Spring 2018, Issue 8 Growing Scholars Chronicle Conference on English Education-Graduate Strand
Ahh... summer. Time to sit back and relax by the pool with a cold drink and that stack of novels you set aside during the grind of the past 10 months of grad school. Or, maybe more accurately for most of us, time to sit by that pool with the latest books and journal articles to read for comp exams or with the laptop powered on to click away at CV updates and dissertation chapter drafts. We hope you'll put this summer's issue of Growing Scholars Chronicle on your easy poolside reading list; there's some fantastic content in here that is relevant and timely for PhD students in English Education, no matter where you are in the process! This is the second issue we've edited as a CEE-GS editorial board, and we are thrilled to have a diversity of voices represented in it. Members of the CEE-GS community answered our call for their own contributions to this newsletter (and we hope to share even more in the next issue!): Seth French shares with us his advice on managing references using Endnote (a very important research strategy), and Andrea Vaughan and Russell Mayo take us on their journey to bring their preservice teachers into the community for learning in out-of-school literacy spaces in Chicago (with some great ideas for others of us teaching Methods at our universities). We also seek the perspectives of seasoned experts in our field for advice on navigating the job market and surviving the first year of professorship. We include the wisdom of P. L. Thomas in a blog post he wrote about teaching for critical media literacy. Whether you're in your first or last year of your PhD, we hope you will find this organization, and by extension, this newsletter, a place for connection, mentoring, and support. We hope to see you in person at NCTE 2018 or CEE 2019. In the meantime, lather on that sunscreen, and read up! Katie Alford, Arizona State University Chris Bass, University of Illinois at Chicago Amber Jensen, George Mason University Russell Mayo, University of Illinois at Chicago
From the Editors of the Growing Scholars Chronicle
Included in this Issue NCTE 2017 Conference Recap Chris Bass 2 Survival Tips for First-year Professors Eileen Shanahan 4 Advice for Grad Students: Managing References with Endnote Seth D. French 6 Teaching Methods Column: Beyond Classroom Observations: Pre-Service Teacher Fieldwork in Out-of-School Literacy Spaces Andrea Vaughan and Russell Mayo 8 Upcoming Conferences 10 CEE-GS Leadership Team Application Information and Overview 11 Advice for Grad Students: Going on the Academic Job Market Edited by Amber Jensen 12 Blogger's Corner: "Teachable Moment: Fake News and Critical Media Literacy" P. L. Thomas 16 Accomplishments and Accolades of CEE-GS Members 18 CFP: Articles for CEE-GS Newsletter 20 CEE Commissions 19
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NCTE 2017 Conference Recap
By Chris Bass University of Chicago - Illinois This past fall, NCTE filled the halls of the America’s Convention Center in St Louis, MO for our annual conference held November 16-19th. The conference’s theme, Teaching Our Students Today, Tomorrow, Forever: Recapturing Our Voices, Our Agency, Our Mission, sparked a wide range of dynamic presentations. As usual, the NCTE conference included passionate panelists from active K-12 teachers, teacher candidates, academics, and authors. This year’s general sessions had a new format, which aligned with the conference’s theme. NCTE President, Jocelyn A. Chadwick, explained the general sessions “break the traditional model to which we are accustomed so that we can talk and share and explore and inquire.” The featured speakers were writer Jimmy Santiago Baca, astronaut Leland Melvin, novelist Jacqueline Woodson, and graphic artist Gareth Hinds. These sessions became memorable experiences for many attendees. In addition to the powerful general sessions, CEE had its own session strand that highlighted work being done in the field of English education. The CEE Strand sessions generally focused on research and topics pertaining to teacher education programs, professional development, and teacher development. These sessions provided the opportunity to connect with fellow scholars in the field of English education from across the country. CEE also had the opportunity to recognize significant contributors to the field of English education. Friday afternoon, Mollie V. Blackburn, The Ohio State University, and chair of CEE hosted a committee-luncheon. The best selling author Angie Thomas was the keynote speaker. In addition to Thomas’ motivating presentation, four award recipients were recognized: Detra Price-Dennis, Teachers College, received the Janet Emig Award for Exemplary Scholarship in English Education; Jonna Kuskey, John Marshall High School, earned the James Moffett Memorial Award for Teacher Research; Anthony Celaya, Dobson High School, and Nicholas Rink, Buffalo Hide Academy, were each recipients of the Geneva Smitherman Cultural Diversity Grant; Kristine Pytash, Kent State University, received the Rewey Belle Inglis Award for Outstanding Service Relating to the Role and Image of Women. More information about each award may be found at the CEE-NCTE webpage, http://www2.ncte.org/awards/cee-awards/ . Friday evening, CEE hosted a membership meeting and social hour. This event brought together representatives from English education programs nationwide as well as graduate students and Ph.D. candidates. Additional awards were announced: Chris Bacon and Joelle Pedersen, Boston College, received the Graduate Student Research Award. In addition to the awards, upcoming ELA teacher education position openings were posted. Immediately following the membership meeting, CEE-GS held the annual business meeting and pizza dinner. Members of the CEE-GS executive committee presented a brief overview of events planned for the upcoming year. The meeting provided more opportunities to meet fellow graduate students from across the country. Following the pizza-dinner, many committee members continued socializing beyond the convention halls and onto the streets of St. Louis. While the CEE session strand sponsored many notable panels, the CEE-GS also supported several dynamic roundtable sessions. Saturday evening, CEE-GS sponsored the session, “Sharing Our Voices: Preparing Teacher Educators for Today, Tomorrow, Forever.” In this roundtable session of more than 50 participants, English education graduate students presented and discussed their current work. Co-Chairs, Mandie Dunn, Michigan State University, and Meghan Barnes, The University of North Carolina, Charlotte, described their goal as “collaboration, bringing together researchers and educators, to energize, nurture, and sustain novice teacher educators’ desires ‘to think, write, speak, listen, and act critically.’ This goal seemed to be achieved as Ph.D. students shared their work-in-progress with fellow peers and respondents, all of whom were established scholars in the field of English Education. Another CEE-GS roundtable kicked off the Sunday program. Once again, Alan Brown, Wake Forest University, and Luke Rodesiler, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Co-Chaired their annual session, “The Future Is Now: Exploring 21st-Century Teaching Ideas with the Next Generation of English Teachers.” This session seems to gain more participants each year, and this year’s early morning start did not seem to hinder participants; there were 23 roundtables facilitated by advanced graduate students from universities across the country. Each table featured undergraduate and master’s level pre-service English teachers from across the nation. They shared their work exploring 21st -century teaching ideas and research-driven pedagogical practices. The graduate students facilitated conversations in response to themes presented in student work. More information about this dynamic roundtable session can be found at the blog, https://nctefutureisnow.weebly.com/ More information about the upcoming NCTE conference in Houston can be found in this addition of the chronicle. If you plan to attend, we encourage you to check out the CEE-session strand events as a way of better understanding current work being done in the field English education. Also, be on the lookout for information about the CEE-GS meeting and roundtables. All are welcome! We look forward to connecting with everyone at the CEE Summer Conference in 2019!
