Lessons from Dorothy Allison: teacher education, social class and critical literacy

Abstract

Integrating autobiographical narrative and case study, this teacher‐research article looks closely at how one white, female, heterosexual, middle‐class elementary school teacher in the US used short stories written by Dorothy Allison as an entry point to look at difference from a critical perspective. Challenging the too often conflated constructs of race and class, this study was conducted in a Masters course on literacy that foregrounded issues of social class. Contrary to what some may believe, the author argues that foregrounding class did not eclipse critical analyses of race, gender and sexuality, but moved one student towards more nuanced readings of oppression.

Notes

1. Grace Enriquez and Gravity Goldberg served as research assistants in this study, conducting and transcribing interviews in the summer of 2005.