BCTELA

Nicole Widdess teaches in Richmond and is the Curriculum Co-Chair for BCTELA. She is committed to teaching diverse learners and is passionate about literacy. Her current focus is teaching students in the middle years.

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As one of the Curriculum Coordinators, I am pleased to share that our Curriculum Pack sub-committee has developed new submission criteria that reflect current thinking, research and pedagogy. These criteria are also aligned with the ideas and research presented in the pedagogical considerations section of BC’s new K-7 and draft 8-12 English Language Arts IRPs. We hope that the new criteria will support you, our members, in writing up and submitting units of study for publication.

When you submit a curriculum pack, a member of our committee will provide descriptive feedback to assist you in revising and readying your unit for publication. Once accepted for publication, you are eligible for curriculum resource funds ($400). If you are interested in crafting a unit to be published by BCTELA please be sure to review the criteria below. Please send your unit (or proposal for a unit) to Nicole Widdess at NWiddess@richmond.sd38.bc.ca. Once your proposal or unit has been reviewed, we will be sure to get back to you as soon as possible.

 

Overview

• Identifies essential questions and enduring understandings

o These are the big ideas/inquiries that will guide the unit and the skills/strategies (including cognitive and metacognitive) that will be used/developed by students

• This overview should demonstrate links to the 2006 K-7 and/or the 2007 Draft 8-12 ELA IRPs m cuts across outcomes from the 3 organizers and 4 suborganizers of the ELA IRP

Assessment

• formative assessment/metacognitive activities

o formative assessment practices that help students learn to analyze and critique their work and to set personalized goals in relation to shared criteria

o offer students opportunities to generate criteria and strategies that are both contextual and meaningful

o a variety of assessment activities, including performance-based assessment

• summative assessment m performance-based assessment that includes detailed rubrics and links back to enduring understandings

Lesson Sequences

• a clear, detailed outline of suggested lesson sequences including m gradual release of responsibility

o assessment-to-instruction m metacognitive activities (e.g. using and/or generating criteria, self-assessment, goal-setting, and reflection)

o reading, writing, and oral language activities

o well-structured lessons that help students connect, process, and transform and personalize texts, concepts, and/or understandings

Diversity Considerations

• suggestions for adapting based on students' individual strengths and needs

• ways to differentiate based on student interests and context (e.g. text choices, variety of output options, variety of instructional modes)

Additional Documents

• performance rubrics

• handouts used in the lessons

• resources used, and suggestions for alternative resources

Reflection

• what worked especially well

• what came before this and after this in the year

• how this unit built on or was able to be built upon by other inquiries/units

Would you like support in developing a unit that integrates strategic teaching, formative and summative assessment, gradual release and the use of diverse texts using learning outcomes from the new IRP? Consider attending the Saturday Institute at our Fall Conference October 25, 2008. The 2008 Conference will be held at the Delta Hotel in Richmond this year. BCTELA Executive members Krista Ediger, Joanne Panas, Leyton Schnellert, and Nicole Widdess will be facilitating an institute on backwards design tentatively called "Designing Units with the End in Mind." A description of this institute follows:

So many best practices...how do you put them all together to create engaging, pedagogically-sound units that will help your students learn what they need to? Come and spend the day with us-learn about inquiry and backwards design, modeling and gradual release, assessment-to-instruction-and put it all together in a framework for a unit you can use. To get the most out of this session, bring a topic for a unit and sample texts you might use, and any brainstorming you might have already done.

The Curriculum Pack sub-committee members are looking forward to a year of learning together as we explore the new English Language Arts IRPs and develop new curriculum packs to support their implementation.

Marzena Michalowska is a Later Literacy Mentor and Teacher of English at John Oliver Secondary in Vancouver).

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Teachers' reactions to their students' reading of manga, the Japanese graphic novels, typically range from extreme disappointment

"There is no reading there; they are just flipping through the pages and looking at the pictures. And it is all backward too: they are going from right to left, starting at the end. You cannot possibly call that reading!"

to a rather muted and restrained enthusiasm

"Well, at least they are reading something. There is some writing there. Probably not very good quality though; nothing that we would really like them to read. And the pictures are like sugar coating: they make it easier to understand the story, whatever it is."

A very quick discourse analysis of the above statements will likely reveal the following operating assumptions. In order to be considered valid, students' reading should consist of reading primarily a print-based text, preferably a model of beautiful language (a classic?) Since there is little value in decoding images in manga - their role is mostly to repeat what the simplistic text already says - manga graphic novels can hardly be considered effective reading tools. Reading is both unimodal (dealing with one type of text at a time) and linear in nature; and finally, in a Language Arts classroom, visual literacy is not as important as print-based text literacy.

