Lessons from a Teacher-leader in Promoting Culturally Diverse

Running Head: LESSONS FROM A TEACHER LEADER
Building Community: Lessons from a Teacher-leader in Promoting
Culturally Diverse Literature
Karen Elizabeth Lafferty
Claremont Graduate University/San Diego State University
AERA Annual Meeting
April 18, 2015
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LESSONS FROM A TEACHER LEADER
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Abstract
This paper describes a teacher-leader’s navigation of multiple roles — teacher, doctoral student,
reformer — in promoting culturally diverse literature over a four-year span. What began as an
action research project grew into two quantitative analyses of the texts read in high school
English classes and checked out of school libraries, and then design of professional development
workshops. Lessons learned included the need to build community from within, to exercise
patience with the reform process, and to embrace the tensions inherent in teacher leadership.
LESSONS FROM A TEACHER LEADER
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Early in my teaching career I served on a district-level committee charged with adopting
new literature titles by women, people of color, and contemporary authors for our 10th grade
English course. A year or two prior, Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club had been adopted by the
school board as a core literature title, or book approved for use in English classrooms at a
specified grade level, joining classics such as William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, John
Knowles’ A Separate Peace, All Quiet on the Western Front by German author Erich Maria
Remarque, and a number of plays by Shakespeare and Sophocles. The teachers sought to
balance these canonical titles with more inclusive literature that would represent the growing
diversity of the district’s student population. Among others we adopted Barbara Kingsolver’s
The Bean Trees, Sandra Benítez’s A Place Where the Sea Remembers, and Maya Angelou’s
memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Teams of teachers wrote curriculum guides and
librarians purchased Perma-Bound copies of the new books. Soon after, I switched from the 10th
grade course to teaching other classes, thinking little about the changes we had made. It was the
mid-1990s and I was a new teacher trying to keep her head above water.
Fifteen years later it would occur to me to wonder what had happened.
In Fall 2011 I was beginning a Ph.D. program and enrolled in Education 801: Seminar on
Social and Cultural Foundations of Multicultural Education, learning more about the social
justice implications of education. Still teaching part-time at my high school, I was assigned to
teach ninth grade. Searching for an alternative to John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, I took a
fresh look at the core literature. I wondered about those books adopted in the mid-1990s; were
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teachers using them? I wondered whether a more inclusive, culturally relevant selection of texts
could lead to greater student engagement. At the same time I wondered what could encourage
teachers to incorporate more culturally diverse literature in their courses. I chose to focus my
action research project for Education 801 on the diversity of the core literature and its
relationship to student engagement.
During the past four years I have continued to pose these questions. What began as a
semester-long action research project has evolved into an ongoing inquiry about the curriculum
change process, the identity shift from classroom teacher to doctoral student, and the tensions
inherent in teacher leadership. The specific purpose of this paper is to examine my role as a
teacher-leader in promoting the use of culturally diverse literature in my school district. I hope to
highlight these tensions for other teacher-leaders who seek to understand the complexity of their
roles.
Theoretical Framework
My role and identity as a doctoral student is relatively fresh. I returned to graduate study
as a classroom teacher with 18 years of teaching experience. As David Labaree (2003) has
suggested, one challenge in preparing educational practitioners as university researchers lies in
making the transition from the experiential to the theoretical. Indeed, understanding how theory
underlies and informs my practice as a classroom teacher has been one of the most challenging
and rewarding aspects of doctoral study. With regard to this project, applying a theoretical lens
has allowed me to make sense of the difficulties faced in encouraging colleagues to move
beyond teaching canonical texts. Three theoretical approaches in particular have aided in this
understanding: historical inquiry, the curriculum theory of Mauritz Johnson, Jr., and Kurt
Lewin’s field theory.
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Historical Inquiry
The full-length, typically fictional texts that students read are often considered the
English curriculum. Teachers tend to choose the same texts year after year, often the same ones
they read in high school. A brief history of how the traditional canon has directed the high school
English curriculum is useful in understanding resistance to change.
