversity in the style of text as well

as the study method is common in these classrooms. By exploring multiple texts in

a variety of methods, learners have the opportunity to share different strengths, to be

exposed to varied educational practices and outcomes and be challenged by others in

the learning community. The learning environment is rich with dynamic discussions

and contains diverse materials to explore and challenging critical reflection in which

to engage. Respect for each member of the learning community is the goal and

members work towards creating safe spaces in which to share.

To support educators and learners as they create equitable learning spaces schools

must provide greater support and direction both within the English language arts

department as well as from school administration. Developing a culture of care and

well being is central to social justice work. This culture must take account of all

members of the learning community including students, educators, administration,

support, custodial staff as well as guardians, parents and community members.

Issues of social justice must be present for all members of the school community.

By sharing the learning environment, schools can develop greater respect and

awareness of difference for all members. For schools to succeed in creating safe and

inclusive learning environments, greater support is needed for individuals who

engage in critical literacy and practice. Schools need to develop opportunities for

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community learning so that families and individuals can participate and be

represented. Administration needs to take greater leadership in creating learning

opportunities for professional development that connects subject and social justice

issues in order for schools to become caring supportive environments for all

members.

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CHAPTER THREE: THE TEXT

Chapter three explores the text: searching for the text; annotated notes; ordering text

from the Authorized Resource List; traditions of the bookroom; protection; and,

Literacy Success.

The Text

For many English language arts educators, the text is central in supporting students’

exploration of self and diversity. Discussions on appropriate materials highlight the

complexity many educators feel as they seek to develop best practices, respond

sensitively and thoughtfully to student needs within the expectations of their

curriculum guides and school-based department direction. Educators discussed

uncertainty and frustration as they work to provide students with meaningful text.

At the same time, educators also noted that the Authorized Resource List (ARL)

offers a sense of comfort as an established collection available to support the

curriculum. Searching for materials on the ARL often presents challenges to

educators who note that access is limited by the search functions of the ARL

database. Some of the annotated notes that the Department of Education provides

reveal assumptions and beliefs that have the potential to influence text selection. For

example, while the exploration of masculinities is a theme in Lord of the Flies

(Golding) the annotation does not indicate this in the notes. In the notes for The

Sledding Hill (Crutcher) information on themes that are absent are provided;

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profanity, sexual acts, violence, drugs or alcohol use. Ordering of materials from the

ARL presents its own set of challenges for educators. The removal or censorship of

some Literacy Success texts by educators’ impacts learners as the integrity and

diversity of material is compromised by the removal of materials deemed too

controversial. The removal of texts by administration creates disconnection and

isolation as some educators feel they are not able to question authority. Educators

shared their experiences of the bookroom and the practice of selecting both approved

and non-approved materials for their classroom use. Lastly, the impact of the

Literacy Success collection on classroom libraries is examined.

Searching for Text

Access and acquisition of appropriate materials are essential to ensure the integrity

of curriculum and of meaningful student exploration. Much time and attention is

given to collecting materials as educators prepare lessons and programs that meet the

academic, personal and social needs of the classroom community. For English

teachers, the Approved Resource List (ARL) is an integral collection from which

texts are ordered. The importance of the ARL is illustrated in the abundance of

approved texts from this list in English department bookrooms of those interviewed.

The ARL texts have undergone the bias evaluation procedure and are purchased with

funds allocated to English departments annually. Nevertheless, despite the central

role that the ARL plays, accessibility of the ARL is a challenge many educators

noted. Search functions and the organization of the ARL system limits the

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identification of text and presents a barrier for educators as they attempt to locate

resources for their classrooms. Schrader and Wells (2005) note access challenges

for libraries:

[A]ppropriate subject access and index terminology are also

important accessibility factors. Clyde and Lobban (2001, 27) noted

that library catalogues often fail to assign a subject heading such as

"Homosexuality—Fiction". When this omission occurs titles of

interest to LGBTQ students remain invisible on the shelf -–and in the

closet. (p. 8)

As she describes her experience with the search engine for the ARL, M

acknowledges that some texts will be overlooked due to inadequate subject

terminology:

I guess that I would probably miss many good books and I would

probably miss the opportunity to bring those into my classroom and

maybe even struggle to find that myself because I don’t feel like it is

a very easy task. (Transcript M, ll. 284-287)

M’s struggle and frustration to find appropriate text, coupled with the realization that

choices are limited due to a decision to omit appropriate subject headings, is

common among those interviewed. M also discussed concerns with the terminology

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of the catalogued titles of the ARL. B responded that he was aware that educators

find searching the ARL catalogue tedious but that identifying the text with specific

heading is not possible at this time. I asked B if ARL texts are categorized to ensure

appropriate and accurate search results, he responded:

No we don’t categorize them.

Why?

Well because there is just so much out there, we are looking at the

whole audience and we are tying to create an eclectic collection.

(Transcript B, ll. 274-276)

The ramification of making an eclectic collection is that some subjects are rendered

invisible. As educators are unable to locate subject specific items from the ARL

catalogue, students do not receive the diversity of resources that are available to

them. The current organization of the ARL collection means that a search for text

with specific content is a challenge to conduct and the result is often inappropriate

and limited. B describes what educators may experience as they search the ARL for

texts specific to the themes of gender and sexuality:

Well, we know the content of the resources, we know that these

particular resources deal with young people who are homeless, and

these particular resources deal with issues of sexual orientation, these

resources deal with, others who are teens. Ah, if you go to the ARL

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and put in a key word like sexuality you should get a listing of the

resources that deal with some aspect, you would have to discern

which of the ones would be appropriate for your reading or for your

students reading, you know. If it is a book that deals with suicide,

somewhere in the annotation the word suicide should appear. And so

when you put that word in, the books that deal with suicide should

pop up, gender issues etc. (Transcript B, ll. 278-288)

In their review of Canadian Libraries, Schrader and Wells (2005) note that:

[I]n many cases the LGBTQ content "was being disguised in subject

headings such as prejudice, identity, interpersonal relations,

friendship, female friendship, and best friends–fiction" (137).

However, even when LGBTQ content was accurately identified, the

subject terms were inconsistently applied, for example, sometimes

"gay men" was used, sometimes "bisexuality" and sometimes

"homosexuality" (137-138).

(p. 20)

Annotated notes, as seen in the Literacy Success materials, require accurate and

consistent descriptors to improve search results. B explains:

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It’s somewhat antiquated it does sometimes work. You have to be

right on with your selection that is one of the things that I’m working

on right now is to make more sense to the kind of descriptors that are

out there so that when teachers are looking for resources, I don’t

know, conflict a student is having because of drugs or something, you

can put something like that into the system and it will give you the

books on kids and drugs where the topic is kids and drugs. We are

trying to do that right now because we know it is not very, it is very

insensitive. (Transcript B, ll. 290-297)

For many educators, locating text from the ARL that can support classroom

discussion on topics that are relevant and meaningful to learners is a challenge. B is

faced with the challenge of providing meaningful text within the confines of an

insensitive search system. Many educators note that they are often unable to

navigate the system to obtain these materials. B is aware that educators experience

challenges as they search for meaningful and relevant text:

It doesn’t give you what you look for all the time, I have a different

system and when I put the words in they usually pop up. Teachers, I

know are having a hard time finding resources in that way. You need

to know the title of a particular resource you are looking for. If you

know the specifics of the resource then you can check it out. Other

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then that we are working on it and that should be happening pretty

soon. It is under review. (Transcript B, ll. 298-307)

As many educators search for materials in a thematic approach, subject search for

thematic materials would be most appropriate and effective. The limitations of the

search function for the ARL impacts educators as they endeavor to locate materials

that reflect the interest and learning needs of their students. In her practice as

classroom teacher, department head and literacy coach, M shares her experience of

trying to provide materials such as a picture book to a senior high classroom:

