Submission Deadline: November 1, 2023

Guest coeditors: E. Sybil Durand, Jack Helton, shea wesley martin, and Stephanie Anne Shelton

This special issue, Volume 113, Issue 6, seeks to highlight the complexities, promise, and importance of English language arts (ELA) spaces affirming queer and trans* students’ and teachers’ identities and experiences, especially when such efforts and educational contexts come into tension with anti-LGBTQIA+ practices, policies, and laws.

The 2021 National School Climate Survey by GLSEN (Kosciw et al.) documents enduring and increasing transphobia, heterosexism, and racism through alarming statistics for queer and trans* youth in schools across the nation:

• More than two-thirds (68.0%) of LGBTQ+ students felt unsafe at school because of their SOGIE (sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression) characteristics (xv).
• Over half of all LGBTQ+ students of color experienced in-person victimization based on race/ethnicity (xxviii).
• Over three-quarters (76.1%) of LGBTQ+ students experienced in-person verbal harassment (e.g., being called names or threatened) and 31.2% were physically harassed based on sexual orientation, gender expression, or gender at some point in the past year (xvi).
• These adverse experiences are not limited to student-to-student interactions. Since the beginning of the National School Climate Survey in 2001, a majority of surveyed youth have reported hearing anti-LGBTQ+ remarks from teachers or other staff. Both homophobic remarks and negative remarks about gender expression from teachers or other staff increased significantly in 2021 (115).
• While most forms of discrimination have declined since 2013, specific forms of discrimination based on gender increased in 2021, such as restrictions on the use of names, pronouns, and clothing based on gender (121).

This context of hostility has a significant impact on the intertwined social, mental, and academic well-being of LGBTQ+ youth; youth who experienced discrimination based on their gender expression reported lower levels of belonging, higher rates of depression, and a greater likelihood of missing school than those who did not (xix). We surmise that school conditions have likely worsened for queer and trans* students in states that have proposed and enacted anti-LGBTQIA+ policies and legislation since 2021.

In 2020, English Journal published an issue with the theme of “Affirming LGBTQ+ Identities,” which explored how ELA classrooms might support LGBTQ+ students and foster empathy and compassion through and with learning. In just a few years, there have been substantial sociopolitical shifts that complicate and even work to censor and prohibit practices affirming queer and trans* youth, both inside and beyond school contexts. Additionally, there has been more attention to intersectionality, given how consistently anti-queer and anti-trans* policies and laws are also anti-Black, anti-diversity, and anti-equity. These multiple policies, bills, and laws sometimes even carry provisions to terminate educators at all levels of education who dare to resist these mandates by including queer and trans* topics, supporting LGBTQIA+ students and colleagues, and critiquing intersecting systems of oppression. This issue is especially invested in featuring manuscripts that, in the face of such censorship and regulations, offer moments of hope and resistance.

Within this landscape, ELA is critically important. English language arts provides important opportunities for queer and trans* students and educators “to have their identities and experiences affirmed in the classroom” more consistently than any other content area (Suárez et al. 248). Relatedly, NCTE, English Journal, and ELA teachers continue, despite this ever-shifting and alarming political landscape, working “toward creating a more inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ members and [to affirm] the importance of scholarship that addresses the need for affirming politics and practices in schools and classrooms” (Emert et al. 9).

Some questions for prospective contributors to consider are, but are not limited to:

• What does it look like to enact pedagogies that affirm LGBTQIA+ individuals, particularly in US states with explicitly anti-queer and anti-trans* legislation? How do those efforts specifically support queer and trans* youth of color?
• In what ways do ELA classrooms affirm queer and trans* youth while also decentering whiteness and emphasizing intersectionality?
• How do ELA classrooms engage in intersectional learning for/ about queer and trans* youth while navigating book censorship efforts? How do ELA teachers engage in disruption and subversion of anti-LGBTQIA+ policies and laws, particularly beyond including queer-and trans*-affirming books?
• How are trans* and queer youth and educators affirmed in ELA spaces beyond traditional schooling and classrooms? How can this work inform classroom practice?
• What are queer and trans* ELA teachers’ stories and experiences within these sociopolitical contexts?
• How does theory inform pedagogical practices that support queer and trans* identities and experiences? What can theory do for/to teachers’ practices and thinking?
• How is discomfort useful in educational spaces? Relatedly, how might failure be meaningful in ELA spaces?

Please note: This themed issue’s editors need to acknowledge that, given the sociopolitical realities shaping many ELA teachers’, teacher educators’, students’, and families’ educational and everyday experiences, some authors may not be able to publish while using their own and/or others’ names. In such instances, the editors encourage authors to communicate with the editors, either ahead of time or through their manuscript submission, so that we might support your needs and choices.