Arthur Applebee’s (1974) Tradition and reform in the teaching of English traces the
canon to the Uniform Lists put forth by universities in the late 19th century. Teachers taught
from the lists, which consisted mostly of classical works and Shakespeare, as a way to help
students prepare for their university examinations (Applebee, 1974). From its inception, the
canon as taught in high school classrooms was intended for the college-bound student, a very
small population as only five percent of teenagers were enrolled in high school as of 1890
(Ravitch, 2000). Some early critics (Abbott, 1902; Hatfield, 1912) called for the use of more
contemporary works and after World War I more American literature was added, but for the
most part the influence of the Uniform Lists remained intact up until World War II (Applebee,
1974).
The canon has remained fairly stable since a nationwide survey in 1959 found a familiar
pattern of students in ninth and 10th grade studying various literary modes, 11th graders reading
American literature, and 12th graders choosing elective classes (Applebee, 1974; Jewett, 1959).
In 1963 the Educational Testing Service, which had now become the organization in charge of
college entrance exams, commissioned a report on the full-length works of literature taught in
the nation’s high schools. Scarvia Anderson (1964) compiled data from 222 public and private
schools, finding that the top 10 texts varied little.
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In 1992, Applebee attempted to replicate Anderson’s study by surveying the literature
taught at 488 schools. He found that the top 10 lists had changed only marginally but that the
range of texts had narrowed with only one female author and no authors from diverse
backgrounds represented (Applebee, 1992). Two more recent surveys find few differences from
Applebee’s (1992) study (Mackey, Vermeer, Storie & Deblois, 2012; Stallworth, Gibbons &
Fauber, 2006). The reading lists consist mostly of non-contemporary books written by male,
European-American authors. Applebee’s (1974) historical account of the teaching of English, in
conjunction with other studies and surveys, reveals how deeply the canon is entrenched.
Curriculum Theory
An understanding of Johnson’s (1967) curriculum theory further explains the difficulties
in de-centering the canon. Johnson defines curriculum as “a structured series of intended
learning outcomes” (p. 130, italics in the original). He goes on to specifically exclude activities,
materials, and instructional content as curriculum, asserting that these are unimportant for skillsbased outcomes. His main critique is that educators confuse curriculum with instruction rather
than understanding how curriculum guides instruction. Even in our current educational
environment that focuses so heavily on testing geared to standards, a common misunderstanding
of English teachers is that the specific texts constitute the curriculum rather than simply
representing an instructional tool. Without unpacking teachers’ definitions of curriculum it is
difficult to suggest changes in materials.
Field Theory
Kurt Lewin’s (1951) field theory offers a third lens for examining obstacles to the change
process. In his seminal work “Frontiers in Group Dynamics” (1946) he describes how
individuals and groups interact within a social field, the boundaries of which are set by group
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characteristics. Lewin asserts that individuals will seek to stay within the group values and
norms, resisting change that would separate them from the group. Overcoming this tendency
requires increasing the forces toward a desired change and decreasing the forces against that
change. A crucial aspect of this process is what Lewin calls a technical analysis of the social
force field ahead of any planned change. It is necessary to consider the current state of the group
and its values before attempting to change behavior. For Lewin, the group is the key because
without it the motivation to change will not translate into action. In the case of English teachers,
the social field tends toward inertia, which along with historical and curriculum theories helps
explain the challenges I faced as a teacher-leader advocating for reform.
Modes of Inquiry
This project, which began in 2011 as an action research study for the initial course in my
doctoral program, continued as two quantitative studies, and has now become an ongoing inquiry
into my role as a teacher-leader in promoting culturally diverse literature. Hinchey’s (2008)
Action research first directed my work with its emphasis on the role of the insider as researcher,
the value of craft knowledge, and the recursive nature of the research process; these three
elements remain central to my inquiry. As a teacher in the district since 1993, I definitely see
myself as an insider with extensive knowledge of how to teach English to high school students.
Over time I have come to understand the zig-zag process of moving toward use of culturally
diverse literature.