You know what, I was just looking at picture books the other day on

the list and I guess there is, well you have the list, and when you open

that up, and I think there is an annotation for each book, I guess what

that would it mean through is, your clicking on each text you don’t

know, there is no search mechanism for it. (Transcript M, ll. 233-236)

Annotations provide basic information on a text as authored and edited by

Department of Education staff. As M explains, considerable time is required to

review each annotation to be considered for class inclusion:

So I think that that is problematic, the list is problematic. Even when

I put a search for picture books I only end up with a few I know there

is way more of them. I emailed B and said, “Is there any way I can

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search for them?” because he is a real advocate for picture books and

he said, “No.” Ha, ha, ha, ha. (Transcript M, ll. 266-269)

M further explains the inconsistencies of using a keyword search to locate text:

You can search only if that word is in the annotation of the blurb, and

sometime it is and sometime is isn’t. So for example we have some

money to spend and I really wanted some picture books in senior high

but some picture books can go from, you know, grade P-12 and are

wonderful and some just don’t work and again you physically need to

see the book. It is not even enough to see the blurb because some of

the blurbs on picture books for example are focused you know on

serious subjects, you know racism or historical periods and you think

it would be good for senior high but when you look at the book is too

young for, to be taken seriously by high school students so that

doesn’t even help me in this case. (Transcript M, ll. 238-246)

The current search engine provided to locate materials on the ARL presents barriers

to educators as they search for appropriate and meaningful text to use with learners.

While presently developing a system that is more user friendly, the current system

retrieves titles with inaccurate and inconsistent results. Educators who face time

constrains must navigate a system that is archaic and insensitive. Furthermore, the

annotations offered on the ARL often do not provide sufficient or reliable

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information for educators searching for materials that would support the needs of the

student community. As such, purchase of new materials presents a barrier for

English teachers who are taxed for time and reluctant to commit the limited financial

resources to items that cannot be confirmed on topic or subject that would require

further investigation.

Annotated Notes

Annotated notes (appendix 5, 6, 7 & 8) on the ARL are intended to provide an

overview of curriculum materials available. Annotations are authored by the

Department of Education and are intended to aid educators locate materials for

classroom use. To better understand annotated notes, four examples are listed below

from Lord of the Flies (Golding), Bad Boy (Wieler), The Sledding Hill (Crutcher)

and Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare). Lord of the Flies (Golding) and Romeo and

Juliet (Shakespeare) have been selected as they were noted among classroom

teachers as texts that have a long history in English classrooms and have the

potential to support discussions of gender and sexuality in the classroom. Bad Boy

(Wieler) was selected for the detailed annotated notes that are provided. The

Sledding Hill (Crutcher) was selected for the language used in the annotation. The

full appendix has been condensed below to demonstrate the annotated notes for each

text:

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Lord of the Flies

Publishing Date Not Provided, Listed on ARL 1975

Annotated Notes: None Entered

Romeo and Juliet

Published 2009, Listed on ARL 2008

Annotated Notes: Oxford School Shakespeare is the well-established series that

helps students to understand and enjoy Shakespeare's plays. Each text is complete

and unabridged with corresponding notes alongside the text for easy reference, a plot

summary at the beginning of each scene, and detailed notes on the characters.

Each play is supported by a range of class work activities and examination practice,

as well as background information on Elizabethan England. "Romeo and Juliet"

remains one of the most accessible and popular of Shakespeare’s plays for secondary

students the world over. Weaving actual lines from Shakespeare's play into a

narrative text, this version serves as a wonderful introduction to this timeless tale.

Bad Boy

Published 1989, Listed on ARL 2003

Annotated Notes: Hockey is the only game worth playing in the rough-and-tumble

prairie town of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. When 16-year-old A.J. Brandiosa makes

the Triple A team of his dreams, he can hardly believe that his life is finally coming

together. Then he learns a dark secret of his best friend and teammate. "Bad Boy"

deals with the tentative nature of teenage sexual identity, and the perceived threat

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that homosexuality poses to a culture dominated by a masculine social image. The

mature theme of this book may offend some readers; however, its narrative strength,

and the sensitive way the topic is handled identifies "Bad Boy" as an important

resource to add to the classroom collection.

The Sledding Hill

Published 2005, Date Listed on ARL Not Provided

Annotated Notes: "The Sledding Hill" is a novel with a highly entertaining plot. It

has no profanity, sexual acts, violence, drug or alcohol use. It takes direct aim at

censorship. This story of Eddie and Billy— who is, in fact, dead—allows the reader

to consider the issue of intellectual freedom.

The annotations are intended to offer information to educators as they search and

select text from the ARL. Lord of the Flies (Golding) and Romeo and Juliet

(Shakespeare) are texts that educators discussed at length during the interviews.

Both texts present themes that explore and question social expectations and

representations of gender and sexuality. Considered to be a traditional class study

by many educators, these texts examine sexual identity and cultural expectations as

well as issues of violence, power and masculinities. Despite their graphic and

explicit content, annotations for these texts do not state their thematic content as

seen in the annotations for The Sledding Hill (Crutcher) or Bad Boy (Wieler). The

annotations for Bad Boy (Wieler) and Sledding Hill (Crutcher) present a warning or

cautionary note; Bad Boy (Wieler) provides information on content that is included

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in the text and a warning for maturity, The Sledding Hill (Crutcher) provides

information on themes that are absent from the text suggesting that content of

profanity, sexual acts, violence, drug or alcohol use may be of greater concern than

themes that actually occur in the text. During the interviews, educators reflected on

why texts like Lord of the Flies (Golding) and Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare),

which contain profanity, sexuality, violence and drug/alcohol use, are felt to be less

threatening compared to texts like Bad Boy (Wieler) and The Sledding Hill

(Crutcher). In their examination of school based and public libraries Schrader and

Wells (2005) found that:

[W]hile many of the selected titles were reviewed and most of them

were commented on favorably, there was still considerable reviewer

ambivalence noted. For example, "cautions and warnings" were often

included in reviewer’s descriptions, in some cases the books were

cast as "problem" novels, or they were simply described as a means

to an important life lesson. Based on the study’s findings, Rothbauer

and McKechnie concluded, “A tension seems to exist between the

desire to provide access to gay and lesbian fiction and to serve gay

and lesbian teens and other young adults who might be interested in

this topic, and the difficulties potentially associated with providing

material that might be regarded as sensitive or inappropriate by others

in the community” (14). Based on these findings the researchers state

that clear, concise, and unbiased book reviews play a significant and

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determining role in responsible collection development by school and

public librarians. (p. 18-19)

The annotations provided for text on the Literacy Success list offer a warning or

cautionary note. To understand how such warnings and cautions are developed, I

asked B to explain the process of text selection and the decision making for

warnings:

Any of the student resources that go into the schools have to have

been read by at least 5 teachers, they are not going to read cover to

cover. In most cases someone will do a deep reading and talk to

people around the table about it and they will look at pieces of it and

discuss some of those kinds of things. So, at least 5 teachers have

had the opportunity to scan a resource to look at the resource. And of

course, if there are words in there, the f word is in there, that’s kind of

a red flag to say ok, we are going to have to put a language warning

because perhaps if it deals with depression and suicide we would

have to put a warning or a cautionary note to just say, you know, for a

mature student. It’s because the teachers know that there is a content

of that the novel could be offensive to somebody or somebody might

be sensitive to a part or issues. (Transcript B, ll. 100-110)

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Along with language warnings, content that is deemed graphic in nature or

emotionally challenging for some readers is noted and a caution is added. E

comments:

You and I have talked about warning for books, and I wonder if the

warnings, like, who are the warnings for? This is a sensitive piece of

material but I think that the warning is there because maybe if you

know of a student who is having difficulty encountering literature that

is presented in the class because it clashes with their culture it can be

very upsetting for them and it can be very difficult and very

emotional. (Transcript E, ll. 412-417)

According to some of the teachers’ interviewed, the annotated notes are intended to

assist educators as they select texts to support students. For educators who are

interested in providing texts that deal with issues regarding gender and sexuality, the

annotated notes offer the opportunity to locate specific texts to meet these needs.

