Vulnerable Heart of Literacy

Elizabeth Dutro is a professor of education at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

• ContentsForeword Gerald Campano viiAcknowledgments ix1. What Does Trauma Mean for Literacy Classrooms? 1What Is Trauma? 4Classrooms as Sites of Testimony and Witness to Trauma 6Contexts and Ideas We’ll Explore 112. Pedagogies of Testimony and Critical Witness in the Literacy Classroom 15Navigating Approaches to Trauma in Education  17Tenets of Pedagogies of Testimony and Critical Witness 22Enacting Testimony and Critical Witness  37Finding Your Pedagogical Metaphor  403. Pedagogies of Testimony and Critical Witness in Practice 43Integrating Testimony and Witness into Literacy Instruction 47The Lemonade Club Unit 50Children’s Stories 52Reflections on the Lemonade Club Unit 554. Testimony and Critical Witness to Trauma Across Genres  57Genre Study and Testimony to Trauma 59Poetry 60Letters 67Informational Genres 71Narrative Genres 78Reflections on Genre and Children’s Traumas 845. Tracing Children’s Testimonies to Trauma Across the School Year 87Children Weaving Testimony into Literacies Over Time 89Classrooms as Sites of Swirled Stories  95Reflections on Tracing Testimony and Witness Across Time  996. Conclusion 103/li>Living the Tenets of Testimony and Critical Witness 105Teachers’ Well-Being in the Midst of Commitment 109Seeking Connection and Collaboration 110Embracing Process in Centering Trauma as Powerful Pedagogy 111A Coda—and Final Suggestion for Reflection, Discussion, and Practice 113Afterword Megan Ollett 115References 117Index 123About the Author 131

”Every class is touched by the hard parts of life, and The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy has the potential to help teachers build them into students’ literacy engagement so that their writing is meaningful and helps them navigate the emotional challenges that inevitably face them in life.”—Journal of Language and Literacy Education