Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Podcast

Global Literacy Education Partnerships with Phillip Wilder, James Cohen, Moses Deogratius, and Andrea Trudeau.

In today’s episode host Matt Sroka chats with Phillip Wilder, James Cohen, Moses Deogratius, and Andrea Trudeau about Nonviolent Communication being used to support partnerships between the Global North and the Global South, emphasizing the need to foster “power with” rather than a “power over” relationships. This conversation stems from their commentary for The Journal for Adolescent & Adult Literacy titled: “Cultivating nonviolent relationships within global literacy education partnerships”

Dr. Phillip M. Wilder is an associate professor of literacy at Clemson University where his current research explores how youth and educators practice nonviolent communication. A longtime educator with over two decades of experience leading international educational partnerships including Mwangaza Education for Partnership in Tanzania, Phillip guides educational programs which emphasize conscious communication and agency within communities.

Dr. James Cohen is a professor of ESL/Bilingual Education at Northern Illinois University. He currently researches areas such as undocumented immigration in the U.S., identity construction of EFL teachers, and partnerships between the global north and global south. James spends his summers taking pre-service teachers to places such as Indonesia, Tanzania and Kenya to provide “Power with” teaching experiences.

Moses Deogratius a chief librarian at Madaraka Nyerere library and community resource centre Musina Tanzania since 2016 up until now. Moses was also a Kiswahili teacher at Nyegina secondary school from 2014 to 2019. He also has been working with Tanzania development support for six years. His email is [email protected]

Andrea Trudeau, Ph.D., NBCT, is an award-winning, human-centered school librarian with 27 years of teaching experience in a public middle school in the Chicagoland area. A passionate advocate for school libraries, she creates a vibrant, student-centered learning commons while also supporting global librarianship and girls' education in East Africa and conducting research on virtual reality's impact on adolescent empathy. You can learn more about Andrea at https://www.noshhlibrarian.com/ or connect with her on X at @Andrea_Trudeau.

Resources:

“Cultivating nonviolent relationships within global literacy education partnerships”

Tanzania Development Support 

Librarians Building Libraries

Podcasts and Critical Media Literacy with Drs. Anne Gill and Olivia Stewart 

In today’s episode host Matt Sroka chats with Drs. Anne Gill and Olivia Stewart about the instructional implications of using podcasts framed by a critical media literacy framework in a high school social justice classroom. This conversation centers on their article for The Journal for Adolescent & Adult Literacy titled: The instructional implications of a critical media literacy framework and podcasts in a high school classroom

Dr. Anne Gill is an Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education at West Chester University, where she is part of the Secondary Education and K-12 Health and Physical Education Department. She works closely with pre-service social studies teachers to prepare them for effective, culturally responsive, and impactful instruction at the secondary level. Dr. Gill's research interests center on innovative teaching methods, particularly integrating social media and media texts into classroom instruction. She is passionate about fostering critical media literacy in the social studies classroom, emphasizing media analysis and incorporating diverse voices and stories—especially those that challenge dominant narratives.

Dr. Olivia G. Stewart is an Assistant Professor of Literacy at St. John's University in New York City. Her research interests center on the inclusion of critical digital literacies and multimodal assignments in classrooms, particularly for academically marginalized students, to counter traditional power structures often found in increasingly outdated school policies and oppressive systems. She examines how students can use various digital media for authorship that allows them to make meaning in non-traditional forms to push back on “what counts” as writing in today’s classrooms. From a critical theoretical perspective, she also examines how teachers and students can co-create spaces to understand the relationships between power and language and the inherently non-neutral ideologies that are conveyed through texts.

She has also applied this critical lens to: 1) research surrounding AI, creating a framework for critically engaging AI in education, 2) and humanizing online learning environments, conducting studies on humanizing online courses to improve equity and to explore what elements serve to best humanize courses, focusing on multimodality and other contributing factors.

Resources:

The instructional implications of a critical media literacy framework and podcasts in a high school classroom

Building Literacy Connections After Disaster with Drs. Nancy Hulan and Leslee Bailey Tarbett 

In today’s episode host Matt Sroka chats with Drs. Nancy Hulan and Leslee Bailey Tarbett about how a group of teacher candidates responded to a community devastated by tornadoes through a unique, literacy-focused service-learning initiative. This conversation centers on their article for The Journal for Adolescent & Adult Literacy titled: Building literacy connections after disaster: Teacher candidates engaging with community through a service-learning lens

Dr. Nancy Franklin Hulan is an associate professor of Literacy Education at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Her research focuses on development of teacher self-efficacy through service-learning, the potential impacts of involvement in a disciplinary community of practice, and teachers’ use of and stances toward GenAI in production of tools to foster literacy development with striving readers and writers. Dr. Hulan serves as the Director of the WKU Literacy Clinic and serves as a faculty mentor for the WKU Literacy Ambassadors. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in areas related to literacy.