The warning notes can also provide assistance to classroom teachers as they make

reading suggestions for their students. For those who are hesitant or resistant to a

text, B explains that the annotations are provided to support educators and students

as they make informed decisions regarding reading materials:

If there’s something in the book that maybe, I don’t want to say,

offensive, but is issue based, then we will add a note suggesting the

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content of the resource requires a mature reader that there would be

language ah, issues, that students would have to be able to cope with

that. Just some kind of message to let teachers know, that the books

have not, are not sanitized. (Transcript B, ll. 92-96)

For E and B, annotations offer support to educators who sensitively practice text

selection for students who may not be ready to encounter materials that conflict with

their personal or cultural beliefs. While annotations can offer support to teachers

and students to make informed decisions, the annotations and cautionary notes have

also developed as a response by educators who are resistant to the themes and topics

presented in the text. B explains:

We have done that (annotated text notes) because of the backlash,

because of the kind of things that come back that teachers say and

principals say, “We didn’t know that these books were the kind of

books that you were recommending for classroom reading”.

(Transcript B, ll. 82-84)

Some educators are resistant to materials that seek to address issues of gender and

sexuality, drug and sexual abuse as well as self-harm and suicide. The exact texts

that have been removed from classroom libraries are unknown as no data has been

made available on this topic. While B and the educators interviewed were aware

that some materials had been removed from the Literacy Success collection prior to

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being given to a classroom teacher, there has been no formal investigation on which

titles were removed or why. Whelan (2009) examines school library censorship and

refers to the removal of text in collections as self-censorship:

But when it comes to self-censorship, it’s almost impossible to

quantify because no one is monitoring it or collecting stats, and

there’s no open discussion on the subject. We most often hear about

it through anecdotes or if someone is willing to fess up. “In a way,

self-censorship is more frightening than outright banning and removal

of challenged material,” says author and former librarian Susan

Patron, because these incidents tend to “slip under the radar”. (p. 27)

Many questioned why such resistance was prevalent in schools. Grace and Wells

(2001) ask:

Why are we [educators] so fearful? There are some common elements

to our fears that include: 1. Lack of knowledge about GLBT people

and same-gender families; 2. Worries that discussing GLBT

relationships means talking about "gay sex" at school; 3. Fear of

parent reactions; 4. Worries about administrative concern and lack of

support; 5. Religious and/or moral objections of parents and the

community at large. (p. 2)

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M questions why some educators resist particular texts and suggests that instead of

removing particular text, conversations and guidance around text choice should be

practiced and modeled:

But I guess again, it surprised me to hear from B and other people,

that they got these calls from principals or teachers saying, “I can’t

believe you sent this book out.” And their answer is always I think

it’s a choice. Students have a choice. We wouldn’t say that anyone

has to read anything. It’s allowing you to have a variety of different

topics you know and topics that are controversial or topics that are,

you know, ah graphic in nature I guess in some ways and you can

certainly choose to do what you like with that book, do what you feel

comfortable with. But I know that some of those books have, out of

those collections, have just been taken out entirely and that I guess it

surprises me I guess because I think it is one thing to say “I am not

going to teach that to my whole class” you know “I’m not

comfortable with the n word on the page or the f word.” “I’m not

going to.” You know, I totally agree. But I don’t know I would say I

wouldn’t put that book up on the shelf so that another student can

take it, if I know that book, then I could sort of counsel them to you

know, “Oh I see that you are looking to read this” and have a

conversation about you know, “I just want to let you know that…”

and try to set up some kind of teaching that seems appropriate around

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the setting or what they are going to run into so that the student can

then make that choice whether they want to read it or not.

(Transcript M, ll. 548-564)

In the same way that annotated notes provide some guidance to educators as they

select texts from the ARL, educators like M offer students conversation and council

as they select text for personal or classroom reading. Her belief in student choice

and individual freedom in text selection promotes a classroom environment where

students are empowered to select reading materials that are significant and

meaningful to them.

Annotated notes offer support to educators as they help students to make informed

decisions regarding their reading selections. Annotated notes also allow some

educators to limit and cull the collection prior to entering a classroom. B explains

that the annotations are provided to support educators in the classroom as they

prepare appropriate topics and themes. At the same time, censorship is practiced as

educators can remove materials they choose from the collection. Boyd & Bailey

(2009) state that:

Censorship occurs when published or shared works like books, films,

or art work, are kept from public access by restriction or removal

from libraries, museums, or other public venues. Though challenges

or outright censorship in our school libraries or classrooms often

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transpire out of the noblest of reasons- most often with the idea of

protecting young people from something that someone finds

offensive – the ALA sees attempts to censorship, nonetheless, as

attempts to restrict someone’s “right to read, view, listen to, and

disseminate constitutionally protected ideas” (ALA, 2007, Who

Attempts Censorship? section). We find such censorship of reading

or viewing of materials in middle and high school classrooms

disturbing and unjust to the rights of both students and teachers. (p.

653)

Ordering Text from the ARL

Searching the ARL presents challenges and questions for educators who attempt to

bring diverse materials into their classrooms. Educators describe obtaining

resources using two key methods; (1) ordering text from the ARL; and (2) receiving

text from the Department of Education Literacy Success. Literacy Success texts are

sent in large collections to schools and are to be distributed to teachers for classroom

libraries. Many educators claim that selected texts from the Literacy Success

collections were removed prior to classroom placement. According to the teachers,

the removal of these texts occurred after review by administration, department heads

and classroom teachers. Other classroom teachers shared that the Literacy Success

collections were being held in a central location and teachers were asked to sign out

parts of the collection for small group readings such as literature circles. Such

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controlled handling of the Literacy Success collection could be considered a

response by schools to require approval prior to use. Controlled handling by

administration also results in placing limitations on collecting resources by other

methods, primarily from the book bureau order.

As educators discussed collecting resources, they often described the difficulties and

frustrations they experience as they endeavor to order and purchase new texts.

Classroom teachers shared a wide variety of experiences in text acquisition,

including whole department discussions and decision making, while others described

individual lists submitted to a department head for review. Each educator’s

experience is unique and varied depending on the style and degree of administrative

management and involvement. Some educators describe a sense that they were not

partners in the process of text selection and purchase. Other educators described a

collaborative practice of text collection. E describes her experience in the process of

ordering books:

Ah, my experience with books and the ARL is that a percentage of

the money is set aside or allocated in the funds for ARL books and

those books are selected in our school with teacher input around what

is required in our school. However, often times the money is very

limited so it maybe what books are short of that we need to buy more

to make a set. Sometimes it’s we have an extra 100 dollars, what 4 or

5 books would you like to buy with that? So teachers feel very

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limited with the amount and the types they are able to ask for.

(Transcript E, ll. 229-235)

E shares the difficulties experienced by teachers who attempt to offer a broader and

more diverse text selection to their students. She notes that while her suggestions

may be welcomed, the final decision to order class sets despite the desire to offer

smaller text studies is shaped in part by financial limitations and administrative

control. Educators feel pressure to replace and refresh whole class sets as a response

to the limits set by copyright legislation. E continues:

We spent our money on new copies of Lord of the Flies to replace old

ones because of lack of class sets. Some new books around essays

were brought in because our essay book was considered an older

book and there was only one class set and we have 5 grade 12 classes

so it is not enough, so there’s a lot to photocopy.

(Transcript E, ll. 237-240)

Educators are dependent on limited financial resources to provide materials for

students. For some, materials are collected with the purpose of supporting whole

class studies and as noted previously to complete a class set:

Often times, teachers are directed towards what resources are

available that are from ARL. And the list that would vary from

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school to school depending on your budget and what you bought.

