Last night, I had one of the most amazing graduate classes of my career. The readings for the week were YA novels with adolescents with dis/abilities and the "textbook" reading fell short doing anything mindful with such texts. So I went on a Google rampage. Wola! ALAN arrived to the rescue and I sent Michelle Falter's article on critical empathy out to the students and said, "I know it is bad practice to send a reading last minute, but I really want to talk about this in class. This article is what I want to discuss."
I have an amazing crew of minds this semester, and that is exactly what we did when they arrived. I should point out that although we have a few shared readings of YA texts for the semester, I've created the course so that students choose the book that speaks to them and I share websites like that from Epic Reads to give suggestions. I'm amazed at how each week the students come in having read completely different books, and how powerful the conversations become. I anchor the weekly conversations in course readings, with prompts, and other teaching activities, but for the most part, the students host the conversations as they piece together responses each week and present to one another. I eavesdrop as we all learn together. What results is the grip they can't afford any more books. After the discussions, they run online to order all the texts the others read.
For my YA Literature family, I can't emphasize enough how important Michelle Falter's article, "When the Shoes Don't Fit: A Critical Empathy Framework for (Young Adult) Literature Instruction" really is (Beth, if you're reading this, it would be perfect for a few of the courses you teach, too, even if your classes aren't geared towards YA stories).
I can't describe why it was so amazing, except for I framed the points of Falter's argument with questions she poses and it became two hours of lightbulbs going off. It was amazing to me to see how that article moved through our conversation of text, but also the way our schools institutionalize others in ways that are detrimental. The conversation was authentic, new, necessary, and impactful. I wish I videotaped it so I could replay how it unfolded. It was simply overdue and profound - one that could only be instigated (prompted/initiated) by a brilliant mind who is thinking deeply about empathy, sympathy, care, and respect. And she does so critically.
Ironically, I found a piece (the first academic piece) I published in 2009 that asked some of the questions I also wanted us to think about, and we discussed S. Donovan and "Navigating Characters, Coursework, and Curriculum: Preservice Teachers Reading Young Adult Literature Featuring Disability," where she writes,
“We must also consider what argument or commentary about disability we are making when selecting or assigning texts that represent disabilities. Are we cultivating or disrupting? The reading life of teachers influences how and why they select the texts (e.g., to consider #ownvoices, to address diversity within disability), and that holds implications for how they conceptualize curriculum” (2021)
My students already know I love when things are magical, and I left saying, "This was just beautiful. I wish Michelle and Sarah were here to see how this rolled out....to see how much their writing matters."
The evening began with a conversation about Sadeck Waif's choreography for the 2024 Olympic Games, where I posed the question, "Who decides who gets to perform, make art, write, and be heard? And what role does a teacher have in making sure all students create?" --- in my opinion, the choreography speaks for itself. It's really not about who decides, but who is invited.
I also need to shout-out to Dr. Beth Ferri at Syracuse University who, with the genius of a single course on dis/abilties studies changed my outlook on the world forever. Her instruction remains on the back of my mind in everything I do. Oh, if only all my classes were this mind-blowing.