I would like to propose that if we actually agree with the above inferences, there is definitely a lot we can talk about. Let us then begin with the idea that reading really is about reading a print-based text, preferably one that introduces students to models of a superb language use. Most of us will agree that traditional texts often address universal questions and offer insights that are relevant and inspiring to today's readers. Reading such texts gives our students skills, competence and confidence to face various academic demands that await them in the post-secondary world. However, what about students whose life experiences and cultures are not reflected in traditional literature? Are they not going to feel marginalized, perhaps even dehumanized? They might resist reading such texts not because they are "struggling readers," but rather because reading them makes them feel insecure, inadequate, and inferior. In the words of Herbert Kohl (1994), the author of I Won't Learn from You, students often engage in a "struggle of wills with authority" because "what [is] at stake for them [is] nothing less than their pride and integrity." (7) Resistance to assigned reading becomes then an act of self-preservation that is far more important than any attempt of finding oneself in the context of F. S. Fitzgerald's Jazz Age, for example.

And what about reading a print-based text as the only valid text? If we embrace the new and expanded definition of the 21st century literacy as multiliteracy, or communication of ideas through a multitude of modes (channels), we also accept the idea that text is no longer confined to the written word, but includes oral, aural, performative, and visual representations of meaning. Consequently, our literacy pedagogy becomes redefined to include a variety of text forms (modes of representation) associated with the above expanded theory of meaning making. In such context, reading is no longer just about decoding print-based text and good reading is no longer just about reading lots of print-based texts. Reading is about decoding and constructing meaning with various texts such as still and animated images, symbols, signs, sounds, movement, as well as numerous digital texts. And now that we have opened our teaching door to a variety of texts, why should we welcome manga, a multimodal (written and visual) text?

Manga graphic novels can hardly be considered effective reading tools because there is little value in decoding images that illustrate what the simplistic text already says. I think there are two issues here that call for a closer examination: firstly, our difficulty in recognizing manga as a valid semiotic domain, or area worthy of study, and secondly our own knowledge of manga. Let's look at the first issue. If we accept that texts come in different forms, why not then include in our teaching texts and literacies that our students are familiar with? This way, we can show them that their knowledge has currency in our classroom and that we value what they come with. After all, students read what they can read and what they like to read. If we have a chance to build on their interests in order to maximize their growth, should we hesitate to do so? Also, do we not teach our students that there are different roads to reach a goal? Surely, we are not intimidated to take the road less traveled, are we?

Speaking about intimidation. Personally, I did not particularly like admitting to my students that I knew nothing about manga. I skillfully avoided the subject. Appearing knowledgeable and having little desire to undermine myself have always been my guiding teaching principles. And yet with all my background in language and literature, I could neither understand nor explain the manga attraction until one day when one of my students left behind his manga book. I picked it up with suspicion and tossed it quickly into the lost and found box. I came back to it, however, being consumed by sheer curiosity. I wondered what it was all about and what made it so special to my student. I decided to give it a try and read it. How much would it cost me? I surprised myself. I was immediately drawn into the story, because it gave me a sense of being a participant in it. The feeling of walking into it and becoming a part of it was so satisfying that I finished my first manga that same evening. Then, like a true reader, I moved onto another and another and another. I have known all along that one day I would cross over to the other side and become my students. And when that day arrived, I finally understood why they were secretly reading their manga while I was busy teaching them ‘real literature.' The road less traveled has turned out to be full of pleasant surprises and discoveries. I am still walking it because learning new things takes time. However, here are some knowledge gems I have found along my way.

Manga, the most popular type of graphic novel in North America, as a genre sits somewhere between film and prose, creating a bridge from one to the other. A lot of manga are smart, well written and imaginative. There is manga for every subject because everything can be expressed in manga form. The cinematic quality of manga images shown from rather unusual camera angels turns reading into a viewing experience. Manga's iconic characters with their simply rendered faces can easily be filled with any emotion the reader is experiencing. Looking at such characters is almost like stepping inside the life of Charlie Brown and discovering the hidden mysteries behind his simple existence. Manga characters live in very rich environments that have been created with a lot of attention and sensibility. Real world anchors such as school desks, clocks on the wall, or park benches emphasize the unexpected beauty of everyday things. The backgrounds are usually delivered in fragments, and we experience them much like in real life, with our eyes moving around, up and down, and finally assembling the world from fragments.

Unlike our home grown comics and graphic novels that are often filled with sound effects and characters' chatter, manga are characterized by the presence of many silent panels that provide us with contemplative moments of unmediated experience. Such experience, just like the characters' faces, can be filled with our own values and emotions. As well, the silent panels sometimes function as transitions between story episodes.

