Fostering Critical Pedagogy in the ELA Classroom: Mentoring, Networking, and Supporting English Teachers

This book presents the story of the Critical English Educator Collaborative (CEEC)—a teacher‑guided, informal learning community focused on supporting prospective and practicing English language arts (ELA) teachers’ understandings of critical pedagogy—in order to demonstrate and foster critical pedagogy among ELA teachers. Over the course of one academic year, three ELA teacher educators at a large public university in the southeastern US guided a cohort of novice ELA teachers in monthly virtual conversations relative to the challenges facing public school teachers today. Prior to these monthly meetings, participants engaged with a text (book chapter, journal article, and podcast) related to the teaching of English in middle and secondary schools post‑Covid. Throughout the year, participants challenged and supported one another on social, political, and curricular issues. This book invites readers into the context for CEEC and shares the experiences of ELA teachers engaging in critical pedagogy, while offering pathways for those interested in developing this kind of collaborative community. Because CEEC operates in a liminal space, it is a transformational place where participants can be vulnerable and feel safe to share their concerns, experiences, and successes without fear of retribution from school administrators, parents, or faculty. Thus, CEEC functions as a powerful space for prospective and practicing teachers to learn from and with one another and offers insight into how this unique collaborative relationship fosters collective growth. This book gives prospective teachers, practicing teachers, and teacher educators in English language arts education the tools to engage in the process of becoming critical educators.