Works Cited

Borman Geoffrey D., et al. “A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of Descubriendo la Lectura.” American Educational Research Journal, vol. 57, no. 5 2020, pp 1995–2020, doi.org/3102/0002831219890612.

“CCCC Guideline on the National Language Policy.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, 2015, cccc.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/nationallangpolicy.

“CCCC Statement on Second Language Writing and Multilingual Writers.” Conference on College Composition and Communication 2020, cccc.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/secondlangwriting.

Da Silva Nicole, et al. “NCTE Position Paper on the Role of English Teachers in Educating English Language Learners (ELLs).” National Council of Teachers of English, 6 Mar 2020, ncte.org/statement/teaching-english-ells/.

De los Ríos Cati v., and Seltzer K.. “Translanguaging, Coloniality, and English Classrooms: An Exploration of Two Bicoastal Urban Classrooms.” Research in the Teaching of English, vol. 52, no. 1 2017, pp 55–76. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/44821287.

De los Ríos, Cati V., et al. “Upending Colonial Practices: Toward Repairing Harm in English Education.” Theory Into Practice, vol. 58, no. 4 2019, pp 359–67, doi.org/1080/00405841.2019.1626615.

Herrera L. Y., and España Carla. “Se hace camino al andar: Translanguaging Pedagogy for Justice.” English Journal, vol. 111, no. 5 2022, pp 27–34.

Menken Kate, and Sánchez María Teresa. “Translanguaging in English-Only Schools: From Pedagogy to Stance in the Disruption of Monolingual Policies and Practices.” TESOL Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 3 2019, pp 741–67, doi.org/1002/tesq.513.

Norton B. “Identity, Literacy, and the Multilingual Classrom.” The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and Bilingual Educationedited by May Stephen, Routledge 2014, pp 103–22.

Ortega Lourdes. “Ways Forward for a Bi/Multilingual Turn in SLA.” The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and Bilingual Educationedited by May Stephen, Routledge 2014, pp 32–53.

“Resolution on English-Only Instructional Policies.” National Council of Teachers of English, 30 Nov 2008, ncte.org/statement/englishonlypolicies/.

“Resolution on the Student’s Right to Incorporate Heritage and Home Languages in Writing.” National Council of Teachers of English, 20 Nov 2011, ncte.org/statement/homelanguages/.

Seltzer Kate. “Reconceptualizing ‘Home’ and ‘School’ Language: Taking a Critical Translingual Approach in the English Classroom.” TESOL Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 4 2019, pp 986–1007, doi.org/1002/tesq.530.

Seltzer Kate, and de los Ríos Cati V.. “Understanding Translanguaging in US Literacy Classrooms: Reframing Bi-/ Multilingualism as the Norm.” National Council of Teachers of English2021, ncte.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SquireOfficePolicyBrief_Translanguaging_April2021.pdf.

Stewart Mary Amanda, and Hansen-Thomas Holly. “Sanctioning a Space for Translanguaging in the Secondary English Classroom: A Case of a Transnational Youth.” Research in the Teaching of English, vol. 50, no. 4 2016, pp 450–72.

Emert Toby, et al. “From the Editors.” English Journal, vol. 110, no. 1 2020, pp 9–11.

Kosciw Joseph G., et al. The 2021 National School Climate Survey. GLSEN2022, glsen.org/sites/default/files/2022-10/NSCS-2021-Full-Report.pdf.

Suarez Mario I., et al. “Envisioning Queer Curricula: A Systematic Review of LGBTIQ+ Topics in Teacher Practitioner Literature.” Journal of LGBT Youth, vol. 18, no. 3 2021, pp 239–55.

Submission Deadline: February 1, 2024

Most of us teach students who speak or have exposure to languages other than English because they are heritage, home, or first languages. We teach other students who have acquired a language in addition to English to varying degrees of proficiency through coursework, dual-language programs, or life experiences. In fact, English monolingualism is not the norm, which explains why NCTE has six official documents on its website that provide reasons and guidance for taking a biliteracy, rather than just a literacy, stance in English language arts (ELA) instruction.

For example, NCTE has highlighted the need to support multilingual writers (“CCCC Statement“) by acknowledging that it is a student’s right to use their heritage or home language in their classroom writing (“Resolution on the Student’s Right“). This support can occur through innovative translanguaging approaches to instruction where the teacher can facilitate meaning-making across languages (Seltzer and de los Ríos). Most recently, NCTE’s “Position Paper on the Role of English Teachers in Educating English Language Learners (ELLs)” (Da Silva et al.) has encouraged teachers to invite students’ home languages into the classroom. Undoubtedly, literacies in one language can transfer to another, which is why much early childhood research clearly illustrates the importance of learning to read in the home language (Borman et al.). Highly related to secondary classrooms, Da Silva et al. encourage bilingual mentor texts for writing and multilingual word walls, as well as discussion, reading, note-taking, and journal entries in the home language.