NCTE 2017 Conference Recap (continued)
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Survival Tips for First-Year Professors
By Eileen Shanahan Eastern Kentucky University eileen.shanahan@eku.edu Nearing the end of my first year as a tenure-track assistant professor, there are a few things I’ve been doing that have helped me along the way and a few things that I wish I had known (or known earlier). I have had so many fabulous formal and informal mentors this year at my own institution and outside of it (which I would encourage you to establish). Much of this advice came from someone else first, but became very real to me as I traversed my way through being a first-year professor. Upon being asked to write this piece a few months ago, I have tried to jot down my in-the-moment realizations as I experienced them. I hope that this compilation of a list is helpful to at least someone as you embark on your own first year. So here we go: Get to know the local and state-wide journals, organizations, conferences, and political issues. Gradually try to learn about education in the context around you. Assuming that you are new to the area where your new position is, do what you can to become an informed member of that community. Depending on your university, they may have varying preferences for how much you get involved with educational policies and organizations at the state level, but either way, I think it is wise to start informing yourself. Following the state-wide education organizations on social media, become a member of the organizations, ask if any of your colleagues are involved in local/state issues, etc. I think that university faculty are often viewed as leaders in their communities, but getting informed about what matters to the people in these communities is a necessary first step. Listen to the conversations that your colleagues are having. At the start of the year especially, I recommend that you listen a lot and talk a lot less. Listening will help you understand your colleagues’ histories in the department, philosophies towards teaching and research, and relationships with each other. As a first-year professor especially, there is still so much to learn about teaching, research, and the workings of a university department. Listening to your colleagues talk with each other will help you determine whose philosophies align with yours and who you want to learn more from. There will also be times where you will need the support of your colleagues and you will want to know who is in your corner. For example, I have recently learned that starting in my year two evaluations, I will need to ask three faculty members to write letters on my behalf in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. This was brand new to me. While I know all universities approach promotion, tenure, and evaluation in different ways, it is important to build positive relationships with colleagues that you trust, which starts with listening. Seek opportunities to meet local teachers and schools. Just as it is important to get to know the local education organizations and issues, it is also important to meet and gradually build relationships with local teachers and schools. While you may not be starting any new school-based research your first year as a professor, you will want to as some point. To do so, you should learn about the reputations of different schools and get a feel for what they value. Work with teachers is best when respect for their work has been fostered and established, which takes time. Do not let yourself get swept up into any drama. This is the same as with being a newbie in any job, but I have found it to be important and think it is worth reiterating. Smile and listen as others talk, but do not add fuel to the fire or do anything to create drama where you are at the center. Throw yourself into your teaching and be patient with your writing. I read Paul Silvia’s How to Write a Lot (2007) the summer before I started and had big plans for writing fall semester. Teaching for 1-2 hours three days a week would leave me with tons of time for writing, right? No. No it did not. Planning for new courses took longer than I had anticipated. I also wanted to be really diligent about giving quality feedback on student work (because student evaluations really matter at the beginning too). Getting used to new people, processes, and expectations, all took time away from writing. However, I did start a great list of ideas for manuscripts that I added to as I reflected back on my dissertation (time will give you some clarity about its import), engaged in discussions with colleagues, and experienced issues with my own pre-service teachers. An example of the chart I use to log my ideas for manuscripts is below. You will eventually have more time to do some writing, so having a topic, proposed deadline, and potential journal will help you start. Back to Silvia’s book: I am not dismissing it at all. It is a fabulous book and a quick read about making time for academic writing. It’s the type of academic book that you really could read on the beach. Just don’t assume that you will be able to do everything your first year. Learn to say no. This is SO important. Maybe the most important. As a graduate student, I know that I felt compelled to say yes to most everything in hopes that that particular collaboration, presentation, service project, etc. would be the thing that got me the job. It was exhausting. And unfortunately, because of the way higher education is funded and conceptualized in our country, the requests for what feels like free work keep coming. But it is really important to think through what matters at your institution for tenure and what your interests are, and then say yes accordingly. Have fun. I have found being a professor to be a rewarding, intellectually stimulating, and overall genuinely great experience. Creativity is encouraged, conversation is rich, and freedom is given to promote this growth and exchange of ideas. There will always be less desirable parts of any job, but recognize the good parts and focus more of your energy on these. It truly is a wonderful profession.