Dr. Leslee Bailey Tarbett is an Assistant Professor in Literacy Education at Western Kentucky University. Before earning her doctorate, she spent over a decade teaching primary grades in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her research focuses on preservice teacher education, teacher professional development, and qualitative and postqualitative research methodologies. Her work has been published in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Reconceptualizing Educational Research Methodology, and the Journal of Public Pedagogies, among others. Leslee is passionate about advancing literacy education with a focus on community-based service learning, care pedagogies, and empathetic teaching practices.

Resources:

Building literacy connections after disaster: Teacher candidates engaging with community through a service-learning lens

https://www.wku.edu/ste/literacy-ambassadors/

Reimagining Writing with Drs. Carrie James and Sarah McCarthey 

In today’s episode host Matt Sroka chats with Drs. Carrie James and Sarah McCarthey about a shift in how we think about writing instruction in our classrooms. This conversation centers on their article for The Journal for Adolescent & Adult Literacytitled: Reimagining writing: Integrating wicked problems into secondary writing instruction through a research practice partnership.

Dr. Sarah McCarthey is the Sheila Miller Professor Emerita in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on students’ literate identities, classroom writing instruction, and the role of professional development in teachers’ understandings of writing. Her work has been published in Reading Research Quarterly, Research in the Teaching of English, Written Communication, Journal of Writing Research and Pedagogies: An International Journal and Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. McCarthey served as Department Head and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Literacy Research Association from 2017-2020 and Co-Director of the University of Illinois Writing Project, sponsoring professional development for Illinois teachers.

Dr. Carrie L. James is a postdoctoral research fellow with the Siebel Center for Design (http://designcenter.illinois.edu) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Before completing her PhD at the U of I, she taught secondary English language arts in New York City. Her research interests include literacy teacher education, writing instruction that centers multimodality and student's authorial agency, and humanizing literacy instruction. Her work at the Siebel Center for Design also allows her to explore empathy and its role in supporting culturally sustaining teaching practices. She is currently working with college composition instructors to incorporate "wicked problems" into their composition courses.

Resources:

Reimagining writing: Integrating wicked problems into secondary writing instruction through a research practice partnership

Writing Globally with Dr. Jin Kyeong Jung

In today’s episode host Matt Sroka chats with Dr. Jin Kyeong Jung about students' digital multimodal composing practices while writing for a global online community. This conversation centers around their article for The Journal for Adolescent & Adult Literacy titled:  Writing globally: South Korean adolescents' digital multimodal composing practices in a global online community. 

Resources:

Writing globally: South Korean adolescents' digital multimodal composing practices in a global online community

Literacies in Global Context (Special Issue) 

Write4Change 

Adult Writing Motivation with Jennifer Martinez and Daphne Greenberg 

In today’s episode host Matt Sroka chats with Jennifer Martinez and Dr. Daphne Greenberg about what motivates adult learners to improve their writing skills. This conversation centers around their article for The Journal for Adolescent & Adult Literacy titled: Utility value of improving writing skills for adult basic education students.

Jennifer Martinez is an assistant researcher at the Adult Literacy Research Center at Georgia State University. She previously taught high school English Language Arts and writing classes. She holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology, and her research interests include adolescent writing development and motivation, adult literacy, and adult developing writers.

Daphne Greenberg is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Learning Sciences at Georgia State University where she is also the Director of the multi-disciplinary Adult Literacy Research Center (https://education.gsu.edu/research-outreach/alrc/). Her research focuses on adults who attend adult literacy programs. She is a strong advocate for adults who struggle with foundational academic skills (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGad2PKUhbE ) 

IES Disclaimer Statement: 

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305N210030 to Georgia State University. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

Resources:

Utility value of improving writing skills for adult basic education students

The Writing in Adult Secondary Education (W-ASE) Project

In today’s episode host Matt Sroka chats with Dr. Jody Polleck about how teachers can utilize book clubs to foster academic and emotional literacies as well as promote student agency. This conversation centers around her article for The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy titled: Using culturally sustaining science fiction book clubs to address agency and academic and emotional literacies with Dutch neurodiverse youth.

Dr. Jody Polleck is a professor in literacy at Hunter College--CUNY (City University of New York). She also continues to teach adolescents through the CUNY College Now Program. Jody began her work with youth in 1994 as an outreach counselor, and since 1998, has been teaching adolescent literacies within urban contexts across the disciplines. Her research focuses on culturally sustaining literacy instruction and culturally-affirming and healing-centered social-emotional learning. Jody was a 2019 Fulbright scholar and has been published in over 25 academic and practice-based journals; her first book entitled Facilitating Youth-led Book Clubs as Transformative and Inclusive Spaces was released by Teachers College Press in 2022.

Resources:

Using culturally sustaining science fiction book clubs to address agency and academic and emotional literacies with Dutch neurodiverse youth.