Action Research: Formal Data-Gathering
In Fall 2011 I began by gauging student and teacher attitudes toward the existing core
literature. I began by talking to adults on campus who had demonstrated concern for ethnically
and linguistically diverse students. I asked them to think of students who would be interested in
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sharing their thoughts on the current core literature texts. A teacher, a counselor, and a
paraprofessional recommended 11th and 12th grade students for participation in a focus group.
During the lunch period one day, eight students joined me in a wide-ranging conversation.
Almost immediately the students identified a key issue with the current texts; their almost
exclusive focus on race and diversity as a black and white issue. One senior girl pointed out that
groups like the Mexicans and the Chinese are never discussed. Other students echoed the desire
to hear from more diverse groups such as Native Americans and Filipino-Americans. Another
key point was that issues of race and diversity are only ever seen from the point-of-view of a
white character. They cited the first-person narrations of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird and
Huck in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A senior boy said that he had enjoyed Huck Finn,
but asked why we couldn’t read about slavery from the perspective of a slave, suggesting The
Autobiography of Frederick Douglass as a possible text. The students advocated for keeping
Shakespeare but also called for inclusion of more genres like science fiction and mystery. They
asserted a belief that teachers teach the same books the same way year after year and that some
White teachers might avoid discussions of race in the classroom.
I used their comments and suggestions to create a survey with 17 Likert-type items
asking students about their attitudes toward the books read in English classes. My colleagues
were eager to help by having their students take the survey. The main finding was that students
held ambivalent or slightly positive attitudes toward the core literature with few significant
differences based on race or ethnicity. Students tended to like the books read in English classes
and agree that they both read about a wide variety of people and learn about different ways of
life. On the question of whether students could relate to the characters there were few significant
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differences noted between and among groups except that white and Asian students had a large
number of undecided responses.
Teacher responses to a similar survey within the same time frame reflected far more
negative attitudes toward the existing books; however, in response to questions about teaching
new texts they expressed several concerns. Teachers pointed to the time needed to develop new
lessons and background knowledge, but also responded that new titles would not leave time to
teach existing ones. Discussions about changing the core literature pitted classics like Catcher in
the Rye against new texts. In considering whether The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be
taught with The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass as suggested by the student from the focus
group, a teacher resisted de-centering the Twain novel. His view, the classics are classic for a
reason. This contradiction − dissatisfaction with the old books but disinclination to take on new
ones − revealed conflicting attitudes toward change.
Action Research: Micro-conversations
The formal elements – focus group, student survey, teacher survey – produced important
insights, but the informal elements – conversations in the copy room, emails from colleagues,
chats with students – added to the research in important ways. The crowded schedule of
contemporary high schools in the United States affords little time for teachers to engage in
extended discussion. Rather, as people grew aware of the project I increasingly engaged in what
I call micro-conversations, or the brief interactions between classes, in the hallways, and even
standing in restroom lines.
One key series of conversations happened with a counselor who began as an English and
Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) teacher when the school had opened. She
suggested students to contact for the focus group and assisted with development of the student
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survey. Later, we discussed how over time the American Literature choices had narrowed to two
novels, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye with The Great Gatsby
taught on occasion during the 18-week course. We also began talking about how certain boardapproved texts, such as Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, are rarely taught.
When she had taught the book years before a White parent had objected, not to the graphic
sexual content, but to the use of the phrase “white trash” as offensive to her and her daughter.
The issue of parent objections surfaced again in conversation with a teacher who had
worked on the creation of the World Literature course. He pointed out how many of the texts he
had found interesting were deemed too controversial. The eventual selection of Paulo Coelho’s
The Alchemist represented a kind of compromise as it met the requirement of being a “world”
text without posing the threat of parent challenges. In his mind it was a safe, nonthreatening
choice.
