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A NEW POWER: The Impact of Writing for Social Justice on African American Adolescent Males

Valerie Gue University of Illinois at Chicago COE: Special Education Department Internship: Summer 2009. A NEW POWER: The Impact of Writing for Social Justice on African American Adolescent Males. Internship: My Research Goals. Learn qualitative research methods Develop interview skills

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A NEW POWER: The Impact of Writing for Social Justice on African American Adolescent Males

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  1. Valerie Gue University of Illinois at Chicago COE: Special Education Department Internship: Summer 2009 A NEW POWER:The Impact of Writing for Social Justice on African American Adolescent Males

  2. Internship: My Research Goals • Learn qualitative research methods • Develop interview skills • Refine dissertation research questions • Determine appropriate methodology for dissertation research questions

  3. Location: UIC Reading Clinic • Director: Dr. Alfred W. Tatum • Mission: To develop a Reading Intervention Model (RIM) for struggling adolescent readers in grades 4-12 • Goals: • outreach to the community and schools • research based on the population served • training for teachers and other educational professionals

  4. African American Adolescent Male Summer Literacy Institute • Description: 5-week institute focused on engaging and supporting African American adolescent males to write about multiple contexts informing their lives (Tatum, 2006) • Goals: • Identify socio-cultural benefits of writing for African American adolescent males • Identify socio-cultural benefits of the writing environment (literacy collaborative)

  5. Structure of the Institute • 5 weeks: Tuesday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. • Weekly visit from a published author • Weekly interviews of participants 10:00 am: Institute’s Preamble 10:05 am: Writing Warm-up with Explicit Instruction 10:30 am: Mentor Writer or Visiting Author 11:00 am: Writing & Critiques from Other Participants 12:30 pm: Blog Postings & Writer’s Chair 1:00 pm: Institute’s Preamble

  6. Culminating Events • 7/30/09: Celebration amongst participants (UIC Reading Clinic) • 8/8/09: Celebration with family members (UIC Theater) • 8/14/09: Celebration within the writing community with Walter Dean Myers (Desmond Tutu Center: New York City)

  7. Research Participants • 12 African American adolescent males • Ages 12-17 • Educated in 11 different elementary and high schools in Chicago & Chicago land area • Low, average, and high academic records • Selected based on ideas communicated through writing samples

  8. Research Methodology • Observation & Field Notes • Participant Interviews • Analyzed Participant Writings • Daily Researcher Debriefings

  9. Preliminary Findings(Tatum & Gue, in press) • Socio-cultural Benefits to Writing • Define self (confidence, expression & efficacy) • Become resilient • Work through internal conflict • Promote societal change “It’s a lot of power behind writing and that’s something I want to continue…Let our testimony be our pen.”

  10. Implications • Instruction • Increased teacher-student interactions • Choice & depth of writing topics • “Let us speak our mind, not with our mouth but with our pens.” • Attend to students’ needs • “…all teachers, you just have to keep working with them even though it seems hopeless, that’s your job as a teacher. You can’t just give up on your student.” • Research Community • Disseminate research findings • Collect longitudinal data with this group • Develop & implement a nationwide writing institute model (Scholastic, Inc.)

  11. Reflections: The Research Process Triangulate data for validity & to identify recurring themes. Analyze data frequently during collection phase to refine research questions and data collection tools. Use research data for the benefit of others (students, parents, educators, & researchers).

  12. References & Media Links • Tatum, A. W. (2006). Engaging African American males in reading. Educational Leadership, 63(5), 44-49. • Tatum, A. W. & Gue, V. (in press). Raw writing in a literacy collaborative: A critical support for adolescents. English Journal. • Lewis, C., Encisco, P., & Moje, E. B. (2007). Reframing sociocultural research on literacy: Identity, Agency & Power. Mahway, New Jersey: Lawrence Elbaum Associates. • Alfred Tatum: http://education.uic.edu//directory/faculty_info.cfm?netid=atatum1 • CBS News: “Young Black Males Write About Inner City Struggles” http://cbs2chicago.com/local/black.males.teen.2.1096941.html • Chicago Tribune: “Writing is an Escape from Violence” www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-trice-27-jul27,0,5341892.column • CLTV News: UPS Shooting Discussed on GML http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/garrard-mcclendon-live/crime/ • Jet Magazine: “Brother Authors” Discover Power of Words” http://www.ebonyjet.com/magazines/jet.aspx • UIC Reading Clinic: http://education.uic.edu/read_clinic/ • UIC Media: “Institute Addresses Young Black Male Literacy Crisis” http://illinois.edu/lb/imageList/602/5/skinId=762

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