Lesson Study, Cycle 1: Annotated Bibliography

How do we support tenth grade students to participate in discussion in order to develop socio-political consciousness?

Alfonsi, C. (2008). Hey teacher! Get off that stage: Assessing student thinking with Socratic seminars. Ohio Journal of English Language Arts, 48(1), 65-71. https://memberfiles.freewebs.com/91/52/57585291/documents/SocraticSeminars.pdf 

In “Hey teacher! Get off that stage: Assessing student thinking with Socratic seminars,” Christene Alfonsi underscores the importance of using Socratic seminar not only as a tool for assessment (as the title indicates) but also as a tool for deepening students’ understanding of texts. It is the latter use of Socratic seminars that Alfonsi’s central questions are focused on: “Can I help my students feel comfortable using discussion as a method of learning rather than a showcase for correct answers?” and “Can I show sophomores that discussion can be a means of processing ideas and learning together with peers?”

Alfonsi’s article includes a roadmap of her classroom practice for Socratic Seminars, documenting (1) her work before the seminar writing a broad opening question with multiple entry points, 5-7 core questions to focus the discussion, and a closing question that connects students’ work to an outside source, (2) her work during the seminar listening, posing questions, occasionally redirecting conversation back to the text, and a tracking student participation, and (3) her work after the seminar reflecting with students on their participation and where they might push themselves next time. Alfonsi also includes an overview of her participation tracking system which denotes each time a student speaks, refers to the text, generates their own question, “piggybacks” on another student’s comment, or encourages a peer in the conversation.

García-Mateus, S. & Palmer, D. (2017). Translanguaging pedagogies for positive identities in two-way dual language bilingual education. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 16(4), 245-255. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1329016 

In “Translanguaging Pedagogies for Positive Identities in Two-way Dual Language Bilingual Education,” García-Mateus and Palmer focus on setting the stage for transformational experiences in a first grade classroom. This is particularly important because, as they note, research shows that “identity is co-constructed through linguistic interactions.” In this context, the researchers advocate for classrooms in which students can flexibly move between languages as they from and understand their identities.

One pertinent example the researchers unpack is an interaction between two students, Alejandro and Ray. In the section of dialogue the researchers unpack, Alejandro speaks in Spanish and Ray protests that it is “an English day!” The researchers and teacher focus on this conversation as an opportunity to recognize Ray’s commitment to monolingualism. In addition, the researchers note a future opportunity to draw connections between Ray’s use of African-American Vernacular English and Alejandro’s use of Spanish. And the complexities of all of this language use, García-Mateus and Palmer argue, would be easily missed without the opportunity for students to more flexibly move between languages as they work together.

Gonzalez, J. (Host). (2020, June 7). Why white students need multicultural and social justice education (No. 147) [Audio podcast episode]. In Cult of pedagogy. Cult of pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/white-students-multicultural-ed/# 

Multicultural and social justice education are often framed in terms of their benefit for marginalized students and particularly students of color. In this podcast, however, host Jennifer Gonzalez talks with Dr. Sheldon Eakins of the Leading Equity Center about the benefits of this type of education for white students as well. This understanding of multicultural and social justice education reveals that for white students, understanding one’s own cultural and ethnic background may be a new—and critical—concept. These students may consider themselves as “not having a culture” and therefore do not have much of the foundational knowledge needed to understand phenomena like privilege and white supremacy. In addition to this, white students benefit from the teaching not only of history, but also of how to identify implicit bias and privilege in the world around them and then dismantle racist systems.

Beyond these benefits, Gonzalez and Eakins also remind teachers that to truly invest in social justice education, one cannot simply include some content about people of color. One cannot include a George Washington Carver lesson, or even a whole unit. Rather, the practice of teaching students to see the world differently and critically must include active reimagining of our classroom structures so that they are more collaborative, communal, and culturally responsive. This requires more than a new section on the syllabus—it requires a new kind of classroom.

Goodwin, B. (2014). Get all students to speak up. Educational Leadership, 72(3), 82-83. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov14/vol72/num03/Get-All-Students-to-Speak-Up.aspx 

In “Get All Students to Speak Up,” Bryan Goodwin surveys a number of teacher moves that promote higher levels of participation in classroom discussions. These moves help teachers push discussions past the “80/20 rule”—the idea that most of the conversation in classrooms happens among a small group of students. Goodwin highlights a couple of themes in particular that can help teachers bring more students into the conversation. First, he reminds teachers to “restore the balance” by rearranging classroom seating, calling on individual students, and offering time to collaborate with neighbors before answering questions. Goodwin also recommends teachers “enjoy the silence” and practice offering students wait time after asking questions so they can process questions and answer more fully. All of this, Goodwin reminds readers, is in an effort to disrupt the patterns that play out in so many classrooms across the country. It will be strange, uncomfortable, and difficult at times, but, as he says in closing, “perhaps that’s the point.”

Muhammad, G. (2020). How 19th century black literary societies can elevate today’s literacy learning. In Cultivating genius:  An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic.

Gholdy Muhammad’s work in Chapter 1 of Cultivating Genius provides a historically rooted framework within which teachers and students can understand the importance of literacy and learning more broadly. This chapter highlights three themes found in Muhammad’s research on Black literary societies of the 19th century: “literary presence, literary pursuits, and literary character.” Muhammad argues for literacy development in school today that is rooted in these themes and thus creates a learning community in which students are effective and powerful members (literary presence), work both alone and with others (literary pursuits), and are personally invested in literacy and the empowerment that joined it (literary character).

In addition to these specific tenets, Muhammad argues for the use of Black literary societies as a framework for our classrooms because these societies simultaneously build literary skills and infuse critical histories into our work. By grounding classes in the work of these societies, students are given foundations for understanding African-American experiences beyond simply historical or systemic oppression. Instead, students get a glimpse of what resistance, hope, and love can look like in a literary space. Of course, as Muhammad points out, we “don’t want to romanticize literacy in any way, nor to imply that literacy resolved racism, [but] literacy gave [African-Americans] a tool to fight back.”

Nichols, M. (2014). Real talk, real teaching: What happens in the classroom when we create time and space for authentic talk?. Educational Leadership, 72(3), 73-77. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov14/vol72/num03/Real-Talk,-Real-Teaching.aspx 

Though Maria Nichols’ work in “Real Talk, Real Teaching” focuses on student conversations in a 4th grade classroom, her takeaways are applicable to a wide range of grade levels. In many cases, teachers use protocols and guidelines to structure student discussions. Nichols’ writing here, however, also advocates for the use of “real talk”—spaces in which students engage with multiple perspectives and sources in a flexible, collaborative environment. While these spaces are more flexible than structures like Socratic seminars, teachers still need to develop moves that promote student learning in these contexts.

One of these moves is a transition from creating rigid speaking orders to an acknowledgement of the many voices in the room. This, for example, might involve a teacher saying something along the lines of “_____ can speak, and then we’ll see where the conversation takes us, BUT remember that _____ and _____ have ideas to contribute, too. Let’s be sure to come back and see how they fit into our conversation.” Another teacher move is to ask students if they “really listened” to each other, pushing them to actually build on each others’ ideas and ask clarifying questions if they can’t paraphrase their peers’ ideas. And as teachers use moves like these and push students to reflect on their conversations, Nichols says, students will move toward deeper understanding more effectively and organically than they would with the strict structures that so often guide classroom discussions.