In response to an email request for information, a colleague replied, “Thanks for bringing
the issues involved to the table. I had a great conversation with C------- (who was on your student
panel) last week about this. I wanted to add Macbeth as my number one choice for lit to teach in
Hon[ors] Humanities - the kids get a lot out of looking at the play through a feminist lens.” This
provided evidence that students and teachers were talking to each other about these issues and
were interested in pursuing changes.
Conversations with administrators echoed this interest. In speaking with our
superintendent, a former English teacher, I described my action research project. He noted that
there had been little significant change to the curriculum during his two decades with the district
and said that it would be a worthy topic for investigation. Likewise, my principal expressed
interest in hearing about my findings and offered support for the research. The administrator with
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whom I worked most closely was the assistant principal in charge of the English department.
Also a former English teacher, she was eager to discuss making changes toward diversity in the
core literature. She provided me with data on student achievement and we talked several times
about the link between student engagement and student performance. These informal
conversations led to the next phase of the inquiry.
Quantitative Research: 10th Grade Core Literature
In spring 2012 I met with two district-level staff members to discuss next steps in
broadening the range of books taught in the high schools. We decided a circulation analysis
would provide data to drive reform. I was given access to the district’s textbook database and
began compiling the number of checkouts of books at each site over four school years (20072011). Although a student might check out a book and not read it, circulation records may be at
times more reliable than teacher surveys (Greiner & Cooper, 2007). Due to feasibility issues, I
chose to focus on the 10th grade texts.
A circulation analysis of 10th grade core literature texts revealed that with few exceptions
teachers were still using the canonical titles. As shown in Table 1, Lord of the Flies led all titles
with nearly three times the number of circulations as compared to Fahrenheit 451, the next most
frequently taught book. In looking at usage of older versus newly adopted texts, a two-tailed
independent samples t-test revealed a significant difference, t (83.95) = 6.51, p < .000, with older
titles circulating at a higher rate (M = 154.62, SD = 175.82) than newer ones (M = 16.71, SD =
55.27). A two-way ANOVA by school and by year indicated no significant differences, F (12,
132) = .10, p = 1.00. At all schools, in all years, the canonical titles prevailed.
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Table 1
Circulation of 10th Grade Core Literature from 2007-2011
Circulations
Title
School 1
A Place
School 2
School 3
School 4
School 5
Total
0
31
0
179
0
210
1080
24
8
59
0
1171
146
5
439
0
0
590
Waves
11
31
6
0
0
48
Joy Luck
22
13
2
31
0
68
1361
1983
1364
1701
370
6779
451
116
315
1408
106
457
2402
Peace
200
29
237
442
182
1090
1
25
14
682
0
722
2937
2456
3478
3200
1009
-
All Quiet
Bean Trees
LOTF
Caged Bird
Total
Note: A Place=A Place Where the Sea Remembers, All Quiet=All Quiet on the Western Front,
Waves=The Sound of Waves, Joy Luck=The Joy Luck Club, LOTF=Lord of the Flies,
451=Fahrenheit 451, Peace=A Separate Peace, Caged Bird=I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
These data from the circulation analysis clearly pointed to a lack of implementation of the
10th grade core literature adopted in the 1990s. None of the five comprehensive high schools
were using the more culturally diverse titles; the books were sitting on shelves. At the same time,
data on student achievement in English/Language Arts indicated gaps across the district between
Asian and White students and their Filipino, Latino, and African American counterparts. The
quantitative study had unearthed the data to push for reform.
At this point I stepped into a more prominent leadership role, designing a professional
development (PD) workshop for Fall 2012 to support the teaching of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck
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Club. In my district, when teachers complete approved PD workshops they accumulate points
leading to a 1.5% bonus on the salary schedule for a period of two years. My initial plan was for
seven sessions. Topics included how to help struggling readers and English Language Learners,
how to address stereotypes, how to approach the non-linear narrative, and how to engage boys in
the novel. Recruitment efforts included an all-teacher email advertising all PD offerings for fall
2012 from the school district and a personal email from me. I contacted both English teachers
and key leaders at each site. I only heard back from one teacher who said he did not like The Joy
Luck Club and another who said she was not teaching at the 10th grade level. Because the initial
appeal failed to draw enough participants I emailed each of the high school principals asking for
their support. Despite knowing four of the five principals personally, I heard back from only two
who said they would promote it to their teachers. In the end one participant signed up, my former
student teacher, and the workshop was canceled.
