Decolonizing Middle Level Literacy Instruction

Preface

Part I: In Dialogue / Desconocimientos

Chapter 1: Why Decolonize Our Classrooms?

Coloniality and Decoloniality: A Primer

Colonization v. Coloniality

Thinking Differently as Decoloniality

Questions to Consider in Reflecting on Coloniality

Resources to Explore

References

Chapter 2: What Is Racial Literacy?

Introduction

What Is Race? A Quick Primer for Decolonial Educators

Race and Middle Grades

Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Identity Development for BIPOC Youth

Building Racial Literacies as Decolonial Praxis

Making Decolonization Normal

Questions to Consider While Planning for Racially Literate Praxis

Resources to Explore

References

Part II: In Praxis / Travesias

Chapter 3: Decolonized Classrooms...Nurture Introspection

Introduction

Complicated Racial Landscapes

Reading Instruction to Trace Community Histories

Writing Instruction to Practice Our Self-Narration

Pushing Past Racial Discomfort

Challenge in Practice

Questions to Consider While Planning for Introspection

Resources to Explore

Assessment Alternatives

Technology Spotlight

References

Chapter 4: Decolonized Classrooms...Connect Humans to One Another

Introduction

Abolishing Zero-Point Thinking

Reading Instruction to Nurture Interconnection

Writing Instruction to Foster Empathy

Building a Holistic Ecology in the Classroom

Challenge in Practice

Questions to Consider While Planning for Human Connections

Resources to Explore

Assessment Alternatives

Technology Spotlight

References

Chapter 5: Decolonized Classrooms...Position Everyone as Experts

Instruction

Disrupting Colonial Expertise

Reading Instruction to Validate Youth Expertise

Writing Instruction to Sustain Community Literacies

Closing the Cultural Gaps Between Ourselves and Our Students

Challenge in Practice

Questions to Consider While Planning to Position Everyone as Experts

Resources to Explore

Assessment Alternatives

Technology Spotlight

References

Chapter 6: Decolonized Classrooms...Ask Challenging Questions

Introduction

Challenging Reductive Knowledge

Reading Instruction to Get at Big Ideas

Writing Instruction to Engage with the World

Making Classroom Literacy Consequential

Challenge in Practice

Questions to Consider While Planning for Challenging Questions

Resources to Explore

Assessment Alternatives

Technology Spotlight

References

Chapter 7: Decolonized Classrooms...Disrupt Normal

Introduction

A New Way to Think of the Banking Method

Reading and Speaking Instruction to Build Radical Consensus

Disrupting the Activity System of Normalized Schooling

Challenge in Practice

Questions to Consider While Planning to Disrupt Normal

Resources to Explore

Assessment Alternatives

Technology Spotlight

References

Chapter 8: Decolonized Classrooms...Leverage a Multilingual World

Introduction

Linguistic Hegemony and Coloniality

Reading Instruction to Master Language Use

Writing Instruction to Encourage Code-Meshing

Language, Identity, and Decoloniality

Challenge in Practice

Questions to Consider While Planning for a Multilingual World

Resources to Explore

Assessment Alternatives

Technology Spotlight

References

Chapter 9: Decolonized Classrooms...Nurture Cultural Change

Introduction

Reacting to Cultural Change

Reading Instruction to Remix Futures

Writing Instruction to Sustain Youth Creativity

Honoring Middle-School Youth as the Creators of New Worlds

Challenge in Practice

Questions to Consider While Planning for Nurturing Cultural Change

Resources to Explore

Assessment Alternatives

Technology Spotlight

References

Part III: Pragmatic Vision / Conocimientos

Chapter 10: Decolonized Educators...Navigate Tight Spaces in a Changing Educational Landscape

Introduction

Teaching in a Neocolonial Climate of Fear

Cultural Artifacts in Education

Discourse in Education

Identity in Education

Challenge in Practice

Questions to Consider While Navigating Tight Spaces

Resources to Explore

References

Chapter 11: Decolonized Educators....Discover Ways to Sustain Their Practice

Introduction

Sustaining our Commitments to Decolonization through Interconnection

Sustaining our Connections to Students and Community

Learning about Student Practices: Community Ethnographies

Learning about Community Dynamics: Power Analysis and Mapping

Building Peer Networks to Sustain Decolonial Practice

Challenge(s) in Practice

Questions to Consider for Sustaining our Practice

Resources to Explore

References

Chapter 12: A Few Last Thoughts on Our Decolonizing Efforts

Introduction

Make Maps, Not Tracings

Epistemic Disobedience and Sustainability

Pragmatic Vision and the Decolonial