Winter 2025      Volume 53, Number 1

Professional Development: We Will Move Forward!
By Sophie Degener, Adelfio Garcia, Dora M. Guzmán, and Ivy Sitkoski

Document: Column  

Introductory Paragraph:  We are writing this column at a time when November elections have not yet taken place; hence, we don’t yet know what shape our federal government will take and in what directions it will move. Because of this major uncertainty, we are fortunate to live in Illinois, where our state government’s policies align with our values, moving in a direction that gives teachers the ability to celebrate diverse cultures and languages, and the accompanying funds of knowledge brought to school by our children. Along with this, we can continue to work toward dismantling systemic racism in classrooms and in society.  We believe our selection of books for this issue will provide many inspiring ideas for this work. One book focuses on identity awareness, guiding teachers through a necessary exploration of their own identities and then providing ways to lead students in explorations of theirs in order for them to reach their full potential as learners, readers, and writers. Another book looks deeply into White Eurocentric teaching practices that are embedded in our curricula, offering both novice and experienced teachers a variety of alternatives. Still another proposes an integrated, balanced approach to literacy teaching with innovative elements and avenues for emergent bilinguals to make use of their identities and their full linguistic repertoires. The fourth book offers a framework for teaching writing to multilingual learners that includes a plethora of ideas for helping the students increase their skill with both oral and written expression while still attending to meaning. With such books as these and so many others we have reviewed and are yet to review, we can continue to move forward in our chosen path to help all students achieve their full literacy potential in school and in life, equipped with the tools to effect positive social change.

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.53.1.2024-2025.63

Page Numbers:   63-67