Disrupting the Canon: Moving Towards Anti-Racist Teaching with Text Selection and Preparation

• Course Goals

  In this course  you will learn about the four pillars of  #DisruptTexts and how to use these principles to evaluate and adjust your instruction towards anti-racist teaching. In particular, you will:

  • Learn to recognize our own identities and perspectives, better understand how these may shape our teaching practices, and craft strategies to account for them and mitigate bias.
  • Understand why we must responsibly center BIPOC authors in literature, and how  we can accomplish this. 
  • Apply a critical literacy lens to our work with any text, look above and below the line when we consider our own identities, those of our students, and those centered in the texts we read with our students.
  • Examine the role of our communities in disrupting the canon and holding ourselves, and each other, accountable for this work.
• Course Requirements

  To earn your certificates showing  9.5 hours of professional learning, you must successfully complete the following: 

  • Review all course content, including videos and readings.
  • Complete all embedded interactive activities, including discussion boards.
  • Take the post-survey after each pillar.

  While we encourage you to complete the modules for all four pillars, you may also choose to select and complete the learning and activities from individual pillars. If you complete all activities within any one pillar, and take the post-survey, you will receive a professional learning certificate for the number of hours indicated in the course details section at the top of this page. 

• Course Pacing

  At present, there is no time limit on completion of activities. The content of this course will remain open to you.

• Course Syllabus

  Welcome

  Objective: You will be introduced to the  #DisruptTexts movement and identify the four pillars, or key values, that guide this work. In this module, you will:

  • Understand the key ideas of each of the #DisruptTexts four pillars.

   Pillar 1: Interrogating Our Own Biases

  Objective: Learn to recognize our own identities and perspectives, better understand how these may shape our teaching practices, and craft strategies to account for them and mitigate bias. In this module, you will:

  • Evaluate your own comfort level discussing critical topics with students.
  • Develop strategies to improve your comfort level when speaking about critical topics.
  • Complete a self-assessment to identify your vulnerabilities, strengths, and needs in facilitating difficult conversations.

  Pillar 2: Centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Authors

  Objective: Understand why we must responsibly center BIPOC authors in literature, and how  we can accomplish this. In this module, you will:

  • Understand the importance of centering  BIPOC authors.
  • Apply a critical lens to rethink the teaching of To Kill a Mockingbird.
  • Learn to apply critical questions about authors and texts to assist in text selection and lesson preparation.
  • Develop techniques - such as strategic pairing of texts, intentional replacing, and developing counter-narratives - to center BIPOC authors.

  Pillar 3: Applying a Critical Literacy Lens

  Objective: Apply a critical literacy lens to our work with any text, look above and below the line when we consider our own identities, those of our students, and those centered in the texts we read with our students. In this module, you will:

  • Consider your own identity above and below the line 
  • Practice examining existing curricular resources with a “critical lens,” including utilizing Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy
  • Apply these ideas to your own work by selecting a text of your choosing considering a plan for instruction

  Pillar 4: Working in Community

  Objective: In this unit we will examine the role of our communities in disrupting the canon and holding ourselves, and each other, accountable for this work. In this module, you will:

  • Develop strategies for how to work in and with your community to disrupt the canon.
  • Consider the characteristics of your community - including its members, strengths, and needs.
  • Understand your 'sphere of control' and 'sphere of influence' for engaging in this work.
  • Draft an email to your future self, to reflect and hold yourself accountable for disrupting the canon in your work.

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