And so when your buying often times it’s around necessity of

finishing a class or creating a collecting, cleaning up a collection,

like, having a collection that you can bring into a class and to

eliminate photocopying. And so it’s not really the conversations

around what subject or ideas that are being covered rather, do we

have books to cover essay? Do we have short stories? Do we have

good poetry books? And so ah, I would say the conversation around

the ARL is what do we have and what can we afford? And so where

it isn’t a large budget the experience of buying books is limited itself,

it’s limiting. (Transcript E, ll. 357-366)

Educators are challenged to balance the demands of department and learner needs

between ordering materials for small group study and materials that meet the

restrictions of a department photocopy budget. M explains the financial support

offered by the 5% allocation does provide some opportunity to order books that are

not on the ARL but adds that the time constrains and responsibility of completing

the Bias Evaluation Instrument may deter some teachers from ordering these books:

The issue is often if I want a book that is not on there, that 5%

allocation to me has never seen to me all that advantageous, so it is

not a very great deal of money. It is more of a pain around ordering

them and doing the bias and you know things that, people think of, is

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it worth it? You’d have to be pretty passionate about getting that text.

(Transcript M, ll. 140-144)

Fear of challenge may keep educators from purchasing materials that are not on the

ARL or offered in the Literacy Success collections. Boyd & Bailey (2009) note that:

[M]ore experienced teachers are apt to teach in ways that allow them

to “avoid a hassle” and less experienced teachers are very likely to

make “safe” choices, especially in their selection of literature- even

when they know that such decisions and choices make them less than

the excellent teachers they desire to be. (p. 659)

For the classroom teachers interviewed, ordering text listed on the ARL presents

many frustrations and challenges. While some educators are included in discussions

regarding text collection, others feel excluded from the decision making process and

believe they have little input in the selection of texts. While the ARL offers

materials that can be used by classroom teachers, the funding that is provided to

purchase additional resources is minimal. Often used to replenish texts that have a

long history in the classroom, the funds, according to some educators, are used for

whole class studies of more traditional text as demonstrated in E’s example of Lord

of the Flies (Golding) or essay anthologies.

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Traditions of the Bookroom

Bookroom traditions refer to texts that, according to one educator, seem to have

always been in the shelves of the English department bookroom and hold a place of

high regard as an essential corner stone in English language arts curriculum.

Tradition also refers to the practice of whole class novel studies and the expectation

to cover specific titles and a particular number of novels in a semester. During our

discussions, classroom teachers share how these traditions shape their practice.

Often questioning the expectations imposed on them, many educators feel confined

by traditions while acknowledging the power that they seem to hold. CA, a past

classroom teacher and high school librarian, shares her perspective as she sees

classroom teachers select traditional text:

Because in schools there might be 20 copies or 40 copies of Lord of

the Flies in the bookroom and the teacher goes and that is what is

there for the teacher to use so that teacher uses the same text. Or, the

teacher has been teaching Lord of the Flies (Golding) for the last 20

years and doesn’t want to change his curriculum because that’s what

he’s been teaching. (Transcript CA, ll. 136-139)

In this case, CA believes that the whole class novel study of Lord of the Flies

(Golding) primarily occurs because it is a readily available text and because it is well

known to the teacher.

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In response to this practice, Appleman (2007) challenges the use of text in the

English classroom simply because they are considered traditional:

Sometimes students don’t love what we have loved, and that has to be

ok with us. The Catcher in the Rye (Salinger), A Separate Peace

(Knowles), The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne), even that nearly sacred

text of the high school literature canon, To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee),

won’t always engage, inspire, captivate or even be tolerated by

today’s students. And so in the interest of keeping our classroom a

viable space for student engagement, we have to consider whether

some of our literary chestnuts may be too anachronistic, or precious,

or irrelevant to offer to adolescents in the twenty-first century.

(p. 146)

While not advocating for a removal of traditional texts simply because they are

traditional, CA suggests that schools need to reevaluate the current selection and use

of text and find relevant, meaningful materials and resources that reflect students

lived experiences:

I really think we need to look serious, to seriously look at what can be

added to that book list and then to make sure we start to see them

provided to the schools. Ah, and you know back off, off some of

these, some of these, not the modern classics, they are still doable,

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there is still a place for them ah, but I do think we are missing a

whole raft of books that have been published in the last 20 years, we

are just not using them. (Transcript CA, ll. 139-144)

CA points to the tradition of using text like Lord of the Flies (Golding) as one that

seems to offer comfort and control for some educators. She challenges this practice

and notes that while still having a place in the English language arts classroom,

literature that is current and reflect the needs and experiences of students should not

be ignored. Lord of the Flies (Golding) presents a challenge for many educators.

While themes of power, violence and identity are available for examination, some

educator’s question why this book is valued above other available texts. Like CA,

M reflects that choosing text based on availability is problematic to those who aim to

connect students to readings that are more suitable and relevant to their academic

and personal learning needs:

That hinders you. So sometimes you end up doing things you don’t

love or you don’t think, or may not be suitable for this group of kids

but there are 60 of them sitting there. (Transcript M, ll. 152-154)

Choosing text simply on the basis of availability means the academic and individual

needs of students becomes a secondary consideration. For educators who are

interested in issues of social justice and supporting students as they examine issues

of gender and sexuality, texts need to reflect student need and interest while

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providing a relevant challenge from which students can further develop literacy

skills. Appleman (2007) examines relevancy in English language arts classrooms

and notes:

What students do in school needs to feel important to them, and they

need to feel important in doing that work. This feeling of importance

is not merely a truism when it comes to adolescence. It is perhaps the

central core of our work with them. Constructing significance in their

work is not simply a matter of having them read more contemporary

texts. It is a matter of creating and re-creating fresh and unrehearsed

opportunities to make discoveries about texts, about language, about

the world, and about themselves. (p. 144)

As she advocates the use of texts to create relevant and meaningful learning

opportunities, M further questions the practice of positioning the novel as the

cornerstone of the English classroom. She explains that a shift is needed to provide

new opportunity for discovery:

So I think again if we can start thinking about what is it we want

students to be able to do in their reading then it does not matter what

book they have to give or take, I mean, I think we can start to push

beyond just a long text as the corner stone of our English classroom.

(Transcript M, ll. 162-164)

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Educators question the intention behind text selection as they search for meaningful

materials. Moving past the expectation of the novel study, educators can better

support students as they share a wider and more diverse selection of materials.

Questioning the traditions of the bookroom, M reflects:

Why do we need to feel we do 5 books in a semester? I mean, who

says this is the way? It is handed down from generation of

department head to generation of department head. That’s how we do

it. This is what our course outline looks like. And I was the same. I,

whoever told me this is what we do? And I felt like if I didn’t do 5

novels, I say this off the top of my head, I’d say if I didn’t do this

many of them then there was something wrong that I was not doing

what I should have. (Transcript M, ll. 165-170)

Pressure to conform to long-standing practices of English teaching is questioned by

educators who seek to expand learning experiences and opportunities. M

acknowledges her participation in practices that seem to place numerical

expectations and subsequent burdens on educators and learners. Bookroom

traditions represent a controlling force that many educators experience and attempt

to resist. In their attempts to broaden the materials in the classroom, educators are

often faced with tensions that exist between their goals of offering diversity of text

selection and what is actually available to them. Often, the number of text available

as opposed to the social and emotional needs of students takes precedent. For

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educators who strive to challenge inequities, traditions of the bookroom are at odds

with their personal and professional goals.

Protection

Throughout the interviews, many classroom teachers shared that the Authorized

Resource List is not central to their decision making process yet acknowledge that

the list shapes what materials are available in the learning community. The list

informs educator decision-making process in a secondary, yet, powerful manner.

The ARL and its application for classroom use is expressed by E:

I think that I have very limited experience with the ARL, because I

would only use the ARL in my school to buy books, I wouldn’t use

the Approved Resource List to suggest literature to students so

therefore what is that list for? What, those are the questions, what is

there for, who is it there for and how is it to be used? (Transcript E, ll.