Again in contrast to our North American productions that often present motion in a somewhat bombastic way, at times showing characters literally breaking out of panels in their attempts to run, fly, or jump, manga authors have found a very different and rather subjective and visceral way of rendering motion. In manga, we, the readers, participate in the motion by becoming the moving object. And because we now are the moving object, a motorbike, for example, we can feel the bike's sudden stops, unexpected turns, and periodic vibrations. It is precisely because of such unusual representation of motion that people who read manga often compare it to watching a movie.

And finally what completes the manga attraction is the presence of a diverse genre of images. While reading manga, we are likely to come across collages, free standing, or cascading images. Such diversity of image genre does not allow us to get bored, constantly stimulating our senses. Clearly then, reading manga requires us to redefine what reading is; and while we are busy reworking our definition, let's allow our students' reading to be in service of their interests rather than to be a rehearsal for living. They are discovering something new. Let's not deprive them of the joys of discovery.

What have we, on the other hand, discovered about teaching visual literacy in a Language Arts classroom? Teaching it is not nearly as important as the teaching of print-based text literacy. Interestingly enough, writing with pictures predates writing with words. In some languages (Chinese) words began as stylized pictures. Similarly, cave paintings and hieroglyphs were the earliest forms of communication. Why have we forgotten then that there is an important calligraphic quality to pictures? Why are we reluctant to fortify the printed word with a printed image? Others do not seem that hesitant.

Both the political and the corporate worlds, for example, understand the extraordinary power of images. Just imagine looking at a picture of fallen soldiers coming home: multiple coffins draped in Canadian flags being carried by some clearly emotional pallbearers, grieving relatives, among them mothers holding little children in their arms, a solemn looking preacher whose hand is raised in a sign of a blessing. Because an image like that communicates a powerful political message to a country and its people, it is of little wonder then that our politicians may not want to expose us to too many such visions. Similarly, imagine looking at an image of a delicious and mouth-watering multilayer chocolate cake adorned with opulent coral roses and emerald leaves dribbling gracefully along its edges. Would we not want to try it? But to try it, we need to buy it; and, let us remember that most of what we actually end up buying is first introduced to us through visual ads that entice, inspire, and cajole us to do things that we normally might not have done. It is clear then that pictures are an important form of communication: they convey meaningful and profound ideas and concepts; and, if we agree with that statement, we should also agree that visual literacy should not be left off the teaching table by being undertaught.

Will we then take up manga in addition to our classics? If we are interested in exploring the challenges of a multimodal text, we probably will. If we are interested in overcoming our own habitus and developing our own and our students' visual literacy, we probably will as well. Let us then experience the joy of learning a new social practice and in the process validate the home literacies our students come to us with.

Bibliography

http://www.dnp.co.jp/museum/nmp/nmp_i/articles/manga/manga1.html : a website providing a comprehensive history of the manga genre

http://www.koyagi.com/Libguide.html: a librarians' guide to anime and manga

http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/manga/index.html: a publisher website advertising manga published by the largest manga publisher in Japan, Kodansha

http://www.tokyopop.com/: a website containing reviews of manga

Kohl, H. I Won't Learn from You. The New Press. 1994.

Joanne Panas is a Teacher Consultant (Adolescent Literacy), Richmond School District #38.

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There were so many choices of wonderful-sounding sessions to attend at the BCTELA conference, but one of my choices was a no-brainer. Dr. Jill McClay was my English Curriculum and Instruction professor way back when I was an Education student at the University of Alberta. We've kept in touch over the years, and of course I wanted to hear Jill's current thoughts on the issues of English and literacy. I settled into my seat with anticipation, knowing that whatever the topic, her presentation was sure to provoke lots of thinking!

Jill began by talking about the "new literacies" of technology, including blogs, instant messaging, sharing videos online, and many other kinds of literacy that go well beyond "print on paper." One of the most interesting and potentially alarming things Jill told us was the fact that eight- to ten-year-olds are the fastest-growing group of users on the internet. Two other statements struck me as related to that piece of information: "Relationship is the work of adolescents" (from Lev Vygotsky), and "Literacy is always about relationships" (Frank Smith). What we have then is a situation where young people are seeking relationships through online literacy, and as we all know, this can have positive and/or negative ramifications.

The core of Jill's presentation, however, was not to showcase cool new kinds of literacy, nor to inspire fear of the Internet, nor to invoke paranoia in parents and educators, but rather to ask a key question: "What is the ethos of this technological literacy?" In other words, a new culture is being created before our eyes, and we need to know what it's like, and what people are doing with it. What are the values of this community? What is its danger and its potential? How should we as a community of educators and parents respond to this new culture?

