Presenters: April Baker- Bell & Raven Jones Stanbrough

Title: Critical English Education: Our Roles as English Educators in the Aftermath of the
Trayvon Martin Tragedy
Motivation: As advocates and former teachers of urban youth, we were devastated
after learning about the details of the killing of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin. The
stereotype-driven suspicion that led to Trayvons death is one of many social injustices
(while not always leading to death, but sometimes to racial profiling, imprisonment, or
other social injustices) that our marginalized youth face on a day-to-day basis. As future
English Educators and in light of the readings scheduled for this week, we felt that it
would be irresponsible of us not to use this session as a pedagogical opportunity to do
social justice work on behalf of Trayvon and all marginalized youth. We will not use this
session to debate about the details of this tragic case; however, we will engage our
colleagues in a session about the roles we play, as future English Educators, in the
injustices that our youth face and how we can use our discipline to transform the world.
Course Readings: Our class session will primarily rely on Critical English Education by
Ernest Morrell and What if We Occupied Language? by Samy Alim.
Objectives: This session will:

model and provide participants with critical activities that can be implemented in
English Education and K-16 English classrooms to address social injustices that
surround marginalized youth.
engage participants in a discussion and activities centered on English Educators as
activists and public intellectuals in the face of issues that marginalized youth face.

Activities:
Activity 1: (15 minutes)
Stereotypes do exist, but we have to walk through them. ~Forest Whitaker
Motivational Question: How can we create a space where English teachers, English
educators, and students in English classrooms can dismantle, disrupt, dispute, and
deconstruct stereotypes?
For this activity, we will engage the participants in an activity about stereotypes that
are associated with identity markers. Participants will be asked to take out a sheet of
paper and write something about their visible identity that has led to misunderstandings
or stereotypes (Please do not put your name on paper). In 30 second rotations,
participants will send their identity marker papers around to each participant in the
class, who will then write a stereotype or misunderstanding that they have heard about
Copyright 2012 by April Baker-Bell & Raven Jones Stanbrough

this identity marker. (In order for this activity to truly work, participants must be willing to
be open and honest about stereotypes that exist about particular identity markers). The
rotation will continue until each participant receives their original paper back. We will
then discuss the activity.
Activity 2: (15-20 mins)
The oppressed must not only learn the terms of their oppression, but they should also
be able to create the conditions for their liberation. ~ Ed Brockenbrough
Motivational Question: What kinds of teachers do we want working with marginalized
populations? What should count as essential content knowledge for tomorrows English
teachers?
Building on Morrells idea of using Critical English Education to examine literacies in the
new media age, 3-4 participants will be asked to investigate the language that
mainstream media uses to construct marginalized youth. The participants will be
provided one of the following media spaces to analyze: video, newspaper, blog, radio,
etc. After analyzing the space, participants will be asked to think of ways in which they
would work with marginalized youth to use media to re-write the narrative that
mainstream media constructed for them. Participants will be asked to share their
activities.
Activity 3: (10 minutes)
I imagine collectives of English educators who take to the streets, who lobby and
advocate strongly, who protest, who seek to use the discipline to transform the world. I
would join a movement like that and I would argue that many of my colleagues would
do the same. ~Ernest Morrell
Motivational Question: How seriously do we take our beliefs about the role of literacy
education in promoting individual and social transformations?
Here we want to discuss the English Educators as Activists and Intellectuals section of
Morrells Critical English Education piece. We will engage in a brief discussion about
what the audience thought of this section. Next, we will talk about how we (Raven and
I) participated in the rally in Detroit for Trayvon Martin and how other scholars, such as
Marc Lamont Hill, Samy Alim, Gloria Ladson Billings, David Kirkland, etc. protested and
worked as activist on behalf of Trayvon Martin and Marginalized youth.
Activity 4: Occupy Language and Poster Protest (15-20 minutes)
Here we will engage participants in a discussion around Alims occupy language.
Participants will also create a poster board/poster sign surrounding occupying
language.
Copyright 2012 by April Baker-Bell & Raven Jones Stanbrough

Copyright 2012 by April Baker-Bell & Raven Jones Stanbrough

End Questions:
What is your vision of social transformation and how far are you willing to go in you
capacity as a classroom teacher to achieve it?
What other ways can teachers and students promote social justice work inside and
outside of classrooms?

Copyright 2012 by April Baker-Bell & Raven Jones Stanbrough

Activity 3

Copyright 2012 by April Baker-Bell & Raven Jones Stanbrough

Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/26/chicagos-ceasefireprogra_n_840682.html

Above the Influence Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/user/abovetheinfluence?v=fF1nzKXfgAA&feature=py
v&ad=15645157291&kw=soccer

My Fox Detroit
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/detroit-searches-for-answers-tostop-wave-of-youth-violence-20120321-spb

5 Worst Cities for Urban Youth

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Politics/worst-cities-urbanyouth/story?id=9083935#.T3ttCdX5Rv-

Copyright 2012 by April Baker-Bell & Raven Jones Stanbrough

Copyright 2012 by April Baker-Bell & Raven Jones Stanbrough