TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose This paper aims to consider how students and teachers engaged in political work in their design and enactment of critical literacy workshops in one US elementary school facing pressures of accountability and standardization.Design/methodology/approach As a collaborative team of university researchers and classroom teachers, the authors used a qualitative, thematic approach to analyze data collected across a two-year, ethnographic case study.Findings Drawing on Janks’ (2012) conceptualization of p/Politics, this analysis identified three ways in which teachers approached their teaching politically: constructing flexible and broad definitions of readers and writers; blurring hierarchies between teachers, students and texts; and viewing literacy as a tool of power. In addition to elaborating on these themes, the findings illustrate how these political teaching practices supported students’ engagement with explicitly Political topics.Originality/value The era of Trump and “fake news” calls for people to not only start discussions about important social issues but also be able to engage in these discussions diplomatically and critically – in other words, to not only respond to the world but also to reconstruct it (Luke, 2004) and to imagine it better (Greene, 1995). This study offers a timely examination of ways to reshape reading and writing workshops in more critical ways, helping to prepare students for participation in the civic, career and personal worlds within and beyond school.
VL  - 17
IS  - 1
SN  - 1175-8708
DO  - 10.1108/ETPC-06-2017-0100
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-06-2017-0100
AU  - Land Charlotte L.
AU  - Taylor Laura A.
AU  - Lavender Haylee
AU  - McKinnon Barbara
PY  - 2018
Y1  - 2018/01/01
TI  - Making space for choice, voice and critique: critical literacy workshop in the era of Trump
T2  - English Teaching: Practice & Critique
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 28
EP  - 43
Y2  - 2024/04/16
ER  -