Enacting Adolescent Literacies across Communities: Latino/a Scribes and Their Rites

Through an innovative approach of critical ethnography and literacy research via case-study methodologies, Enacting Adolescent Literacies across Communities: Latino/a Scribes and Their Rites analyzes Latino/a adolescents’ engagement with the elements of literacy for English language arts learning and understanding. How young people enact literacies in their bicultural lives and understand literary traditions today reveals their own interests in democracy, equity, and opportunity. Moreover, the rites they perform often recover buried histories, mirrors, and stories similar to the pre-Columbian scribes whose intellectual legacy is relevant in the twenty-first century. R. Joseph Rodríguez illustrates how adolescents experience scribal identities and language pluralism that sustains their cultural knowledge as they make meaning and enact literacies with diverse audiences in civic and schooling communities.

Table of Contents:
Contents Acknowledgements Permissions Epigraph: from “Imaginé un papel” / “I Pictured a Page” by Tino Villanueva Foreword by Kevin J. Burke Preface¡Escríbelo ya! Write It! Chapter 1 Making Connections Come Alive across Literacies Chapter 2 Histories and Scribes at Milagros High School Chapter 3 Transcribing Identities at Guadalupe Middle School Chapter 4 Adolescent Scribe’s Rites at Ciprés High School Chapter 5 Teachers as Writing Whisperers at Cholla University Chapter 6 Reading Ravens and Wild Readers among Us Conclusion ¡Adelante y con brío, venerable Tlacuilo! Notes from an Ethnographer and about Methodology “Ode to Teachers” / “Oda a las maestras” by Pat Mora Appendices References Index About the Author

About the Author :
R. Joseph Rodríguez is assistant professor of literacy and English education at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Review :
Enacting Adolescent Literacies across Communities is an engaging and informative book. Rodríguez’s detailed ethnography-based literacy portraits are inspiring. Educators may feel invigorated to foster or nurture adolescent literacies and youth scribal identities. Some readers may also find the theoretical snippets helpful to comprehend Rodríguez’s work, which can in turn illustrate his theoretical framework and his research approach. Plus, researchers may appreciate the transparency of Rodríguez’s research methods. Simply put, almost any reader involved in adolescent literacies can find something of interest in the book.... Rodríguez’s book whispers lessons of hope; it encourages us to engage in socially responsible literacies for and by Latinos. Because these are significant lessons for practicing literacy teachers, preservice teachers, and action researchers working with students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, the book would be a good choice for courses in literacy, foundations of education, and diversity . . . Poetic and evocative, yet scholarly and research-based, in the end, this is a book about language and identity, power, self-confidence, and self-determination. It challenges stubbornly held deficit-based approaches to teaching and learning – especially literacy approaches with diverse populations – that are unfortunately still evident in too many schools and teacher education programs. Enacting Adolescent Literacies across Communities: Latino/a Scribes and Their Rites is a powerful reminder of the inherent political commitments embedded in the work of youth as they come into presence both in and out of school. R. Joseph Rodriguez attends to the importance of spaces within and beyond school, where scribal identities, for youth of color in particular, face circumscription. This is a text of resistance and of recreation by and for youth. Enacting Adolescent Literacies across Communities: Latino/a Scribes and Their Rites by R. Joseph Rodríguez is a cutting-edge must read for literacy educators. Dr. Rodríguez provides an excellent narrative of adolescent development covering ELL, language, literacy, and culture. The stories, experiences, and passion in the book illustrate strength and brilliance by the adolescent participants. As teachers of teens, we often struggle with our students' struggles. This book helps us, as classroom teachers, to understand and appreciate our students better. Instead of treating them as empty vessels that need to be filled, this book helps us to see them as they are: people with rich literate lives. R. Joseph Rodríguez’s Enacting Adolescent Literacies across Communities: Latino/a Scribes and Their Rites is a powerful contribution to our continuing work understanding adolescent literacies as sociocultural practices. Documenting the rites of adolescent scribes and exploring the ways that educators might collaborate with adolescent scholars, this book delves into the ways that young people are adapting and adopting literacies to speak to their lived realities. Engaging both the practices of adolescents and the reflexive work involved in the teaching of diverse literacies, R. Joseph Rodríguez highlights how we can value multimodality and identity work in teaching/learning spaces. It's important (especially right now) to remember that the narrative created by the media becomes a part of our students’ narrative and how they are perceived by society. We must help our students to write their own narratives so we don't leave this in the hands of people who are not living said narrative. Rodríguez's research supports a noble necessity in our teaching—teaching and listening to every voice. Rodríguez reminds all of us teachers of the responsibility of our words in what we teach and what we choose not to teach….This book contains wonderful narratives, teacher practices, and student voices….Thoughtful, engaging, and honest. Every educator needs a copy of this book on their desk!