312-315)

For E, the ARL offers little support to her or to her students when selecting texts that

are personally meaningful yet it is from this list that texts for her high school English

classroom are ordered:

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Maybe for me it’s not just looking for what’s on the ARL. Because

maybe how I have felt, how the reading list is used for myself and my

school is really not about classroom teaching. It’s not really, it’s not

really motivating or inspiring my teaching. It’s not really informing

what I think is ah, part of the outcomes necessarily. Sometime you

use it and sometimes you use others pieces that may or may not be on

the Approved Resource List. (Transcript E, ll. 429-434)

Many educators shared that materials that meet the personal and learning needs of

their students often do not exist on the ARL. However, educators acknowledge that

the ARL offers a sense of protection as the Department of Education and School

Board support these materials. As educators reflected on their use of the ARL,

issues of safety and support for texts were often explored. Educators raised

concerns that negative feedback or backlash from school or community might occur

when choosing text both on and off the ARL. E notes:

It’s not actually a promoted list amongst high school teachers given

out that they make sure they cover or use I don’t think in my

experience it doesn’t seem to be that way. It is more, to me, a part of

the political aspect of school, this is what we say is ok if you’re going

to buy a class set, we recommend these, these are approved. So its

kind of like a safe guard or protection. (Transcript E, ll. 315-319)

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In E’s experience, the ARL presents clear guidelines for text purchase. This is in

contrast to text purchase that reflects the social, emotional or personal needs of

learners. E identifies the protection and control as decisions on text collection occur

in her school. E notes:

Protection for the teacher to say that these books have been explored

and these are approved by your school board. So if you’re doing a

novel that is not on the list you need to have perhaps parent contact,

perhaps you need to have discussions with your department head or

administration at your school. (Transcript E, ll. 325-328)

For E, choosing text outside the Authorized Resource List is necessary when

supporting students. When she chooses text outside the ARL, she feels pressure to

seek the support of her administration as well as gain permission from parents. M

further explains that backlash for controversial text occurs even with materials that

are on the ARL. When the Literacy Success arrived in schools, M explains that

some principals and teachers rejected and removed text they considered

controversial. It appears that the materials are censored prior to being placed on the

ARL and again when the ARL texts arrive in the schools. The classroom teacher

can also decide which text may be available in the classroom. Selections or removal

of texts by administration or classroom teachers are completed without a formalized

rubric for selection or de-selection, it is based on personal values. Boyd & Bailey

(2007) ask:

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If books are challenged and disappear from the curriculum, who will

teach students to think about and question the status quo when what

passes as the norm is privilege for one group at the expense of

another, or when denigration of people from diverse backgrounds so

routine that man does not even seen it? (p. 657)

Literacy Success materials have been made available by the Department of

Education yet these materials are at times rejected by educators within schools. M

notes:

So if I put a book on my shelf that is about homosexuality right, I

don’t have a problem with that, but you know, so my other students

who come in a say, “What’s this book?” They take that home, parents

are upset, principal says you shouldn’t have that book and in fact

there are lots of principals who, in that last set of Literacy Success

that have come out, have said to teachers or teachers have said to

principals, “We don’t want this book”. (Transcript M, ll. 534-539)

Removal of materials from the ARL creates further gaps on the collection. Little

(2001) notes:

It is not only what youth see (i.e. anti-Queer violence) but what

they don’t see. While homophobia creates bias and potential

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violence, heterosexism “results in an absence of gay and lesbian

positive images and a deafening silence about the homosexual

reality, a serious problem for the ten percent of students who are

lesbian and gay” (Brisken, 1994, p. 4) (p. 3)

M and E experience tremendous challenge as they attempt to provide their students

with diverse materials. Materials that are on the ARL and those that are not are, at

times, a source of confrontation and backlash. M reasons why some educators may

choose not to challenge the resistance:

I think that there are so many reasons not to push the envelope.

Right? That’s the thing, right? You got parents, you got principals,

you have students who may respond poorly. Let’s face it if you stick

to the tried and true and it is all sort of bland, I mean, you’re not

going to get a lot of conflict so maybe that is what it is.

(Transcript M, ll. 566-569)

For some educators offering materials that do not disrupt dominant ways of being or

practices means that they will avoid conflict with students, parents and

administration. E notes:

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The ARL seems to be comfortable, more comfortable with texts that

are, I’d like to say that, it seems to be more comfortable with text that

are comfortable with mainstream middle-class values.

(Transcript E, ll. 343-345)

A particular value system exists and is reflected in the ARL by titles that are

accepted in the Literacy Success collections. For many educators who include other

forms of learning materials, the result means engaging students in meaningful and

relevant topics and subjects. At the same time, inviting other forms of learning

materials into a classroom can result in conflict and resistance from those who are

not willing or able to engage in new ideas and re-evaluate their personal values and

assumptions of others.  

 

Literacy Success  

Throughout the interviews, teachers explored how Literacy Success materials are

working to support diverse and multiple learning opportunities. Literacy Success is

a Nova Scotia Department of Education initiative established in the spring of 2000.

According to the Department of Education, Literacy Success draws on key

components: time, student and teacher resources, professional development and

specific and explicit assistance to those students who required a higher level of

support in becoming successful, fluent readers (http://ayr.ednet.ns.ca). During the

interviews, educators predominantly referred to Literacy Success as the materials

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provided by the Department of Education to support reading and literacy. E explains

the difference with student involvement and engagement with the Literacy Success

texts:

But I think with the Literacy Success 10 and 11 books, students are

encouraged to constantly look at them and explore them. Where as

textbooks are not inviting and they are usually purchased with large

amounts of money they are usually very expensive. They are used

for a number of years and not all of the book is used, some is used

and some is left not to be used. Where as Literacy Success 10 and

11, I think, I think there are some books that are better used but I

think all of those books are opened to be used constantly. (Transcript

E, ll. 292-297)

Like E, B comments that the Literacy Success texts seem to provide relevant and

meaningful literature to students. B notes the Literacy Success texts include issues

of sexuality and reflection of self as well as a deeper awareness of societal diversity:

The resources that we have would perhaps deal with individuals who

are questioning their sexuality, dealing with issues in society and

hopefully towards the end of the novel have come to terms with their

own sexuality and hopefully have resolved the kinds of problems that

they had in the beginning of their story. Some of them are

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biographical of people who have struggled because of who they are

and, have come to terms with wherever they are and how they can

deal with society or maybe how society is going to deal with them.

(Transcript B, ll. 46-51)

B explains how educators may use the Literacy Success texts in their classrooms.

B’s practice reflects students’ choice and promotes exposure to multiple and diverse

materials. He encourages classroom teachers to explore the application of the

Literacy Success texts in a variety of ways:

These particular texts will highlight all these issues and it is our hope

that teachers will be somewhat familiar with the resource, that does

not mean he or she needs to read everything that’s in the collection

but at least know some of the issues in here when they introduce the

books to the kids. They might let them know, “Here’s a particular

book written from the perspective of a 15 year old. He was having

some struggles, it’s about suicide, he attempted suicide, you know, if

you can, if this sounds like it’s for you, you might want to read it, if

not, you might want to stay away from it”. But those texts should

stimulate further discussion just around books in general and around

issues in general of a societal nature. That is not to say, that, you

know a teacher might pick up one that he or she really likes and just

do his or her own book talk around, because there’s an issue that he

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or she feels comfortable with. It’s about feeling comfortable with the

issues and I think that there are a lot of teachers who would prefer

just to let the kids deal with them and you know what, I think that the

kids are doing that on their own. When I had the kids in last week,

they were reading things that were quite mature, and they were

having table discussions on their own. (Transcript B, ll. 124-138)

B acknowledges that some classroom teachers may not feel prepared to explore the

Literacy Success text in-depth with their students. He notes that despite this,

students are able to explore the issues presented in the text alone or within their peer

group. B continues to explain why some educators are having difficulty with the

Literacy Success text:

We’ve had quite a few, ah, responses from teachers and principals

who are not supportive of the resources that go into the classrooms

because they deal with language. Some of them may deal with sex

and we try to make sure that it’s not explicit sex. A lot of them deal

with issues of a controversial nature and there are just some teachers

out there who are just very uncomfortable with it and they can’t deal

with it. They would prefer to do, you know, Lord of the Flies

(Golding) because it is safe and only violent. They’d prefer to do

Gatsby (Fitzgerald), they’d prefer to do The Chrysalids (Wyndham),

because it’s Science Fiction and it doesn’t deal with issues that are,

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you know, out there. Anything that’s, anything that is a non issue

seems to be ok, but when it comes to a couple of words, a situation,

you get the feedback, such that you know, “Why are you putting texts

in to schools that deal with whatever?” “How can you possibly feel

comfortable putting this into the hands of students?” And the

response is just, as I said to you, we are dealing with real world issues

and kids need to know what is happening. It’s, it’s beyond video

games, if they can deal with the kinds of video games that they are

dealing with, and some teachers support those kinds of things in their

classroom, then they can deal with the written word.

