The vulnerable heart of literacy : centering trauma as powerful pedagogy Cover Image

Book

The vulnerable heart of literacy : centering trauma as powerful pedagogy / Elizabeth Dutro ; foreword by Gerald Campano ; afterword by Megan Ollett.

ISBN: 9780807763131
ISBN: 0807763136
ISBN: 9780807763124
ISBN: 0807763128
Physical Description: x, 131 pages ; 23 cm.
Publisher: New York, NY : Teachers College Press, [2019]
Copyright: &copy;2019

Dutro, Elizabeth, (author.). Campano, Gerald, (writer of foreword.). Ollett, Megan, (writer of afterword.).

Summary:

"As attention to trauma grows in schools, this book is about how elementary teachers can approach difficult experiences through the everyday instruction and interactions in their literacy classrooms-and do so in ways that honor children's lives and perspectives and cultivate a positive, engaged, and connected classroom community. What happens when the far from easy stuff of life is acknowledged as always present in literacy classrooms and consciously made to matter in literacy curriculum and instructional practices? What does reciprocal testimony and witness look like in the classroom? How can teachers be the critical witnesses children deserve? The book takes readers into classrooms and literacies across genres to show what can unfold when teachers committed to compassionate, critical, and relational practice focus on those questions. Weaving her own challenging experiences into chapters brimming with children's writing and voices, Dutro emphasizes that issues of power and privilege matter centrally to how attention to trauma positions children. The book includes questions and prompts for discussion, reflection, and practice and describes pedagogies and strategies designed to provide opportunities for children to bring the varied experiences of life, including trauma, to their school literacies in positive, meaningful, and supported ways"-- Provided by publisher.