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A story that Robert told in class during this research exposes the tension of simultaneously studying literacy and identity when submission and control are also processes at work in the story. There are two pieces of this story. In the first part of the story, Robert relates the narrative. The second part consists of the details of the story he told. Both pieces can be used to illustrate different elements of the tension between studying literacy and identity as a single construct labeled literate identity. In addition to suggesting a metaphor for literacy and identity, Robert's story navigates the constructs of submission and control that Wong (2008) discusses in terms of the aesthetic of motivation. The tension between submission and control when coupled with an exploration of literacy and identity has implications for the notions of resistance to literacy in the field of boys' literacy as well as the being and doing of literacy for the boys in this study.Our class began with the students congratulating Robert on his storytelling. When I inquired further, I found out that Robert had started to tell the legend of Cupid and Psyche in a previous class, but he had run out of time. The rest of the students expressed interest in hearing the story, either for the first time, or to know the end. Initially, his telling ebbed and flowed. He apologized for his lack of fluency and explained he was trying to provide us the parts of the story we would find the most interesting. Eventually he settled into a rhythm and finished 50 minutes later. (Reconstructed field note, December 2009)

This study, carried out in the bilingual and bicultural border area of South Texas, is an exploration of bilingual preservice teachers’ identity formation and their experiences and beliefs about literacy and biliteracy during an undergraduate class focused on learning about emergent literacy in the bilingual classroom. This study is based on a sociocultural approach to learning and identity development, and research that explores how bilingual teachers’ identity is shaped through their participation in cultural and linguistic practices. The purpose of this practitioner research is to provide insights into preservice teachers’ identities as they start to explore literacy and biliteracy practices. Two research questions guide the study: What experiences about literacy and biliteracy development do prospective teachers identify as meaningful? How do these experiences contribute to define bilingual preservice teachers’ identities? Findings indicate that bilingual preservice teachers’ identities are shaped by cultural and linguistic experiences that define the bilingual and bicultural dynamics of the region. Two predominant types of experiences impact bilingual preservice teachers’ beliefs about teaching, learning, and literacy/biliteracy development. Particularly significant in defining their perceptions are the lessons learned from meaningful others – especially mothers and teachers – and certain relevant memories regarding effective practices they experienced when learning to read and write. Implications for teacher education preparation of bilingual teachers are identified.

This chapter examined the lived experiences of first generation Asian immigrant student activists, who waged a powerful struggle against school violence in a large urban high school. Their struggle resisted the hegemonic practices of the district bureaucracy around racial harassment, bullying, and treatment of immigrant students, especially English Language Learners (ELLs). Mobilizing both inside and outside of school, the student activists initiated legal action, organized among their high school peers and in the Asian community, and disrupted dominant discourses about the Asian community and the abilities of first generation immigrant youth.

Using ethnographic methods such as interviews, focus groups, and analysis of archival data, the author focused on four student leaders from working class backgrounds, examining the identities and literacies they developed in the process of understanding the power dynamics between dominant institutions and racialized communities. Moreover, using the lenses of Bourdieusian and Freirean social theory, this qualitative study looked at the roles that culture and ideology, broadly construed, played in the young people’s political development and their post-secondary trajectories. This work also built on the work of Shawn Ginwright, Julio Cammarota, and Michelle Fine on youth activism and community change. The significance of this chapter lies in its contribution to the research about the intersectionality of race/ethnicity, class, immigration status, and youth activism, in particular for first generation immigrant youth.

The goal of this chapter is to address the importance of helping teachers develop an understanding of LGBTQ+ issues and ways to create inclusive classrooms for LGBTQ+ students with particular attention to how LGBTQ+ identities/experiences can be valued and visible through literary and literacy practices. The issues addressed in this chapter are grounded in queer theory and intersectionality, which provide a space for challenging heteronormative environments in many schools as well as acknowledging the complex intersectionality of diverse identities. This framework is unpacked so readers can see how it supports instructional practices. Theory and literature inform discussion of the move in the literacy profession toward LGBTQ+ -inclusive mindsets and pedagogies. They further inform practical implications and examples provided by the author. A major issue of our time is LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools and the role of teachers in implementing literacy practices that address the needs of LGBTQ+ students and making visible their diverse identities. For the field of literacy, this is evidenced in the revision of Standard 4 Diversity and Equity in the International Literacy Association’s (ILA) Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 (Standards 2017). ILA Standards 2017, which will be released in 2018, require programs preparing literacy professionals to develop candidates’ knowledge of queer theory and literacy practices inclusive of diverse students, with diversity including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Further, ILA Standards 2017 acknowledge intersectionality across forms of diversity and that a rich understanding of diversity improves the quality of teaching and learning within and across classrooms, schools, and communities. This chapter expands on these topics and offers foundational content and resources to help literacy teacher educators, candidates in literacy programs, and other stakeholders to answer this call for building a literacy field that is welcoming, inclusive, and equity-oriented. Developing the knowledge base about LGBTQ+ issues, including theoretical foundations, social justice teaching mindsets, and concrete pedagogical literacy practices that build inclusive classrooms, can be an accessible, meaningful, and fruitful endeavor that will enrich literacy education programs and the learning communities in which literacy professionals work. Teacher educators and teachers can utilize book choices, approaches to classroom discussion and assignments, and school initiatives to build a learning environment that values LGBTQ+ students’ identities and experiences and disrupts heteronormativity in the curriculum. Multiple examples of how this can be done are offered. Understanding intersectionality also helps teacher educators and teachers see how forms of diversity are not silos. Individuals’ identities are comprised of various aspects. The topics discussed in this chapter center on LGBTQ+ issues but are applicable beyond just this scope.

