Cultural Studies and Discourse Analysis

By Chris Barker and Darius Galasiński

Nonfiction

Paperback

176 pages + references 

This was another book I picked up from my friend's classroom. This one also looked like a good read for my dissertation. 

Not going to lie, it was pretty dry. I know, big surprise. 

It was a worthwhile read though - intellectually stimulating if not emotionally engaging. 

for example - pondering the nature of identity. We are products of our context and also self-actualized. 

We tell the stories of our own realities, and we make choices about which details to include, exclude, emphasize, and diminish. 

Depending on how you view knowledge and whether there is Truth (capital, one, concrete, knowable) or truth (lowercase, myriad, contextual, unknowable) and what the relationship is between them.

For my study, I'll be looking at school culture and structures.

I've always maintained that language is the most powerful force. It shapes and guides our thoughts, biases, perceptions, impossibility, and possibilities. This is one of the reasons I became an English teacher. Because words are power. 

But, to end on a less serious note, they referenced one of my favorite movies. 

❤

The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom

By Felicia Rose Chavez

Nonfiction 

Paperback

202 pages

A dear teacher friend abruptly left the profession mid-year. She left behind everything, asking only that we box up some of the personal items. Everything else she asked us to take, share or trash. 

(Teachers, many of them, are not okay.)

This was one of the books she left behind. She was only on the second or third page of the introduction, according to her annotations. I snagged it with a two-fold goal: 1. to improve my own Creative Writing Class and 2. to help me plan some of the procedures for my dissertation study. 

I took a lot of notes and flagged a lot of passages. There are so many powerful moments in this book - thought provoking, liberating, and affirming. 

I flipped to a couple at random to share in this post:

I don’t need to love my students to do well by them, but I always strive to treat them with respect & dignity, to get to know them. I do love my craft and my subject matter. 

There is an element of control that needs to be present in a high school classroom, but that doesn't mean students need to be silent and still. I love a chatty room more than crickets. I like when they talk and participate. I don't mind if they choose to sit on the floor, as long as they're learning. I have some rocking seats that students often end up vying for. 

Yes. Life is also a series of conspiracies against doing ny PhD work. Sigh. 

Grading and assessment have been at the heart of a lot of conversations and debates in (our) school(s) lately. 

Had to include a picture of the contrast between types of writing workshops - the model on the right actually goes on to the following page as well. 

It took me about a week to read this book, even though it's a fairly slim volume. However, it really prompted me to examine my own practices and rethink some things. Also there were some things I'd experimented with in my class that I now can improve, but it was nice to know I was on the right track. 

I would totally recommend this book!