Facilitating Youth-Led Book Clubs as Transformative and Inclusive Spaces

Educate for Action

Global and Culturally Diverse Texts with Drs. Lauren Liang and Raven Cromwell 

In today’s episode host Matt Sroka chats with Drs. Lauren Liang and Raven Cromwell. They discuss the lack of global and culturally diverse texts being in the classroom, and how schools can get more diverse texts in the classroom. This conversation centers around their article for JAAL: The impact of children's and young adult literature courses on teachers' selection of global and culturally diverse texts for the classroom

Lauren Aimonette Liang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on the selection and educational use of children's and young adult literature, children's literature in teacher preparation programs, and text characteristics as related to K-12 student response and understanding of texts. Dr. Liang is a board member for the United States Board on Books for Young People, a past-president of the Children’s Literature Assembly, and has served on a number of children’s literature award committees, including the 2020 Mildred L. Batchelder Award (Chair) and the 2017 Caldecott Medal committee.

Raven N. Cromwell is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Utah Valley University. Her research interests include the science of reading, culturally diverse books, and partnerships between school districts and educator preparation programs. She is the chair of the Ways and Means Committee of the Children's Literature Assembly, a past chair of the International Literacy Association's Children's and Young Adult Book Awards, a member of the United States Board on Books for Young People and the National Council of Teachers of English, and a member of the planning committee for a Utah branch of The Reading League. 

Resources:

The impact of children's and young adult literature courses on teachers' selection of global and culturally diverse texts for the classroom 

United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) Outstanding International Book List: https://www.usbby.org/news/2024-outstanding-international-books-list-announced

 International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Hans Christian Anderson Award: https://www.usbby.org/ibby-hans-christian-andersen-award.html

Mildred L. Batchelder Award: https://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/batchelder

Promoting Understanding With International Literature (Free ILA Webinar)

Cultivating Genius and Joy in Multilingual Adolescents with Dr. Emily Zoeller 

In today’s episode host Matt Sroka chats with Dr. Emily Zoeller about how teachers can draw on the knowledge of our multilingual students in order to cultivate joy and genius in our classrooms. This conversation centers around her article for JAAL titled: “You have to start with what they know:” Cultivating genius and joy with multilingual adolescents.

Dr. Emily Zoeller is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of ESL, Bilingual, and Reading Education. Emily holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and an M.A. from the University of San Diego. She earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Edgewood College, where she researched teacher leadership in two-way dual language education. Emily’s research interests include biliteracy development, educational leadership, and bilingual teacher preparation. Prior to her role at Edgewood College, Emily worked in Madison Metropolitan School District as a bilingual teacher, a reading specialist, and an instructional coach. She is passionate about leading for equity among teachers of multilingual learners.

Resources:

“You have to start with what they know:” Cultivating genius and joy with multilingual adolescents

In today’s episode host Matt Sroka chats with Drs. Rachelle Savitz and Vanessa Irvin about using Young Adult Literature to critically examine issues around gender. This conversation centers around their article for JAAL titled: Developing an empathic analysis: Using critical literacy, dialogue, and inquiry with literature to explore the issues with gender labels

Rachelle S. Savitz is an associate professor of reading/literacy at East Carolina University. She was previously a K-12 literacy coach/interventionist and high school reading teacher. She values working with graduate students and teachers and learning with and from them. She has served on the board of directors for numerous national and state literacy organizations – wanting to be a part of the learning and collaboration pushing thinking in the realm of literacy. Dr. Savitz spotlights the necessity of teacher collaborators in her co-edited book, Teaching the "taboo": Diverse and inclusive literature is the way, with Routledge, where teachers highlight their classroom practices. She emphasizes teacher instruction with over 15 snapshots in the book with Teachers College Press, Trauma-sensitive literacy instruction: Building student resilience in English language arts classrooms. This book extends learning shared in Teaching Hope and Resilience for Students Experiencing Trauma: Creating Safe and Nurturing Classrooms for Learning, coauthored with Drs. Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey. She received the East Carolina University College of Education 2023-2024 Profiles in Diversity Award, the 2019 Association of Literacy Educators and Researcher’s Jerry Johns Promising Researcher Award, and the 2018 Early Career Literacy Scholar Award from the American Reading Forum.

Dr. Vanessa Irvin is an associate professor with the Master of Library Science Program at East Carolina University (USA). Dr. Irvin has authored three books and 35 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. V has led grant-funded research projects that explore ways in which heritage-based knowledge systems impact our information-seeking behaviors and literacy practices in daily life. Irvin's work investigates libraries as collaborative communities of literacy practices and platforms for literacy justice for diverse and local/Indigenous communities. Dr. V is equally interested in the social informatics of informal learning and the evolution of librarian professional practices with reference services under the influence of emerging technologies. Irvin serves as Co-Editor of the open-access peer-reviewed journal, The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion, where she manages an editorial team of 20 librarians and an editorial board of 35 LIS scholars. Dr. Irvin is President-Elect of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE). 

Resources:

Developing an empathic analysis: Using critical literacy, dialogue, and inquiry with literature to explore the issues with gender labels

Gender Equality in Education Multi-Journal Special Issue