After reflection with colleagues I revamped the workshop for summer 2013, offering a
literature circle format for any culturally diverse text from the core literature lists. This also fell
flat. An informal survey revealed that teachers felt pressed for time, were more concerned about
the Common Core State Standards, and did not like any of the adopted texts. Several suggested
adopting new books; none signed up for the workshop. Discouraged, I put the project on hold
during the 2013-14 school year and decided to pursue another approach.
Quantitative Research: Library Fiction Circulation
If students were not gaining access to culturally diverse literature through their English
classes, I wondered if they were seeking it out through their school libraries. I examined data on
the fiction collections in district high school libraries from 2007-2011, calculating the mean for
circulation frequency. I next compiled lists of books checked out at high frequencies (four to five
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standard deviations above the mean). Out of the 295 titles identified as most popular, only 12.5%
were written by authors of color. One foreign writer, Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner
and A Thousand Splendid Suns, both set in Afghanistan, accounted for 3.1% of top circulating
books. I wrote an article about the lack of student exposure to culturally diverse literature
through school libraries and possible strategies to encourage students to select from a wider
range of fiction titles (Lafferty, 2014), planning for future implementation at my site.
Ongoing Inquiry: Self-Study
This ongoing inquiry has proceeded in fits and starts over the past four years – as
illustrated in Figure 1 – and promises to continue as long as I am teaching English at my site. In
reading one of Kurt Lewin’s (1946) original essays on action research I can take heart that my
effort has not failed; I have been in reconnaissance. He describes “a spiral of steps each of which
is composed of a circle of planning, action, and fact-finding about the result of the action”
(Lewin, 1946, p. 38). Although I had earlier read this quote cited in Hinchey (2008), it was only
in the fuller context of my own experience that it made sense. What I had considered
discouraging I now see as simply one point on the spiral, an understanding I brought to my new
leadership role as Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) for Common Core implementation for
the 2014-15 school year. My job would be to assist my colleagues with curriculum and
instruction related to Common Core, a position placing me both in parallel to them as a fellow
classroom teacher but also apart as a member of the administrative cabinet. Before the start of
the school year I planned for a self-study of these tensions inherent in teacher-leadership,
building on my previous action research and quantitative studies. While the self-study of my
TOSA role does not directly address the issue of promoting culturally diverse literature, it does
touch on similar issues of advocating for reform and encountering resistance.
LESSONS FROM A TEACHER LEADER
Fall 2011
Initial
action
research
project
Summer 2012
Data analysis
& design of PD
workshops
Spring 2012
Data gathering
for quantitative
research
15
2013-2014
Reconnaissance
2012-2013
Redesign of
PD & library
study
2015-2016
Continued selfstudy &
modeling
2014-2015
Self –study & modeling
inclusion of culturally
diverse literature
Figure 1. Timeline of the inquiry process.
For spring 2015 I was assigned to teach 10th grade English, the course that had started
this inquiry process. I decided to break ranks with the other teachers and replace the whole-class
reading of Lord of the Flies with literature circles where students could select any of the core
literature titles (please see Table 1). My colleagues expressed surprise but agreed that as long as
we all used the same common course assessments it was fine if I “did my own thing.” None of
them asked why I was going to teach the literary analysis unit differently. Like the respondents
to the survey from 2011, they were if not content, then at least resigned to teaching the same
books. The literature circles unit will begin on March 25, 2015 with students “speed dating” all
of the titles and then making their selection for the month-long unit. I am interested to see
whether my modeling of how to include culturally diverse literature piques my colleagues’
curiosity or whether they remain committed to teaching the course as it has been taught for the
past 20 years.