Notably, the authors (Da Silva et al.) correctly state that teachers do not need to speak their students’ languages in order to engage in these translanguaging strategies. Clearly, this position paper highlights that (English) language arts educators are key players in the equitable education of emergent bilinguals, students in the dynamic process of acquiring English as an additional language, also referred to as English learners.

Further, NCTE’s “Resolution on English-Only Instructional Policies” provides clear evidence of various problems with an English-only stance, supported by research on second-language acquisition (Menken and Sánchez; Seltzer ), literacy (de los Ríos et al.), and identity (Norton 104). The “CCCC Guideline on the National Language Policy” illustrates why we must resist ideas of exclusively using English in the English classroom. Indeed, much research suggests there is great academic value in encouraging students to use all their languaging practices for learning (de los Ríos and Seltzer; Stewart and Hansen-Thomas). Although these often-unwritten policies might be well-intentioned, they can actually put students in a linguistic straightjacket (Ortega 33) which inhibits their literacy learning, meaning-making, and ability to engage critically with the ELA content. Thus, English-only policies become counterproductive, inhibiting students’ learning. Finally, CCCC notes that English-only policies are not only oppressive, but also dehumanizing. Language is people. When we prohibit or even unconsciously ignore someone’s languaging practices, we ignore much of who they are, not affirming their full humanity in our classrooms.

Yet many of us cannot see a way out of decades-old English-only policies that might even make sense to us on some levels. How can we include languages other than English in our ELA classroom if we do not speak those languages? What if our classroom has a large number of languages represented by emergent bilinguals, heritage speakers, and other bilinguals?

Certainly, there are many obstacles, yet also promising practices from innovative ELA educators who want to acknowledge multiple languages in their classroom (Herrera and España). For this issue, we want to hear those stories. How do you find out what languages your students possess? How do you invite those languages into the classroom? How do you teach reading or writing through an equity lens that engages all students’ languages? What have you done to teach biliteracy and help students take pride in their language abilities? How have you included monolingual students in these practices, and what has been the outcome? If you have received pushback, how have you defended your multilingual curricular and instructional practices? How have you collaborated with students, families, community members, and colleagues to implement your multilingual ideas?

Works Cited

Borman, Geoffrey D., et al. “A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of Descubriendo la Lectura.” American Educational Research Journal, vol. 57, no. 5, 2020, pp. 1995–2020, doi.org/10.3102/0002831219890612.

“CCCC Guideline on the National Language Policy.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, 2015, cccc.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/nationallangpolicy.

“CCCC Statement on Second Language Writing and Multilingual Writers.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, 2020, cccc.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/secondlangwriting?_gl=1*ajudvz*_ga*MjAyMTQ5MDE5OC4xNjU4Nzg3MTQ2.

Da Silva, Nicole, et al. “NCTE Position Paper on the Role of English Teachers in Educating English Language Learners (ELLs).” National Council of Teachers of English, 6 Mar. 2020, ncte.org/statement/teaching-english-ells/.

De los Ríos, Cati V., and K. Seltzer. “Translanguaging, Coloniality, and English Classrooms: An Exploration of Two Bicoastal Urban Classrooms.” Research in the Teaching of English, vol. 52, no. 1, 2017, pp. 55–76. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44821287.

De los Ríos, Cati V., et al. “Upending Colonial Practices: Toward Repairing Harm in English Education.” Theory Into Practice, vol. 58, no. 4, 2019, pp. 359–67, doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1626615.

Herrera, L. Y., and Carla España. “Se hace camino al andar: Translanguaging Pedagogy for Justice.” English Journal, vol. 111, no. 5, 2022, pp. 27–34.

Menken, Kate, and María Teresa Sánchez. “Translanguaging in English-Only Schools: From Pedagogy to Stance in the Disruption of Monolingual Policies and Practices.” TESOL Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 3, 2019, pp. 741–67, doi.org/10.1002/tesq.513.

Norton, B. “Identity, Literacy, and the Multilingual Classrom.” The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and Bilingual Education, edited by Stephen May, Routledge, 2014, pp. 103–22.

Ortega, Lourdes. “Ways Forward for a Bi/Multilingual Turn in SLA.” The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and Bilingual Education, edited by Stephen May, Routledge, 2014, pp. 32–53.

“Resolution on English-Only Instructional Policies.” National Council of Teachers of English, 30 Nov. 2008, ncte.org/statement/englishonlypolicies/.

“Resolution on the Student’s Right to Incorporate Heritage and Home Languages in Writing.” National Council of Teachers of English, 20 Nov. 2011, ncte.org/statement/homelanguages/.