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Survival Tips for First-Year Professors (continued)
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I have mentors through NCTE/CEE that I can go to for help in navigating this career
Advice for Grad Students: Managing References with Endnote
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By Seth D. French University of Arkansas If you’re a grad student, you have probably written your fair share of research papers at this point, which means you have probably developed your own system of organizing the articles and chapters you find for your research projects. That was the case for me at least when I discovered EndNote during my master’s program. Three years later and two years into my doctoral program, I have now used EndNote for every research project I have undertaken since learning about it and saved countless hours in the process. No matter how you choose to go about it, research is time-consuming. What I have found with EndNote, though, is that the literature review component of the research process is not as painful as it used to be. EndNote makes it easy to organize references in the appropriate format and save annotated PDFs in one convenient location for later viewing, maximizing your efficiency and enabling you to spend more time on what’s important, like maintaining your sanity by bingeing that Netflix series you like so much. EndNote is currently in its eighth version (EndNote X8); the following guidance I share comes from my work with EndNote X7, which has most of the same features as EndNote’s current version. The following example comes from my most recent research endeavor involving microteaching in English methods courses. 1: Import reference from research database Since I primarily used EBSCO for my latest research project, I will explain what this process looks like through that online database. While researching through your preferred online database (e.g., EBSCO, JSTOR, ERIC, etc.), simply select the article or chapter you want to catalog in EndNote. While viewing the article, EBSCO has an “Export” tool on the right side of the screen which allows you to share the quickly share the reference information with EndNote. After clicking “Export,” select “Direct Export in RIS Format”; this will generate a reference download which is compatible with EndNote. Within EndNote, select “Import…” and then import the downloaded reference. This should generate an organized reference complete with author, year, article title, journal (if applicable), publisher, volume, issue, pages, ISSN/DOI (if applicable), keywords, abstract, and URL. While I used EBSCO, most online databases have a similar export feature which will allow you to apply this process with similar ease. 2: Apply notes and captions to reference Once your reference is imported, it’s a good idea to apply a note or caption of some sort that will distinguish it from your other references (unless all your references are about the exact same topic). To do this, simply navigate to either the “Caption” or “Notes” portion of your reference in EndNote and input the reference’s signifier that will help you remember its relevance later on. For instance, my research project led me to twenty-four references covering six different topics: methods courses, microteaching, new teacher challenges, pre-service teacher challenges, teacher feedback, and teacher reflection. By applying the appropriate caption to each reference, I was able to return to my references list over a week later and easily recall which references corresponded to which topic. 3: Attach PDF to reference Now that you’ve applied the appropriate caption to your reference, it’s time to import the corresponding PDF into EndNote. To do this, you’ll need to temporarily download the PDF full text from the online database you are using to your computer. Once downloaded, navigate to your reference in EndNote and right-click to access the “File Attachments” option; then select that option and import the PDF to EndNote. Once imported to EndNote, you can delete the PDF you downloaded from the online database and still have access to it through EndNote. 4: Annotate References At this point, if all I was searching for was this one article, I would then begin annotating it with EndNote’s built-in annotation software; however, since all of my research projects involve gathering more than one article from an online database, I normally save the annotation stage until after I have gathered all of the articles I think I will need. In other words, I repeat the previous three steps for each article I find before I begin annotating; this way I can focus on gathering as many relevant sources as possible before I investigate them in more depth. Once I’m ready to explore the sources in more detail, though, EndNote’s built-in annotation software makes it easy to highlight and make comments throughout the articles. As with any annotation, this step makes is much simpler to see what is relevant to my research during the writing phase of my project when I need to see the information at a glance. 5: Copy and paste reference list Perhaps one of the coolest features of EndNote is its ability to expedite the references list creation process for your own articles. EndNote has built-in reference support for all common formats (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.), so once you’ve set your preferred reference style through your EndNote preferences, simply select all of the references you want to include in your references list, right-click “Copy Formatted,” and paste into your separate document. This generates a formatted references list that should save you hours of mundane busywork. One word of caution, however, is that you should always double check the references to ensure proper formatting for the particular journal/publisher to which you are submitting; sometimes the information imported into EndNote can be slightly different than its correct format from its transmission through the online database you were using. Accessing Endnote Software. There are a few different ways to access the EndNote software for either Windows or Mac. The expensive (aka, least appealing) option is to download EndNote X8 for Students at this link for $113.95. If you don’t care about having the latest version, you can download previous version—including EndNote X7, which I currently use—for cheaper prices through Amazon and other online retailers. Your institution may offer free download access as part of your benefits as a student. For example, Oklahoma State University, where I earned my master’s, offered free download access to EndNote X7 through the library’s software distribution website while I was there. Another option is to download the free 30-day trial of EndNote X8 to see if it’s even something you would want to use. Finally, EndNote has a free online version that provides access to many of the features discussed above; you may find that option to be useful enough for what you need. Maybe you want to use an entirely different software, and you’re offended that I would even suggest using EndNote, and that’s okay, too. While I’m not married to EndNote, I have found it to be invaluable for my research process over the past few years, so hopefully it can benefit you as well. By Eileen Shanahan Eastern Kentucky University eileen.shanahan@eku.edu Nearing the end of my first year as a tenure-track assistant professor, there are a few things I’ve been doing that have helped me along the way and a few things that I wish I had known (or known earlier). I have had so many fabulous formal and informal mentors this year at my own institution and outside of it (which I would encourage you to establish). Much of this advice came from someone else first, but became very real to me as I traversed my way through being a first-year professor. Upon being asked to write this piece a few months ago, I have tried to jot down my in-the-moment realizations as I experienced them. I hope that this compilation of a list is helpful to at least someone as you embark on your own first year. So here we go: Get to know the local and state-wide journals, organizations, conferences, and political issues. Gradually try to learn about education in the context around you. Assuming that you are new to the area where your new position is, do what you can to become an informed member of that community. Depending on your university, they may have varying preferences for how much you get involved with educational policies and organizations at the state level, but either way, I think it is wise to start informing yourself. Following the state-wide education organizations on social media, become a member of the organizations, ask if any of your colleagues are involved in local/state issues, etc. I think that university faculty are often viewed as leaders in their communities, but getting informed about what matters to the people in these communities is a necessary first step. Listen to the conversations that your colleagues are having. At the start of the year especially, I recommend that you listen a lot and talk a lot less. Listening will help you understand your colleagues’ histories in the department, philosophies towards teaching and research, and relationships with each other. As a first-year professor especially, there is still so much to learn about teaching, research, and the workings of a university department. Listening to your colleagues talk with each other will help you determine whose philosophies align with yours and who you want to learn more from. There will also be times where you will need the support of your colleagues and you will want to know who is in your corner. For example, I have recently learned that starting in my year two evaluations, I will need to ask three faculty members to write letters on my behalf in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. This was brand new to me. While I know all universities approach promotion, tenure, and evaluation in different ways, it is important to build positive relationships with colleagues that you trust, which starts with listening. Seek opportunities to meet local teachers and schools. Just as it is important to get to know the local education organizations and issues, it is also important to meet and gradually build relationships with local teachers and schools. While you may not be starting any new school-based research your first year as a professor, you will want to as some point. To do so, you should learn about the reputations of different schools and get a feel for what they value. Work with teachers is best when respect for their work has been fostered and established, which takes time. Do not let yourself get swept up into any drama. This is the same as with being a newbie in any job, but I have found it to be important and think it is worth reiterating. Smile and listen as others talk, but do not add fuel to the fire or do anything to create drama where you are at the center. Throw yourself into your teaching and be patient with your writing. I read Paul Silvia’s How to Write a Lot (2007) the summer before I started and had big plans for writing fall semester. Teaching for 1-2 hours three days a week would leave me with tons of time for writing, right? No. No it did not. Planning for new courses took longer than I had anticipated. I also wanted to be really diligent about giving quality feedback on student work (because student evaluations really matter at the beginning too). Getting used to new people, processes, and expectations, all took time away from writing. However, I did start a great list of ideas for manuscripts that I added to as I reflected back on my dissertation (time will give you some clarity about its import), engaged in discussions with colleagues, and experienced issues with my own pre-service teachers. An example of the chart I use to log my ideas for manuscripts is below. You will eventually have more time to do some writing, so having a topic, proposed deadline, and potential journal will help you start. Back to Silvia’s book: I am not dismissing it at all. It is a fabulous book and a quick read about making time for academic writing. It’s the type of academic book that you really could read on the beach. Just don’t assume that you will be able to do everything your first year. Learn to say no. This is SO important. Maybe the most important. As a graduate student, I know that I felt compelled to say yes to most everything in hopes that that particular collaboration, presentation, service project, etc. would be the thing that got me the job. It was exhausting. And unfortunately, because of the way higher education is funded and conceptualized in our country, the requests for what feels like free work keep coming. But it is really important to think through what matters at your institution for tenure and what your interests are, and then say yes accordingly. Have fun. I have found being a professor to be a rewarding, intellectually stimulating, and overall genuinely great experience. Creativity is encouraged, conversation is rich, and freedom is given to promote this growth and exchange of ideas. There will always be less desirable parts of any job, but recognize the good parts and focus more of your energy on these. It truly is a wonderful profession.
