Becoming a Literacy Leader

When I read A Sense of Belonging back in 2009, I instantly loved Jennifer Allen's voice and learned so much from her book. I knew that eventually I would want to read her other Stenhouse book, Becoming a Literacy Teacher, and I finally did so. Just as with the first book of hers that I read, I found myself reading through multiple lenses.

I would love to have a position such as Allen's where my full time job was to support teachers and the culture of learning within the school. However, it is more likely that my career will continue to be 6-8 language arts and courses in higher education. Nonetheless, so much of what Allen talks about is relevant to my day-to-day life as an educator because Allen focuses on teachers as professionals and supportive communities in which colleagues collaborate and support each other.

I started to think about how I could make changes within my regular 6-8 position in order to strengthen the discussions between colleagues about practitioner research in our classrooms, as well as implications for practice in our K-8 dual immersion school. Along the same lines, I am excited to be reading the second edition of Living the Questions right now.

This year I took a leave of absence from my language arts classroom and have been teaching in a teacher preparation program, so I was also thinking about implications for that role as well. Of course, there is always so much to learn from Allen about mentoring and supporting teachers, so that was one automatic link to the relevance of her text. Then there were more subtle connections, such as a narrative describing how she worked alongside a teacher to regain control of the class that I will be reading aloud to my students in a course related to classroom management.

I think it is safe to say that wherever my journey as an educator leads me, Allen's thoughts and ideas will be relevant. I would love to see another book from her!