Bob Fecho

In its fifth edition, this popular textbook introduces prospective and practicing English teachers to current methods of teaching literature in middle and high school classrooms. This new edition features updated chapters that incorporate critical race theory, perspectives on teaching fiction, nonfiction, and drama, the integration of digital literacy, working with English Language Learners, and teacher research for ongoing learning and professional development. It highlights the importance of offering students a range of critical approaches and tools for interpreting texts. It also addresses the need to organize literature instruction around topics and issues of interest to today’s adolescents. By using authentic dilemmas and contemporary issues, the authors encourage preservice English teachers and their instructors to raise and explore inquiry-based questions that center on the teaching of a variety of literary texts, both classic and contemporary, traditional and digital. New to the Fifth edition: • A new chapter on issues of censorship and the New Culture Wars • New examples of online tools for writing multimodal literary texts, digital storytelling, zines, comics, and graphic novels, including productive and problematic use of AI • Further engagement with critical race theory as a critical lens • Methods for engaging students with critical media literacy • Updated examples for teaching contemporary texts, including popular Young Adult novels • Added focus on multicultural literature regarding race, class, and gender issues • Methods and strategies for working with ELL students • Each chapter is organized around specific questions that preservice teachers consistently raise as they prepare to become English language arts teachers. The authors model critical inquiry throughout the text by offering authentic case narratives that raise important considerations of both theory and practice. The companion website, a favorite of English education instructors, http://teachingliterature.pbworks.com, has been updated with resources and enrichment activities. The book invites teachers to consider important issues in the context of their current or future classrooms.

In its fifth edition, this popular textbook introduces prospective and practicing English teachers to current methods of teaching literature in middle and high school classrooms. This new edition features updated chapters that incorporate critical race theory, perspectives on teaching fiction, nonfiction, and drama, the integration of digital literacy, working with English Language Learners, and teacher research for ongoing learning and professional development. It highlights the importance of offering students a range of critical approaches and tools for interpreting texts. It also addresses the need to organize literature instruction around topics and issues of interest to today’s adolescents. By using authentic dilemmas and contemporary issues, the authors encourage preservice English teachers and their instructors to raise and explore inquiry-based questions that center on the teaching of a variety of literary texts, both classic and contemporary, traditional and digital. New to the Fifth edition: • A new chapter on issues of censorship and the New Culture Wars • New examples of online tools for writing multimodal literary texts, digital storytelling, zines, comics, and graphic novels, including productive and problematic use of AI • Further engagement with critical race theory as a critical lens • Methods for engaging students with critical media literacy • Updated examples for teaching contemporary texts, including popular Young Adult novels • Added focus on multicultural literature regarding race, class, and gender issues • Methods and strategies for working with ELL students • Each chapter is organized around specific questions that preservice teachers consistently raise as they prepare to become English language arts teachers. The authors model critical inquiry throughout the text by offering authentic case narratives that raise important considerations of both theory and practice. The companion website, a favorite of English education instructors, http://teachingliterature.pbworks.com, has been updated with resources and enrichment activities. The book invites teachers to consider important issues in the context of their current or future classrooms.

This book invites readers to explore the complexity of becoming a teacher through the stories of two novice ELA teachers, Emelio and Rachel, over the course of their first two years. The authors’ detailed, empathetic, and ethnographic approach allows space for the teachers to reveal little-seen and often overlooked "wobble moments." These moments illuminate the complexity and nuances that confront, confound, and compel teachers to remain in dialogue with practice. Documenting the journeys of two teachers with compassion and intellectual rigor, this book provides insights into and challenges preconceived notions of what it means to be a teacher. It is essential reading for preservice teachers, scholars, and researchers in English education, as well as individuals considering teaching as a profession.

This book invites readers to explore the complexity of becoming a teacher through the stories of two novice ELA teachers, Emelio and Rachel, over the course of their first two years. The authors’ detailed, empathetic, and ethnographic approach allows space for the teachers to reveal little-seen and often overlooked "wobble moments." These moments illuminate the complexity and nuances that confront, confound, and compel teachers to remain in dialogue with practice. Documenting the journeys of two teachers with compassion and intellectual rigor, this book provides insights into and challenges preconceived notions of what it means to be a teacher. It is essential reading for preservice teachers, scholars, and researchers in English education, as well as individuals considering teaching as a profession.