Jill gave us some examples of the ethos of the online literacy community. Fanfiction.net is one such community; in it, fans of many genres write their own versions of their favourite book, movie, comic, game, and so on, in the style of or in the spirit of the original. Others in the community read them and write reviews. In this way, relationships are created. In this particular online community, the ethos is that of good writing. There is no distinction between amateurs and professionals, young people and adults; all are welcome to write, read, and review. The people who run the site encourage constructive criticism and discourage bad writing, such as wish-fulfillment fantasy, and plot continuum errors.

Online literacy, Jill pointed out, tends to blur boundaries between speed and rhythm (emailmystery.com sends you a novel in installments), between public and private (read others' secrets at postsecret.blogspot.com), and between child and adult (fanfiction.net). Adults worry about these blurred boundaries, and with good reason. According to research done by media-awareness.ca, a non-profit organization that develops media literacy programs, kids can be exposed to inappropriate content and risky situations online, including bullying and sexual harassment. On the other hand, the same survey makes it clear that most young people have positive experiences online, and they use the Internet to foster existing social relationships and create new ones. How can we help keep kids' online literacy experiences positive?

Jill gave us some examples that made us realize that, regardless of the fears (and often, regardless of the rules) of parents and educators, kids are using the web and joining online communities; they are sharing their writing and secrets, reading those of others, and creating relationships. The Internet is not going away; in fact, access to the web is nearly universal in Canada, either at home, at school, or at public libraries and Internet cafes. Children are growing up with computers and they are far outpacing the adults in their lives in their use of the web, but not necessarily in their ability to assess and think critically about it. This is where we, the adults, come in. Jill's final point of the session was that we need to participate in web-based communities and literacy and respect, not dismiss, kids' online relationships. We need to learn the conventions of online literacy. Young people are not going to learn about online safety and security from us unless they see that we know what we're talking about, and that we are also part of that community.

At the end of the session, I had a lot of notes and a lot to think about. I am already part of one online community Jill mentioned, PostSecret, which I check weekly. However, I was unaware of most of the other kinds of technological/online literacies and communities she discussed. I had considered myself a competent user of the Internet; I know how to use search engines, I use email regularly, and have my favourite sites bookmarked. Jill's presentation made me realize how much more was out there, and that a lot of it could be very useful in the English classroom and beyond. But if I was so Internet savvy, and so were many other educators, what was keeping us from using the web in these ways? I realized that there are some practical barriers to that kind of knowledge base for many educators and parents. Time is a major barrier. Most of us don't have the time it takes to find these sites, figure out how to use them, and then actually join in at least semi-regularly. Access to hardware is another barrier for teachers; how can we teach Internet safety when many computer labs are too small for individual and sometimes even paired access, or have outdated computers with very slow connections, or are simply unavailable because other classes have priority? Finally, many teachers might use these sites on their own time, but when it comes to planning how to integrate Internet literacy into the curriculum, many teachers are simply at a loss. We need some guidance from those who understand both technology and curriculum.

So what can we do? One possible way to deal with the barrier of time is to connect with some interested colleagues (from anywhere-this is the Internet we're talking about!) and share your experiences with only one or two web communities in a kind of jigsaw. Teachers might get around limited access to computer labs by creating their own web-based community, so students can use the Internet on their own time, at home or in the library. For example, on-line literature circles could work; many school districts have their own intranet and can set up a conference with student access. Some districts have mobile laptop labs (and technical assistance), which can make computer-based projects a possibility for classroom teachers. Above all, teachers need training and support. Districts might consider giving workshops on the basics of Internet literacy communities. Most schools have at least one person who is Internet-savvy; that person may be able to get some release time to work with interested staff members. Regardless of our own concerns about technology, teachers are working with a generation that sees computers as part of daily life, and that includes literacy. We need to make the effort to get "with it" so we can ensure our students and children are navigating safely and effectively through this territory.

Ashley House  

Ashley teaches Intermediate French Immersion at Trafalgar Elementary School. She is currently completing her Masters of Arts in Curriculum Studies at UBC with a focus in critical pedagogies and collaborative research with youth.

 

I believe that one of the most inspiring aspects of teaching is the brilliant questions and comments that students make throughout the day. In my six years as a teacher and through my graduate research with students in intermediate elementary, I have found a knowing, humour and insight in these questions and comments such as:

Are we going to study depressing topics all year? If this is going on then why isn’t anyone stopping it? If our actions didn’t stop the problem, why did we do it? I guess I kind of divide the world into the school world and the real world. Do what you think is right, even if it’s not right.