Seltzer, Kate. “Reconceptualizing ‘Home’ and ‘School’ Language: Taking a Critical Translingual Approach in the English Classroom.” TESOL Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 4, 2019, pp. 986–1007, doi.org/10.1002/tesq.530.

Seltzer, Kate, and Cati V. de los Ríos. “Understanding Translanguaging in US Literacy Classrooms: Reframing Bi-/Multilingualism as the Norm.” National Council of Teachers of English, 2021, ncte.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SquireOfficePolicyBrief_Translanguaging_April2021.pdf.

Stewart, Mary Amanda, and Holly Hansen-Thomas. “Sanctioning a Space for Translanguaging in the Secondary English Classroom: A Case of a Transnational Youth.” Research in the Teaching of English, vol. 50, no. 4, 2016, pp. 450–72.

Submission Deadline: July 1, 2024

Guest Coeditors: Allen Webb, Richard Beach, and Jeff Share

We are in a climate emergency requiring rapid and dramatic changes to protect the future of human civilization and life on our planet. Everywhere on earth is already affected, though at varying levels of intensity, by increasing temperatures, heat waves, wildfires, drought, flooding, storms, species extinctions, human/animal/plant migration, and more.

We believe that young people have a right to know what is happening, and to speak out to protect their future. Teaching about climate change in English language arts is vital to understanding the climate crisis—especially its personal, social, and justice dimensions—and empowering students to make a difference. In 2019, NCTE members passed a “Resolution on Literacy Teaching on Climate Change” (https://ncte.org/statement/resolution-literacy-teaching-climate-change/).

This focus issue of English Journal invites submissions from English teachers who are finding ways for their students to:

• Inquire into the climate crisis, recognize its urgency and its local and global impacts, examine climate crisis rhetoric and argumentation, and/or write persuasively or creatively on the topic.
• Study issues of climate and/or environmental justice, such as environmental racism and oppression (“slow violence”), or unequal climate or environmental impacts on low-income communities, people of color, climate migrants and refugees, and/or the Global South.
• Use literature to understand the potential impacts of and diverse perspectives on climate change, for example by reading climate fiction (“cli-fi”), Afro-futurism (such as Parable of the Sower), or Indigenous literature (such as The Marrow Thieves or Braiding Sweetgrass), or by connecting traditional literary works or young adult literature to climate change themes.
• Develop critical media literacy by examining climate change narratives (in news, entertainment, and social media), corporate greenwashing, and media campaigns to create doubt and disinformation, and/or by creating student media to address the crisis.
• Use literature and other sources to understand environmental history and the climate impacts of colonialism and globalization, carbon-based economies, and/or corporate or governmental denial or delay.
• Explore solutions by critiquing and examining alternatives to current energy, transportation, agriculture, or economic systems, or by learning about environmental and climate justice actions and movements.
• Take action, such as educating fellow students, schools, families, and communities about the climate crisis; undertaking local initiatives to mitigate or adapt to climate change; developing classroom or school environmental clubs addressing the climate crisis; creating local chapters of national or international climate organizations; and/or joining with other students to call for local, state, national, or international legislation or action.

We welcome reports of instructional activities and narratives from teachers from all regions and communities, including teachers in communities that may be resistant to acting on, discussing, or even identifying the climate crisis.

Submissions of ten to fifteen double-spaced pages (2,500 to 4,000 words) using MLA style are due by July 1, 2024.

Resources

NCTE Conference Presentations

Presentations and resources from the 2018 to 2022 NCTE conference roundtable sessions on teaching about climate change (made by teachers, authors, and English teacher educators) can be found at climatecrisisncte2022.pbworks.com.

Our Publications

Beach, Richard. “Teachers and Students Use of Systems Thinking about Their Participation in School Environmental Clubs.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, vol. 67, no 1, 2023, pp. 22–31, doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1299.

Beach, Richard, and Blaine E. Smith. Youth Created Media on the Climate Crisis: Hear Our Voices. Edited by Richard Beach and Blaine E. Smith, Routledge, 2023. Book website:       youthclimatecrisismedia.pbworks.com.

Beach, Richard, et al. Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents: Reading, Writing, and Making a Difference. Routledge / National Council of Teachers of English, 2017. Book website: climatechangeela.pbworks.com.

Share, Jeff, and Richard Beach. “Critical Media Literacy Analysis and Production for Systems Thinking about Climate Change.” Journal of Media Literacy, 1 Dec. 2022, ic4ml.org/journal-article/critical-media-literacy-analysis-and-production-for-systems-thinking-about-climate-change/.

Webb, Allen. “Opening the Conversation about Climate Refugees with The Grapes of Wrath.” English Journal, vol. 109, no 2., 2019, pp. 69–75, doi.org/10.58680/ej201930371.

Additional Publications Addressing Environmental Justice and Diversity

ClimateLit. Center for Climate Literacy at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development. www.climatelit.org.