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Managing References (continued)
Andrea Vaughan and Russell Mayo University of Chicago-Illinois Where do your English Education (EE) pre-service students complete observation or “fieldwork” hours? The answer is most likely by sitting in the back of a classroom, watching an experienced English educator and his/her secondary students in a K-12 classroom. Like us, you have probably found some deficiencies with this model of teaching apprenticeship. We found ourselves asking, Is this only way for pre-service teachers to learn about about literacy and pedagogy? Might such an arrangement simply enculturate future teachers into a problematic pedagogical status quo? How might our pre-service teachers learn about pedagogy and literacy in more authentic, holistic, hands-on ways? These questions led us seek out spaces of learning outside of the mainstream relationships of teacher and student, or curriculum, instruction, and assessment. In fact, the changing understandings of literacies as social, situated, multiple, contextual, coupled with the critiques of “schoolish” ways of doing literacy, have led some EE scholars to reorient their approaches to learning and literacy toward spaces outside of schools altogether. Building on this theoretical shift, we have sought out partnerships with local out-of-school literacy sites for some of our students’ fieldwork in EE methods courses. In what follows, we will briefly describe our work with two out-of-school literacy spaces used with our pre-service secondary English teachers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). We will discuss the benefits and challenges of such partnerships, while making the case that out-of-school literacy spaces offer rich potential compared with traditional classroom-based fieldwork. Out-of-School Literacy Space #1: Young Chicago Authors (YCA) Founded in 1991, YCA is a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of urban youth through writing, publication, and performance education. YCA offers free weekend poetry or rap writing workshops and open-mic programs for local youth and partners YCA “teaching artists” with local schools. The organization is probably best known for producing Louder than a Bomb (LTAB), an annual national teen poetry slam, which they claim is “the largest youth poetry festival in the world.” YCA was a particularly strong match for the “Introduction to English Education” methods course, English 459, designed to bring questions of social justice, critical literacy, and asset pedagogies to the teaching of English. The course highlighted the teaching and writing of poetry and youth spoken word (YSW) in the classroom, with a focus on Christensen and Watson’s Rhythm and Resistance. Student read and viewed examples of contemporary, local YSW poetry from The Breakbeat Poets and poetry slam videos from LTAB. In partnering with YCA, YSW then became a major part of students’ fieldwork. Students completed some of their required hours participating in poetry writing workshops or by volunteering as judges for LTAB poetry slam events. Overall, our preservice teachers especially found a renewed value in poetry as a fun, engaging, exciting, challenging way to promote student voice and expression, and that sharing stories through this medium could help teachers to build community in their classrooms. Reading and writing with exemplar pieces of YSW also helped our teachers to counter deficit perspectives, while seeks to sustain and affirm students’ knowledges, languages, and assets. Some important literacy takeaways for our students included: (1) an exposure to appreciative, non-critical feedback responses to student writing, (2) a new view of hip-hop poetics that led to a questioning of the canon. Some important pedagogical takeaways were: (1) the value of a circle arrangement for discussion that opens the room, (2) the use of list-making as accessible frontloading for pre-writing tasks. Students reported experiencing both excitement about and discomfort with the open-ended process of the poetry workshops that they participated in. They also expressed some warranted skepticism of the YSW model of teaching literacy and their own notions of what high school English looks like, especially as it relates to the “real talk” and politics of a hip-hop poetics as it exists at YCA’s counter-public, out-of-school literacy space. Partnering with YCA’s workshops and volunteering opportunities also allowed for flexible, dynamic experiences for our students to learn as participant-observers in the fullest sense. Out-of-School Literacy Space #2: 826CHI 826CHI is a nonprofit writing and tutoring center also in Chicago’. Part of the 826 National network with chapters all over the United States, 826CHI facilitates K-12 writing and publishing, including after-school tutoring, writing workshops, in-school programming, and on-site field trips. 826CHI conceptualizes writing as a creative process and provides opportunities for students to write more flexibly than they might in schools. Its programs foreground publishing as a critical component of the writing process, and offer multiple means of celebrating students’ work. We found 826CHI to be a great fieldwork site for students in English 486, the pre-service English Education focused on the teaching of writing. In this course, students consider what it means to teach writing and how to develop their students as creative and critical thinkers. Our approach to this course was as a hybrid methods course and writing workshop; students regularly wrote together, shared their writing, and considered pedagogical implications. Students were required to complete 12 hours of fieldwork with 826CHI for this course, and to write a blog post about their experience volunteering with this organization. The students who chose to volunteer regularly in the after-school tutoring program developed relationships with the students they worked with weekly, and began to see students as part of a network that includes their parents, teachers, family, and community. Students noticed that writing at 826CHI involves a recursive process of trying out ideas, chatting with tutors and peers, working through revision practices, and publishing chapbooks that go on sale in the organization’s brick-and-mortar store. The de-centering of adults at 826CHI both elevates students’ voices and gives tutors the opportunity to not know the answer to a question, which can set students on a journey to find the answer themselves. Doing fieldwork in an out-of-school writing space like 826CHI helped ENGL 486 students to think of writing as a creative and communicative act, and to think of themselves as sojourners on the path to better writing, rather than as experts with all the answers. Key takeaways for ENGL 486 students included the importance of talk to the writing process, giving students opportunities for choice in their writing, creating a comfortable and engaging writing space, showing interest in student writing, providing supportive feedback, and foregrounding publishing in the writing process. However, ENGL 486 students were aware that the flexibility afforded in an out-of-school space where they worked one-on-one or in small groups would likely not be realities in their future classrooms. Our students recognized this, and with it the importance of partnering with out-of-school organizations like 826CHI when they are teachers in the future. Doing fieldwork at 826CHI provided an early opportunity to gain student-facing experience in a low-stakes environment. Partnerships with YCA and 826CHI offered unique, challenging participant-observation experiences for our pre-service English teachers. While these student will spend myriad hours conducting classroom-based observations of teachers and students across our EE program, working with student-writers in out-of-school literacy-learning spaces such as YCA and 826CHI offers rich potentials for engaging future teachers in understanding and appreciating a fuller range of young people’s dynamic literacy practices.
