Chapter 2: Reflective Writing: Transforming Lives, Ideas, and the Future of English Education

Given the national increase in culturally and linguistically diverse public school students, there is a gap between what teachers and students bring to the English classroom. The lack of cultural and linguistic familiarity is exacerbated when students who have traditionally been underserved by education in the United States are required to write in Standard Written English used in local, state, and national standards. Drawing inspiration from Toni Morrison’s writings, we note that when confronted with teaching writing, the differences between races, ethnicities, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, social classes, languages, beliefs, values, experiences, and worldviews of new teachers and their students can be reconciled by focusing on issues of social justice, equity, and democracy.