Now in its fourth edition, this popular textbook introduces prospective and practicing English teachers to current methods of teaching literature in middle and high school classrooms. This new edition broadens its focus to cover important topics such as critical race theory; perspectives on teaching fiction, nonfiction, and drama; the integration of digital literacy; and teacher research for ongoing learning and professional development. It underscores the value of providing students with a range of different critical approaches and tools for interpreting texts. It also addresses the need to organize literature instruction around topics and issues of interest to today’s adolescents. By using authentic dilemmas and contemporary issues, the authors encourage preservice English teachers and their instructors to raise and explore inquiry-based questions that center on the teaching of a variety of literary texts, both classic and contemporary, traditional and digital. New to the Fourth Edition: Expanded attention to digital tools, multimodal learning, and teaching online New examples of teaching contemporary texts Expanded discussion and illustration of formative assessment Revised response activities for incorporating young adult literature into the literature curriculum Real-world examples of student work to illustrate how students respond to the suggested strategies Extended focus on infusing multicultural and diverse literature in the classroomEach chapter is organized around specific questions that preservice teachers consistently raise as they prepare to become English language arts teachers. The authors model critical inquiry throughout the text by offering authentic case narratives that raise important considerations of both theory and practice. A companion website, a favorite of English education instructors, http://teachingliterature.pbworks.com, provides resources and enrichment activities, inviting teachers to consider important issues in the context of their current or future classrooms.

Now in its fourth edition, this popular textbook introduces prospective and practicing English teachers to current methods of teaching literature in middle and high school classrooms. This new edition broadens its focus to cover important topics such as critical race theory; perspectives on teaching fiction, nonfiction, and drama; the integration of digital literacy; and teacher research for ongoing learning and professional development. It underscores the value of providing students with a range of different critical approaches and tools for interpreting texts. It also addresses the need to organize literature instruction around topics and issues of interest to today’s adolescents. By using authentic dilemmas and contemporary issues, the authors encourage preservice English teachers and their instructors to raise and explore inquiry-based questions that center on the teaching of a variety of literary texts, both classic and contemporary, traditional and digital. New to the Fourth Edition: Expanded attention to digital tools, multimodal learning, and teaching online New examples of teaching contemporary texts Expanded discussion and illustration of formative assessment Revised response activities for incorporating young adult literature into the literature curriculum Real-world examples of student work to illustrate how students respond to the suggested strategies Extended focus on infusing multicultural and diverse literature in the classroomEach chapter is organized around specific questions that preservice teachers consistently raise as they prepare to become English language arts teachers. The authors model critical inquiry throughout the text by offering authentic case narratives that raise important considerations of both theory and practice. A companion website, a favorite of English education instructors, http://teachingliterature.pbworks.com, provides resources and enrichment activities, inviting teachers to consider important issues in the context of their current or future classrooms.

A critical resource for pre-service and practicing teachers, this book addresses what happens when new teachers try to enact inquiry-based and dialogical pedagogy within standardized schools. Exploring the narratives from beginning ELA and humanities teachers when they encounter challenges and obstructions, this book explores moments of wobble—key events that called attention to practice in the context of inflexible schooling systems—that the teachers shared with their peers via an oral inquiry process (OIP) to help them unpack and understand their experiences. This book advocates for the continued use and enhancement of mentoring and induction initiatives, particularly those that recognize the expressed concerns of novice teachers, no matter what their pedagogical stance might be. By sharing novice teachers’ "wobble stories" and their outcomes, this book provides a pathway for teachers’ continued self-reflection and growth for the duration of their careers. The authors offer a reflective, adaptable, and easy-to-use process that places teachers in control of their own professional learning. The beliefs and structures examined in this text support the intentions of all teachers who work from a learning-centered perspective and wish to take some ownership of their professional development.