Four Arrows. Point of Departure: Returning to Our More Authentic Worldview for Education and Survival. Information Age Publishing, 2016.

Ghosh, Amitov. The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis. U of Chicago P, 2021.

Roderick, Tom. Teach for Climate Justice: A Vision for Transforming Education. Harvard Education Press, 2023.

Sorensen, Whitney Lindsey. “Poetry on the Beach: Localizing Literary Value.” English Journal, vol. 112, no. 6, 2023, pp. 24–31, doi.org/10.58680/ej202332484.

Svoboda, Michael. “New and Recent Books about Climate and Environmental Justice.” Yale Climate Connections, 20 Feb. 2023, yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/02/new-and-recent-books-about-climate-and-environmental-justice/.

Turner, Rita J. Teaching for Ecojustice: Curriculum and Lessons for Secondary and College Classrooms. Routledge, 2015.

Vince, Gaia. Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World. Flatiron Books, 2022.

Windschitl, Mark. Teaching Climate Change: Fostering Understanding, Resilience, and a Commitment to Justice. Harvard Education Press, 2023.

Submission Deadline: September 1, 2024

Guest coeditors: Tiffany A. Flowers and Hiawatha Smith

In this special, guest-edited issue of English Journal, we anticipate submissions from teacher scholars, researchers, activists, artists, and advocates who can speak back to new policies regarding topics in education such as critical race theory, curriculum mandates, teacher preparation, and evidence-based ELA (English language arts). Authors who publish in this special themed issue will document this moment in time, considering how middle-grade and secondary teachers in ELA classrooms are wrestling with these issues and how these policies may be affecting our youngest citizens. We encourage manuscripts that focus on reflections, practitioner pieces, and research articles related to policy that can affect historically underrepresented and marginalized youth in urban, suburban, and rural contexts.

We anticipate that this issue will address guiding questions such as the following:

• What are some of the ways that ELA teachers are keeping students engaged within the classroom despite new policies?
• What are our collective barriers to twenty-first-century ELA instruction and how do we overcome these issues?
• What role does multimodality play in our quest to engage students who are struggling due to current policy concerns?
• What are the implications of these new policies for classroom instruction?
• What do you believe policymakers should know and understand regarding ELA instruction of multilingual students?
• What is the new policies’ impact on historically marginalized voices?
• What considerations are missing from recent policies?
• Where do writing and composing fit into this new narrative regarding policy limitations of ELA instruction?
• Does policy limit the ways in which we engage with our students in the classroom?
• How do our classrooms look in light of these policy changes?
• What are the reactions of students to these policy issues?
• How are parents reacting to or promoting these new policies?
• What steps can educators take to fight against these policies?

If you have questions related to this guest-edited issue, please contact Tiffany A. Flowers and Hiawatha Smith.

Submission Deadline: Ongoing

In this unthemed issue, you may submit manuscripts on any topic that will appeal to EJ readers. Remember that EJ articles center classroom practice and contextualize it in sound research and theory. As you know, EJ readers appreciate articles that show real students and teachers engaged in meaningful teaching and learning. Manuscripts that foreground critical approaches to secondary English language arts and move the field toward justice for marginalized youth will be prioritized. Regular manuscript guidelines regarding length and style apply.

Submission Deadline: Ongoing

We invite you to speak out on an issue that concerns you about English language arts teaching and learning. If your essay is pub­lished, it will appear in a future issue of English Journal. We wel­come essays of 1,000 to 1,500 words, as well as inquiries regarding possible subjects. Indicate that you are submitting an essay for the Speaking My Mind feature when you upload the document to the Editorial Manager.

Submission Deadline: Ongoing

Editor: Alexa Garvoille
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham

In the pages of English Journal, we look to publish well-crafted poems that connect our readers to topics central to English edu­cation: the impact of reading and writing on young people, words and language, classroom stories, and reflections on teach­ing and learning. Poetry reminds us, as educators, how to live in this world.

Submit your work by emailing an attachment to english journalpoetry@gmail.com. Use the subject line “Poetry Submis­sion for Review.” The first page of the attached document should be a cover sheet that includes your name, address, email, and a two-sentence biographical sketch. In your bio, include how long you have been a member of NCTE, if applicable, and a publish­able contact email. Following the cover sheet, include one to five original poems in the same document. Though we welcome work of any length, shorter pieces (thirty lines and under) often work best for the journal. Poems must be original and not previ­ously published. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, though writers must immediately withdraw from consideration any poems that are to be published elsewhere by contacting the edi­tors via email.

Poets whose work is published will receive two complimen­tary copies of the issue in which their work appears. Additional inquiries about poetry submissions may be directed to the coeditors at englishjournalpoetry@gmail.com. We look forward to reading and celebrating your work.