(Transcript B, ll. 63-78)

As a classroom teacher, MI describes her experience sharing text from the Literacy

Success collections. MI, like B, challenges the censorship that can occur in

classrooms:

Some concerns have been raised by some teachers regarding the lead

team and have suggested we send a letter home to parents at the

beginning of the school year outlining the texts and the nature of the

books that they may contain adult themes and some controversial

issues. I have really struggled with doing that. I wonder why we

need to tag that on to the list? I mean, we don’t do that for other

books and I have not yet had any problems with students or parents. I

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say this is what the text is about, for example the Kite Runner

(Hosseini), and if you don’t want to read it you don’t have to.

Students can drop a book if they choose to do so.

(Transcript MI, ll. 74-82)

For some educators, the Literacy Success materials offer greater choice in reading

and an opportunity to share the experience of text selection with their students. E

explains:

So you see there is a difference in the traditional approved text in the

book room, and teacher’s knowledge of the text, here students are

bringing the text to the teacher. Usually when a teacher takes a book

from the bookroom they know it, Literacy Success means students

may know it before teachers. (Transcript E, ll. 262-265)

For E, choosing text does not present a power struggle; rather, she believes this is a

partnership in which students can bring their knowledge into the classroom.

Literacy Success offers students relevant and meaningful materials to use in their

daily classroom experience. Students are able to choose the materials that meet their

personal and learning needs. Individual choice and freedom reflects student-

centered practices and encourages learners to bring their own knowledge and interest

into the learning environment. Literacy Success materials are used by educators to

promote greater variety in reading, connections to other materials and extension of

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knowledge. While some educators feel uncomfortable with some content in the

Literacy Success resources, learners need to have greater exposure to meaningful

and relevant resources and topics.

While under review, the current search program for the Authorized Resource List

that is available presents barriers to appropriate and meaningful resources.

Educators who search the ARL face the daunting task of sifting through each title in

order to find content that would be appropriate for classroom use. Once a resource

is located, educators may experience insufficient information regarding that resource

leaving them in the uncomfortable position of choosing a text of which they are

uncertain.

Annotated notes intend to provide information to educators as they make selections

of materials for the classroom. However, the annotations are inconsistent in both

coverage of all listed text and in providing contextual information. We must ask,

what is the benefit and limitation of cautions and warnings on the approved resource

materials? Why are cautions and warnings noted for particular materials and

themes while others material and themes go unnoted? While the intention for the

annotated notes is to provide information for educators as they make selection, we

must ask what is the unintended result for this action? In some cases, annotated

notes are used to reject or remove materials that would other wise be available to

learners. Further research and data must be collected on the specific text that are

rejected or removed and why. At this point, no information on this issue is

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available. Censorship of materials in the English language arts classroom creates

barriers to materials that are needed for all learners. Fear of backlash and disregard

for other experience means that learners do not have access to the wide range of

resources they require. More conversations with learners need to take place during

text selection and throughout their reading experiences. This practice guides text

selection in a more meaningful and respectful way then when texts are simply

removed.

Ordering materials from the Authorized Resource List and using the 5% allocation

funds can provide learners with new and diverse materials. However, the decision to

replace or refresh whole class novel study of more traditional text often takes

precedence over leaner needs. To challenge this, schools may be asked to use a

percentage of their funds to locate materials that reflect the student body and address

their needs in a meaningful and thoughtful way. Furthermore, English departments

must continue to question and reflect on methodology including the use of the novel

study as the cornerstone of the English classroom. It is important that the whole

department engage in questions of methodology as it could support a collaborative

and connected team approach for educators and work to erode the isolation that is

felt by some in the department.

Educators face the tension of providing meaningful and relevant materials to

learners from what is available in the schools, often traditional or canonical

literature. Many educators interviewed felt that while they were not advocating

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removal of any particular text, they did feel that greater variety and use of diverse

materials is needed in schools. Interestingly it was Golding’s Lord of the Flies that

most educators discussed. This novel has, among others, themes of gender,

sexuality and masculinities yet the exploration of these themes seems limited. We

must ask why educators who hold this novel as a cornerstone of the English

language arts classroom, shy away from exploring these topics? Using the supports

of the Race Culture and Human Rights department, educators may benefit from

examining the text in a professional learning community with the intent of exploring

issues of gender and sexuality. This modeling approach for educators may provide

needed examples of how to combine literacy and social justice practice.

The ARL is a powerful guideline from which materials are ordered for student use.

Educators need to challenge the limitations of the ARL and expect that it would

contain resources that learners may find meaningful and reflective of their lives and

experiences. While not promoting the ARL in an explicit manner, educators are

directed to select materials from the list for purchase. This means that the ARL

offers a code of being which is presented in the materials available on the list.

Materials deemed not appropriate for the ARL, even if they reflect the lives of

learners, are rejected.

Literacy Success offers presentations of diversity to learners and the opportunity to

independently explore issues relevant to youth. Literacy Success requires that

educators trust that learners are capable to make selections and explore topics and

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content that they, the educator, may not be familiar with. Literacy Success places

the learner in a central place of facilitating their learning process and promotes

powerful messages of youth voice and choice. Educators must continue to seek

resources that reflect the lives and experiences of all members of the learning

community. For schools to become more inclusive and supportive communities for

all members, educators need to challenge the limitations of the resources available,

question the censorship that is imposed on particular materials and continue to

support one another in collaborative learning communities.

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CHAPTER FOUR

Conclusion

In examining the varied experiences of learners one must ask how does the English

language arts curriculum materials support learners as they examine issues of gender

and sexuality? And, what are the experiences of educators who aim to challenge

dominant representation of gender and sexuality? The educators interviewed capture

the complex and diverse experiences of individuals who believe discussions of

gender and sexuality are critical in high school communities. Together educators

and learners must strive to create safe learning environments where members can

receive and provide support as they examine the world, the word and their lives.

Creating an environment of trust is vital as educators and learners examine personal

belief systems and engage in critical enquiry. Educators need to model respectful

discussions and provide classroom activities that allow individuals to explore issues

relevant to their diverse communities. Critical literacy skills develop as the reader

examines the relationship between themselves and the text. Through critical

literacy, learners can be challenged to consider questions of visibility and power.

Many educators interviewed expressed that literacy practices need further

development with regards to discussion of gender and sexuality as these topics are

underrepresented in many English language arts classrooms. Discussions of power

and privilege and the impact on individuals must be explored and examined. To

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create engaging learning environments, educators need to make use of relevant and

meaningful teaching tools and reference current world events and historical context.

Youth voice is central to the development of a respectful leaning environment. To

create this learning community, power must be shared thoughtfully and

appropriately with all members. Learners must be encouraged and supported to

challenge social expectations and to examine diverse realities. Educators can model

critical thinking practices through a variety of pedagogical practices and resources.

