Dr. Sarah Jerasa Talks Reading, BookTok, & Digital Literacies

Dr. Ashely Rogers Berner Talks Educational Pluralism & Democracy

To say we’re living through a moment of education polarization would be a mild understatement. Considering the digital echo chambers we all find ourselves in, I believe it’s more important than ever to engage with people who may move in different circles and have different perspectives, but share some foundational beliefs about democracy, wisdom, and advancing the public good. My guest this week is Dr. Ashley Rogers Berner—and she was the perfect person for just such an exchange. As the director of and professor for John Hopkin’s Institute for Educational Policy, she is well versed in the history of educational policy both in the states and abroad. One of the more compelling parts of our dialogue was Dr. Berner’s insight into the way many European systems fund and operate their schools. In fact, her comparative research serves as the basis for the fairly unique, heterodox views on educational policy explored in her recent book: Educational Pluralism and Democracy. Though we have contrasting thoughts on a number of pedagogical approaches and policy prescriptions, Ashley was a generous interlocuter who shares my love for the Humanities, pluralism, and the fledgling project of American democracy. Considering I don’t have too many policy conversations on the podcast, I think I learned more in this episode than in most others I’ve recorded. I hope you find it as informative and thought provoking as I do.

Dr. Ashley Rogers Burner's Faculty Page

Educational Pluralism and Democracy: How to Handle Indoctrination, Promote Exposure, and Rebuild America's Schools

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Dr. Andrea Gambino Talks Critical Media Literacy

One of the best things about attending conferences is the conversations, connections, and collaborations that emerge after the sessions are over. Last year, I was lucky to meet Dr. Andrea Gambino at NCTE 2023 in Columbus. Andrea earned her Ph.D. in Education from UCLA in 2023 and is an active co-organizer of the annual Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas. Her research and practice draws on her experiences implementing critical media literacy as a tool for advancing self, social, and environmental justice. The passion, sincerity, and depth of knowledge she brings to to her research and practice is incredible and made for a powerful conversation. One of the things that makes Andrea’s research particularly unique is that, in addition to having a rich understanding of how to teach critical media literacy, her scholarship also considers the rich, embodied experiences of teachers wrestling with that work in their classrooms. Andrea is an incredibly engaging conversationalist and really got me fired up about ways we can support teachers and students efforts to better navigate the dumpster fire that is our current political discourse and media ecosystem. There’s much to learn, so enjoy!

UCLA's Critical Media Literacy Guide
Dr. Gambino's LinkedIn

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Dr. J Palmeri Talks Multimodality & New Media Pedagogies

The emergence of ChatGPT has sent shockwaves through many secondary and post-secondary English departments. There’s no shortage of doomsaying and prognosticating about the future of writing instruction, even the discipline itself, in the wake of the large language model revolution. Luckily for us, my guest today is Dr. J Palmeri—Professor of English and Director of the Writing Program at Georgetown University. J’s work exploring the past, present, and future of multimodal composition is some of the richest, most comprehensive scholarship I’ve seen. Better still, J practices what they preach in the classroom. Over the course of our dialogue, J details the ways they use new media pedagogy to learn with students, embrace play, compose for real audiences, hack technology, center learning, and ultimately to rethink teaching and learning. There is no shortage of philosophical questions and practical suggestions, but my favorite part of this episode is the way J situates his work on multimodality within a broader story—one that will likely resonate with many of you. This episode is a powerful reminder of why technology is only a tool. Whether that technology is tactile, digital, or artificial intelligence, there is no replacing the deeply human parts of teaching, learning, and communicating alongside others.

Faculty Page
100 Years of New Media Pedagogy (Open Source Book)
Academic Research (Google Scholar)

Dr. Sheena Mason Talks Raceless Antiracism & Literary Studies

For anyone who’s been tuned into Conceptually Speaking for a while, you know I love finding new approaches, perspectives, and frames to tackle complex issues. Despite the fact that’s a staple on the show, my guest for this episode, Dr. Sheena Mason, takes things to the next level. Dr. Mason is an author, professor, and creator of the theory of racelenss. A theory that, in her words, is a creative and forward-thinking approach that helps people stop the underlying causes and effects of racism—the existence of race itself. Unlike naturalists, who see race as biological, or constructionists, who regard race as a social construction, Dr. Mason invites readers to become race skeptics—in other words—to understand that what traits we attribute to race, can be more accurately described by terms like ethnicity, culture, social class, and economic class. For, as she argues in her upcoming book, The Raceless Antiracist, fighting racism by reifying the idea of race is like trying to stop a flood by dousing it with water. In short, Dr. Mason envisions a future that transcends race in ways that allow us to celebrate our shared humanity AND value our many differences. Building on sociologists like Karen and Barba Fields, authors like Toni Morrison and James Baldwin, as well as a bevy of literary scholars and critics, Dr. Mason’s work is paradigm-shifting work. So! Hold onto your brains, listen with an open mind, and brace yourself for a very different look at antiracism work.

Note: The introduction contains some direct verbiage from the "Racelessness: The Final Frontier" graphic essay.

https://www.theoryofracelessness.org/
https://twitter.com/SheenaMasonPhD

The core rules of the theory of racelessness or raceless antiracism are as follows:

1. Our belief in “race” and practice of racialization are not meaningless, because racism and valuable aspects of humanity hide behind what we call “race.”
2. “Race” does not exist in nature for humans or as a social construction. Although we are all racialized by ourselves and others, we are raceless.
3. Race/ism (i.e., racism) is a system of economic and social oppression that requires the belief in “race” and the practice of racialization to subsequently reinforce various power imbalances.
4. Racialization is the process of applying an inescapable social hierarchy—race/ism—along with its attendant power imbalances.
5. Racism does not exist everywhere in the same way and can be overcome.

Shawna Coppola Talks Literacy For All

Complaining about the theory-practice divide in education feels a bit cliche, but there’s a reason why it’s a constant source of conversation and consternation in classrooms, conferences, and academic journals. As someone with their feet firmly planted in both worlds, I’m always excited to connect with other educators who can bridge that divide—and my guest today is an exceptional example of just such a person. Shawna Coppola is a literacy specialist, educator, and author of the recently released Literacy for All: A Framework for Anti-Oppressive Teaching from Routledge. Shawna’s framework is a pretty incredible distillation of a lot of literacy scholarship that informs my work, research, and conversations on this podcast. Our conversation today walks through each of its key principles, and while it’s an expansive dialogue, Shawna’s commitment to more liberatory approaches to literacy teaching is a throughline across the episode. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, administrator, or a professor working with pre-service teachers, this episode has a ton to offer. Enjoy!

https://shawnacoppola.com/
Literacy for All: A Framework for Anti-Oppressive Teaching