Submission Deadline: Ongoing

Teacher photographs of classroom scenes and individual students are welcome. Photographs may be uploaded to Editorial Man­ager at the address above in any standard image format at 300 dpi. Photos should be accompanied by complete identification: teacher/photographer’s name, location of scene, and date photo­graph was taken. If faces are clearly visible, names of those photo­graphed should be included, along with their statement of permission for the photograph to be reproduced in EJ.

Submission Deadline: Ongoing

Cartoons should depict scenes or ideas potentially amusing to English language arts teachers. They can be submitted to Edito­rial Manager at the address above; we can accept any standard graphics format at 300 dpi.

Beginning Sept. 2023

Column Editors: Ann D. David, University of the Incarnate Word; Annamary Consalvo, University of Texas at Tyler; Katharine Covino, Fitchburg State University

It is no longer if you will experience a book challenge, but when.

That reality is the genesis for this column that seeks to share teachers’ stories of teaching texts in a time of censorship. We are seeking to highlight conversations that both speak truth and encourage English language arts (ELA) teachers to be on the forefront of building brave systems (Clear, 2018) to ensure students’ continued access to diverse texts in their classrooms, schools, and districts.

Ideas you could explore include how you use book rationales in your planning or advocacy, create and nurture alliances with colleagues and parents, and collaborate with school administrators. Additionally, we would welcome reflections on how you navigate text selection, specifically with books that are frequently challenged, and how you engage in challenging conversations with students around those texts. Finally, you could offer examples of how you have used NCTE resources like book rationales and relevant position statements (“The  Students’ Right to Read,” “NCTE Position Statement regarding Rating or ‘Red-Flagging’ Books,” and “Statement on Classroom Libraries”) to support your use of diverse and high-quality texts.

ELA teachers’ professionalism is regularly called into question by the “intransigent minority” (Taleb 69). These uncompromising and closed-minded people seek to ban books, inspect and approve curriculum, and enact ad hominem attacks on teachers. These individuals, often informed and supported by state and national media and political organizations, are seeking to limit and restrict all children’s access to diverse books and stories. Sharing stories of your experiences will help other teachers reclaim—or find—their voices and agency, while expanding their professional know-how. Please send inquiries and submissions of manuscripts of 1,200–1,400 words as Word or Google documents to Ann David (addavid@uiwtx.edu) for consideration.

Works Cited

Clear, James. Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. Avery Publishing, 2018.

Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries of Daily Life. Random House, 2018.

Beginning Sept. 2023: Sept./Jan./May

Column Editor: Stephanie Toliver, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Over the past few decades, calls have abounded to prominently foreground the language and literacy practices of Black youth. Scholars have called for more attention to the historical literacies of Black people in hopes that educators see the inherent genius within Black youth (Muhammad 13). They have asked for teach­ers to consider the ways in which Black youth engage in play with text, genre, language, and each other (Baker-Bell 8; Gaunt 3; Bryan 74). They have demanded that educators uplift Black young people as they challenge the anti-Blackness embedded within school systems (Coles 36; Love 12), and they have implored educational stakeholders to make space for Black youth to imagine worlds in which they are free to experience the full range of humanity: love, anger, joy, excitement, sadness, pride, hope, and all the emotions in between (Toliver 85; Turner 128).

It is within these calls that this column exists. Specifically, this column is dedicated to the teachers, teacher educators, com­munity members, and young people who are committed to the liberatory futures of Black youth. It is for all who imagine and create alongside young Black folx to ensure that the next genera­tion of Black youth can thrive. With this in mind, this column welcomes commentary that attends to the expansive language and literacy lives of Black young people. Toward this goal, authors might consider questions such as the following: What texts (written by and about Black people) have you found partic­ularly useful in the classroom? How have you made space for Black joy, Black dreams, Black genius, and Black pride in your classroom, research, and/or community work? What assign­ments have you created that enable Black youth to voice their concerns about the world? What does the future of education, schools, or schooling look like for Black youth?

Rather than just accepting traditional practitioner articles (i.e., research essay, nonfiction, or narrative nonfiction), this column aims to be as expansive as Black youth’s literacies. Thus, poems, narratives, comics, paintings, and the like are also welcome. Please send submissions of 1,200–1,400 words as a Word document to Stephanie Toliver at stoliver@illinois.edu. Inquiries about poten­tial submissions are also welcomed.

Beginning Sept. 2023: Nov./Mar./July

Column Editor: Jeanne Dyches, Iowa State University

In this column, authors present pedagogical possibilities for teaching literature in critical ways. While critical approaches to literature study take up, examine, confront, and address systems of power, they can also illuminate joy, creativity, community, and agency as forms of resistance.