TEACHING METHODS COLUMN: Beyond Classroom Observations: Pre-Service Teacher Fieldwork in Out-of-School Literacy Spaces
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TEACHING METHODS COLUMN
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FOR YOUR CALENDAR UPCOMING CONFERENCES NCTE 2018: "Raising Student Voice" Houston, Texas November 15 - 18, 2018 LRA 2018: "Reclaiming Literacy Research: Centering Activism, Community, and Love" Indian Wells, California November 28 - December 1, 2018 JOLLE 2019: Athens, Georgia February 2019; Dates and CFP TBA AERA 2019: "Leveraging Education Research in a 'Post-Truth' Era: Multimodal Narratives to Democratize Evidence" Toronto, Canada April 5 - 9, 2019 PROPOSALS DUE July 23, 2018 CEE 2019: July 11- 14, 2019 Fayetteville, Arkansas NCTE 2018: Houston, Texas, November 15-18, 2018
Methods Column (continued)
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INTERESTED IN JOINING THE 2019 - 2021 CEE-GS LEADERSHIP TEAM?
Membership Director Lauren Zucker (lzucker2@fordham.edu ) Communicate with CEE-GS members by updating the CEE-GS website and spreading awareness through other online forums (e.g., social media and email); communicate with and recruit new campus representatives.
Social Media Director Nichole Barrett (nbarrett@buffalo.edu) Post announcements and reminders on the FB page; general upkeep of the FB page (updating pictures, approving new members, etc.); plan dinners and social events for CEE-GS at conferences; create invites for the social events and the CEE-GS business meeting at NCTE; assist the Chair and the Newsletter Editor(s) with overall communications, including flyers, emails, articles, etc.
CEE-GS Chair Mandie Dunn (mandiebdunn@gmail.com) Plan & coordinate Leadership Team meetings, communicate with Campus Reps, serve as liaison to CEE Executive Committee, attend CEE Executive Committee meetings at NCTE & CEE, develop new initiatives for CEE-GS, dispense information to grad students, & organize the CEE-GS Doctoral Student Roundtable session at NCTE.
The CEE-Graduate Strand (CEE-GS) provides graduate students with the opportunity to network with the peers they will work alongside over their careers. Moreover, it provides opportunities for establishing collaborative partnerships and forming a peer-based support system to enhance the graduate student experience. About the Leadership Team. Serving on the CEE-GS Leadership Team is a great way to serve CEE-GS, to improve and grow the organization, and to learn more about the field of English Education. Any graduate student can run for and serve on the Leadership Team. The term begins and ends at the CEE conference: the next term begins in June 2019 and ends in June 2021. All members are expected to participate in regular Leadership Team meetings and attend NCTE and CEE (including related CEE-GS events) during their years of service. The specific descriptions and responsibilities of each position are outlined below. Feel free to contact the current CEE rep with any questions you might have about a position. To apply for a position, Please submit the following information to Mandie Dunn at mandiebdunn@gmail.com by Thursday, Nov. 1 2018: (1) Your name, institution, and anticipated month/year of degree completion; (2) the position(s) you are applying for; (3) One paragraph detailing: (a) your qualifications for the applied-for position, (b) your interest in a particular position, and (c) your vision for the position under your leadership. Note: You must be present at the CEE-GS Business Meeting at NCTE in order to run and vote!
Newsletter Editor(s) Russ Mayo (mayo3@uic.edu), Chris Bass (cbass2@uic.edu), Amber Jensen (ajensen6@gmail.com), & Katie Alford (katherinealford2@gmail.com) Create a summer (June) and fall (Nov) newsletter to be distributed to CEE-GS members via email, FB, and the CEE-GS website; solicit articles, columns, and announcements relevant to grad students in EE; design, edit, and format newsletter for biannual online and print publication (4 issues during your tenure).
NCTE Liaison(s) Chea Parton (chea.parton@gmail.com) and Rae Oviatt (oviatt.rl@gmail.com) Build relationships with other NCTE groups, such as Cultivating New Voices, the Black Caucus, the Latin@ Caucus, among others.
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Conference Director Ryan Schey (ryanschey@auburn.edu) Help plan, set up, and facilitate events at NCTE and CEE so that these events run smoothly. If asked, serve as member of CEE Conference Planning Committee.
Edited by Amber Jensen, George Mason University At CEE 2017, the CEE Graduate Strand invited four professors to share their perspectives on the academic job market, from the perspectives of going on the job market themselves, being on the other side as a member or a head of a search committee, and mentoring other grad students through the job search process. These four scholars had great advice to share with grad students in our field, regardless of where they are in their programs. A full video of the presentation can be found on the NCTE YouTube page at this link. Below is a summary of the advice given by the four panelists from this event: Dr. Amy Piotrowski, Assistant Professor of Secondary Education and English Education at Utah State University, Uintah Basin; Dr. Michelle Falter, Assistant Professor of English Education at North Carolina State University; Dr. Carl Young, Associate Professor of English Education at North Carolina State University, and Dr. Amanda Thein, Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture at Iowa State University.
