EDUC 272 - “Spoken Soul”: Exploring Language and Literacy with Poughkeepsie and Arlington High School Students

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

In this community-engaged intensive, we partner with two local high school English teachers, at Poughkeepsie H.S. and Arlington H.S. to co-teach culturally sustaining and linguistically informed lessons. We support teachers in addressing English language variation and multilingualism in schools, and we aid students to better understand the role of Black Diasporic languages like African American Language and Jamaican Patwa in schools, media, literature, law, and global culture.

Racialized and linguistic communities are not monolithic. Through this collaboration, we learn more about the specific cultural and linguistic communities in Poughkeepsie and Arlington, and we co-develop lessons and pedagogical strategies that are hyperlocal and immediately useful. In addition to co-teaching lessons, participants help to plan a “Linguistics, Literacy, and Culture” research conference at Vassar for the high school students. Kahdeidra Martin.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: INT