The comments and questions that are voiced in the classroom underscore how students demonstrate not only the ability to critically consider the world, but also a willingness and capacity to act in ways that seek to address issues they find meaningful. The focus on metacognition in the new English Language Arts Integrated Resource Package (IRP) is a hopeful springboard for thinking about thinking in the socially just classroom. In this article I will describe a social justice pedagogy founded in inquiry, criticality and praxis (ICP) that meets the curriculum goals and description of a “good thinker” represented in the new English Language Arts IRP. The social justice pedagogy I am proposing places student wonder questions and interests at the center (inquiry), focuses on developing critical thinking skills and awareness of how who we are influences how we see the world (criticality)and fosters student activism and reflection on the action throughout the unit (praxis). In my experience, when we, students and teachers, practice inquiry, criticality and praxis, inspiring, transformative and brilliant thoughts and actions emerge from the classroom.

Social justice is a term that is used so often in our work that its meanings are abundant and therefore nebulous at times. In my mind, the social justice classroom values students’ lived histories, experiences and knowledge. The social justice classroom is hopeful, kind and visionary and has as a priority the development of skills for meaningful interpersonal and intrapersonal interactions within a community of caring. This learning space demonstrates active redress of intolerance, prejudice and discrimination. One goal of the social justice curriculum is the nurturing of students’ ability to talk back to the world through a justice orientation with personal, local and/or global foci. Teaching through social justice creates a community of inquiry and is activist oriented. Finally a social justice curriculum underscores the complexity of issues while ensuring an awareness of possibilities for transformative action directed at the historical, social, economic and political systems that support injustice (Bigelow et al., 1994; Kumashiro, 2004; Meyers, 1993; Westheimer, 2005). I believe that to begin teaching for social justice we need to think about our thinking, and further, that the new ELA curriculum offers possibilities for this work. I think that a social justice pedagogy framed through student inquiry, criticality and praxis meets not only the goals of the English Language Arts IRP, but also offers possibilities for students to engage in meaningful and authentic learning wherein, as Ghandi advises, they can be the change they see in the world. The table below demonstrates the parallels between a social justice pedagogy founded in inquiry, criticality and praxis(ICP) and the IRP’s description of the curriculum goals as they relate to “good” thinking.

Initiating the Butterfly Effect

The project “In Search of the Butterfly Effect” and the activities described below seek to promote student inquiry, criticality and praxis through engaging students in critically considering the world, identifying a social justice issue that is meaningful for them, questioning their relationship to the issue, imagining actions that may transform the issue, initiating the actions, and reflecting on their outcomes. The skills associated with the “good thinker” and the curriculum goals described in the English Language Arts IRP create opportunities for students and teachers to practice inquiry, criticality and praxis. This project has resulted in actions ranging from bake sales, to silence-a-thons, to jewellery and bubble tea afternoons, to origami challenges, to garage sales, all with the intention of raising awareness and funds to support initiatives that students support. It has included the creation of hundreds of book marks, letters to the editor, petitions to the government, newsletters, websites, surveys, conversations and skits to raise awareness in federal, local and school communities. The following is an example of a possible sequence of lessons for a unit practising the ideals of a social justice classroom and the skills of a “good thinker”.

In Search of the Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect is a meteorological theory created by Edward Lorenz, which proposes that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Texas could produce a hurricane half way around the world in Brazil. This metaphor represents a world where everyone and everything is connected. The actions of one individual can stir up global change of hurricane proportions in the world. Following is an outline of essential questions for the unit. The unit was not limited to these questions alone. Further the essential questions were not posed following this sequence but were posed and revisited throughout the unit.

What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it! Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. ~ Goethe

In this term-long unit, we begin by building community through team building activities, creative writing assignments and the identification of our common values as a classroom community. Following this stage we develop our understanding of the Butterfly Effect through studying examples of youth who have acted to change social injustice. Next we practise criticality and reflection through critical reading of text and self. Finally, we get to what students refer to as the “juicy” part and social justice actions are planned and initiated. Student and teacher practise praxis throughout the project by actively reflecting on our reading of the world, our understanding of ourselves and our social justice actions.

Inquiry

The inquiry-based approach is a teaching technique where students are challenged to generate questions that direct the curriculum. Lessons are designed so that students make connections to previous knowledge and experience, bring their own questions to learning, investigate to satisfy their own questions through all subject areas and design ways to try out their ideas and possible solutions (International Baccalaureate Program, 2006). Farr-Darling and Wright’s (2004) description of a community of inquiry demonstrates the critical component of a reflective inquiry-based approach. They suggest that in a community of inquiry, there is: an acceptance that knowledge is subject to change, an awareness of and empathy for alternative points of view, a tolerance for ambiguity, a required scepticism of text, and an openness to questions.

Hursh and Ross (2000) suggest that when “students and teachers together raise questions about issues important to their lives – such questions about student racial, gender and class identities or about local community issues” – greater social, historical and political issues in the world gain importance (p.10). Through a reflective inquiry-based approach, curriculum is not only relevant and appropriate for the unique identities and realities of the students we work with but also to the worlds within which we live.

