Abstract
The authors of this article explore democratic practices in the classroom by using student-selected literature. After multiple class sets of student-selected young adult novels were purchased using grant money, the authors set out to see what happens in a classroom when student choice is at the forefront of pedagogical decision-making and how students resonated with and voiced their experiences reading about those chosen novels. Because canonical texts are often used to help students understand allusions in contemporary texts, one adolescent novel and one canonical novel became the focal points for this project. With democratic practices undergirding this project, the authors argue that using student-selected literature, both adolescent and canonical, encourages agency, invites healthy inquiry, and develops reflective practices and empathy in adolescent readers.
Response to this Article
Kimberly Campbell,Supporting Students' Choice and Voice in Discovering Empathy, Imagination, and Why Literature Matters More Than Ever
Recommended Citation
Boatright, M. D.
, Allman, A.
(2018).
Last Year's Choice Is This Year's Voice: Valuing Democratic Practices in the Classroom through Student-Selected Literature.
Democracy and Education,
26
(2), Article 2.
Available at:
https://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol26/iss2/2
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Secondary Education Commons