Workshopping the Canon for Democracy and Justice

Workshopping the Canon for Democracy and Justice adopts and adapts foundational reading and writing workshop structures for democratic and justice teaching in the context of the middle and secondary classroom and curriculum.

Through workshopping, teachers can foster democratic dispositions and skills as they explore justice-oriented units focused around core canonical texts, or teachers may elect to disrupt and displace the canon by teaching a thematically related contemporary text. Critical essential questions interweave texts and bind units. Genres including young adult novels, short stories, informational texts, picture books, music, art, movies, and social media are included in the Appendixes. These diverse resources make current societal/global connections, foster multiple perspectives, prompt critical thinking, and include primary voices. This book, filled with teacher voices, useful models, and helpful ideas, is written to foster agency for change in society, teachers, and students.

About the Author
Mary E. Styslinger is an associate professor of English and literacy education at the University of South Carolina where she directs the Midlands Writing Project and has served as the secondary program coordinator. She is a past president of the South Carolina Council of Teachers of English and currently coedits South Carolina English Teacher. Her research interest includes interweaving literacy into the English curriculum and serving marginalized and at-risk youth; she has published articles in English Journal, Voices from the Middle, Language Arts, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, and Kappan. She is a coeditor of the recently published Literacy behind Bars: Successful Reading and Writing Strategies for Use with Incarcerated Youth and Adults.