In the classroom, student inquiry may take the form of discussion, wonder questions, collaborative brainstorming and creative writing to determine where student interest and experience lie. The curriculum goals that are described as promoting student comprehension and response to oral and written language in critical, creative and articulate ways; student development of a continuously increasing understanding of self and others; and student communication of ideas, information and feelings in critical, creative and articulate ways (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2006, p.10) may all be addressed through an inquiry model. Examples of creative writing prompts that have supported our explorations of identity are described at the end of this article in the appendix Teacher Guide #1 – Creative Writing Exploring Identity.

Criticality

I suggest that teaching for criticality and “good” thinking are not only important aspects of literacy but also ensure that educational institutions move beyond a passive prescribed learning model towards thinking strategies founded in crisis, collaboration and caring. Kumashiro’s (2004) notion of crisis calls for an abandonment of neutrality and argues that knowledge must be made problematic, disrupted and acknowledged as partial. Kumashiro states that only through discomfort or resistance will we grow and learn. I interpret the new English Language Arts IRP as reflecting this priority in its description of a “good thinker” as being honest with self, identifying assumptions and points of view that shape our thinking and looking for both connections and inconsistencies among our ideas.

Henderson and Kesson define the two additional elements that contribute to my understanding of criticality as applied in a social justice pedagogy: collaboration and caring. Collaboration represents the need for whole schools and communities to dialogue and encounter differences meaningfully. Finally, caring means framing classes as inclusive and non-competitive. If we are to practice the reflective honesty and critical thinking required for this work, collaboration and caring are essential components of learning communities that can work together to initiate the change they require for their worlds.

In a classroom this may involve critically reading texts, reflecting on our identities, deconstructing text and looking for relationships between who we are and where our interests lie. We practice critical reading of fiction in order to begin to converse about the complex nature of identity. We apply critical reading strategies to non-fiction in preparation for researching the social justice issues that form our Butterfly Effect project. Finally, we explore the relationship of our identities to the social justice issues that we have chosen.

Following this article are examples of some of the activities we employed in class to critically engage with our work. The first entitled Student Handout #1 – Multiple Identities, Student Handout #2 – Critical thinking about… and Student handout #3 – Deconstructing Text are used in class to foster discussion and reflection on identity, student and teacher assumptions about the social justice issues that are being researched and critical reading of the texts that provide information on the issues in question. Student handout #4 - The problem we will unleash the Butterfly Effect on is… has as a goal to provide opportunities for students to explore how the issue they have chose relates to their lives and who they are. The intention is to further uncover assumptions and relationships to the issue in an attempt to underscore how local and global issues affect all people.

Praxis

Freire (1977/2000) defines praxis as “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it” (p. 51). Reflection entails inquiry and criticality to determine what is meaningful to us, how we are positioned relative to social justice issues, and how we understand the discourses that surround them. Henderson and Kesson (2004) state that praxis is almost always identified in the doing. … In education the word praxis is usually used to signify the integration of critical inquiry into teacher’s reflective practice. Critical inquiry involves looking at the big picture, the social, economic and political context of issues (p. 52).

Praxis moves us from the initial step of reflection toward the essential component of action in order to achieve transformation. In praxis there is always a return to reflection post action. This approach seeks to ensure that learning is ongoing and does not come to a close with the completion of a project. To this end, there is an ongoing reflection during the work of the Butterfly Effect project and following its completion. Student handout #5 - Check-In and Student handout #6 - Check-In in the appendix are examples of the reflections the students complete.

Assessment

The nature of a social justice approach to teaching requires just assessment practices. Fragnoli and Mathison (2006), Case (1999) and Singer (1997) argue that good assessment includes both performance and authentic forms, engages students in self-assessment, and develops motivation and metacognitive strategies that foster self-reflection and decision making. For the purposes of this unit my framework for assessment was largely informed by these theorists and is described in Case's (1999) four principles of assessment. The four purposes are focussing on what really matters, providing valid indications, using assessment to support learning and using teacher time efficiently. Case defines authentic assessment as measuring the real, actual or genuine thing. He argues that educators should seek:

• To achieve greater authenticity ~ assessment should measure the educational goals that are most valued (critical thinking, problem solving) as opposed to what is easiest to measure.
• To support learning ~ assessment should be used to determine how to best support student learning. For example, student generated criteria, self and peer evaluation.
• To ensure fairness to all students ~ provide students with an opportunity to show what they know as opposed to what they are expected to recall.
• To use teacher time efficiently ~ assessment should be efficient and take a reasonable amount of time.

