Learning Together
Annotated Bibliography
Below is the annotated bibliography for my Fall Quarter inquiry project. For this project, I am focusing on incorporating Young Adult Literature into ELA classrooms and its impact on students’ self-confidence and development of empathy towards peers.
This study was conducted by Katherine E. Batchelor, Maria Ramos, and Samantha Neiswander in 2017. This research focused on the inclusion of LGBTQ literature in the classroom can help support and address the needs of our students who identify with the LGBTQ community or are from LGBTQ families. In this study, English Language Arts preservice teachers (PST) in secondary education, participated in a book club and self-select young adult (YA) literature themes that embrace how literature can serve as a mirror and a window for students. The PSTs analyzed how the themes can help youth form and confirm their identities, and empower them to take action on controversial positions. In this study, PSTs discussed how teachers could use this LGBTQ literature, specifically YA LGBTQ literature, to help students form their self-identity and foster empathy by offering realized portraits of lives similar to the reader. Batchelor et al. discuss the realizations that the PST’s made about the importance of including these minority voices in our classroom and how much of the newer YA LGBTQ literature addresses issues of race and gender. The authors and PST’s acknowledge that many of our classrooms in suburban areas can be white, heteronormative individuals and address the pushback teachers might get from parents or administrators. However, the PST’s that if we are to provide our students with a well-rounded education, we need to teach LGBTQ literature.
Batchelor et al.’s study associates with my inquiry topic because it deals with issues of inclusion and identity within minority groups. The authors begin by explaining how as of 2013, students who identify with the LGBTQ community still face hostilities and harassment while at school. However, when schools embedded an LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, students reported feeling less unsafe. While Batchelor et al.’s study focus on incorporating LGBTQ literature in general, they discuss how newer YA literature addresses the themes in LGBTQ literature while including more diverse and inclusive characters. Research on LGBTQ YA contemporary literature is neglected, and the authors want to show how it can “create experiences that advocate positive feelings for students” (Batchelor et al. 2018, p. 32). I have seen many of my high school students at my long-term placement devour YA literature and develop relationships and understandings with the characters they are reading. Remembering that students in secondary school are figuring out their identity, teachers should use the curriculum to provide a variety of characters to serve as models.
This study, written by Wendy J. Glenn and Rickie Ginsberg, was published in Volume 51 No. 1 of Research in the Teaching of English in August of 2016. In this phenomenological case study, Glenn and Ginsberg examine how taking a young adult literature (YAL) elective gave students the opportunity to perform identities and exercise agency in ways that were not possible in their English studies. Glenn and Ginsberg used Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain's (1998) theory of identity as a lens of analysis across student-generated oral reflections gathered through Seidman's (2006) interview protocol. The study reveals how student participants were supported in their attempts to deconstruct their experiences in traditional classroom spaces, build new conceptions of their reading selves in a unique classroom setting, and, in the process, assume greater agency in shaping their identities.
This study brings together the big ideas of the benefits of using YAL in the English classroom. This study shows the significance of classroom and school contexts, the benefits and risks of inviting students to engage as readers in school rather than engage in school reading, the benefits and risks of reimagined relationships between students and teachers and students and peers, and the possibility that young adult literature in and of itself offers implications for reader agency. By providing students space to reimagine their relationships with school and with literature, they are provided the space and opportunity to discover their identities. This study shows that YAL provides students, especially those who are struggling, the ability to redefine themselves beyond deficit labels and discover characters similar to themselves. Glenn and Ginsberg show in this study that using YA novels in a traditional English classroom can create a safe space for people to experiment with and cultivate more free reading identities. These are the theories and ideas that I want to explore in my inquiry.
This article was written by Steven Wolk and published in Vol. 52 No. 8 of the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy in May 2009. In this article, Wolk looks at how the use of Young Adult (YA) literature in the classroom can teach students about inquiry and civic participation. Looking at different studies and polls Wolk points out the lack of civic engagement of young adults currently and the importance of the classroom as a place to nurture social responsibility and inquiry. Wolk analyzes how YA literature teaches students about a variety of inquiry topics through various unit themes including caring and empathy, social problems and social justice, power and propaganda, multicultural community, and more. These various themes are universal and often taught using canonical text, but Wolk makes the point that using YA literature “is one of the most meaningful and enjoyable ways for students to inquire into social responsibility because we can situate this content into the wonderful stories of good books.
While this is not a specific study, Wolk’s article provides a lot of important information relevant to my inquiry topic. Many students today are trying to figure out who they are and how they fit into our society. This journey of self-discovery can take the shape in many forms, but in our current time, we see many questioning their social responsibility and their engagement. By helping students realize their place in the world, we can help them create their own identities. Another important theme that runs through Wolk’s article is the importance of empathy. The English Language Arts classroom is one where we learn about the human experience through the stories we read. Wolk points out that “the very heart of teaching for social responsibility is teaching for caring” (p. 667). Wolk goes on to list a few YA novels that help teach this empathy and caring. These themes run deep within YA literature and can present more difficult themes in a relatable and encourage inquiry not just for the students but for us teachers as well.