Pose, Wobble, Flow presents an exciting, liberatory framework for disrupting the pervasive myth that there is one set of surefire, culturally neutral best practices. In this new edition, the authors update and expand their pedagogical model to support lifelong success for teachers of all subject areas and grade levels. Providing six different teaching stances or "poses" that teachers can use to meet the needs of all students, this popular resource offers guidance for teaching and learning in today's challenging sociopolitical climate. The authors describe how teachers can expect to "wobble" as they adapt instruction to the needs of their students, while also incorporating new insights about their own positionality and preconceptions of teaching. Readers are encouraged to recognize this flexibility as a positive process or "flow" that can be used to address challenges and adopt ambitious teaching strategies like those depicted in this book. Each chapter highlights a particular pose, describes how to work through common wobbles, incorporates teacher voices, and provides discussion activities for collective teacher inquiry. Book Features: A structure for career-long growth for K-12 teachers of all subject areas, including ways to adapt pedagogy from one year to the next. A perspective on teaching that questions existing inequities in schooling and society and frames teaching around a commitment to changing them. Six poses that are standards-aligned, critical, and expand the possibilities of what takes place in school. Guidelines for creating original poses beyond the scope of the book, discussion questions for courses, and resources for classroom teachers.
Antero Garcia is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University and coeditor of Speculative Pedagogies: Designing Equitable Educational Futures. Cindy O'Donnell-Allen is a professor in the English Department at Colorado State University, where she directs the CSU Writing Project and the Colorado State Sustainable Teaching and Learning Collaborative.
Contents Foreword Linda Christensen ?ix Introduction: What It Means to Pose, Wobble, and Flow ?1 The Pose, Wobble, Flow Framework: What It Is and How to Use It ?4 What Does It Mean to Pose? ?7 What Does It Mean to Wobble? ?8 What Is Flow? ?9 Moving From Pose to Wobble to Flow: Two Examples of a P/W/F Cycle ?11 Working Within the System ?12 Working the System ?14 Looking Ahead ?15 Provocations ?17 Connections ?18 1. ?Leaning Toward Praxis: What It Means to Embrace a Liberatory Pedagogy ?19 Teaching for Liberation ?20 What Do We Mean When We Call for Liberation? ?20 Why Teaching for Liberation Is Non-Negotiable in Today's World ?24 What Does It Look Like to Pose, Wobble, Flow Around Liberatory Pedagogy? An Example From Our Own Practice ?26 What Does It Look Like to Pose, Wobble, Flow Around Liberatory Pedagogy Within Your Classroom? ?29 What Does It Look Like to Pose, Wobble, Flow Around Liberatory Pedagogy Beyond the Classroom? ?31 Conclusion ?34 Provocations ?34 Connections ?35 2. ?In Praise of "Not-Knowing": What It Means to Be a Vulnerable Learner ?36 The Payoff of Being a Vulnerable Learner ?37 Vulnerable Learning, Vulnerable Teaching ?40 Embracing the Practice of "Bypassing": Challenging Limiting Constraints Through Innovative Curriculum Design ?47 Wobbling With Well-Being: Building Stamina Through Sustainable Teaching and Teaching for Trauma Resiliency ?52 An Alternative to the "Oxygen Mask": Using the Framework of Sustainable Teaching to Breathe Life Into Your Practice ?52 The Mindset and Methods of Sustainable Teaching ?53 Connecting the Dots: Sustainable Teaching, Trauma Wobble, and Teaching for Trauma Resiliency ?55 What Do We Mean by "Trauma"? ?57 The Problem With Definitions (or Lack Thereof) of Trauma-Informed Care and Trauma-Informed Teaching ?60 The Promise of Teaching for Trauma Resiliency: Connecting the Dots ?62 Concluding Thoughts ?64 Provocations ?64 Connections ?65 3. ?Literacy as Civic Action: What It Means to Teach for Social Change ?67 Rethinking Civics ?70 Understanding the Why and How of Civics in Every Content Area ?75 Developing Activities and Assignments to Cultivate Students' Critical Consciousness ?81 Establishing a Participatory Culture of Civic Writing ?84 Doing Civics ?87 Addressing Power and Positionality ?89 Tackling Controversy When You Don't Have Tenure ?91 Conclusion ?93 Provocations ?94 Connections ?95 4. ?Embracing Your Inner Writer: What It Means to Teach as a Writer ?97 Assuming the Pose of Teacher as Writer ?100 Establishing a Practice of Writing ?101 Why Assuming a Writer Pose Matters for Educational Equity ?105 Power in Numbers ?109 Conclusion: So, You're a Writer. Now What? ?112 Provocations ?113 Connections ?114 5. ?Rethinking Reading: What It Means to Curate the Curriculum ?115 Defining Text and the Act of Reading Today ?118 What's in Your Bookroom? Teaching Beyond a Fixed Canon ?121 Helping Students Become Curators of Texts Themselves: The Role of Student Choice in Reading ?127 Accessing Critical Texts: Anxiety and Frustration ?131 Reading Passionately ?133 Conclusion ?136 Provocations ?137 Connections ?138 6. ?Classroom Spaces, Cultures, and Possibilities: What It Means to Be a Designer of Learning ?139 Excavating a Space That Is Meaningful for All ?144 Designing for Delight ?146 Technology Mediates Space ?147 Space, Morale, and Morality ?149 Spilling Over Democratic Possibilities: Culture Beyond the Classroom ?156 Conclusion: Space Is Not the Final Frontier ?160 Provocations ?161 Connections ?162 Conclusion: What Does It Look Like? ?163 Pose, Wobble, Flow as Politics ?165 Striving for the Unattainable ?167 References ?171 Appendix A. Pose, Wobble, Flow Template and Assignment ?187 The Pose, Wobble, Flow Assignment ?187 Appendix B: Summary of Poses ?191 Appendix C: Pose, Wobble, Flow Template ?195 Index ?197 About the Authors ?205
PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION- "In Pose, Wobble, Flow, Garcia and O'Donnell-Allen remind all of us that teaching is not about following directions: it's about listening to our students and paying attention to the social forces that shape their lives; about learning how to navigate department, school, district, and federal rules to benefit our students so we can keep a job while we continue to honor our core beliefs about education." -Linda Christensen, director, Oregon Writing Project, Lewis & Clark College "Antero Garcia and Cindy O'Donnell-Allen have written a book about teaching that I've been hoping someone would write. They deftly provide a clear and insightful framework from which any thoughtful teacher can build a vital practice, while also inserting a wealth of examples to ground the framework in working classrooms. It's a must-have for preservice and inservice teachers who care about their teaching." -Bob Fecho, professor and department head, University of Georgia "It may be a funny name for a book on literacy, but Pose, Wobble, Flow is serious when it comes to supporting teachers to become more aware, culturally proactive, and powerful in their practice. As someone who struggles with yoga-wobbling in the midst of poses, finding flow when I'm really lucky-I love the metaphor, as well as the wise advice, solid theory, and grounded practical examples from their own and others' classrooms described by authors Antero Garcia and Cindy O'Donnell-Allen. This beautiful book will educate, challenge, and inspire educators determined to improve their teaching." -Sonia Nieto, professor emerita, Language, Literacy, and Culture, College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
