Early Childhood Literacy Teachers in High Poverty Schools

In this original and beautifully crafted book, Melissa Landa draws upon her love of language and literature to argue the importance of cross-cultural understandings for teachers and students in their instructional relationships. Grounded in an insightful analysis of urban school systems and courageously mining her own biography growing up in apartheid South Africa, the author weaves powerful stories of five teachers who use literature to engage their students in difficult conversations about social and cultural divides. Through powerful images of collaborative classroom cultures and teachers who cross boundaries to navigate school system demands while always putting children first, Melissa expands and sharpens possibilities for transformative teaching and teacher education, and greater educational equity. -- Linda Valli, University of Maryland In an era of high stakes testing and regressive views of literacy pedagogy, Dr. Landa's book is a breath of fresh air, reminding us that teaching in Title I schools is at once a profession, a passion, a calling, and, most importantly, a personal choice. Anchored by published scholarship, her own personal life and work as an elementary teacher and teacher educator, and her study of five White teachers who chose to work in Title I schools, the powerful narratives that Dr. Landa shares challenge and inspire us to move beyond deficit-oriented perspectives towards humanizing pedagogies that honor children's cultural identities, leverage their linguistic and familial funds of knowledge for classroom learning, and invite them to read and write their own worlds. -- Jennifer Turner, University of Maryland How do teachers work against the racism and classism embedded within school structures that (dis)serve so many children? Can White teachers develop a critically conscious positionality that would enable them to work effectively with Children of Color and economically poor children? Melissa Landa’s story as a child in Apartheid South Africa and her experience as an early childhood literacy teacher mingle with the stories of other literacy teachers in Title I schools who are attempting to do so. As she explores the barriers that exist and the possibilities for more transformative teaching, she makes visible the important identity work teachers undertake and the commitments they must consciously nurture to remain focused on this goal. -- Barbara Seidl, University of Colorado Denver