A critical resource for pre-service and practicing teachers, this book addresses what happens when new teachers try to enact inquiry-based and dialogical pedagogy within standardized schools. Exploring the narratives from beginning ELA and humanities teachers when they encounter challenges and obstructions, this book explores moments of wobble—key events that called attention to practice in the context of inflexible schooling systems—that the teachers shared with their peers via an oral inquiry process (OIP) to help them unpack and understand their experiences. This book advocates for the continued use and enhancement of mentoring and induction initiatives, particularly those that recognize the expressed concerns of novice teachers, no matter what their pedagogical stance might be. By sharing novice teachers’ "wobble stories" and their outcomes, this book provides a pathway for teachers’ continued self-reflection and growth for the duration of their careers. The authors offer a reflective, adaptable, and easy-to-use process that places teachers in control of their own professional learning. The beliefs and structures examined in this text support the intentions of all teachers who work from a learning-centered perspective and wish to take some ownership of their professional development.

Drawing on Dialogical Self Theory, this book presents a new framework for social and cultural identity construction in the literacy classroom, offering possibilities for how teachers might adjust their pedagogy to better support the range of cultural stances present in all classrooms. In the complex multicultural/multiethnic/multilingual contexts of learning in and out of school spaces today, students and teachers are constantly dialoguing across cultures, both internally and externally, and these cultures are in dialogue with each other. The authors unpack some of the complexity of culture and identity, what people do with culture and identity, and how people navigate multiple cultures and identities. Readers are invited to re-examine how they view different cultures and the roles these play in their lives, and to dialogue with the authors about cultures, learning, literacy, identity, and agency.

Drawing on Dialogical Self Theory, this book presents a new framework for social and cultural identity construction in the literacy classroom, offering possibilities for how teachers might adjust their pedagogy to better support the range of cultural stances present in all classrooms. In the complex multicultural/multiethnic/multilingual contexts of learning in and out of school spaces today, students and teachers are constantly dialoguing across cultures, both internally and externally, and these cultures are in dialogue with each other. The authors unpack some of the complexity of culture and identity, what people do with culture and identity, and how people navigate multiple cultures and identities. Readers are invited to re-examine how they view different cultures and the roles these play in their lives, and to dialogue with the authors about cultures, learning, literacy, identity, and agency.

In this follow-up to his popular book, “Is This English?,” Bob Fecho explores dialogic teaching—what it is and how teachers can move toward more reflective teaching practices. Fecho provides a framework to help teachers develop the necessary focuses, perceptions, and intellectual habits that will result in an ever-enriching dialogue with their practice. Chapters like “Using the Difficulty” consider how an obstacle in the classroom can become a teachable moment, and “Wobble” asks teachers to be alert to when their beliefs are challenged by students and colleagues—and what can be learned in the balancing act. With anecdotes and scenarios from the author’s own experience teaching adolescents and preservice teachers, this engaging book will resonate with educators busy with today’s overcrowded curriculums. Book Features: Helps teachers visualize the possibilities and mechanics of creating a classroom built on dialogue, inquiry, and critique. Author’s concise narrative provides inspiration, provokes thought, and guides practice. Addresses the goals, concerns, and questions that teacher education students often bring to class. Offers thought experiments and tools to help educators examine their own teaching.

This is the story of a white high school English teacher, Bob Fecho, and his students of color who mutually engage issues of literacy, language, learning, and culture. Through his journey, Fecho presents a method of “critical inquiry” that allows students and teachers to take intellectual and social risks in the classroom to make meaning together and, ultimately, to transform literacy education. Featuring the voices, beliefs, and struggles of urban adolescents and their teachers, this important book: Describes how critical inquiry enabled students and teachers to cross cultural boundaries and enact a pedagogy that empowers students. Provides a much-needed alternative to current best-practice thinking and educational mandates that demean teacher knowledge and alienate adolescent students. Demonstrates how difficult realities can and should enter the classroom, showing teachers how to channel them into language, discourse, and classroom projects that improve students’ literacy and thinking.