Raising voices through the arts: Creating spaces for writing for marginalized groups of women.

With Limor Pinhasi-Vittorio, Ph.D.

Perspectives – New York Journal of Adult Learning, Vol. 7(1), 2-15, 2008-2009.

This article is focuses on the use of various art forms to prompt written expression as segue to liberating voices of adult women learners who are marginalized in society. The goal is to demonstrate the development of personal voice and written expression as it progresses over time and experience.

download article

Reading to fly: Access to reading across diversity
Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice, Vol. 23(1): 46-50, Spring 2010.

When we focus on responses to reading rather than to the act of reading, it doesn’t matter if the student has read every page or if she liked the book, if the she is rereading a book or what ‘level’ the book is on, whether only the action parts were read or only the dialogue.  Independent reading is ultimately about some form of thoughtful engagement with a text and the personal treasures (learning) we pick up during reading.  Responses to texts in any format are learning outcomes that reflect these treasures and can be viewed from an inclusive perspective using an abilities approach across the diversity of students: we can assess what each student was able to learn and/or take away from the text.  Every student responding to the text achieves success, and when students associate reading with a positive, pleasant, interesting experience, reading comes closer to the heart.

download article

Respecting students’ cultural literacies

Educational Leadership, Vol. 61(2) 80-82, October 2003. Teaching All Students.

Recognizing students’ out-of-school literacies helps create inclusive environments and meaningful educational experiences.

download PDF article

Continue reading Respecting Students’ Cultural Literacies

Today I am proud of myself: Telling stories and revaluing lives
In D. Caracciolo & A. Mungai, (eds.) In the spirit of Ubuntu: Stories of teaching and research. Sense Publishers, 2009.

In a weekly literacy class at a home for recovering women we worked on critically reading texts that led to writing lives. Writing down experiences, becoming aware and thinking about events critically, allowed the participants to rethink their stories and revalue themselves , their families and their experiences.

download article

Students Finding Voice in a College Classroom:
Reflections on a Teaching/Learning Journey
Curriculum and Teaching, Vol. 23(1), 2008

Most students come to Developmental Reading classes considering reading a book to be a form of severe punishment. To counter such aversion, I developed a counter-hegemonic, inclusive and caring pedagogy that informs a curriculum relevant to the students’ lives allowing them to revalue reading and its potential for self-empowerment. By semester’s end many students describe themselves as readers, having begun to realize their inherent powers in negotiating texts.

download article

Continue reading Students Finding Voice in a College Classroom