This column offers possibilities for engaging with literature as a vehicle for opening up justice-oriented conversation and just futures. Importantly, columns target the how of literature study— that is, ways in which teachers, students, and stakeholders of ELA exercise agency—rather than the what. Column authors may illu­minate literature study approaches utilizing a variety of genres. We welcome columns that examine ways to teach subversively with canonical texts, foster critical literacies using young adult literature, pair literary nonfiction with current events, or decenter the role of specific texts entirely. Columns should be 1,200–1,400 words in length; email questions and submissions (as a Word document) to Jeanne Dyches (jdyches@iastate.edu).

Beginning Sept. 2023: Nov./Mar./July

Column Editor: Tiffany DeJaynes, Lehman College, City University of New York

This column aims to highlight thoughtful conversations about youth as knowledge generators, rethink the dominance of the traditional research paper in English language arts classrooms, and consider the ways in which young people’s original research can inform public policies and activism. As such, the column publishes accounts of youth conducting research in innovative ways in schools and communities; research innovations might include collaborative, multimodal, digital, action-oriented, community-focused, or arts-based practices.

Educators employing research practices that creatively engage young people in critical participatory action research, archival research, working with unconventional sources, or creatively sharing and disseminating research and more are invited to share their curricular approaches and lessons learned. Please contact Tiffany DeJaynes to discuss ideas for the column or send manu­scripts of 1,200–1,400 words as Word documents to tiffany.dejaynes@lehman.cuny.edu for consideration.

Beginning Sept. 2023: Sept./Jan./May

Column Editor: Deb Kelt, The University of Texas at Austin

As many teachers will attest, it is often thrilling to sit knee-to-knee with a youth writer. When they share writing—often filled with details about their families, cultures, languages, identities, frustrations, hopes, and more—we are awestruck. Katherine Bomer has taught us that writing teachers get to spend entire days surrounded by “the quirky brilliance and humor, the heart­breaking honesty, and surreal beauty” of student writing (Bomer 125). A writing classroom can often feel like an intricate tapestry of human experience, woven together with the words and work of teachers and students.

This column is seeking submissions that feature youth’s writing alongside stories of the teaching that supported them. Writing teachers, from in- or out-of-school contexts, are encouraged to share stories that illustrate the teaching of writ­ing in our world right now. We are interested in seeing all kinds of work—from both novice writers and experienced writers alike, writers working in many languages, writers com­posing in various genres, as well as work that is in process or finished. The complexity of teaching writing has only grown over the last few years: the COVID-19 pandemic, political upheaval, ongoing racial violence, and censorship have chal­lenged youth writers and their teachers. What have you learned while teaching writing during these times? What student work illuminates the journey you took together? We want to hear about inquiries you undertook with students as they com­posed, highlighting your work as a writing teacher along with the pieces students produced during these explorations. Tell us the story of your student(s) and your work together, sharing both the brilliant teaching moves you made and the struggles you encountered.

We invite you to share your teaching insights with writing, and we cannot wait to see the student work that resulted—work you had the honor and privilege of seeing first, sitting knee-to-knee with writers in your precious classroom. Please send sub­missions of 1,200–1,400 words as a Word document to dkelt@utexas.edu. Deadline for January 2024 is July 1.

Beginning Sept. 2023: Sept./Jan./May

Column Editor: Melody Zoch, University of North Carolina–Greensboro

Multilingual learners (MLs) are the fastest-growing group of stu­dents entering US public schools. In the next few years, an esti­mated one out of every four school-aged children will speak a language other than English at home. ELA teachers must be deft at addressing the needs of MLs, which can include drawing on their funds of knowledge (Moll et al. 71), embracing their iden­tities as MLs, and understanding the challenges language-minoritized learners and their families may experience. Too often, middle- and high school spaces privilege monolingual instructional models where English language and literacy profi­ciency are considered the norm. This is counter to the needs of MLs, whose linguistic repertoires should be honored rather than repressed or punished.

This column seeks to amplify the voices of ELA teachers who are committed to the growth and well-being of MLs. The column editor invites submissions that feature research, examples of prac­tices, and reflections on practice that support MLs in the ELA classroom. All submissions should engage asset-based approaches to discussing and supporting MLs in equitable ways. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the incorporation of translanguaging practices (García et al. 256), how identity work and affirmation are explored in the ELA classroom, and using culturally sustaining practices (Paris and Alim 85). Questions authors might explore include: In what ways does language inter­sect with other identities? In what ways do you incorporate fami­lies and the community in your teaching of MLs? In what ways do you engage MLs in exploring activism and social justice issues in the ELA classroom? What are some critical incidents (Tripp 8) that have shaped your teaching of MLs? What specific strategies and texts have supported your MLs?

Please send inquiries and submissions of 1,200–1,400 words as a Word document to mzoch@uncg.edu.