Collaborating educators and learners create safe environments for all members

enabling individuals to vocalize ideas and learn together. Creating environments

and opportunities to share experiences is a critical and central feature of classrooms

where social justice is valued and practiced.

Educators who examine issues of gender and sexuality can offer learners a diverse

picture of human experience. By using a diversity of texts, educators challenge

learners to examine the diversity of human experience, privilege and power.

Educators can encourage learners to share personal experiences and make

connections between the texts presented and their lives. To support the risk that

learners take, educators strive to develop appropriate conversations that model

respectful interactions. These educators have belief in the learner’s ability to

support one another in vulnerability and risk taking.

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To provide meaningful connections, educators may consider positioning literature

within a historical, social and political context. Through this practice, learners can

appreciate richness and complexity of materials available to them. As learners

examine texts and context, they experience how interpretation of the text is informed

and shaped by social and political elements. Such pedagogical practices aim to

examine presentations of gender and sexuality and to encourage learners to

interconnect social justice and literacy practices. Learners would benefit from being

exposed to a greater variety of materials, resources and guest speakers creating a rich

environment for learning. Lastly, to develop a more equitable learning community,

educators and learners need opportunity to share and work together to ensure all

voices and experiences are valued.

As meaningful collaboration develops, educators can explore diversity in classroom

through practices such as book shares. Book shares can take place in formal and

informal learning environments and provide opportunity to exchange text, ideas and

interpretations. Such learning-centered practices further reflect the sharing of power

that educators and learners endeavor to foster within the classroom that values social

justice. The resulting classroom community can be strengthened and a network of

care and support can emerge.

When choosing texts, learners must be challenged to critically and thoughtfully

consider the selection of materials and should be supported and respected for their

choice. Educators can encourage critical examination of text and engage students

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through challenging conversations and model critical literacy. As learners select

specific text to examine, educators can provide multiple learning opportunities in

whole class and small group studies. Literature and Socratic circles provide learner

centered educational experiences. While educators may continue to practice whole

class novel studies, it is important to also invite other forms of exploration using a

variety of text and materials into the learning community.

An area of concern identified by the educators interviewed is appropriate and timely

professional development and professional mentorship. Locating meaningful

professional support regarding literacy and social justice is a challenge for many

educators. Further research is needed into the relationships and issues of power that

exists among educators. Themes of power, control, fear and intimidation at times

emerged throughout this study. In creating a team approach to education, more time

for reflection and collaboration during meaningful professional development is

needed. This may provide professional support for educators who aim to connect

curriculum and social justice.

Educators focused their interviews on the Approved Resource List (ARL) and

Literacy Success. As they shared their experiences, they expressed frustration

regarding availability and access. Specifically, educators identified the limitation of

the search function and organization as being inconsistent and inaccurate. While

under review, more attention must be given to the accessibility of the ARL and

efforts must be made to address educators concerns. Furthermore, the terminology

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applied to the annotated notes present barriers to locating appropriate text.

Educators reported that the keyword search provides inconsistent results and is

challenging to navigate. A review of the key word search may prove useful as it

may highlight areas of concern. A librarian who is trained and skilled in creating

search programs would be the best choice to complete this review. It was also

reported that annotations applied to texts are authored and edited by school board

staff creating perceived gaps in the collection. Furthermore, warning or cautionary

labels on specific ARL titles make visible the subjects or themes deemed

problematic by school board staff. A librarian may also review the annotations and

efforts to complete the gaps in the collection can be made. For many educators,

ordering texts from the ARL presents additional challenges and frustrations. The

controlled handling of the literacy infusion collection limits educators as to the

materials available. With limited resources, educators note that control and power is

held by administration in text selection directly impacting the learning experience.

Educators must question the control that some administrators practice regarding the

resources placed in the classroom. No data on the censorship of materials exists at

this time and further research on this topic is needed.

I am very thankful for the opportunity to have engaged in this research project.

While extending beyond my original intentions and expectations, this process has

presented me with valuable teaching and learning lessons. I feel I have a greater

understanding of how dedicated and open-minded teachers use any material to

engage and support learners. My hope for this work is that educators and decision-

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makers will consider the practices explored thus recognizing the need for text to

reflect the diversity of all learners within our classrooms and communities.

This research experience has allowed me to examine a variety of classroom

practices. As learners are supported to engage with meaningful texts, classrooms are

transformed into relevant and powerful learning environments. The practice of

creating inclusive classrooms is central to social justice practice and frames learners

and educators as equal partners in the learning experience. As learners identify

themselves as central to their learning experience, meaningful and restful

relationships emerge. Educators who practice reflective and thoughtful engagement

demonstrate that learning environments can be collaborative, challenging and

transformative for all participants.

This research process has shown that students are central to the ELA classroom.

Learners have the power to challenge educators to rethink intentions and

expectations. Learners desire to engage in critical thought and seek supportive

educators and environments. Through this process, I have met committed educators

who are dedicated to assisting learners on this journey. It is evident that many

educators seek connectedness with colleagues and would benefit from meaningful

and appropriate professional development. Lastly, my hope is that educators who

participated may benefit from this experience. In turn, a more informed and

reflective teaching practice may develop.

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Appendix 1: Interview Consent Form Interview Consent Agreement I agree to participate in an interview conducted by Cherie Borden, a master’s graduate student in Counselling at Acadia University. I understand that Cherie will interview me and will ask me questions about my experiences as an English Language Arts grade 10-12 educator. I understand this research project seeks to investigate the experiences of educators who place social justice at the center of their pedagogical framework in the English Languages Arts (ELA) classroom grades 10-12. Specifically, the focus of the study is to examine the extent to which the ELA curriculum allows and encourages high school English teachers to take up and discuss with students non-dominant representations of gender identity and gender presentation in the English Language Arts Authorized Reading List. The research will draw on the collective knowledge and experiences of educators, library specialists, and school board advisors and consultants. I understand that the researcher, Cherie Borden, intends to explore and examine the experiences of educators in their attempts to provide an equitable and inclusive classroom in regards to presentations of gender and sexuality within the Authorized Reading List (ARL). Through interviews with ELA teachers, Cherie aims to examine the extent to which ELA teachers find the ARL helpful in promoting critical examination of issues of gender and sexuality. I agree to allow the researcher to tape record my interview. I understand that I may refuse to answer any question in the interview and that I may withdraw my participation at any time without penalty. I have been informed that an individual, who will be employed with my permission to complete this task, will transcribe the recorded interviews. This person will sign an Oath of Confidentiality. If I am uncomfortable with this, Cherie will transcribe the tapes herself. The audio recordings will be stored in a secure location. Other than myself, only Cherie will hear the audiotapes or read the transcripts. These recordings will be returned to me if I want them, otherwise they will be destroyed. I will be provided with a draft copy of the report. I will have an opportunity to read, verify, comment on and contribute to the report if I wish. If I do not wish for certain information to be used in the report, it will be removed. I understand that if Cherie wants to use the material in ways other than for the purposes of her thesis, I will be asked for permission at that time.