This article presents a case study of Kelly, a third-grade teacher enrolled in a literacy leadership course within a Master of Reading program. In this course, practicing teachers completed an assignment in which they implemented a literacy coaching cycle with a colleague, video-recorded their interaction, and conducted critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the interaction. The authors explore how engaging in CDA influenced Kelly's enactment of professional identities as she prepared to be a literacy leader.

Data presented in this article are taken from a larger study of four white, middle-class teachers enrolled in the course. Data sources included the students' final paper and semistructured interviews. The researchers used qualitative coding methods to analyze all data sources, identify prominent themes, and select Kelly as a focal participant for further analysis.

Findings indicate that Kelly's confidence as a literacy leader grew after participating in the coaching cycle and conducting CDA. Through CDA, Kelly explored how prominent discourses of teaching and learning, particularly those relating to novice and expert status, influenced Kelly in-the-moment coaching interactions.

Previous literacy coaching research suggests that literacy coaches need professional learning opportunities that support a deep understanding of coaching stances and discursive moves to effectively support teachers. The current study suggests that CDA may be one promising method for engaging literacy coaches in such work because it allows coaches to gain understandings about how discourses of teaching and learning function within coaching interactions.

Bourdieu (1986) identified and explained the various forms of capital that exist in a society. He defines capital as “assets that are available for use in the production of further assets” (p. 241). The following explanation of capital provides background for making connections between Bourdieu's forms of capital and the plotlines the boys in this study employ for displaying literate identity.

Set in a Mexican-American community of a US Gulf Coast state, the purpose of this paper was to describe how three young siblings and their family members constructed their spiritual, ethnic and communicative identities within the context of a virtual family literacy program during COVID-19.

This project was approached as an illustrative case study that focused on one family’s engagement with a children’s book in which the protagonists retell the legend of the Catholic patroness of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The case study illustrates how the children's spiritual/religious identities were inseparably intertwined with their home literacy practices and their identities as communicators with others. The children’s everyday spiritual/religious practices, routines and activities motivated familial conversations and dialogue that engage and support children’s literacy development.

Although there is a large corpus of scholarship about secular early literacy program for families with preschool children, there are few that describe the recognition and inclusion of families’ spiritual/religious identities.

Previous research shows that identity and academic learning are interdependent, so affecting one can affect the other. The purpose of this case study was to explore preservice English teachers’ reading identities and their perceptions of reading identity development in the context of English classrooms.

This study used qualitative collective case design. Data sources included analogy exercise about participants’ reading identities, participant-generated observations of reading identity instruction, questionnaire on reading identity, class discussions about reading identity and final written reflection.

Data showed examples of participants’ reading identities as taking a variety of forms, but when discussing what shaped their reading identities, the strongest codes related to positive interactions with people and texts. The data showed that participants related positive reading identities to both reading to learn and reading for pleasure. More participants’ perceived their professional identity as that of a literature teacher than a reading teacher.

Future research is needed on how to support preservice teachers’ positive reading identities in English education courses.

Our data suggest that learning about reading identity may help preservice English teachers think of reading as something that is developing in themselves as well as their students over a lifetime. By providing space in English methods programs to attend to preservice teachers’ reading lives, we can help them rekindle or find their love of reading.

This research is needed because helping preservice teachers construct and enact positive reading identities in turn aids guidance of their future students’ reading identities, and having a positive reading identity is in turn linked to positive student outcomes.

This paper aims to examine critical, college-going identities and literacies of first-generation immigrant youth within a dual enrollment, youth participatory action research seminar.

This study is a qualitative case study drawn from a larger, critical ethnographic study.

Findings illustrate that youth’s multiple literacies, forged in a deliberately intergenerational and relational space, served as a powerful site of analysis as well as a means to disrupt restrictive definitions of success, supporting youth’s worldmaking amidst the construction and negotiation of new and critical “academic” identities grounded in the familial, cultural and historical knowledges that their inquiries surfaced.

This research attends to the transformative power afforded by humanizing collectives that center youth voices and perspectives, specifically those of first-generation immigrant students.

A poem written by Brandon opens space on the literacy landscape for initiating an exploration of the boys' self-positioning in their literate narratives as comedic heroes. This space on the literary landscape outlines the ways in which characters in literature can be positioned when the plot of the story suggests distribution should occur. After exploring how characters function in literature, according to Frye (1957), it is easier to see how the boys use a similar self-positioning in their narratives when literacy is the boon – intended for distribution.The Moon, The Lake, and the LoonLily pads span the shore in a curtain of green,Accented by yellow flowers with watery sheen.In the heart of the lake floats the black speckled loon—guardian and ghost beneath the silver twilight moon.A sea of pine trees shield the outer world awayfrom this inner earth unchanged day by day.The lament of the loon pierces the heart and soul;capt'ring the body and mind beyond control.Leaving haunted beauty, wishing to be back soon.In the land of the moon, the lake, and the loon.(Brandon's in-class assignment, May 2009)