Literacies and Languages for All Summer Institute
2022 Call for Program Proposals
Love in Action: A Commitment to Freedom and Justice
Louisville, Kentucky — July 29–31, 2022
Proposal submission deadline EXTENDED: 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Author, professor, feminist, and social activist bell hooks espoused, “Of all the definitions of love that abound in our universe, a special favorite of mine is ‘the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.’ ” She goes on to explain, “When we understand love as the will to nurture our own and another’s spiritual growth, it becomes clear that we cannot claim to love if we are hurtful and abusive. Love and abuse cannot coexist. Abuse and neglect are, by definition, the opposites of nurturance and care.” bell hooks reminds us that love is a combination of six ingredients: care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect, and trust.
As literacy and English language arts educators and researchers, we all have those moments in our career when we’ve professed our love for the children with whom we work. Most educators who enter the field do. We have all, at one time or another, made statements about our love for the children in our care or our commitment to our chosen profession. Like bell hooks, we believe that love transcends caring about children. We believe that we must not only care about the children in our care but must take intentional actions that are a demonstration of us caring for the children. Our love must be action packed. How we behave and engage as educators and researchers is an expression of that love. We ask you to consider the following questions: What actions do you take as a demonstration of your love? Do your practices honor the children’s cultures and languages? Do your teaching practices and research efforts support the emotional well-being of your students? Are your actions a demonstration of your commitment to equitable practices? Do you regularly engage in self-introspection to outgrow your former professional ways of knowing and doing? How do you build trust and respect for your students and their families and communities? How do you support the literacy efforts of your students? And most importantly, what is the responsibility of our professional organization, LLA, in leading this work?
For the 2022 Literacies and Languages for All Summer Institute, we invite you to consider these questions and many others related to our theme, “Love in Action: A Commitment to Justice.” We look forward to living and learning from and with holistic educators who are experts in cultivating the types of ecosystems where love and justice abounds. We provide this space for you to share how this work is taken up in your local contexts, how you promote justice through your loving actions. We invite proposals from:
- Teachers/researchers who understand what it means to be literate across varied languages and cultures.
- Teachers/researchers who demonstrate their love for students who may be bilingual, multilingual, and monolingual.
- Teachers/researchers who demonstrate their love for their students by ensuring that students’ lived experiences are reflected daily in the curriculum and that the curriculum broadens their knowledge by including multiple voices.
- Teachers/researchers whose demonstration of love is intimately connected to their advocacy work.
- Teachers/researchers who are aware of the sociopolitical context of schooling and work to promote justice by eliminating inequities.
- Teachers/researchers who demonstrate their love by fostering trusting, respectful relationships with students, families, and communities.
- Teachers/researchers who demonstrate their love and care by supporting their own and their students’ social and emotional well-being.
- Teachers/researchers who demonstrate their love by exploring what equitable classroom ecosystems look and feel like and what is required to produce and maintain such continuity.
As bell hooks reminds us, “Without justice there can be no love.”
In addition to other sessions, the NCTE Early Childhood Education Assembly sponsors an early childhood strand pertaining to the education of children from birth to age eight, their families, and teachers. Early literacy sessions also address diversities in early childhood and highlight practices and processes that are situated in social, historical, and cultural contexts.
The Literacies for All Summer Institute is a peer-reviewed conference. All proposals addressing whole language beliefs will be considered. Look for more information about the conference on the LLA website.
Though the criteria for excellence vary to some extent among these groups, some common values are listed here:
Clear and concise proposals—Reviewers value proposals that clearly detail what the presenters will do and what the attendees can expect. They also value proposals that provide concise details about the focus of the presentation and the rational for how this proposal addresses the theme of the conference.
Engaging presentation style—Reviewers value presentations that invite the audience members to actively engage with each other as well as with the presenters.
Relevance to the field of education—Reviewers want to know how a proposal aligns theory, research, and/or practice in the field. They evaluate the significance and relevancy of the presenter’s work to the field of education.
Alignment with the LLA beliefs—Reviewers expect proposals to connect with beliefs of LLA.
Michele Myers
2022 Program Chair and LLA President
Important Dates
- Proposal submission deadline EXTENDED: 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 20, 2022
- Proposal notifications: By May 20, 2022
- Conference dates: July 29–31, 2022
Submitting a Proposal
After logging into the proposal database, please navigate to the “Proposal Submissions” and select 2022 LLA Summer Institute in the “Select Conference” drop-down menu.