CBL: Edu, Liberation Literacy

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Education, Liberation, and Literacy How do young people learn to read and write the world? This course combines theoretical reflection with practical tutoring experience with elementary-age learners to explore this vital question inspired by the foundational work of the critical educator, Paulo Freire. Along the way, we will engage with writing and literacy studies theory as well as works of culturally relevant children's literature that elucidate both the socio-political contexts and practical pedagogical choices that shape writing and literacy instruction for young learners. We will pay particular critical attention to the ways in which the teaching and tutoring of writing and literacy can reinforce and/or subvert unjust hierarchies of race, class, gender, and disability. We will also consider how the learning of reading, writing, speaking, and visual forms of composing are all interconnected. Putting our theoretical readings into practice, students in this course will tutor elementary age learners in reading and writing weekly at various sites in DC as part of the Center for Social Justice’s e^2DC (education x engage DC) sites, e.g., DC Reads project and others. NOTE: Because this is a CBL course, students enrolled should have availability to travel to community partner sites in DC either Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday; there is some flexibility in time of day although many programs run “after school.”