English Language Arts as an Emancipatory Subject International Perspectives on Justice and Equity in the English Classroom

Part I: Establishing English as an Emancipatory Subject

1. Knowing the Subject, Knowing its History: Examining Key Figures in English who Contributed to its Emancipatory Nature
Claire Jones and Trish Dowsett

2. English as an Emancipatory Subject in England: A Historical Perspective, 1875-2024
Andy Goodwyn

3. English Teaching for Democratic Futures: The Role of Language, Literacy and Literature in Developing Creative and Critical Thinkers
Stewart Riddle, Nathan Lowien and Georgina Barton

4. The English Language Emerging as an Identity for Migrants and Refugees
Linda Enow and Karima Kadi-Hanifi

5. Describing the World with Our Students in it: ELA and the Power of ‘Recognition’
Katie Dunbar, Maryam Jan, Chloe Watterson, Nicole Dingwall and Victoria Elliott

Part II: Reconfiguring the Curriculum of Emancipatory English

6. Teaching English to Nurture Social Imagination in the Early Years of Schooling: Emancipation versus Constraints
Robyn Ann Ewing AM and John Nicholas Saunders

7. English, Literature and Questions of Emancipation: What does Literature Offer?
Wayne Sawyer, Jacqueline Manuel and Cal Durrant

8. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion through Children’s Literature in Higher Education
Kalsoom Akhtar, Michael Amess, Beth Marley, Catherine O’Leary and Emily Wingfield

9. Making English Good and Right: Curriculum Reform in Aotearoa New Zealand
Derek Shafer and Claudia Rozas-Gómez

10. The Power of English Within and For the Lives of Migrant and Refugee Students
Sarah Williams and Annmarie Jackson

11. Rurality, Writing and English: Spatial Justice for Rural Students through English Teaching and Writing Pedagogy
Jennifer Dove

12. Transitioning from Critical Literacy to the Ecocritical
Terry Locke

Part III: Emancipatory English in Practice

13. Cultivating Critical Thinking Through Canonical and Non-Canonical Texts: Using a Social Justice Framework to Shape Curriculum and Instruction
Michelle L. Hock and Leighann N. Pennington

14. Applying Country-Centred Place Pedagogies to Include All Learners in English
Jessica Scarcella and Cathie Burgess

15. The Dignity of Choice: Independent Reading’s Emancipatory Potential as an Instructional Practice
Josh Thompson, Lisa Vaught, Xavier Gitre, AnnaMarie Huff, Molly McPherson and Aayush Patodiya

16. Ungrading for Social Justice: De-Centering Grades, Inequity, and White Supremacy
Lindsey Ives and Mike P. Cook

17. Recovering Truth-Seeking Ethical Pedagogies for the Literature Classroom in a Post-Truth Age
Farah Fazirah Vierra, Nah Dominic and Suzanne S. Choo

18. Shaping Identities: How Marginalized Students Harness Discourse to Reclaim Power in English Language Arts
Paul Riser

19. “I Make it What I Want”: Cultivating Fugitive Spaces of Acceptance and Resistance for Minoritized Students in the ELA Classroom
Marcus North, Asia Thomas Uzomba and Brooks Salter

Part IV: Teachers of Emancipatory English

20. Possibilities and Practicalities: English Teachers and Their Creation of Spaces for Students’ Voices and Agency
Kerry-Ann O’Sullivan

21. U.S. Teachers, Book Bans, and Sustaining the Self in the Southern Discourse
Alexa Muse

22. From Teacher to Teacher Educator: Developing an Anti-Racist, Anti-Biased Stance Kristen Hawley Turner

23. Reflection and Liberation: The Reimagination of an English Methods Course
Madison Gannon and Jennifer Ervin

Biography

Andrew Goodwyn is President of the International Federation for the Teaching of English and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. He is also Emeritus Professor, The University of Reading, UK.

Jacqueline Manuel is Professor of English Education, Sydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, Australia.

Cal Durrant is retired Associate Professor in English Curriculum and Director of the Literacy Research Hub, Australian Catholic University, Australia.

Wayne Sawyer is Emeritus Professor, School of Education, Western Sydney University, Australia.

Marshall George is Olshan Professor of Clinical Practice, Hunter College, City University of New York, USA.

Melanie Shoffner is Professor of English Education, James Madison University, USA.