Literacy Matters - Vol 21 - Winter 2021

social justice education values. Educators must be willing to be uncomfortable, listen, check their assumptions, take risks, speak up, and teach all students about racism and its implications. Racial literacy is a collection of skills that “probe the existence of racism and examine the effects of race and institutionalized systems on their experiences and representation in US society” (Sealey-Ruiz, 2013, p. 386). Racial literacy urges educators to take a close look at an institutionalized system like school and examine it for how its structure affects students of color (Sealey-Ruiz, 2013). Educators who develop racial literacy can discuss with their students and with each other the implications of race and the adverse effects of racism in ways that can potentially transform their teaching and develop the critical consciousness of their students. Teachers and Racial Literacy Development Teachers play a significant role when talking about race in connection with literature in the classroom. Although teachers play a significant role, some teachers are unprepared and feel uncomfortable talking about race. While at the same time, there are teachers who are comfortable and knowledgeable about facilitating meaningful conversations about race in the classroom (Wetzel & Rogers, 2015; Milner, 2017). Research has found some teachers are prepared to hold discussions about race in the classroom using literature (Thomas, 2015). Feeling comfortable and confident as a teacher, talking about race and racism, is vital to your work as an educator. Having these conversations might result in educators feeling a little discomfort when discussing topics they may not agree with or feel uncomfortable discussing. Thomas (2015) points out teachers need to reflect on their race, culture, and ethnicity and their respect for others whose race, culture, and ethnicity differ from their own to be ready to teach using literature, books, movies, or poetry that portrays racism. As adults and teachers, educators have to be honest with themselves before engaging in discussions with others, especially students. It is hard to promote cultural diversity, social justice, and the acceptance of differences in the classroom when the teacher has not done the internal work to address their own biases. Therefore, educators must ask themselves the following reflective questions as suggested by Villegas and Lucas (2007): (a) Am I willing to share my lived experiences related to race and racism and make my vulnerability and discomfort accessible to my students?; (b) Am I unfamiliar with or unaware of the funds of knowledge and strengths of my students’ cultural or linguistic aspects of their lives? If not, how do I understand my students’ approaches to learning?; and (c) How do I examine/identify my personal beliefs and biases and how they influence my teaching? Examining/identifying beliefs and biases is a powerful tool in disrupting the tendency to make assumptions from reliance on our personal experiences to make sense of students’ lives. This unreflective habit often results in misinterpretations of those students’ experiences and leads to miscommunication (Villegas and Lucas, 2007).

Using literacy instruction to address racial illiteracy can empower teachers and students to start and continue vital conversations on inequality and encourage social justice advocacy in the classroom (Sealey-Ruiz, 2013). It is essential for teachers who use literature to talk about differences and to be aware of biases, and denounce prejudices or hate rhetoric in the classroom (Wetzel & Rogers, 2015). When students can read books about relevant topics or connect to them, they will be willing to have more discussions on those topics (Sealey-Ruiz, 2017). It may be hard for readers to relate to another race, but through critical literacy and intentional dialogue, the opportunity to engage in difficult topics may present itself. When students are more engaged and motivated to learn, they are more likely to comprehend the material and think more critically about the material. Consequently, critical literacy is a vehicle for students to think analytically and critically about a text. Critical literacy challenges the reader to look at the text through multiple viewpoints and answer questions that disrupt the common narrative or single truth shared by the text (Ciardello, 2004). Critical literacy is a great way to promote social justice in the classroom (Ciardello, 2004). This can be achieved by using literature circles in the classroom setting. The next paragraph will discuss literature circles and how literature circles can promote critical literacy through a race lens and encourage racial literacy and thinking analytically and critically about texts. Literature Circles Critical literacy curricula today address important societal issues. Cervetti, Pardeles, and Damico (2001) posit that critical pedagogy, designed to focus on controversial issues, such as race, gender, class, and politics, can best be achieved in a classroom with students of diverse cultures. Also, teachers who practice critical literacy bring the social injustices and cultural differences to the forefront of their literacy curriculum, so literacy is viewed as a social issue (Ciardiello, 2004). These practitioners are concerned with raising awareness for whom the audience was intended, who plays a dominant role, and whose voices are missing in a socially stratified world. Teachers of critical literacy offer a student-centered classroom that focuses on dialogue. Dialogue is crucial, for it is the vehicle by which students can discover their voice and begin to question who has power and who benefits from the power (Comber, 2001). Finally, critical literacy fosters a classroom culture that is supportive and student- centered so students can re-envision their world, discover their voices, and create a more caring, respectful society (Ciardiello, 2004). Consequently, teachers can use literature circles to help students engage in dialogue and critically analyze texts. What exactly are literature circles? Literature circles are small groups of student structured reading groups usually for reading and discussing fiction or nonfiction texts at all grade levels across the curriculum. Literature circles often combine collaborative learning and independent reading while also encouraging engagement with a text. Simply defined, literature circles are student-led discussion groups of three to six kids who choose and read the same article, book, or novel (Daniels,

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