Advice for Grad Students: Navigating the Academic Job Market
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During your PhD: Teaching, Research, Supervision, Grant Writing. Don’t wait until your final year in your program to begin thinking about the job search! During your program, you should be seeking the kinds of experiences that will serve you on the job market and into the early years of your career as a professor. Panelists’ advice about building the CV from the beginning include: Piotrowski: Act as if you want an R1 position from the beginning; it’s easier to change your mind from there and go elsewhere than to do the other way around. This includes gaining teaching, supervising, and research experience, as well as grant-funded opportunities if possible.Work with your faculty members, advisors, etc. to secure these kinds of experiences. Thein: It is an expectation to have publications - even one or two things yourself (English Journal, LRA Yearbook, etc.). This shows that you understand the process of publication, you have the persistence to see something through to publication, learn how to deal with reviews, editors, etc. Young: If you’re early in your programs, look for opportunities to work with faculty on grant/research projects to be mentored that way. Look to state publications as well as first publications. Consider starting/building a Graduate Student Organization at your institution; build a network. Get involved with the CEE Commissions; they will help you develop a smaller network and make connections with others who are doing the same kind of work you are doing. Piotrowski: If you’re not on a big grant, there might be some smaller grants you could write to get some experience. It doesn’t have to be a huge grant to show that you know how to access grant money. Consider applying for travel grants; those should definitely go on your CV! Thein: Go to conferences! Build a network, not just with more senior people in the field, but amongst yourselves. People I work with now and collaborate with are people I met when I was a doc student and a beginning professor. This is a small world; people will remember you. Reviewing for conferences, reviewing manuscripts for journals are other ways to get involved. People are always looking for reviewers Falter: Keep your CV up to date. The second you do something, update your CV! Read the book The Professor is In: the Essential Guide to Turning your PhD into a Job by Karen Kelsky. This book helps you think about the whole process from beginning as a first year doc student going through your first couple of years as a professor, all the things you need to be thinking about to get to the next step. While on the Market. As you plan for your final year, consider how you’ll balance your time between finishing your dissertation, keeping up with your teaching/research assistantships, and going on the job market. A common theme among all of the panelists is that it takes a lot more time than you might think! Plan for that. Some advice: Thein: Wondering how many positions to apply for? You can cast the net widely - you may be surprised to like a position you weren’t sure that you would. Especially when you’re considering geography. But don’t cast it so wide that you don’t have time to write good application letters and statements of purpose for the places you’re applying. Or to finish your dissertation! Remember etiquette: if you know you’re not going to take that job, it’s unfair to everyone for you to go. Piotrowski: Be ready for it to take up quite a bit of time. You’ll spend a lot of time putting together materials for different positions. Different positions may ask for slightly different materials. Every position requires a cover letter, which needs to be tailored for the job. Need to revise for every position. Amy applied to about 30. Kept a list of the places applied, deadline, materials needed. Noted submitted materials and date. You may apply for a job and not hear anything back for a very long time (or ever). Falter: Finishing the dissertation while also starting a new job as an instructional coach for last year of PhD and on the job market was crazy. The more you can have done with your dissertation before you go on the job market is a good strategy, will make your life a lot easier. Michelle applied to 11 schools. That was good for her. If you’re not getting bites, you have to cast further. It depends on how mobile you are. Thein and Falter: Job searches can feel very idiosyncratic. It can be hard to know why they do or don’t want you. Try not to take it personally. It’s hard not to! Preparing Materials. Curious about what materials schools will ask you to submit? Falter: It’s essential to tailor materials to the jobs you want. These can include a cover letter, CV, research statement, teaching statement, diversity statement, sample syllabus, writing samples. Search committees create a rubric based directly from the call. It’s the fairest way to make the judgment. If you aren’t directly addressing the call in your materials, you’re doing yourself a big disservice. Thein: Make sure the cover letter addresses the qualifications for that specific job. Sometimes you’re applying for a job that isn’t a perfect fit for your qualifications, but you can make a case for it. Researching Institutions. The big question many of us are asking: do I want to go for an R1 job or not? Thankfully, most of the panelists acknowledge that you may not even know until you’re out on the market. Here’s their advice for how to think through the institutions that will be a good fit (and how to find those job ads!): Young: You may not know if you want to be in an R1 or not. This process can help you figure it out. Don’t let them know that you don’t know! It’s okay to go to either one; you can be successful in either venue. If you’re in a doctoral program that is preparing you for an R1, it may not be popular to go, but be confident with what it is you want for your own life. You can be successful in either kind of institution. Piotrowski: When job postings start coming out, there are couple websites that publish them: Inside Higher Ed and Chronicle of Higher Education. Some institutions post English Education positions in MLA - those tend to go to institutions where English Ed is within the English Department. Read the listing very, very carefully. What are the qualifications? What are they looking for? What are the required qualifications (ex: PhD in English Education, at least 3 years of teaching experience)? What are the preferred qualifications (ex: published in critical literacies, technology, YA literature, etc.)? Go to the institution’s website and look at who’s in the department, the mission statement for the institution, the college/university, school/college you’d be in within that. Get a feel for if it seems like a place that you’d be interested in going to. Do some research to figure it out. Use that research to tailor your materials. If you meet those preferred qualifications, that needs to be in your cover letter. Falter: Research the schools you are applying to: know who the people are in the department, read their work, know what they do, know how you fit within that department. Make sure you’re not doing the same work as someone who is already there. They often look for people who are filling a void in what they already have. Learn the mission and vision of the college. Be prepared to answer a question about how you see yourself fitting within that vision. Piotrowski: Don’t feel like you have to apply for every position that becomes available. Cast your net as widely as possible but know yourself and where you’d like to be and what would make you happy. Falter: What kind of job you want? You might want to be open to different jobs and understand what those different jobs might be. She applied to R1 universities, or high activity research universities, but also R2, balance of teaching and research in terms of expectations. Know the kinds of schools and what they expect. Young: A distinction between R1 and teaching-focused university is at an R1, the research is expected, but the teaching is expected. It may not be privileged in the same way because it’s expected. Don’t think that isn’t an expectation. At