In our classroom, assessment tools included the BC Performance Standards for Writing, the Assessment of Critical Thinking Challenge as seen in the appendix, self and peer assessments of group work and the Check-ins presented earlier. Assessment was framed as an opportunity for feedback and celebration of work. These tools were presented in either a partial form and then completed in discussion with the class or generated with the class. For example, students received a copy of the Fully Meets Expectations column of the performance standards and in small groups and then as a class were asked to complete the Meets Expectations and/or Exceeds Expectations column. Alternatively, the development of the assessment tool for group work resulted entirely from class discussion. The check-ins and work on identity were not assessed as they represented personal and at times anonymous reflection. In the interest of formative assessment and maintaining consistency with Case’s purposes, the assessment tools and the form of the final demonstrations of learning were diverse and developed in collaboration with students. Further, the assessment tools are used multiple times and were employed by the teacher, peers and self throughout the project.

Final Thoughts

The problem of how to live and teach for social justice is relevant to our educational systems because the choices we make as educators ultimately determine the kind of society we will help to create. If our classrooms are to be spaces where citizens engage in imagining, realizing and rethinking social injustice then a curriculum focussed on teaching to “good” critical and reflective thinking is in my estimation useful and hopeful. A pedagogy framed in inquiry, criticality and praxis invites students to ask troubling questions and analyze their locations and the societal structures relevant to them through a social justice framework. In nurturing “good thinkers”, spaces are generated in the curriculum where students may engage in social justice actions that are meaningful and authentic.

The activities and projects listed here are not intended to be recipes for teaching and may represent, for many, ideas that have long been established in pedagogy. However, my hope is that they are productive in generating conversations regarding how, as educators, we can use this new curriculum grounded in thinking about our thinking to foster student inquiry, critical consideration of the world and reflection on actions that seek to transform the world. The English Language Arts Integrated Resource Package represents an opportunity for working from within the curriculum to challenge our position, assumptions, and thinking so that schools and classrooms might become “laboratories for a more just society” (Bigelow, 1994, p. 4). I believe that this is the single most significant reason for education.

Appendices

Teacher Guide # 1 - Creative Writing Exploring Identity

These writing prompts explore student identity and provide an opportunity for the teacher and student peers to learn about and honour each other. For each writing prompt we use a creative writing process. The process is a compilation of writing ideas from Liisa House, Linda Christensen and Nanci Atwell.

An abbreviated description of the process is as follows: Initially students brainstorm ideas about the prompt and share them with a peer. Next, they free write in response to the prompt. Following completion of the free write, students highlight their 10 -15 most powerful lines and share them aloud in the class through a voice collage. Next, the students write each powerful line on its own line on a sheet of paper. This is known as the skeleton. The students then add sensory detail, similes and metaphors. After peer editing sessions, the students have an “Oooh, I’m good!” Gallery Walk, at which point their work is posted around the room and their teacher and peers write compliments on post it notes. The students are then asked to reflect on their pieces and the pieces of great writing they have read in the gallery walk and are assigned a final draft of their piece.

 

WRITING PROMPTS

1) I AM FROM – Students might use the line ‘I am from’ to consider what items, memories, historical events, family members or friends have formed who they are today. This writing prompt draws on the use of metaphor and hyperbole. They are encouraged to make the piece sound like home. Previous student work has focused on:

- geographic origins representing the journey travelled to come to Canada.

- items found in their yard or neighbourhood (dog bones, plants, forts...).

- names of relatives or friends.

- memories, events, daily habits.

- sayings that they have heard throughout their childhood.

- foods or dishes that represent their lives. - objects representing personal histories.

- languages spoken. - personal or family traditions.

Adapted from Christensen (2001)

2) THE POWER OF A NAME – Students consider how names have power, tell a story and may reveal power relationships through detailing how they were named. I begin with asking students to consider geographic locations and how the naming of them tells their story. For example – The Queen Charlotte Islands now reclaimed as the Haida Gwaii tells the story of colonization and the endurance of the Haida culture. Previous student work has focussed on:

- the meaning of student names.

- the source of the name be it geographical, a friend or family member or a coincidence.

- the rationale for choosing the name.

- the sound and/or shape of a name. Adapted from Christensen (2003)

3) MAPPING MEMORY – Students generate a map of their neighbourhood, head or hearts as a brainstorming approach to writing creatively about self. They share three stories from three locations on their maps with a peer and choose to write a free verse poem addressing one. This creates an opportunity for students to share a memory or personal story with the class.

