The third weekend in November, I attended the 103rd Annual Convention for the National Council of Teachers of English in Boston, Massachusetts (Whew! Try saying that ten times fast!). I attended several panels and was lucky enough to see RIC’s own Dr. Johnson present some of her research. I had never been to a conference before and it sometimes felt a little bizarre. For instance, one of the keynote speakers was Tony Danza. The actor of ‘Who’s the Boss?’ fame had apparently spent a year teaching at an urban school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was coming to tell a bunch of teachers who felt they had their work cut out for them that boy were they right! Whatever. But it looks like teachers really are the tough, resilient type because even with the last minute cancellation from the ‘Taxi’ star, the conference was ultimately really empowering and energizing. Who knew there are hundreds of teachers who hate the 5 paragraph essay as much as I do and have come up with a bunch of great alternatives? My favorite part of NCTE was realizing that there is a whole community of educators who see the work they do as social justice work. Who, if they wrote a book about their experiences would take a little responsibility for their own actions and not title it “I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I’ve Ever Had” (is it chilly in the shade Mr.Danza?). Turns out, these people call themselves social justice teachers and there is a whole body of academic research on the subject. What?! So cool!
The best panel I attended was a roundtable discussion with a teacher who formed a Social Justice Book Club at his Title One middle school (went home and googled Title One….eep there is so much I don’t know!). He selected three 8th grade students who were well liked and had leadership potential. He let them pick 9 more students from the 6th and 7th grades using some simple guidelines. There could not be more than three students of the same ethnic background, and there had to be an even number of males and females (I spy with my little eye actual diversity!). Students then worked together to select books with social justice themes and develop reading schedules. Students discussed topics such as equity vs. equality and why only Title One schools in their area had a standard mode of dress policy. The most awesome thing they did was successfully campaign for more freedoms during their free period. After meeting with the principal and drawing up a contract, 8th graders were awarded more free period privileges. How fun would it be to work with students who call meetings with their principal (and to have a principal who is into that sort of thing)?
Before attending NCTE, I knew that I wanted to create a classroom where social justice was at the heart of my lesson plans and was a topic that was often and openly discussed. However, I didn’t really know what that looked like or how to articulate my thoughts regarding the issue. I still have a long way to go in that department, but NCTE gave me all this new vocabulary and all these new ideas about what it means to be a teacher committed to social justice. For example, I now see the importance of making students realize they can be agentic forces of change in their own lives. To help them see inequity and leave it at that is a great way to create life long cynics, especially in middle school. Since the conference, I feel really excited and hopeful about being able to create a classroom I’ll have a wonderful time teaching in, even I didn’t get a chance to pick up some of Mr.Danza’s pearls of wisdom. It was wonderful to hear teachers talk about the ways their students responded so positively to social justice oriented classrooms. I am once again incredibly eager to get my own classroom and incredibly terrified because there is so much I still don’t know! At least now I am getting in touch with a whole population of like minded educators who can help point me toward some answers when I find myself, as I often do, a bit discombobulated.
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