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I agree to voluntarily participate in this interview and I understand that I may withdraw my participation at any time without penalty, in which case I will retain ownership of the material. I understand that there will be two different interviews and that each interview will last no longer than 90 minutes. If I wish further information about this study, I may contact Cherie Borden (902) 444-9249 or Dr. Ann Vibert, Thesis Supervisor, (902) 585-1489 at Acadia University. Date:___________________________ Name:________________________________________________________(please print) Signature:_____________________________________________________

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Appendix 2: Interview Consent Form Interview Consent Agreement I agree to participate in an interview conducted by Cherie Borden, a master’s graduate student in Counselling at Acadia University. The information gained from this interview will be used to better understand the lives, experiences, and challenges faced by teachers working to promote critical awareness and inclusion in the area of gender and sexuality, particularly in the field of literacy education. I understand that this project seeks to investigate the experiences of educators who place social justice at the center of their pedagogical framework in the English Languages Arts (ELA) classroom grades 10-12. Specifically, this research will examine the extent to which the ELA curriculum allows and encourages high school English teachers to take up and discuss with students non-dominant representations of gender identity and gender presentation in the English Language Arts Authorized Reading List. I agree to allow the researcher to tape record my interview. I understand that I may refuse to answer any question in the interview and that I may withdraw my participation at any time without penalty. I have been informed that an individual, who will be employed with my permission to complete this task, will transcribe the recorded interviews. This person will sign an Oath of Confidentiality. If I am uncomfortable with this, Cherie will transcribe the tapes herself The audio recordings will be stored in a secure location. Other than myself, only Cherie will hear the audiotapes or read the transcripts. These recordings will be returned to me if I want them, otherwise they will be destroyed. I will be provided with a draft copy of the report. I will have an opportunity to read, verify, comment on and contribute to the report if I wish. If I do not wish for certain information to be used in the report, it will be removed. I understand that if Cherie wants to use the material in ways other than for the purposes of her thesis, I will be asked for permission at that time. I agree to voluntarily participate in this interview and I understand that I may withdraw my participation at any time without penalty, in which case I will retain ownership of the material. I understand that there will be two different interviews and that each interview will last no longer than 90 minutes. If I wish further information about this study, I may contact Cherie Borden at (902) 444-9249 or Dr. Ann Vibert, Thesis Supervisor, (902) 585-1489 at Acadia University. Date:___________________________ Name:________________________________________________________(please print) Signature:_____________________________________________________

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Appendix 3: Proposed Interview Questions for Educators I am suggesting a series of interview questions to be used as a guide to help frame our discussions and provide some consistency between the interviews. However; they are just that, guidelines. I hope that you will feel free to discuss other issues that you feel may offer some insight into your experiences as being an English Language Arts educator in the Nova Scotia public school system. QUESTIONS: Background 1. Please list the materials you selected from the Authorized Reading list. Why did you make these selections? 2. In your opinion, how do ARL materials support the examination of different experiences and perspectives regarding gender and sexuality? Do presentations of gender and sexuality impact your selection process? How? 3. Throughout your teaching experiences, how has your ARL selection changed? In your opinion, what factors may have influenced your ARL selection? 4. Foundation documents require teacher to model critical and reflective practices to their students. How are you able to achieve this goals/value? Can you provide specific examples? 5. In your classroom, how do you examine language and images that create, reinforce and perpetuate gender stereotyping and biases? 6. In your opinion, how are students able to use the ARL to understand, imagine and appreciate realities other than their own in regards to gender identity and presentations of sexuality? 7. In your opinion, does the ARL provide instructional practices and materials that are free of gender bias? Explain. 8. In your opinion, what role(s) does the HRSB and DOE play in supporting teachers who would like to understand and examine issues regarding the presentation of gender and sexuality? 9. In your opinion, what is your role in providing students with diverse presentations of gender and sexuality? Can you provide an example of how you engage students critically regard presentations of gender and sexuality?

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Appendix 4: Proposed Interview Questions for HRSB/DOE consultants I am suggesting a series of interview questions to be used as a guide to help frame our discussions and provide some consistency between the interviews. However; they are just that, guidelines. I hope that you will feel free to discuss other issues that you feel may offer some insight into your experiences as being an employee of HRSB. QUESTIONS: Background 1. Please tell me about yourself by providing a brief sketch of your role and responsibilities for the Halifax Regional School Board or the Department of Education 2. In your opinion, how are ARL materials able to support the examination of different experiences and perspectives regarding gender and sexuality? 3. In your opinion, are teachers able to examine language and images that create, reinforce and perpetuate gender stereotyping and biases? Explain. 4. In your opinion, are students able to use the ARL to understand, imagine and appreciate realities other than their own in regards to gender identity and presentations of sexuality? Explain. 5. In your opinion, does the ARL provide instructional practices and materials that are free of gender bias? Explain. 6. In your opinion, what is needed to provide teachers with the supports that would allow them to critique and question presentations of gender and sexuality more effectively in their classrooms? 7. In your opinion, what role does the HRSB and DOE play in supporting teachers

who would like to understand and examine issues regarding the presentation of

gender and sexuality?

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Appendix 5

To further understand the annotations, below is a sample of annotations in the ARL:

The Lord of the Flies

NSSBB #: 20570

ISBN: 9780571084838

Title: Lord of the Flies (paperback)

Supplier: Atlantic Book Ltd.

Published:

Price: $8.39

Language: English

Origin: O - Other

Notes: None Entered - 04/01/2002

Components/ Authors:

Lord of the Flies (paperback) - Adrienne Shard

Resource Type:

Student resource

Approved: Subject Grade

Level Category Guidance Qty

Date Listed

Date De-Listed

English Language Arts/English/Communications/English/Communications 12

12 Fiction 1:4S 12/1/1975

English Language Arts/All Disciplines/English 12 12 Fiction 1:4S 12/1/1975

136

Appendix 6

Romeo and Juliet

NSSBB #: 25411

ISBN: 9780198321668

Title: Romeo and Juliet, 2009 Edition

Supplier: Oxford University Press

Published: 2009

Price: $12.66

Language: English

Origin: O - Other

Notes: Oxford School Shakespeare is the well-established series that helps students to understand and enjoy Shakespeare's plays. Each text is complete and unabridged with corresponding notes alongside the text for easy reference, a plot summary at the beginning of each scene, and detailed notes on the characters. Each play is supported by a range of classwork activities and examination practice, as well as background information on Elizabethan England. "Romeo and Juliet" remains one of the most accessible and popular of Shakespeare’s plays for secondary students the world over. Weaving actual lines from Shakespeare's play into a narrative text, this version serves as a wonderful introduction to this timeless tale.

Components/ Authors:

Romeo and Juliet, 2009 Edition - William Shakespeare

Resource Type:

Student resource

Approved: Subject Grade

Level Category Guidance Qty

Date Listed

Date De-Listed

English Language Arts/English/English 11

11 Drama 1:S 7/8/2008

Oldest date listed 1989.

137

Appendix 7

The Sledding Hill

NSSBB #: 24321

ISBN: 9780060502454

Title: The Sledding Hill

Supplier: Atlantic Book Ltd.

Published: 2005

Price: $6.13

Language: English

Origin: O - Other

Notes: "The Sledding Hill" is a novel with a highly entertaining plot. It has no profanity, sexual acts, violence, drug or alcohol use. It takes direct aim at censorship. This story of Eddie and Billy— who is, in fact, dead—allows the reader to consider the issue of intellectual freedom.

Components/ Authors:

The Sledding Hill - Chris Crutcher

Resource Type:

Student resource

Approved: Subject Grade

Level Category Guidance Qty

Date Listed

Date De-Listed

English Language Arts/Advanced English/Advanced English 12

12 Fiction 1:6S

138

Appendix 8

Bad Boy

NSSBB #: 23114

ISBN: 9780888990839

Title: Bad Boy

Supplier: Nimbus Publishing Ltd.

Published: 1989

Price: $6.27

Language: English

Origin: C - Canadian

Notes: Hockey is the only game worth playing in the rough-and-tumble prairie town of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. When 16-year-old A.J. Brandiosa makes the Triple A team of his dreams, he can hardly believe that his life is finally coming together. Then he learns a dark secret of his best friend and teammate. "Bad Boy" deals with the tentative nature of teenage sexual identity, and the perceived threat that homosexuality poses to a culture dominated by a masculine social image. The mature theme of this book may offend some readers; however, its narrative strength, and the sensitive way the topic is handled identifies "Bad Boy" as an important resource to add to the classroom collection.

Components/ Authors:

Bad Boy - Diana Wieler

Resource Type:

Student resource

Approved: Subject Grade

Level Category Guidance Qty

Date Listed

Date De-Listed

English Language Arts/All Disciplines/All Courses/Initiatives

10 4:C 11/1/2003