Adapted from Liisa House and Nancie Atwell

Professional Resources

Social Justice ■ www.rethinkingschools.org ■ www.bctf.ca ■ www.investinakinderworld.com ■ www.actsofkindness.org/

Poverty ■ www.fosterparentsplan.ca (global poverty) ■ www.unicef.org/voy (global poverty) ■ www.oxfam.ca (fair trade + poverty) ■ www.freethechildren.com (child labour + poverty)

Human Rights ■ www.pch.gc.ca/progs/multi/index_e.cfm (diversity) ■ www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/ online_hate/protect_child_hate.cfm (racism) ■ www.chrf.ca  Canadian Human Rights Foundation ■ www.unac.org United Nations Association of Canada ■ www.amnesty.ca Amnesty Canada ■ www.equalitytoday.org Equality Today Electronic Magazine, Young People’s Press ■ www.hrw.org Human Rights Watch

Environment ■ www.cida.ca Canadian International Development Agency (Geography + International Development) ■ www.davidsuzuki.org David Suzuki (The Nature Challenge) ■ www.eya.ca - Environmental Youth Alliance ■ eartheasy.com/article_enviro_sites_kids.htm (list of environmental websites for kids)

Climate Change – 45 second video ■ https://webmail.vsb.bc.ca/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL= whatcounts.com/t?ctl=190CD0C:54C20EC0780B6DD1 DF5C930127F6316CFDF24EE4C9629B8B

Portraits of Mass Consumption – Chris Jordan ■ https://webmail.vsb.bc.ca/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL= http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=7

Sites featuring social justice initiatives by youth

■ www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17665.htm (Severn Suzuki) ■ www.vancourier.com/issues02/052102/ news/052102nn10.html (Vantech Secondary) ■ www.vsb.bc.ca/NR/rdonlyres/8B3DD43E-C8EC-472D- 8F47-C1D2D6CCF571/0/CitySchoolsspring2006.pdf (King George Secondary, Dickens Elementary, Point Grey Secondary and VSB) - GO to page 4J ■ www.freethechildren.com/aboutus/index.html (The Kielburger Brothers) ■ myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp? hero=Iqbal (Iqbal Masih) ■ www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp? hero=htaylor_canada_06 (Hannah Taylor) ■ myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp? hero=RYAN_HRELJAC (Ryan Hreljac)

 

Student Resources

Environment

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss The TRUAX by NOFMA Woodflooring Manufacturer’s Association available free online at www.nofma.org

Gender, Self Image The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein (story book) The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch (story book) Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (novel) Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (novel) Dove evolution film http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

Children’s Rights Hanna’s Suitcase by Karen Levine (novel) Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr (short novel) White Jade Tiger by Julie Lawson

Poverty If the World were a Village by David Smith (picture book) Iqbal by Francesco D’Adamo (novel) The Arrival by Shaun Tan (graphic novel)

 

References

Atwell, N. (2002). Lessons that change writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2006). Orientation to the English language arts K to 7 IRP. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/elak7short.pdf

Bigelow, B. (1994). Creating classrooms for equity and social justice. In B. Bigelow, et al. (Eds.), Rethinking our classrooms: Teaching for equity and justice (pp. 4-5). Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools Publications.

Case, R., & Clark, P. (1999). Four purposes of citizenship education. In R. Case & P. Clarke (Eds.), The Canadian anthology of social studies (pp. 17 - 40). Burnaby, BC: Simon Fraser University Press.

Christensen, L. (2001). Where I'm from: inviting student's lives into the classroom. Rethinking our Classrooms. Willinston, VT: Rethinking Schools. Ltd.

Christensen, L. (2003). Writing Up, Rising Up. Willinston, VT: Rethinking Schools. Ltd.

Farr Darling, L. & Wright, I. (2004). Critical thinking and the "social" in social studies. In A. Sears & I. Wright (Eds.), Challenges and prospects for Canadian social studies. (pp. 247 - 258). Vancouver, BC: Pacific Educational Press.

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.). New York: Continuum. (Original work published in 1977)

Harrison, J., Smith N. and Wright, I. (1999) (Eds) Critical challenges in social studies for upper elementary students. Richmond, BC: The Critical Thinking Cooperative.

Henderson, J., & Kesson, K. (2004). Curriculum wisdom: Educational decisions in democratic societies. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

House, L. (2004). In my backyard: Stores of identity, community, and curriculum through creative writing. Unpublished master's thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Hursh, D. W., & Ross, E. W. (2000). Democratic social education: Social studies for social change In D.W. Hursh & E.W. Ross (Eds.), Democratic social education: Social studies for social change (pp. 1-22). New York: Routledge Falmer.

International Baccalaureate Program. (2006). Inquiry at the IB middle years program. Retrieved on November 6, 2006, from www.ibo.org/myp/slidec.cfm

Kumashiro, K. (2004). Against common sense: Teaching and learning toward social justice. New York: Routledge.

Meyers, M. (1993). Teaching to Diversity: Teaching and learning in a multi-ethnic classroom. Toronto, ON: Irwin Publishing.

Westheimer, J. (2005). Democratic dogma: There is no one-size-fits-all approach to schooling for democracy. Canadian Issues Magazine. September, 25-39.