Pamela Jewett University of South Carolina, Columbia jewett@mailbox.sc Jennifer Wilson

1. Repositioning Literacy Pedagogy: Interrupting Traditional Social and Academic Spaces in a Middle School Pamela Jewett University of South Carolina, Columbia jewett@mailbox.sc.edu Jennifer Wilson University of South Carolina, Columbia jlwilson@mailbox.sc.edu Michelle Vanderburg University of South Carolina, Columbia vanderba@mailbox.sc.edu

2. Inspiration: City-Wide Reads Chicago, IL: In the Time of the Butterflies (Alvarez, 1995) Columbia, MO: Enders Game (Card, 1985) Seattle, WA: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Satrapi, 2004) Vermont: Seedfolks (Fleischman, 1999)

3. Inspiration: Whole-School Reads Syracuse University: The Kite Runner (Hosseini, 2004) University of South Carolina: When the Emperor Was Divine (Otsuka, 2004) Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia: The Giver (Lowry, 1993) Waterloo Middle School in Waterloo, Wisconsin: Hidden Talents (Lubar, 2003). Summerland Middle School in British Columbia: Run (Walters, 2005).

4. “It would be nice to have something to pull us together at the beginning of the year. Something that would be common ground.” -Maura Wilson

5. “A Common Ground” • Library Media Connection • Book Selection • Teacher created guide • University Research Role

6. Theoretical Frameworks that Guided Us • Critical Perspectives on Literacy (Janks, 2000; Lewis et al., 2007; Luke et al., 1996; Rogers, 2002`; Shor & Pari, 1999; Yenika-Agbaw, 1997) • Visible and Invisible Pedagogy (Berstein, 1974; 1977)

7. Methodology • Context • Data collection • Data analysis

8. Findings • Served as a unifying concept that created spaces for invisible pedagogy • Interrupted the school’s reproduction of traditional academic learning spaces

9. Served as a unifying concept that created spaces for invisible pedagogy • Teachers moved between visible and invisible • Teachers entertained uncertainty toward learning outcomes “Even though we finished with Seedfolks, we can see that different characters bring to the novel,.,, and I haven’t done this yet so I don’t know what patterns we’re going to see…. I am not sure what that’s going to yield.” • Intentional selection of text supported critical dialogue “You could relate it to what they ware already feeling, some of the emotions they already have, some misconceptions they already have, some of the doubts they have…”

10. Interrupted the school’s reproduction of traditional academic learning spaces which led to more integrated curricula • Students and teachers expanded social communities and classrooms • Teachers collaborated with other teachers across grade levels • Previously segregated subject areas were blurred • Students moved toward greater visibility within the school community.

11. Students and teachers expanded social communities and classrooms • James: …like, it was done with everyday things. And • so it means in essence about how you should respect other people. And how, like, there’s [sic] very different kinds of people in the world and everything. • Maurice: And how one person can start a good thing. • Mark: How it shows no matter what your race or nationality is, you can still work together and live in a peaceful community. • “I got a lot of information, in terms of getting to know my students as thinkers and just learn more about their history, which is something so critical…. I do appreciate how much I learned about them because I’m going to be able to now recall stories about their past and bring it into future discussions in the classroom.” • -7th grade ELA teacher

12. Teachers collaborated with other teachers across grade levels “We’re kind of separated when it comes to grade levels and schedules and teachers don’t get to meet. And it’s just kind of nice that we started the year [with Seedfolks] and I didn’t get to talk to a whole lot of people unless I saw them in the hallway. But, at least, when I did, we had something that we could commonly talk about. And I appreciate the fact, you know.” -8th grade ELA teacher

13. Previously segregated subject areas were blurred Ms. Sawyer: It’s not just the literature, the reading literature part. We’re also supposed to bring out the cultural differences and the differences like that, and Carol also teaches social studies…. Ms. Taylor: I want as the year progresses and everything as we study different cultures is to talk about and bring up the book how they work together and stuff like that. And then, we have the 6th grade level plan with Carol, and then we’ll be able to collaborate and together and talk about how we can bring up certain issues and certain instances that stand out to the students….

14. Students moved toward greater visibility within the school community. Shavawn: I think it’s cool that everybody in the whole-school is going to read it and, like, that everybody’s doing projects on it and they are analyzing the story. Keisha: Because when everybody talks about it, each other can, like, relate to it. Marisa: And understand. Shavawn: And it doesn’t have like a grade level. It’s just like everybody, just like, yah.

15. The whole-school read created significant changes in the kinds of knowledge valued and how knowledge was represented and communicated. • Kinds of knowledge • Knowledge represented • Knowledge communicated

16. “Producing Something Beautiful and Worthwhile” • Relinquishing control and moving toward collaboratively developed curricula. • Collaboratively constructed by the whole school community.