Beginning Sept. 2023: Nov./Mar./July

Column Editor: Stephanie Anne Shelton, University of Alabama

The acronym LGBTQIA+ incorporates ranges of identities and expressions related to genders and sexualities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual individuals. LGBTQIA+ youth are present in class­rooms world-wide and are among the most vulnerable; how­ever, substantial research demonstrates that supportive teachers make incredible differences in LGBTQIA+ students’ lives and school experiences.

LGBTQIA+ students’ needs are shaped by more than gender identity, gender expression, or sexuality. Students navigate assigned, assumed, and self-asserted social example, race, ethnic­ity, socioeconomic class, ablebodiedness, and language usage. They also live and learn in specific geographic and cultural con­texts. Their LGBTQIA+ identities constantly intersect with these many factors; efforts to provide equitable, respectful, and effective learning spaces necessitate intersectional understand­ings of LGBTQIA+ issues in schools.

This column seeks to share English educators’ stories on how they learn about, recognize, and affirm intersectional LGBTQIA+ identities. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, instructional strategies that explore LGBTQIA+ issues as intersecting with other identities or contexts; case stud­ies of efforts to engage students or colleagues in intersectional considerations of LGBTQIA+ issues; and reflective narratives that explore how awareness of intersectional LGBTQIA+ identi­ties has shaped teachers’ professional identities.

Inquiries, submissions, or suggestions for future columns should be directed to Stephanie Anne Shelton at sashelton@ua.edu. Submissions of 1,200–1,400 words should be sent as attachments.

Beginning Sept. 2023: Sept./Jan./May

Column Editors: Nicole Amato and Katie Priske, University of Iowa

Curate: Make meaning for oneself and others by collecting, organizing, and sharing resources of personal relevance.

— AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL LIBRARIANS

Critical curation invites both students and teachers to take criti­cal stances and “explore multiple perspectives, challenge domi­nant ideologies, and include marginalized voices within and beyond the literary canon” (Lechtenberg 3). Alongside the importance of curation is the importance of representation, which as Hamad asserts has “real world consequences’’ (27). Work around the importance of curation and representation has been ongoing in English language arts spaces. We align this col­umn with the work of #DisruptTexts, asserting that curriculum choices are never neutral, and curriculum must center Black, Indigenous, and other voices of color (Ebarvia et al.).

We believe critical curation of texts in the ELA classroom is an exploratory practice that honors curiosity and inquiry. These curations aim to support teachers in critical literacy and critical inquiry work within and beyond the classroom. This column is guided by the following questions: (1) What themes and issues are urgent points of discussion in 7–12 literacy classrooms? (2) How can ELA teachers and librarians collaboratively curate multimodal and multigenre text sets for their students? We invite essays dedicated to exploring these questions while curat­ing texts (broadly defined) around critical topics for discussion in ELA classrooms, such as but not limited to race, gender, sexu­ality, class, and ability. We aim to curate and review 3–5 texts per column around a central topic.

Please contact Nicole Amato and Katie Priske to discuss ideas for the column or send your essays of 1,200–1,400 words as Word documents for consideration to criticalcurationscolumn@gmail.com.

Beginning Sept. 2023: Nov./Mar./July

Column Editors: Melinda McBee Orzulak, Bradley University
Danielle Lillge, Illinois State University

In November 2023, the “Future Is Now” roundtable sessions at the NCTE Annual Convention will celebrate a decade of pro­viding opportunities for beginning English teachers to present their scholarship. Building on the strength of these sessions, this column shines a light on the inquiries of beginning ELA teach­ers, who are navigating the early stages of their professional learning journeys as preservice or inservice teachers with one to four years of teaching experience.

Acknowledging that none of us—beginning and veteran teachers alike—have arrived, we invite submissions that fore­ground a genuine question which drives beginning teachers’ inquiries through teaching, research, or creative activity. We encourage authors to illuminate the origins of their question in relation to their own experiences as well as in relation to other voices—whether students, colleagues, mentors, researchers, par­ents, authors, creators, or other stakeholders. And we urge authors to explore layered considerations that lead to possibili­ties for future learning, teaching, research, or creative activity. Instead of easy fixes, simple solutions, or truisms, let us highlight what we gain from assuming an inquiry stance in scholarly con­versation with others as we look to the future by celebrating the nuance and complexity of ELA teaching.

We seek to support beginning teacher authors who, through their writing, will join and shape the conversations in our field of ELA. Toward that end, we invite single-author submissions as well as those coauthored with colleagues, mentors, or students. Please send submissions of 1,200–1,400 words as a Word docu­ment to the editors, Melinda McBee Orzulak and Danielle Lillge, at EJfutureisnow@gmail.com. Include in your email your full name(s), school affiliation(s), and the main email contact for the lead author, if the submission is coauthored.