Pathways to Critical Literacy Leadership: An Examination of a Cohort Model of Professional Development

Abstract

As faculty at a land-grant university, we wanted to better understand the complexity of and pathways toward critical literacy leadership among educators. Specifically, we asked: What forms of critical literacy leadership become visible when educators participate in a cohort model of literacy professional development? Thirty educators enrolled across four different literacy cohorts at the university participated in this case study. Participants were diverse in their teaching experiences, racial identity, teaching placement, and literacy expertise. Participants shared similar geo-political-educational realities as they were all a part of the same large, urban district. Survey data, interviews, teaching and learning documents, and categorical data were analyzed in overlapping phases. Descriptive statistics were generated. Four themes related to critical literacy leadership surfaced from interviews using constant comparative methods: brokering equitable literacy practices, negotiating tensions, sharing/strengthening existing literacy practices, and imagining the futurity of literacy leadership. Educators offered complex portraits of critical literacy leadership in various spaces—often leading through learning. Participants’ voices highlighted the impact literacy leaders have on transformative, grassroots efforts toward change.