Another different element in my class is daily independent reading, which has been a way
to promote culturally diverse literature to my students. My reading choices and book reviews on
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our classroom blog (http://mslafferty.weebly.com/) have shown students a variety of authors and
settings while our school library technician and library-media teacher have aided in this effort by
making recommendations to students and creating a display of world literature, as shown in
Figure 2. On average, five or six students a week ask to go to the library to check out new books,
sometimes returning with one of the recommended titles. Although limited in scope, these
incremental changes have led my students to select titles they may have overlooked before. At
issue now is how to shift from this limited movement to one that gathers momentum in building
a school community invested in culturally diverse literature.
Figure 2. Library display of literature from around the world.
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Reflections
Over the past four years I have gained an understanding of not only the challenges in
reforming the English curriculum for greater cultural diversity, but also the complexities of my
identity as a teacher-leader and doctoral student. In considering the original action research
study, the quantitative circulation studies, and the current self-study I reflect on two aspects of
my role and how I need to keep the community in community building.
In her spring 2013 keynote address to the California Council on Teacher Education, Ann
Lieberman spoke about how teacher-leaders need to build their communities from within,
leading by example as they work alongside others. While this year (2014-2015) I have embraced
leading by example as the Common Core TOSA – modeling strategies, creating resources,
sharing my failures as well as successes – in previous years I had not taught courses that allowed
me to demonstrate inclusion of culturally diverse literature. I was unable to show in practice why
teaching diverse books matters. I had also failed to recognize how my teacher identity had
shifted boundaries when I began doctoral study. I was being introduced to what Marilyn
Cochran-Smith (2012) describes as “an enormous cocktail party” (p. 101), engaging in seminar
discussions about equity, social justice, and multicultural education. It was intoxicating.
Learning about theory and research was providing a context for my actions as a practitioner that
was different from my colleagues. My status as a doctoral student marked me as different from
my colleagues. Working through lunch marked me as different from many of my colleagues, but
not all. This year I have begun seeking out like-minded teachers and quietly working with them
to lay the groundwork for changes to the curriculum. Building a community of English teachers
committed to teaching culturally diverse literature will require time, trust, and patience as I
navigate between my practitioner and academic identities.
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As made clear in the historical inquiry, changes to the canon happen slowly. Researchers
suggest that English teachers resist changes to the core literature because they lack the time to
prepare for teaching new texts, enjoy the books they currently use, feel a responsibility to teach
the canonical works, or lack the cultural competence to teach multicultural literature (Dong,
2005; Mackey et al., 2012; Stallworth et al., 2006). I saw evidence of many of these factors in
my action research and ongoing inquiry. I had clearly underestimated the power of inertia, or
what Lewin (1947) would call the social field in the practice of English teachers. In the broader
context, teachers in my district, like teachers elsewhere, have contended in recent years with
larger class sizes and decreased compensation due to furlough days. Our job has in many ways
become more difficult and English teachers who have been socialized into the profession during
this time have struggled. My teacher survey in 2011 revealed a split between teachers with fewer
than three years of experience and their more experienced colleagues. Newer teachers indicated
less satisfaction with the titles currently being taught and expressed more openness to teaching
new titles. Now, four years later, they continue the tradition of teaching Lord of the Flies. Their
social field has been set and building community will require overcoming the tendency to stay
with the group. As a veteran teacher and teacher-leader, I need to model inclusionary practices
and risk-taking as I seek to build community from within.
The encouraging news is that we are in an exciting time for teacher leadership. Norms
around the privatization of practice are changing to reflect the need for collaboration (Lieberman
& Pointer-Mace, 2009). Communication tools like Twitter enable teachers to create professional
learning networks and explore leadership roles beyond their sites. Implementation of the
Common Core State Standards is driving discussion around equitable opportunities for all
students (Quay, 2010). As classroom teachers contend with this changing context for teaching
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and learning, it will be important for teacher-leaders to reflect upon their roles, especially with
regard to culturally responsive education. Teachers with a background in theory and research
will have a unique contribution to make as they work alongside their colleagues, always mindful
of building community through their leadership.
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