an R1, they’ll expect you to talk about grant writing, publication, etc. The expectation for doctoral students to have worked on grant projects or get grants or publish keeps getting higher. If you haven’t had that experience, it doesn’t exclude you, but you can talk about what your plans will be to be grant-active, for example. First Round Interviews. After you submit your materials, you’ll wait to hear back about an invitation for a first-round interview, usually over the phone or Skype. Some insider info: Falter: They’ll take applications, then phone/Skype interview. Some do interviews at conferences (like NCTE). The first round interview is a way for the search committee to come up with recommendations for who they want to bring to campus (2-3 people). They have to tell the department chair, go through an approval process, search committee brings 2-3 people to campus. Young: For the phone/video interview: practice! It can be disconcerting if you haven’t done it before, especially talking to multiple people at once. It can be disconcerting for the search committee in addition to the candidates. Falter: On Skype/phone interviews, have a cheat sheet! Be prepared to answer questions like “why are you interested in our school?” Be prepared with some stories that draw upon your experience. This will help ease your nerves and make sure you best represent yourself! Young: Be knowledgeable about the institution. Even for a phone interview, show that you know about the institution. What is it about us that you want to be a part of? What are the connections you’re making with the institution, department, faculty, research interests, community? Demonstrate knowledge and show a connection. Campus Visits. And finally, the long-awaited campus visit. Here we go! Young: Campus visits are typically 2 days, sometimes 3 days. Pace yourself. Try to set it up where you have time in between. Look for times in there to go to the bathroom, to eat, etc. You may not always feel comfortable eating when you’re eating and talking with people. You’ll be going from place to place to place. You’ll have a liaison, lean on them to help you. Piotrowski: During the campus interview, what happens? Who will you meet? You’ll have meals with people in the department, you’ll give a research talk or possibly a teaching talk/demo (don’t worry; they’ll tell you beforehand what the class has been working on, etc.). You’ll meet with department chair one on one, with the dean one on one, and with the search committee. You may even meet with a realtor! Young: In your presentation, be able to talk about a research agenda beyond your institution: what is next for you? Demonstrate that you are making a transition, hitting the ground running. Be sure to dress professionally. You are making an impact. You can demonstrate that you’ll be a good teacher with a research presentation, for example. Show you can do more with what they ask you to do. Represent your pedagogy as a teacher educator. Thein: Talks are usually one hour long; don’t go over 45 minutes, Q&A is really important. Rehearse! Your contact on the search committee will help you know how to prepare your job talk: what’s the audience? Thein: Be excited about that university/college. Be invested in knowing. The search committee is the one that puts together the recommendation; the dean is the one that hires you. The dean wants to know are you excited about this job? Would you be a good colleague here? (Example: “What are your goals for the next 5 years?” “ Have you done any grant work?” Sample responses: “I’ve investigated these grants, in the future I see my research going in these directions…). Have a plan and express interest in being there. Meeting with the dean is really important. Some deans will override the decision of the search committee. And some final, parting words from Dr. Thein: “You’ll have a sense for if you will be a good fit. But also, you’re a free agent as an academic. The first job you go to does not need to be your forever job. The university made an investment in you, but you made an investment in them too. You are a free agent!” Best of luck to everyone going on the job market this year, and thanks to these four colleagues for their invaluable advice and investment in the next cohort of English Education PhDs!
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Academic Job Market (continued)
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BLOGGER'S CORNER
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P. L. Thomas’s popular blog, Radical Eyes for Equity, offers thoughtful, incisive, often humorous explorations of literacy, literature, politics, education reform, and English education. His posts regularly feature classroom narratives from his work as a (former) high school English teacher in rural South Carolina, as well as issues emerging from his current work of teaching college Composition and English Education at Furman University. Thomas is a past editor/co-editor of English Journal’s “Speaking Truth to Power” column. In 2013, he received NCTE’s George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language. Two of his most recent publications include Trumplandia: Unmasking Post-Truth America (2017), as well as the co-edited collection of essays, Critical Media Literacy and Fake News in Post-Truth America (2018).
"Teachable Moment: Fake News and Critical Media Literacy"
by P.L. Thomas Excerpted from article published 2/13/2018 on the Radical Eyes for Equity blog The great and urgent paradox of twenty-first century America is trying to discover the truth about fake news, a phenomenon spurred by the 2016 presidential election. Fortunately, researchers have analyzed how often people viewed fake news to help us understand that elusive truth: [W]e find that approximately one in four Americans visited a fake news website, but that consumption was disproportionately observed among Trump supporters for whom its largely pro-Trump content was attitude-consistent. However, this pattern of selective exposure was heavily concentrated among a small subset of people — almost six in ten visits to fake news websites came from the 10% of Americans with the most conservative information diets. Finally, we specifically identify Facebook as the most important mechanism facilitating the spread of fake news and show that fact-checking largely failed to selectively reach consumers of fake news. (Guess, Nyhan, & Reifler, 2016) Since these researchers identified that about 65 million Americans consumed fake news during the study period and that fake news constituted about “2.6% of all the articles Americans read on sites focusing on hard news topics during this period,” everyone interested in facts and truth are justified in considering ways in which we all can combat the negative impact of fake news, not only on our democracy but also on all ways of life in a free society. This urgency is especially relevant to educators, and Guess, Nyhan, and Reifler’s study speaks directly to the need for teachers at every grade level to incorporate critical media literacy into the education of all students. To meet that need, co-editor Christian Z. Goering (University of Arkansas) and I have collected a series of essays in Critical Media Literacy and Fake News in Post-Truth America (2018) because critical media literacy, we argue, may well be the only thing between a free people and their freedom. In what follows—an excerpt from Chapter 2, entitled “An Educator’s Primer”—I offer some foundational concepts on critical media literacy in this “teachable moment.” Being an educator at any level—K-12 through undergraduate and graduate education—has always been a challenge in the U.S. since formal education in theory is linked to preserving our democracy. Being a critical educator at any level in the U.S. has always been and remains nearly impossible because formal education in practice is more about enculturation and maintaining the status quo than seeking the social equity that remains elusive despite our claimed ideals as a people. With the election of Donald Trump as president in 2016, the media punditry has become obsessed, as has Trump, with fake news and post-truth public discourse. In this volume committed to investigating