Glen DeVoogd, Ph.D. Joshua Kunnath Rebecca Rocha Arika Jackson Teacher Development in the English Classroom: Exploring the Affordances of Twitter to Address the Action Element of Critical Literacy Glen DeVoogd, Ph.D. Joshua Kunnath Rebecca Rocha Arika Jackson

Critical Literacy – skill Introduction Critical Literacy – skill Active reading of texts to discover power dynamics and voices of the oppressed TPACK - framework Integration of content, pedagogy & technology Twitter – mode Social networking service

Follow a teacher’s development to: Purpose Action research study Follow a teacher’s development to: Explore the affordances of Twitter Apply critical literacy to English curriculum

Research Questions In what ways does the teacher learn to use Twitter as a tool for social change to teach the eleventh grade English curriculum? What is the process the teacher navigates to consider ways to use Twitter for critical comprehension? How does the teacher use Twitter to assess students’ learning of critical literacy and the eleventh grade English curriculum? How does the teacher use Twitter to facilitate student action steps in critical literacy?

Background Setting: high school urban area in California’s Central Valley Population: 2,000 students 66% Hispanic, 21% White, and 5% African American 32 11th grade English AP Students Teacher – 7th year in the classroom First time integrating social media (Twitter) in the English curriculum

Taught & practiced use of Twitter Taught & practiced critical literacy Methods Unit: 18 days Taught & practiced use of Twitter Taught & practiced critical literacy Combined these two Taught American literature w/ Twitter Combined all three Twitter use: HW Tweets, class tweets, research, communication

Research Question/Data Source Alignment In what ways does the teacher learn to use Twitter as a tool for social change to teach the eleventh grade English curriculum? Student reflections, teacher interview, teacher reflections What is the process the teacher navigates to consider ways to use Twitter for critical comprehension? Teacher reflections How does the teacher use Twitter to assess students’ learning of critical literacy and the eleventh grade English curriculum? Student Tweets, teacher interview, teacher reflections How does the teacher use Twitter to facilitate student action steps in critical literacy?

Example Student Tweets “The media is spreading the info. leaked by the hackers making the whole ordeal worse. And is there any public value in publicizing these documents” “Change in a system will not come from rioting and violence no matter how unjust the final ruling of the Brown case seemed to be” “i don't think ive ever heard the native Americans' perspective on the 1st thanksgiving.. their voices are definitely silenced” “I read Self Reliance w/mostly an aesthetic stance Bcz it was easy to connect to in that way&apply to my life w/ his dif. Ideas”

Results Categories Themes Affordances of Twitter, critical literacy learning, curriculum learning, efficiency Learning time Feedback, participation, peer learning, personalities, relationships Student voices Action steps, application of critical literacy, misunderstandings Limited action

Learning Time Twitter increased the learning efficiency within the classroom Twitter increased learning time outside of the classroom “Would Cuckoo’s Nest be different if it took place in a women’s mental hospital and not one for men?” (student Tweet) “Students learned from their peers, could ask me questions outside of class quickly and easily, and could learn from others outside of the class.” (teacher interview)

Student Voices The use of Twitter and application of critical literacy provided students with a stronger voice Twitter empowered students Twitter promoted equity of student voices “We were able to hear those less outspoken.” (student reflection) “One student participated more on Twitter than she ever has in class.” (teacher reflection)

Limited Action Students struggled to take critical literacy action steps with Twitter “I don’t know how to apply action to this scenario.” (student reflection) “In recent news of California drought, we can use less water to water our lawns and wash our cars in order to help save water. A little water saved, can make a huge difference.” (student Tweet) “When they were required to actually take the step, they greatly struggled” (teacher interview) “What’s an action step?” (student Tweet)

Discussion RQ1: The teacher guided students to communicate the application of critical literacy with Twitter RQ2: Reflection & refinement (TPACK), student feedback, literature RQ3: Formative assessment: 20 homework Tweets, class Tweets RQ4: Applying critical literacy to news and social issues w/Tweets

Conclusions Twitter was shown to be an effective tool to: teach the English curriculum & critical literacy increase total learning time and learning efficiency empower students/foster active learners formatively assess student learning Twitter was not effective in leading students to take action steps with critical literacy

Paper References Bishop, E. (2014). Critical literacy. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 30(1), 51-63. Chai, C. S., Koh, J. H., & Tsai, C. C. (2013). A review of technological pedagogical content knowledge. Educational Technology & Society, 16(2), 31-51. McLaughlin, M., & DeVoogd, G. (2004). Critical literacy: Enhancing students’ comprehension of text. New York: Scholastic. McLaughlin, M. & DeVoogd, G. (2010). Critical literacy as comprehension: Understanding at deeper levels. In D. Lapp & D. Fisher (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching English language arts (pp. 278-282). New York: Routledge. McLeod, J., & Vasinda, S. (2008). Critical literacy and Web 2.0: Exercising and negotiating power. Computers in the Schools, 25(3/4), 259-274. Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054. National Ministry of Education. (2004). Literacy for learning: The report of the expert panel on literacy in Grades 4 to 6 in Ontario. Toronto, ON: Queen’s Printer for Ontario. Ontario Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards: English language arts. Washington, DC: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. Papola, A. L. (2013) Critical literacy, Common Core, and close reading. Colorado Reading Journal, 46-50.