Connecting Theory and Practice

Abstract

The reading of literature can disrupt dominant stories and ideologies by challenging deficit narratives, providing readers with new perspectives of the world and reality, countering stereotypes, allowing readers to gain a new understanding of their positionality, and leading readers to think about oppression and social justice in novel ways. With the possibilities reading literature holds for critical engagement, this chapter frames narratives as a tool for disrupting hegemony and highlights the practices of two secondary English language arts teachers committed to enacting critical literature practices in their classrooms.