and interrogating fake news and post-truth discourse in the context of curriculum and instruction grounded in critical media literacy goals, we offer the foundational opportunity for educators to consider and reconsider the nature of truth/Truth, knowledge, and facts both in the teaching/learning dynamic and throughout mainstream media and all sorts of public discourse, notably by and about political discourse. First, let’s establish the terms and contexts essential to understanding and then teaching critical media literacy: “Fake news” is a technical term (although most public discourse fails to adhere to this technical distinction) that identifies mostly on-line information that is intentionally false and provocative, designed to be click-bait and drive internet traffic and thus revenue. “Satire” is purposefully distorted information that assumes readers/viewers recognize the information is not factual, but intended to make larger points. The Onion, Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, The Daily Show, and John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight are examples of satire packaged in seemingly credible formats, parodies of traditional news media. “Post-truth” is a relatively newer term for the popular and often right-wing embracing of (and misunderstanding) post-modernism’s challenge to the objective nature of truth/Truth. Not to oversimplify, but post-modernism argues that truth/Truth is defined by whoever is in power (not an objective reality), while the contemporary popular and right-leaning political embracing of “post-truth” is more akin to “the truth is whatever I say it is regardless of any evidence or the credibility of evidence.” Mainstream journalism functions under two important and corrupting norms: (1) journalists (just as educators are implored to be) maintain a stance of objectivity and neutrality, an apolitical pose, and thus (2) most mainstream examinations of topics, debates, and events are framed as “both sides” journalism, rendering all positions as equally credible and valid. For example, the mainstream media, as John Oliver has exposed, gives the general public the false notion that climate change has as many scientists for as against the “theory,” a term read by the public as “hypothesis.” To embrace teaching critical media literacy (in conjunction with critical pedagogy and critical literacy) is disrupting the traditional norm that educators remain apolitical. This volume’s authors recognize that educators face tremendous hurdles for teaching critical media literacy: eroding job security with the dismantling of unions (and absence historically of unions in many regions of the U.S.), increasing accountability for student test scores on exams that are reductive and demand of students far less in their literacy than critical media literacy (in other words, our efforts to teach critical media literacy can be disregarded with “that isn’t on the test”), and deteriorating teaching and learning conditions such as overcrowded classrooms and more teachers inadequately prepared to teach (such as Teach For America candidates). None the less, if we genuinely believe in universal public education as a key mechanism for democracy and individual liberty then we educators must be well versed in critical media literacy, and then we must make that central to our classrooms. Throughout this chapter, the intersections of media and education are examined in order to highlight the power and dangers inherent in fake news, post-truth discourse, and traditional calls for educators and journalists to be objective, apolitical.
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PULL QUOTE FROM BLOG POST
"Teachable Moment" blog (continued)
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Accomplishments & Accolades of CEE-GS Members
Keith Newvine received the New York State Reading Association World Trade Center Memorial Award in November 2017. This award is given annually to acknowledge literacy programs which enhance understanding of ethnic and cultural diversity. The goal of this program is to expose students in a predominantly white secondary school to narratives written and about individuals who have been historically marginalized so as to prevent the dangerous ethnocentrism which is ever on the horizon. Russell Mayo received the Department of English Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This award is presented annually to an advanced doctoral student of English whose performance as a Teaching Assistant, as judged by department faculty, ranks at the highest level of professional competence. Lara Searcy received the NSU Circle of Excellence in Teaching Award in May 2018. Each year three faculty members at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK are selected by their peers (from among many who are nominated by students and/or colleagues) to be added to the NSU Faculty Circle of Excellence; one faculty member is selected for her/his contributions in teaching, one in research, and one in service. Seth French co-authored “Before You Click 'Share': Mindful Media Literacy as a Positive Civic Act" in C.Z. Goering & P.L. Thomas (Eds.), Critical media literacy and fake news in post-truth America, published in 2018. Heidi Lyn Hadley published "Good Mother/Bad Mother: The Representation of Mothers in Recent Printz Award Winning Literature" in The ALAN Review, Winter 2018. Amber Jensen published "Write Here, Write Now" in Teachers Profs Parents: Writers Who Care blog in January 2018. Stephanie Loomis published "#Twitter: A Pedagogical Tool in the High School Classroom" in JOLLE (Journal of Language and Literacy Education), Spring 2018. Jennifer Penaflorida published "Identity Narratives: Making Writing Meaningful" in Oklahoma English Journal, Spring/Summer 2018. Darius Phelps published "Fingerprints Upon My Heart" in NAEYC, May 2018. David Premont published "Embracing the Identity of the Teacher-writer" in Teachers Profs Parents: Writers Who Care blog in April 2018. Lauren Zucker published "Shifting the power to create a more student-centered classroom" in English Journal, May 2018; published "An imaginary party sparks academic conversations" in New Jersey English Journal, March 2018; co-authored "Mindful ELA: Lessons from a grassroots wellness initiative" published in English Leadership Quarterly, February 2018
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CFP
Seeking Submissions for the next issue of Growing Scholars Chronicle
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Did you present at a conference this year? Are you trying something new in your methods class? Do you have advice to share? Did you accomplish something exciting? The Growing Scholars Chronicle is seeking contributions by CEE-GS members (including early career professors!). Requested Submissions: FEATURE ARTICLES Suggested Length: 800 - 1,200 words. You may submit manuscripts on any topic that will appeal to graduate students of English Education. Formats include articles, essays, research, art, creative writing, multi-modal etc. BOOK REVIEWS Suggested Length: 75 - 100 words. Review research or pedagogy texts used in methods courses or for your own doctoral research. These should follow annotated bibliography format. ADVICE FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS Suggested Length: Varies; no more than 2,000 words. These pieces may regard aspects of graduate school including, but not limited to: writing, collaboration, submitting proposals, time management, reference management , and working with professors on or off campus. MEMBER ACCOLADES If something great is happening (publications, grants, awards), we want to hear about it! How to Submit: Email the GSC editors at growingscholarschronicle@gmail.com with your submission in Google Doc or Word Doc. Include your name, university affiliation, and a headshot. We will be in touch about publication in an upcoming issue of the newsletter.
ONE LAST REMINDER If you are interested in getting more involved with CEE as a graduate student, check out the leadership opportunities that are available this year (details on page 11). Elections for the CEE-GS Leadership Team will take place at NCTE 2018 during the CEE-GS Business Meeting. Hope to see you there!
